Hack that Phone - Read me first

Updated: September 5, 2010

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First, I only write tutorials for Mac users. Second, I have a lot of content on this site so I made this page as an introduction to the iPhone hacking scene. Consider it a roadmap for everything I have to offer.

These are the topics I will cover:

What is jailbreaking, and why should I do it?
How is unlocking different from jailbreaking?
What jailbreaking has to offer.
Why are there four Step 1 tutorials, and which is the right one for me?
Step 2: Okay I've jailbroken, now what?
What else does your site offer?
Alternate hacking programs.
Reminders for hacking the iPhone.

What is jailbreaking, and why should I do it?

Jailbreaking is a process where you modify your iPhone to run unsigned code. Without getting too technical, all the programs on the iPhone run inside of a programming sandbox so to speak. Apple does this so that you and I can not bring our own toys to play with in Apple's sandbox. By bringing our own programs, this increases the functionality of the iPhone. Once jailbroken, you can now run non App Store programs, or modify the iPhone's file system in ways that Apple doesn't approve of. It doesn't matter to Apple if these programs are safe, or if they are beneficial to you. Apple only wants their approved of programs running on your iPhone. Apple does this to protect their business model, the iPhone's security (and the networks'). As a side effect, this also stifles innovation and competition.

Jailbreaking an iPhone is legally allowed! The Library of Congress approved jailbreaking as an allowed exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can read their ruling here. Paragraph 2 specifically applies to this.

Jailbreaking is a generally risk-free process that will not void your warranty (provided you can restore it with the original firmware provided by Apple). Even Apple employees at the retail stores can be seen with jailbroken iPhones. To undo the jailbreaking process you simply restore your iPhone with iTunes, and all evidence of the jailbreaking is removed. Jailbreaking is a transparent process. Everything on your iPhone will continue to work normally once you have jailbroken. The number one reason to jailbreak an iPhone, is so that you can unlock it for use with any GSM cellular phone service provider in the world! Jailbreaking is not unlocking. Those are two different things...

How is unlocking different from jailbreaking?

While jailbreaking lets you use any programs you want to on the iPhone, unlocking is an additional process performed on already jailbroken iPhones. Unlocking is removing the restriction put in place by Apple or your cell phone service provider (AT&T, T-Mobile, O2), that limits the iPhone to operating only on their particular network. You can roam, but at greatly increased rates of service. When you unlock an iPhone, it allows it to operate on any network in the world that uses the GSM standard (the most widely adopted cellular phone standard on the planet). You simply remove one SIM card, and insert the SIM card of the network you want to use, and the iPhone will accept it.

Unlocking an iPhone (or any other cell phone) is legally allowed! The Library of Congress approved unlocking as an allowed exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) many years ago, and this exemption continues to be upheld. You can read their ruling here. Paragraph 3 specifically applies to this.

Remember, iPhones use GSM technology, not CDMA. iPhones can not be made to operate on providers like Sprint or Verizon. If you are a United States resident, keep in mind the 3G frequencies that AT&T and T-Mobile uses are not the same. If you want 3G connectivity and T-Mobile service, then purchase a T-Mobile phone.

While Apple's App Store is fantastic, it doesn't provide you with many things that you can install once you are jailbroken. In fact, there are many things you will never see on the App Store because of Apple's strict, and often capricious rules for approval. Cydia (an alternative to the App Store) is the program that is automatically installed when jailbreaking, and the vast majority of the content it offers is free!

What are some of these programs?

How would you like to use FaceTime over your 3G connection when you are on the go, instead of being restricted to Wi-Fi? Well if you jailbreak you can! All you have to do is purchase the program called 3G Unrestrictor. This program is not only good for making FaceTime work over 3G, but using any program over 3G that is normally restricted like Skype, SlingPlayer, or YouTube. You can also download files larger than 20 megabytes from the iTunes store.

How about the ability to tether with your iPhone, without a tethering plan? Ultimately it's your responsibility if you start gobbling up data with your iPhone, but this is a very convenient feature when you are on the go and there is no Wi-Fi to be found for your laptop computer. Yes you can tether with a GoPhone plan, or with T-Mobile...

Would you like to have the ability to opt out of data mining services which have their code embedded in some App Store applications? The reasons for this data mining seem harmless enough, developers just want to track how users use their program. If you would like the option to not be tracked, you can install a program called PrivaCy. This program was made by the creator of Cydia and in conjunction with the data tracking service companies in question. Once installed, you are presented with a control panel for opting out of each individual service.

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When Apple released 4.0.2 firmware it was targetted directly at a PDF exploit which could be used maliciously to allow for arbitrary code execution. This is the method used by the jailbreakme.com site. While it's good that Apple is patching security vulnerabilities, they left out plugging this patching this hole in the first generation iPhone and iPod Touch. If you jailbreak, you can install this security patch on any device you'd like. It's called PDF Patch, and is written by the same programmer who created Cydia.

Apple doesn't allow applications that duplicate the functionality of core services in the iPhone. Because of this GV Mobile was pulled from the App Store. It integrated with the free Google Voice service. Apparently either Apple or AT&T didn't like the access to free domestic calling, free SMS, and lower rates for international calls. One of these banned applications that took advantage of Google Voice was GV Mobile. It was a paid application on the App Store. When the creator of the program found out he was kicked out of the App Store, he brought his program to Cydia, and offered it for free!

Some of GV Mobile's features include:

Integration with Google Voice.
Take calls from different phones other than your iPhone.
Enable or disable the phones that Google Voice forwards your calls to.
Add or delete phones that Google Voice forwards call to.
Playback and delete voicemails.
Dial numbers via the iPhone address book or typing on the keypad.
Full SMS support (view historic, reply, send new).
Retrieve and delete recent call history.

Here's what GV Mobile looks like.

Getting back to Google Voice for a moment... This is not VoIP. You must have a phone plan to use this. It's only available to residents of the United States. This service is invite only, but it only took a few days for my request to be approved.

Here is what Google voice offers:

A personal phone number that can ring all of your existing phones at once when people call. You can also select which phone numbers of yours will ring. You can even have individual outgoing messages depending on who is calling you.
All of your voicemail in one inbox with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts sent to your phone and email.
Low-priced international calling to over 200 countries and free SMS.
Other powerful features like the first phone spam filter to protect you from unwanted callers, the ability to listen in on your voicemail messages while they are being left, conference calling and more.

There are free games written specifically for jailbroken iPhones like MacMan. This is only available via Cydia.

WinterBoard can "theme" the look of your iPhone with just a couple pushes of a button. Take your stock iPhone from this, to this, to this. These themes are called Glass Orb and Chromatic Neon, and can be found in Cydia.

Since this is a phone, and you’ll be spending a lot of time dialing phone numbers, why not change the phone keypad as well? The standard phone keypad sure is rather plain looking. The keypad in the middle is called Retro Phone Dialer. The keypad on the right is one I made with my own photograph.

Who says your lock screen can only show the time and date? LockInfo and WinterBoard to the rescue. You can add practically anything to the lock screen like weather, and status on your e-mail, voicemail, SMS, RSS feeds et cetera.

Starting on the top row, the left photo is the stock lock screen, the middle photo is the LockInfo program (with a different slider), and the third photo is using WinterBoard with a theme called LockMS (with an invisible slider). The second row on the left is the LockMS_Weather theme, the middle photo is the wĕdaPanel theme which has a lot more weather information to display, merely be tapping on the lockscreen, the final photo is another variation of the LockMS_Weather theme.

If you jailbreak you can even change the font used in the Notes program.

You can customize the audio sounds on your iPhone when you slide to unlock, dial a phone number, receive a new email or SMS and relock your phone just to name a few. Why be stuck with the same exact sounds that every other iPhone has? There are many WinterBoard themes that can do this, or you can use SSH to do it yourself.

Apple has lots of features on the iPhone that can be turned on and off. The problem is these buttons are all buried in different menus and it can be confusing where to find them quickly, or just tedious to have to do over and over again.

There’s a program called SBSettings, which adds a convenient control panel to the iPhone. It is a one stop shop for turning on and off various services on your phone like: 3G, Edge, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SSH, Airplane mode, GPS location, adjusting screen brightness, killing processes, SSH, Tethering, et cetera. It is activated by simply swiping your finger across the status bar. Note at the very top of the screen I have enabled numeric displays for my cellular signal strength, Wi-Fi signal strength, and battery strength instead of using the traditional graphics. This is another feature of this program.

SBSettings also has a control panel for hiding the various program icons installed. If you are like most people who don’t use the Stocks application, you can just make it disappear by sliding its toggle to off.

There are a plethora of options to explore in the completely free and amazing program.

One of my favorite programs is iBlacklist. It allows you to selectively block incoming calls from phone numbers that you don't want bothering you. This is great for blocking telemarketers, or around election time. You can also use it to block text messages. There is a similar program called MCleaner. Both applications are fee based.

Another little known fact is that the iPhone is limited to eleven pages of icons. Once you reach this limit, any new programs you install through the App Store will not display on the iPhone, so you won't have any way to run those programs unless you do a Spotlight search for them. With 4.0 firmware Apple finally introduced folders, but implements them in a limited way: you can only have 12 icons in a folder. Why this limitation?

If you jailbreak, you can use a program called Infinifolders, which allows an unlimited amount of applications in a folder! If you buy more programs from the App Store, no problem. When you go to sync your iPhone through iTunes, the new application is placed on the next avaialable page of your iPhone and you just simply drag it over to the folder you'd like it in. This is a paid program in Cydia. Here's my before and after. Twelve icons on the left, and you can just see the thirteenth icon on the right. The window scrolls to display more than twelve icons. It really works.

If you really like cramming your screen full of icons you could install the programs Five Icon Dock, Five-Column SpringBoard, and Five Icon Switcher.

If you'd rather see just how few icons you can have on your screen, or be able to arrange them in any pattern you'd like (with gaps), then check out the Gridlock program.

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