Step 2: Okay I've jailbroken, now what?

So you finally decided to jailbreak your iPhone and now you are wondering what to do next. I'll introduce you to Cydia - the third party application distribution program specifically for jailbroken iPhones.

Step 1.

Launch Cydia. You will probably see this message next, and it lasts for a couple minutes.




When it has finished launch Cydia again. You will then be asked this question. I always choose developer. You can change your answer to this later if you'd like by going to the Manage tab at the bottom, then press Settings. Here is the main page. Note the red badge on the Changes tab. This indicates something has an update available.




When you press the Changes tab you'll see a list of everything that has an update ready to be installed. Just push the Upgrade button in the top right corner to install the updates. At the next screen press the Confirm button in the top right corner.




You'll see a status report of the upgrade process like this. When it has finished, you will see a Return to Cydia (or close to restart Cydia) button.




Launch Cydia again. Now you are at the default welcome screen. You can press the Featured Packages button to see some of the latest and greatest applications released on Cydia. Just because something is listed here does not mean it will run on 4.x firmware.




You can see all the packages on Cydia by pressing the Sections button at the bottom, and then going into the All Packages folder, or into the individual folders below it.




If you press the Manage tab, then select Packages, you can see what Cydia has installed on your iPhone already.

Step 2.

Let's install a program. OpenSSH is critical to many of the tutorials on this site. It's one of the best ways to move files to and from the iPhone, and to install programs that are not available on Cydia or the App Store.

Note: If you do decide to install OpenSSH it is critical that you change the root and mobile passwords on the iPhone to ward off attacks by viruses, trojans, phishing schemes and worms. Read this tutorial to learn more.

Press the Search button at the bottom. Enter the name of your program in the search box, then press the Search button. Your results will be displayed. Press the one you want to install.




Press the Install button. Then press the Confirm button.




You'll see a status report of the install process like this. When it has finished, press the Return to Cydia button.




To remove a package already installed on your iPhone, press the Manage button, then select Packages. Then press the name of the package you want to remove.




Then press the Modify button. Press Remove.




Press Confirm and the package will be uninstalled.

Step 3.

Cydia has recently started selling programs. From the welcome screen, press the Cydia Store button. The list of available packages and their prices are here.

Step 4.

You can also see how much free space you have on the two paritions of the iPhone's storage chip. Press the Manage button, then select Storage.

Step 5.

While Cydia comes with many "sources" preinstalled, you can add sources that are not included by default. Howard Forums has a thread here, which has a list of many Cydia sources, and what they host. To add a source do the following: Press the Manage button, then press Sources. Press the Edit button.




Press the Add button. Then enter the source's URL. Press the Add Source button.




Your source will be added to your list. Press the Return to Cydia button.




Press Done. Your source is now added. You can press the source's name to see every package offered by it.




If you should have problems with Cydia not working correctly, then check out this thread over at the XSellize forums. They have compiled some great troubleshooting steps.