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Communications Businesses Software Apple

Cookbook For Third-Party Apps On iPhone 143

Posted by kdawson from the but-will-it-void-the-warranty dept.
a_skripko suggests this easy step-by-step procedure for adding third-party applications to an Apple iPhone. While the article claims "this procedure can be performed by the average user," it might at least have to be an average user with no fear of the command line.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Cookbook For Third-Party Apps On iPhone More

Cookbook For Third-Party Apps On iPhone

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  • I'll wait (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Merritt.kr ( 1120467 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:00PM (#20271971) Homepage
    I think I'll just wait until another iPhone type phone comes out. The openmoko, or something along those lines. Because something else with touchscreen and video and etc WILL come out, and I have no doubt it will be better, considering how many people are p.o.'ed about the restrictions on the iPhone (like 3rd party apps, restriction to AT&T, etc). Just a matter of time.

    • Re:I'll wait (Score:4, Informative)

      by man_ls ( 248470 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:11PM (#20272055)
      HTC P4550 Kaiser

      I'd argue that it is equal to or better than the iPhone...it's like the 8525 on steroids (AT&T is rumored to be getting it as the 8925 this year.)

      Quad-band GSM/GPRS, also includes UMTS and HSDPA versus EDGE Only for the iPhone, means you'll be able to access the Internet and pretty quickly as well.
      Windows Mobile 6 Professional versus Proprietary for the iPhone, means you'll have no trouble finding a ton of third-party applications that'll run out of the box.
      Transflash slot versus Internal Hard Drive...the iPhone might win this one, the largest Transflash card I've found anywhere is 2GB and that was very expensive. But you can carry multiple ones around with you without much of a problem.
      3MP Camera with Autofocus, an actual camera with optics.
      + a front VGA camera for video calls.
      and finally, built-in GPS + Google Maps for WM6 to allow you to do the iPhone "local businesses" thing.

      Only difference is this one has a flip-out keyboard...it's about as powerful as a 2002-era consumer PC, and those are functional for almost everything.

      • Re:I'll wait (Score:5, Funny)

        by Man On Pink Corner ( 1089867 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:15PM (#20272551)
        Jeezly crow. How big is this thing?

        I'm sure my tailor could sew a pocket into my pants that's big enough to hold my Dell D420 laptop, too, but that doesn't make it a good idea.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by man_ls ( 248470 )
          About the same as the iPhone, honestly. It runs $850 unlocked retail, though, but it's arguably more functional for that price than any locked proprietary phone could be.

          • Re:I'll wait (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Man On Pink Corner ( 1089867 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:33PM (#20272683)
            Agreed... after Googling it, you're right, it does look like a pretty nice phone, and only about 50% heavier than the iPhone.

            But it's a phone for phone geeks, not Joe Sixpack and Jane Boxwine. WTF are all those tiny hieroglyphic icons all over the screen?

            And for that matter, what's up with the name? "HTC P4550 Kaiser"? Is that a cell phone, or something that requires State Department approval to export to non-NATO countries?

            The comments that point out that the iPhone is more than the sum of its bullet points sound like excuse-making and back-pedalling, but they're not. They're 100% on target. If the Kaiser hardware were available with anything like the iPhone's OS, I'd probably be willing to pay $2000 for it. As it is, if I bought an HTC P4550 Kaiser, I'd just be buying one more gadget full of features I'll never remember how to use.

            • Re:I'll wait (Score:5, Insightful)

              by bigstrat2003 ( 1058574 ) on Saturday August 18, 2007 @12:32AM (#20273141)

              But it's a phone for phone geeks, not Joe Sixpack and Jane Boxwine. WTF are all those tiny hieroglyphic icons all over the screen?
              At $500, the iPhone is also not a phone for Joe Sixpack and Jane Boxwine.

              • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

                by ToasterMonkey ( 467067 )
                Lets not arbitrarily assign income levels or spending limits to generic references to the common man/woman. Is there a special name that better fits the average middle class American?
            • I gave up on waiting for the Kaiser to come to AT&T (I currently have the Cingular 8125 / HTC Wizard, the Kaiser's grandfather) and bought an iPhone yesterday, but I think I can answer a couple of your points:

              1. the Kaiser is (was) the codename, the HTC version will be named the P4550. Like Longhorn was for Vista. When released by AT&T, it will be called the "AT&T Tilt".

              2. you wouldn't forget *how* to use any feature on the Kaiser, the OS isn't difficult mentally. Physically, yes. Althou

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Guy Harris ( 3803 )

        Transflash slot versus Internal Hard Drive

        Neither of which the iPhone has (its file system is in flash memory).

      • For MicroSD, 4GB are available online, and 8GB were announced a few months ago. I picked up a 2GB for ~$40 several months ago.

        And the 8525 can already do everything the iPhone can do, minus the touch screen. The iPhone does bring a better interface (HTC's TouchFLO being a response to this), but the 8525 has a lot more functionality. I dunno if I'd call the Kaiser a Hermes on steroids, there aren't a whole lot of upgrades. The Hermes already has GPS onboard, but it's physically disabled. The only thing t

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) *

        Windows Mobile 6 Professional versus Proprietary for the iPhone...

        "Proprietary versus Proprietary"? I don't get it; what's your point? Unless I'm reading it wrong you just repeated the same word twice.

      • I would try a simple experiment.

        Take an iPhone and a HTC Kaiser, put them side by side, and see which one is more fun to use.

        If you're anything like me, the iPhone absolutely crushes everything else out there in terms of design appeal.

        You can say that shouldn't matter, that raw features are more important, but certainly it's hard to beat the enthusiasm surrounding the iPhone.

        You can get a Chinese iPhone knockoff that allegedly runs Linux, and therefore has third party software development. It has a removabl
        • a no-go for anyone. The keyboard and crippled Bluetooth spring directly to mind. My HTC Hermes is simply incredible with all the stuff it can do.
          • I've never really understood the point of bluetooth.

            If you're near enough to your computer to use Bluetooth for syncing, shouldn't you have your phone in its charging cradle so that you can fill up its battery? And wouldn't the wired connection used by the iPhone for that purpose work both faster and more reliably than Bluetooth?

            I'd agree that it might be nice to use a Bluetooth keyboard but I'm not sure what the great appeal of Bluetooth synching is.

            Your keyboard point is reasonable, but I've been surpris

    • Re:I'll wait (Score:4, Insightful)

      by WPIDalamar ( 122110 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:18PM (#20272123) Homepage
      I can't even take a picture and download it to my computer without paying my phone company, I don't expect any phones to become truly open anytime soon :(

      • Re:I'll wait (Score:4, Informative)

        by njfuzzy ( 734116 ) <ian.ian-x@com> on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:43PM (#20272765) Homepage
        I have an iPhone, and I can get my photos onto my computer for free.
      • It helps to may more than the activation fee when you buy your phone. Anything other than a crap feature phone allows you to do this.
      • Um, what phone do you have? A synch is a synch and an email is an email.... both free.

        The iPhone isn't a cure for cancer, but it's a damned nice phone, with reasonably priced data plans (comparatively speaking).

        I can't think of one where you'd be paying for sending a photo anywhere, much less your own PC over a synch.

        --d
      • 1. Take picture with the phone
        2. Save picture on the phone
        3. Either :
        3.a - plug the phone's flashcard into a reader in your computer
        3.b - plug directly the phone with the provided USB cable
        3.c - turn on Bluetooth on your PC
        4. Then...
        4.a & .b : ...go to a directory called something like "/My pictures"
        4.c : ...send the picture over bluetooth
        5. There's your picture. ... Oh, sorry. I forgot. We live in Europe here, where the phone aren't completely crapped by abusive "sorry we locked most of the functions t

    • Re:I'll wait (Score:5, Insightful)

      by njfuzzy ( 734116 ) <ian.ian-x@com> on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:11PM (#20272531) Homepage
      This is the fallacy of the feature list. The iPhone, when it is great (it isn't always) isn't great just for what it can do, but for how seamless it makes doing it. The interface, not the feature. The copycats will look better on paper, and totally miss the point.

      • Re:I'll wait (Score:4, Insightful)

        by shmlco ( 594907 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:35PM (#20272709) Homepage
        It doesn't work if you have to explain it. Some people instinctively grok elegance... and others don't. It's as simple as that.

        • Re:I'll wait (Score:5, Funny)

          by Afecks ( 899057 ) on Saturday August 18, 2007 @12:24AM (#20273085)
          Sounds like religion.

          • Re: Elegance like a religion (Score:4, Interesting)

            by ezavada ( 91752 ) on Saturday August 18, 2007 @09:38AM (#20275911)
            Sounds like religion

            Maybe. An elegant design reflects a deep understanding of everything it touches. Intensive study is necessary, but it goes beyond that. You have to know it so well that you instinctively feel what works and what doesn't. You can't grok something that way without caring a great deal about it. And while one person usually has a guiding vision, it takes the intense focus of lots of people to get the best possible outcome.

            That's when the magic happens. The design starts to seem purely asthetic, because the functional design seamlessly helps you do what you wanted, without calling attention to itself. It's only if you stop and think about the amount of complexity that's hidden (beneath the apparent simplicity) that you really start to appreciate how elegant that design is.

            So, like a religion? Well, perhaps like the good bits.
          • Or an art movement. Or a new scientific paradigm.

            Most people don't get new forms of elegance, actually. They usually need a little nudge to get something that's genuinely new. Once something has entered the mainstream, then people can use social cues to direct their attention. Most of us are used to being told what is good.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LKM ( 227954 )
            It's not religion. It's just a mix of taste and different priorities.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by GPL Apostate ( 1138631 )
          Some people 'grok elegance' on different levels. I grok the elegance of the ergonomic design of my electric wire-wrap gun and an OK Industries cut-and-strip wire wrap bit.

          You go ahead and 'grok the elegance' of slick shiney consumer stuff if that's your thing.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by shmlco ( 594907 )
            You think that's a putdown because most "slick shiney consumer stuff" is, in fact, junk. True elegance is rare in that realm, but Apple has a way of putting all of the pieces together.

            And perhaps, more importantly, what to leave out.

    • OpenMoko (Score:4, Interesting)

      by StarKruzr ( 74642 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:57PM (#20272883) Journal
      Is not going to be all that awesome. Without carrier support, which it will never get, it will never be able to use any faster data connection than GPRS.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rcs1000 ( 462363 ) *
        "Without carrier support, which it will never get, it will never be able to use any faster data connection than GPRS."

        Errr, no. There's no reason it can't have a standard 3G chipset, as - in fact - most of the new phones from HTC have.
        • but there are security measures in place that ensure that you will not be able to use any faster data connection than GPRS unless your phone is approved by (read: sold by) the carrier.

          GSM (voice) and GPRS will work fine. Nothing else will.
        • Except that Qualcomm has all of the US 3G standards patented. WCDMA is CDMA derived and thus the world of mobile phones will soon deviate from openness. Sorry boyos but that seems to be how it will play from here. At least until 4G hits or an antitrust suit goes through against Qualcomm.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LKM ( 227954 )

      Because something else with touchscreen and video and etc WILL come out, and I have no doubt it will be better.

      I guess that depends on your definition of "better." Will another phone make it easier to install apps? Sure. Will it run on other providers? I guess. Will it have a multitouch screen? Probably not. Will it have the polish and attention to detail the iPhone's UI has? Most certainly not.

  • Great! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:05PM (#20272003)
    Anyone has an app that can make a phone call?

  • careful (Score:5, Informative)

    by wannasleep ( 668379 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:26PM (#20272189)
    The danger here is that an iphone update could wipe out not only your changes, but also your ringtones, your address book etc. The reason is that the software update performs an integrity check. If the check fails the update reinstalls the operating system.

    It happened to me, but I expected it. A "regular" user may not appreciate.
    • The thing to remember first and foremost their concern is maintaining the integrity of the iPhone as it was designed. Part of the issues with doing the reload is to avoid a tech support call when their shareware app isn't compatible with the changes in the iPhone OS. If you're after an open source product iPhone isn't it and it's not likely it ever will be. I'm sure eventually they have a SDK and encourage some third party development but it'll never be a tinkerers device. It does a great job at what it was
      • "No one is dropping $500 to $600 on a phone that doesn't do what they want but they hope down the line additional apps will be available."

        that is definitely not true. You meant "I am not dropping... I want but I hope..."
    • The danger here is that an iphone update could wipe out not only your changes, but also your ringtones, your address book etc.

      How would an iPhone update do that? Or perhaps I should say, how is that really dangerous?

      The worst case is an update wipes the device and reinstalls the OS clean. But you certainly aren't going to lose Address Book data - after all, that's all synced to the computer when you connect, as is every other possible spec of data stored in normal locations on the device. Sure you might
      • Here are some more details that you may want to consider: a user who doesn't know about it will not be pleased and could also be scared. I can tolerate it, my wife can't. My iPhone is heavily modded hers isn't.
        Some examples on the address book:
        - if you use windows (don't know about mac) and you add an entry to your address book directly on the iPhone, it is not synchronized back,so when you restore from your address book, all the entries you added are gone.
        - If you associated pictures to your address bo

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by vsync64 ( 155958 )
          Good to know Apple's sync software doesn't properly back up an iPhone. I'll pass that on to anyone that asks me if they are a good buy.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by daveschroeder ( 516195 ) *
            "Apple's sync software" (iTunes) absolutely does back up an iPhone. To say that it doesn't is completely incorrect. All data you'd expect to sync does in fact sync as you'd expect it to, both on Mac OS and Windows [apple.com]. (How did this get modded up?)

            Custom ringtone associations are lost because, well, the iPhone doesn't support custom ringtones (yet).

            Backing up an iPhone completely is a necessity because:

            1.) If an iPhone needs to be "Restored" (set back to factory defaults), there obviously needs to be a way to g

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by MirthScout ( 247854 )
              Uhh... not so fast there.
              I have an iPhone. The touch screen started malfunctioning so I had to send it for repair and use a loaner ($29, ugh). So, I got to test just how well iTunes backs up and restores the iPhone on Windows, twice. I followed the directions I was given; basically just sync, swap the SIM card and sync.

              What I lost:
              all photos taken with the iPhone
              all SMS message history
              all clock and alarm entries
              all notes
              all Safari bookmarks
              all Weather selections
              various settings, such as for bluetooth, ri

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LKM ( 227954 )
            Except GP is wrong, so you'll be spreading misinformation. Not that it matters, you've already made up your mind anyway.
        • You have to tell it you want to back up address data in the first place, but data does go two ways - any data I add to my iPhone goes back to the computer, Windows or Mac.
        • Forgot to mention that includes contact photos. though I don't know where it puts them on the Windows side (perhaps they have a field for contact images as well).

          Custom ringtone choices for contacts are kept within the iPhone restore image, and possibly also back to your contact database somehow as a custom field...

  • iPhone Hacking End-User Insecurity (Score:5, Insightful)

    by landonf ( 905751 ) <landonf@plausible.coop> on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:37PM (#20272287) Homepage

    Imagine how valuable a smart phone is as a malware target: it's carried on your persons, has access to your home and office, it's always always on, has direct internet connectivity, a decent camera, sensitive microphone, and a great deal of your personal information.

    Given the value of this target, why on earth are people installing random binaries on their iPhone when they have absolutely no way of ascertaining whether they can trust the original provider of said binaries?

    Writing malware is not particularly difficult when you have a good SDK. The iPhone is, for most purposes, a fully functional and familiar UNIX environment, and the APIs necessary to build a SpyPhone are not a secret. Given the lack of insight the average user will have into the operating system on a handheld device, they'd likely never know of an infection.

    While I *very much doubt* we'll ever see a mass malware infection, users need to be careful about what they put on their phone, who made the binaries, and how they verify the source. Even one compromised iPhone would be very valuable to a nefarious malfeasant.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Given the value of this target, why on earth are people installing random binaries on their iPhone when they have absolutely no way of ascertaining whether they can trust the original provider of said binaries?

      Writing malware is not particularly difficult when you have a good SDK. The iPhone is, for most purposes, a fully functional and familiar UNIX environment, and the APIs necessary to build a SpyPhone are not a secret. Given the lack of insight the average user will have into the operating system on a h

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Strange Ranger ( 454494 )
        >Well, you've more or less have put on a major concern of *ALL* smartphones. Whether it runs OS X (iPhone), Windows Mobile, Linux, Symbian, RIM OS (Blackberry) - they all meet the same criteria. Most people will install a random binary on their smartphone if it does something "interesting", regardless of what it runs.

        Whatever. You're going to be so jealous that my phone has Comet Cursor and Weather Bug on it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by OECD ( 639690 )

      ...users need to be careful about what they put on their phone, who made the binaries, and how they verify the source. Even one compromised iPhone would be very valuable to a nefarious malfeasant.

      Well, yeah. Replace "iPhone" with "computer" and you have the current state of affairs.

      I'm starting to think that Apple has made this 'just hackable enough.' That is, if you want to, and don't fear the command line, you can do it (and they can disclaim any responsibility.) But if you don't want to, you don't hav

  • If you want to build/install third party apps on a smartphone, why not buy something a little more open [openmoko.org]?

    Not trying to troll or anything... I'm being serious. I truely believe in what OpenMoko is doing. Apple makes OK hardware and systems, but I will still side with whichever is more open.

    *shrugs* I suppose I've just never found the iPhone to be anywhere near appealing.

    • If you want to build/install third party apps on a smartphone, why not buy something a little more open [openmoko.org]?

      Because the software is not actually finished and some people want a functional phone? (The web site you link specifically screams "Currently it is not suitable for users.") The operating system isn't even functional, much less having applications (such as a good browser).

      Then there's the fact that the phone that's available doesn't have WiFi (a deal breaker for me), nor a camera (wh

      • Then there's the fact that the phone that's available doesn't have WiFi (a deal breaker for me), nor a camera (which kind of sucks, but maybe forgivable).

        In short, this is a few years away from being any sort of competitor with the iPhone or S60-based phones.

        If you'd have done a tiny bit of searching [openmoko.org], you'd see that the version available right now is the developer edition (aka GTA01). This version was designed with price in mind. It purposely lacks some non-essential features to make it more affordab

        • If you'd have done a tiny bit of searching [openmoko.org], you'd see that the version available right now is the developer edition (aka GTA01). [...] The next revision is the consumer edition (aka GTA02) which happens to be coming out in October. If my math is correct, that's 2 months away... much sooner than "a few years away".

          Note that I said a few years until it's a competitor with the iPhone or S60-based phones, not that you couldn't get a box with some sort of software on it.

          The site also says th

          • Is the browser going to suck like most phones? Who knows?

            The developer [blogspot.com] of the browser for it seems to be hinting [blogspot.com] that it will be launched along with GTA02.

            Besides... This discussion is about people installing third-party applications on their phone. Initially I simply stated that the OpenMoko would be much better supported in that aspect. Installing unsupported "hacked" applications onto the iPhone may void your warranty. And whenever you do a software update on it, it apparently will lose all of your

    • Why not? The usual reasons. (Score:5, Informative)

      by mbessey ( 304651 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:22PM (#20272605) Homepage Journal
      Why not buy an OpenMoko phone? Well, it's certainly poised to bring the same success to the mobile phone market as we've been seeing with Linux on the desktop.

      from http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Developer_preview [openmoko.org]
      What you can expect
      a functional bootloader with support for firmware upgrades
      a functional Linux kernel with basic drivers for the various hardware subsystems, with small bugs here and there
      a basic, simple linux distribution based on OpenEmbedded, that you have to install yourself as rootfs image using USB DFU
      all the source code that we have at this point in time, and the corresponding build system
      mailing lists

      What you CAN NOT expect yet
      reliable means of making phone calls, esp. not from the UI
      reliable means of sending/receiving SMS, esp. not from the UI
      integrated GPRS data access
      bluetooth integration (basic bluez driver works)
      proper power management (i.e. no reasonable battery life yet)
      ringtone (or other) profile management
      network preferences (call deflection, manual operator selection, ...)
      a complete application framework where third party application developers can write apps that easily integrate with the OpenMoko world

      Maybe I'm just a stupid Apple fan-boy, but I'm willing to spend a little extra for a cellular phone that can, you know, make phone calls.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by corychristison ( 951993 )
        As you so eloquently pointed it, that is the Developer Preview.

        As stated in other post [slashdot.org]:

        If you'd have done a tiny bit of searching [openmoko.org], you'd see that the version available right now is the developer edition (aka GTA01). This version was designed with price in mind. It purposely lacks some non-essential features to make it more affordable to developers. The next revision is the consumer edition (aka GTA02) which happens to be coming out in October. If my math is correct, that's only 2 months away...

        Damn you

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by LKM ( 227954 )
          Your argument makes no sense. First you ask why people buy iPhones and not this. Then people point out that it's not finished and can't even reliable make calls. Then you complain that people are stupid because of course it's not finished. So how is it an alternative to the iPhone?
          • What the hell are you talking about? Below is my original post, please feel free to point out where I claimed it was a complete alternative to the iPhone.

            If you want to build/install third party apps on a smartphone, why not buy something a little more open?

            Not trying to troll or anything... I'm being serious. I truely believe in what OpenMoko is doing. Apple makes OK hardware and systems, but I will still side with whichever is more open.

            *shrugs* I suppose I've just never found the iPhone to be anywh

            • Re: (Score:3)

              by LKM ( 227954 )

              What the hell are you talking about? Below is my original post, please feel free to point out where I claimed it was a complete alternative to the iPhone.

              Sure. Here:

              "If you want to build/install third party apps on a smartphone, why not buy something a little more open?"

              You're clearly telling people who want to install apps on their iPhones to buy "something a little more open," i.e. an OpenMoko phone, which you actually name in the next paragraph - despite the fact that - as you you yourself explain in other posts - they are only selling dev phones.

              Also, there's no reason to get excited. Please calm down. I'm not trying to insult you personally, just pointing out an inconsistency in your argument. Just because we're on the Internet doesn't mean you need t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cato ( 8296 )
        This reminds me of my reaction to Linux on PCs about 15 years ago - I had a choice of UnixWare (from Novell) or Linux, and thought that Linux was very incomplete and wouldn't go anywhere. Today, UnixWare is almost dead, and many of the surviving Unixes are open source (the BSDs, Solaris, Darwin, ...) due to the success of Linux on the server. I now run Linux on my main home PC, and customers of my (proprietary software) employer are now saying 'support Linux or Windows or you won't buy your software at all

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by suv4x4 ( 956391 )
          This reminds me of my reaction to Linux on PCs about 15 years ago - I had a choice of UnixWare (from Novell) or Linux, and thought that Linux was very incomplete and wouldn't go anywhere. Today, UnixWare is almost dead, and many of the surviving Unixes are open source (the BSDs, Solaris, Darwin, ...) due to the success of Linux on the server.

          Yes, the best choice isn't a constant in time. As things change, so does your best choice. It doesn't mean we should try and guess how things will be far forward and us

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LKM ( 227954 )

      If you want to build/install third party apps on a smartphone, why not buy something a little more open?

      Because having a nice, usable phone is a higher priority than being able to easily install apps.

  • is that a medical condition? (Score:4, Funny)

    by edwardpickman ( 965122 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @10:46PM (#20272361)
    Is command line phobia a medical condition or is it related to a fear of typing? Do people actually get the shakes and start screaming "where did all the icons go"? An older Unix system must make them go fetal.
    • "Type? There? No, no I won't" "But you'll get that sweet app that I have on my iPhone." "Please, no. I can't. I won't" "What's wrong with you. Look, just type this.* *Arrggh!*

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by shmlco ( 594907 )
      No, it's more like "I have a life and don't need to learn arcane commands written by social misfits who themselves had a deep phobia of dictionaries."
  • Why must every OSX article refer to "fear of the command line" or some other silly reference to it. It's been seven fucking years since OSX debuted. It's UNIX. Get over it people - we're all fairly comfortable with sh by now.

    I never see these patronizing predicates in Windows articles where one must enter something into the shell. Seems to be some kind of hand-wringing phenomenon that only affects Mac authors. I don't know if it's some kind of weird CLI hubris ala the 'Ruby on Rails/glossy black Macbook'

    • Because the whole point of the Mac, and the thing valued most by it's whole target market, is it's simplicity. The UNIX underbelly is supposed to stay hidden beneath the sleek brushed-metal lines. You don't get these patronising predicates in Windows articles involving the shell because the Windows shell is considerably less complex (read: powerful) than the UNIX shell that OS X has. To an unfamiliar user, that much power is scary.

      Also, it might be a dev-oriented article, but at the end of the day, once y

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by GotenXiao ( 863190 )
      The reason you don't get those patronising predicates in Windows articles is because you can't do anything in the CLI on Windows. It's mostly for decoration, or possibly finding out your IP.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by LKM ( 227954 )

      Why must every OSX article refer to "fear of the command line" or some other silly reference to it. It's been seven fucking years since OSX debuted. It's UNIX. Get over it people - we're all fairly comfortable with sh by now.

      Most users of Mac OS X don't even know that the Terminal exists, and neither should they have to.

      Of course, they probably also don't care about being able to install stuff on their iPhones.

  • No point in the end (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Coward Anonymous ( 110649 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:14PM (#20272543)
    So you install a couple apps to stick it to the man. It's fun for about a week and then you have a fragility problem. Apple clearly isn't supporting this. Any updates/changes Apple makes will most probably wipe out anything you've modified, forcing you to re-liberate the phone and re-install your apps again not to speak of being able to restore your lost data (the equivalent of your apps/data disappearing when the battery drains).

    Apple doesn't want anyone playing in their sand box, so let them play alone.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Zorque ( 894011 )
      Actually, their latest update didn't do a thing about people's unlocked and otherwise hacked phones. Maybe in the future we'll see that, but Apple never did anything about iPod Linux either (Nevermind that iPL wasn't really a runaway success or anything).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LKM ( 227954 )
        Not to mention the AppleTV. People are hacking them, and Apple doesn't seem to mind.

  • Autoinstaller (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Friday August 17, 2007 @11:21PM (#20272603) Homepage Journal
    When someone figures out how to package these apps in an installer that can be just "clicked" (or tapped, or slid... what exactly is the operative gesture on an iPhone?), the iPhone will finally arrive as a platform, not just a product.

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