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ReadWriteWeb
Top 10 Apps Worth Jailbreaking Your iPhone to Get
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The iTunes App Store is becoming a trendsetter for other companies in the mobile market. With thousands of apps to choose from and over 60 million downloads total, what more could you ask for? Apparently a lot. Users still aren't satisfied with the selection of apps that Apple is letting into the App Store. Apps that are extending the functionality of some of Apple's standard offerings are being denied their chance to shine. This has resulted in a small, but talented pool of developers finding other ways to promote their apps to iPhone users.
Enter a method known as "jailbreaking". Jailbreaking your iPhone voids your warranty, but allows you access to some of the most incredible apps that won't be coming to the App Store anytime soon. Here's our top 10 picks of apps worth jailbreaking your iPhone to get.
Pushr
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3078%2F2837404550_3a8471071d_m.jpg)
There just aren't enough dedicated Flickr apps in the iTunes App Store. To add injury to insult, the majority of dedicated Flickr apps don't allow you to upload Flickr photos from your iPhone. In steps Pushr to fill this void! Pushr allows you to select a photo and edit a lot of the standard Flickr options. Users can edit the name, description, tags, and privacy options before uploading it their Flickr account. We're huge fans of its tagging feature because it pulls from the list of previously used tags for better convenience.
Pushr also allows you to upload multiple photos at a time, which beats emailing each photo individually. If you want to delete a photo from the list, simply swipe your finger from right to left. Our only quirk with Pushr is that you can't specify a set for images to go to. Otherwise, Pushr is the ultimate Flickr uploading tool for your iPhone.
Qik
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3029%2F2836569915_394ab62b51_m.jpg)
Qik is one of the best livestreaming services available on the web. The service has recently expand its offerings of compatible handsets. Lucky for jailbreakers, Qik has recently become available on jailbroken iPhones. Since its initial release the Qik app has upgraded tremendously. You can now:
It's still recommended to livestream with Qik over Wifi or 3G connections. Though, that's hardly something to complain about.
Flixwagon
If you're not into Qik, you may like its competitor, Flixwagon. Most of what applies to the Qik app also applies to the Flixwagon application. So we won't bore you with a rehash of the details.If you're on Flixwagon instead of Qik, you won't be left out in the cold. If only these apps were available in the App Store...
Winterboard
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3033%2F2836570289_73781b916e_m.jpg)
If you're a customization junkie like some of us here on ReadWriteWeb, then you were probably disappointed in the fact that there's very little you can do in terms of customizing the iPhone. The only customization option is the changing of the lock-screen wallpaper. Honestly, who even pays attention to that?
Winterboard is the ultimate solution for meeting your customization needs on your iPhone. There are thousands of compatible themes floating around for customizing the "real" background on your iPhone, icons, bars, keyboards, alert buttons, battery images, and tons more. The possibilities are endless with Winterboard. Quite frankly it's one of the main apps that most people do jailbreak their iPhones for. Check out the awesome theme to the right I have installed on my iPhone thanks to Winterboard.
MxTube
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The iPhone's built-in Youtube app is great. Now you can watch videos all day without having to pay Apple a dime. What do you do when there's no internet connection available? You could go through the process of downloading and converting Youtube videos into the iTunes compatible format. Sounds tedious, doesn't it?
MxTube is a simple solution. With MxTube can stream Youtube videos just like you do with the standard Youtube app. MxTube also allows you to download and save these videos to your iPhone. The process is simple and entirely dependent upon your internet connection. Simply download the video you'd like to view later and that's it. You can watch all your videos directly from the MxTube app. No conversion necessary.
NES
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The NES emulator app allows you to run Nintendo ROMs right from your iPhone. Trust us, there are plenty floating around the web for downloading. It's a little tricky to get these ROMs on your iPhone and also involves a bit of hacking. However, it's nothing serious enough to brick your iPhone and well worth the effort. So if you're in the mood for some old school games like Monopoly, a game that isn't available in the App Store, then the NES emulator might be worth considering jailbreaking your iPhone for.
GSphone
If you were a bigger fan of the Gameboy system, then developers have you covered with the GSphone emulator. Like the NES emulator, GSphone allows you to run ROMs for the Gameboy gaming system. All you old school Pokemon fanatics will love this one! Too bad you have to jailbreak your iPhone for it.
Snapture
![[image]](http://mowser.com/img?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.static.flickr.com%2F3294%2F2836570827_7c96bf80d9_m.jpg)
For all it's worth, the iPhone's camera is really basic with no built-in editing options. Snapture changes all of that in a jiffy. This app provides a host of options and features for editing your photos. Here's a rundown of the many features you get with Snapture:
From easy access to photo sizing to color modes and image rotations, we know you wish you didn't have to jailbreak your iPhone to get this awesome app.
Scrobble
Fans of the Last.FM music service have something to be thrilled about. While you can only scrobble the songs that you listen to via the Last.FM app, Scrobble is an app that runs in the background and scrobbles every song you listen to via the iPod app. You can view the latest stats on how many tracks have been scrobbled and how many are left in queue by heading to your settings. It stays out of the way and works really well with the iPod app.
Cycorder
When Qik became available for the iPhone, we noted how you could use Qik as a video recorder for your iPhone. Those tips aren't obsolete, but Cycorder is a better option. Cycorder has great video recording quality ranging between 6-15 fps. We've been tipped off that for better recording quality with this app, you'll need to be in a will lit area. You can playback your videos on your iPhone or simply download them to your computer for maximum viewing pleasure. Someone tell us why this isn't in the App Store?
More to Come
The only hindrance with these apps is that you have to jailbreak your iPhone in order to get them. We really wish we didn't. The process for jailbreaking your iPhone can be pretty confusing on the first go round. However, it's relatively safe enough that if anything goes wrong you can restore your iPhone using iTunes.
The number of jailbroken apps available is tremendous, but doesn't rival the number of App Store offerings. In terms of quality apps with consistent updates, we'd rather go with jailbroken repositories Cydia and Installer 4. We're sure there are plenty more apps to look forward to like SwirlyMMS, which will make it easier for iPhone users to send MMS messages. We'll keep you posted as they come down the pipeline.
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Nice list, though I'm not a fan of Snapture anymore now that they've added a fairly obtrusive advert to the image preview pane. The previous version was much better in my opinion.
Posted by: M Dolon | September 7, 2008 1:53 PM
I've always thought about jailbreaking mine, but I don't think i've had a clear understanding of the downsides if you do. Is there a site that list these?
Posted by: JP | September 7, 2008 2:10 PM
I use Mobile Fotos from the App Store for Flickr, and find it excellent.
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284393206&mt=8
Also, really finding Cycorder really great. Sure, it has advertising, but the developers need to get paid somehow. I'm still astounded that Apple hasn't included this, and I guess as they intend to do a mobile version of Quicktime at some point, they are not allowing any third party apps via the App Store.
Jailbreak + App Store definitely gives you the best of both worlds.
Posted by: Jon Beattie | September 7, 2008 3:39 PM
Am I missing something? I really don't see a single app in this list worth the risk of turning your iPhone into a brick or getting some weird virus. Did you take a look at the iPhone store? I don't work for Apple, i'm not an iPhone developer, and I am sure not a fan of AT&T, but I just don't see the risk vs reward advantage.
Maybe I am being anal, but the iPhone is a premium product and I am not going to bastardize it and risk compromising security or the iPhone itself to save myself 5 bucks buying online. Not a chance!
Now, of course, if you bought the iPhone to play old Nintendo games and you want to install NES running the risk of jeopardizing your device, go for it but don't whine when you become a victim of technical darwinism.
Posted by: Marcelo | September 7, 2008 4:31 PM
The NES emulator does it for me. No need to bring my DS along for the dreaded grocery store lines.
@Marcelo - You can "unjailbreak" your phone. I think the key is to reverse it before you update via iTunes. I certainly did not buy my iPhone to play NES games; however, that and several other applications would be nice to have. I also am not a big fan of the crazy limitation on iPhone developers. I guess it is all in how you view it.
Posted by: fershur | September 7, 2008 6:49 PM
Ok, I am a rookie so maybe I don't get it. I understand some of the comments concerning apps/virus' etc. Is that what we have to look forward to with Android? Is every app going to be at risk?
http://tech-stock-investor.blogspot.com
Posted by: Ray The Money Man | September 7, 2008 9:31 PM
jailbreaking doesn't void your warranty, you can restore back to the original iPhone software. It's also really simple using something like winpwn not to mention there are tonnes of tutorials.
Posted by: j | September 7, 2008 9:36 PM
@Marcelo: You are certainly entitled to your own fear, but I don't see the point in falsely striking fear in everyone else. Jailbreaking done properly does not compromise security. (Yes, apps like ssh require you set a password, but don't you need to do that on your laptop too?)
The App Store is great but it is a controlled market. While 100+ tip calculators have been added, there are several apps that have not made it into the store, either because they haven't been evaluated yet or they have been evaluated and Apple decided not to let it in. (Currently the requirements are not clearly defined.) Developing for App Store requires a $99/annual fee, which many students and younger developers -- who are quite capable -- simply can't afford. Updates to existing applications are added at Apple's leisure, leaving apps with problems to continue to exist until Apple gets around to updating them.
I love the App Store and will continue to use it, but jailbreaking -- for the technically inclined, and those who have technical friends to help them -- is a great parallel ecosystem to enjoy your iPhone with. Enjoy it or not, but there's no reason into scaring everyone else away from it.
Posted by: Rick Parker | September 7, 2008 10:07 PM
You missed a HUGE one. The biggest reason to jailbreak: Intelliscreen. Intelliscreen lets you customize items to display on your locked screen. You can see (and check) if you have any new emails without unlocking your phone, a HUGE oversight on the iPhone as far as I'm concerned. You can also (optionally) see new SMS messages, read RSS feeds, get weather updates and sports scores, view your upcoming calendar items, all without ever unlocking your phone. It's been a Godsend just for the email functionality. Oh, and with Intelliscreen you can finally disable the iPhone's obnoxious habit of popping up new SMS messages over anything else you're doing. Instead, the phone will buzz (or whatever you want) and a tiny icon displays up in the corner next to your battery indicator. So much better, and it all works like a charm.
Posted by: Rob | September 7, 2008 11:10 PM
Jailbreaking is not for Everyone - if you're fearful, it's not for you.
Qik- Great. I can Stream LIVE video from my iPhone- have it posted on Facebook via Twitter Sync. Qik also works if you phone is on Standby!
Cycorder - is not a free app.
Also there's an App they left out that allows the Mac to see the iphone as a Shared Drive (AppleTalk)
Tethering - for all those who didn't get NetShare on time.
Posted by: Ronny I | September 7, 2008 11:31 PM
Winterboard is my fave... I've skinned my iPod touch in so many ways every since I've gotten it :)
Posted by: Friedbeef | September 7, 2008 11:52 PM
What about SpoofApp :)
Posted by: alan Beebe | September 7, 2008 11:55 PM
http://digg.com/apple/Top_10_Apps_Worth_Jailbreaking_Your_iPhone_to_Get
Dugg for the great article. C'mon guys let's start the new movement to get everyone onto jailbroken iPhones.
My thoughts on Snapture...
Paid for the full version. It's the best $7.99 I've ever spent on a piece of software.
Once you buy the premium features, it's eaaaasily 3-4X faster than the default iPhone camera. And oh, the ability to delete the crap pictures right on the screen, that's a winner for me. I was hesitating at first because I was already getting a ton of options, but boy was I glad that I got the full version, the difference is night and day.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see Apple or Nokia acquire these SnaptureLabs guys sometimes soon. It'd be a shame if we don't see these great new features on all high end smart phones soon.
AGain, trust me, if you're going to spend any money on iphone apps, this is the one to get.
Posted by: digger | September 7, 2008 11:56 PM
As a few posters have mentioned, the actual process of jail-breaking is fairly straightforward now. If you can follow directions and basically know your right from your left, it is very easy. Excluding download times (maybe 10 mins in all), it takes about 5 mins with Quickpwn. If you screw up, all you do is restore and your iPhone is exactly as it was before you started.
Posted by: Ray | September 8, 2008 12:12 AM
www.phonezap.com
has a cool one snap photo sharer - but the coolest part about it is it lets you make ringtones out of the songs already on your phone.
Posted by: Neyma Jahansooz | September 8, 2008 12:31 AM
The syncing and story stuff is good.
Posted by: Diy Lian | September 8, 2008 12:48 AM
Jailbroken or not you guys should check out http://www.onetapporn.com (18+only) you can stream porn... Steve jobs banned it from app store !
Posted by: dubz | September 8, 2008 3:00 AM
This article pretty much ignores the command-line side of things.
Here is a list of a few basic obvious things:
Also not mentioned in this article is that being able to manipulate files on your phone via ssh gives you the ability to download iPhone apps from BitTorrent, especially the notorious iPhone "PACKS".
I think all your jailbroken apps get wiped when you upgrade to new Apple firmware, so many feel it's a big pain to re-install everything. Fortunately, the command line lets you list everything you have installed so it's trivially easy to re-install afterwards:
dpkg-query --show --showformat='${Package}\n'This will list all your packages, one per line. If you save this into a text file, e.g. "pkgs.txt", and back it up off the iPhone, then after you re-jailbreak (and install OpenSSH), you can copy the file back and type:
At least, it should work. I'm going to try it when I update to 2.0.2 soon.
Sorry, very geeky I know.
Posted by: clith | September 8, 2008 6:15 AM
Hmm, I am considering jail breaking it just for the camera one. Don't really care about the rest...
Posted by: digguser | September 8, 2008 6:17 AM
I have 3 iPhones, 2x2G a one 3G - the 3G is in my country sold by all GSM providers and it works with any (GSM) provider in the world. There is NO WAY I am jailbreaking it - the apps are not worth loosing the 24 month warranty. I find that what I want is either free or for few bucks on the App store.
Do not take me wrong - I admire the dev team and others for the jailbreak but the JB "market" would have to offer something more substantial for me to recommend jailbreaking. Like Skype, for example.
Posted by: Lanny | September 8, 2008 8:45 AM
No mention of SpoofApp 3G? SpoofApp was one of the biggest and best apps on the old firmware in Installer. It's in Cydia and ported to 2.0 now so I'm surprised its not on the list.
Posted by: natas | September 8, 2008 8:55 AM
What about Fring? Make calls using Skype. I'm not ready to trade the App store to jailbreak, but this app looks pretty sweet and would be great for traveling internationally.
http://www.fring.com/download/iphone/
Posted by: by88 | September 8, 2008 9:08 AM
Ok, you folks seem really worried about voiding the warranty on your phones, which would be warranted if there was no option to restore your phone, BUT THERE IS. Restoring your phone through iTunes is basically reimaging your phone with the original iPhone software/firmware. This will work as well on a jailbroken phone as a non-jailbroken phone! This will make your phone brand-spankin' new again with no evidence of it having been jailbroken to begin with.
So no worries! If you're worried about jailbreaking b/c you don't feel technically competent enough (which is understandable b/c not everyone knows UNIX) to change permissions on files or ssh into your phone, well that's something different, and that's what you should be stating as your fear.
Posted by: FooZilla | September 8, 2008 9:25 AM
Marcello,
Obviously you haven't a clue as to what the hell you're talking about. Jailbreaking your phone is completely reversible and as long as you aren't a moron (which I am assuming you are) and drop your phone in a bucket of water while jailbreaking, you're going to be fine.
As for getting a virus on your iphone, how many real viruses do you know of for OS X? Thought so.
Posted by: ths | September 8, 2008 1:10 PM
I'd throw in NemusSync:
http://www.nemustech.com/iPhone/NemusSync.html
lets you sync your Google Calendar to the native iPhone calendar app. Works with iPhone 2.0 software now, and actually even matches all the colors in your gCal--which MobileMe doesn't even do. It's not push calendars, it requires you to click sync, but it works great.
Posted by: AlexC | September 8, 2008 1:43 PM
I'd throw in NemusSync:
http://www.nemustech.com/iPhone/NemusSync.html
lets you sync your Google Calendar to the native iPhone calendar app. Works with iPhone 2.0 software now, and actually even matches all the colors in your gCal--which MobileMe doesn't even do. It's not push calendars, it requires you to click sync, but it works great.
Posted by: AlexC | September 8, 2008 1:43 PM
Well I signed up for an account just to ask this specific question...
What specific winterboard theme is that being used in the pic above? I've downloaded a few themes and have been trying to customize it to look like that without any luck...
Anybody have some advice on locating that specific theme?
Oh, and great article... Wasn't aware of the nes emulator.
Posted by: skokage
| September 8, 2008 1:55 PM
Are there any tricks to getting Scrobbled to work? It looks like it's launching alright (I've got the "as" logo on the top bar) but the songs still don't show up in Last.fm..
Posted by: Daniel Bachhuber | September 8, 2008 3:10 PM
The only reason to JailBreak your iPhone . . . over the air syncing with your Calendar!!
Posted by: Matthew | September 8, 2008 6:04 PM
ths, give me a break! You can't spell my name right and then you question my intelligence? We are all technically inclined here. I would not see anybody messing it up, but the list of apps on this article will not get me to do it, sorry.
Posted by: Marcelo | September 9, 2008 6:38 PM
Thanks for this great review. I used it as a reference in my daily tech show on Mobuzz.tv.
http://dailybuzz.mobuzz.tv/shows/metallica_and_michael_moore_free_on_the_internet
Posted by: Gabemac | September 11, 2008 3:15 AM
I will continue jailbreaking my phone . I just cant live without snapture. Plus i keep discovering really cool new apps like Dock and ToneFXs. Jailbreaking is the way to go
Posted by: iphoneDuuude | September 11, 2008 10:41 AM
I would jailbreak my G3 if it meant I can 1) get rid of AT&T and 2) not have to jaibreak again every time I synch with itunes.
Posted by: Jeff | September 12, 2008 5:51 PM
It's an education app, but I love it...bought it a few days ago... Cram http://www.simpleleap.com/cram.htm
Posted by: WizzardMidnight | September 13, 2008 10:07 AM
First of all, U can reverse any effects if jailbreakin EASYLY through iTunes. So 4 U who feel its a tricky proccess or worried about the warranty, get real. If U was able to find and read this page, then U can do it.
This article only mentions some of the Apps only via Jailbreakin.
To set the record straight. U can also use the regular AppStore stuff also.
Oh yea and perhaps the most important ability. Is that U can install ALL the "paid for" Apps for free. Yes I have 100s of $$ worth of Apps free.
They 4got to mention Catagory that make your springboard organized and group yo Apps together. If ya like me and have about 100 of them, then it starts to just look clutter and alot of scrollin.
1last mention for features such as Turnin OFF the Auto correction when typin, battery with #s (tap it to toggle on and off), a talkin lady talks when U get an email instead of that lil beep, and list goes on.
Best of all, I still got my warranty and saved alot of cash. Lets all remember the warranty covers if theres a malfunction/deffective product. Not if U drop it or somethin. The only way to void it is by physically breakin it while jailbroken, which U wont be covered for ANYWAYS! Oh and if ya have the better warranty and it breaks that bad, they wont even be able to tell its jailbroken cause its broke, DUH! They just send a new 1 in those cases. 4 extreme cases U blow a fit in the store and demand to speak to manager and crap like that, dont be a softy, lol.
Posted by: YaKillaCJ | September 14, 2008 9:14 AM
I was just wondering
is it possible to jailbreak an iphone that was bought with a contract?
Posted by: kyuzio | September 14, 2008 5:31 PM
The iphone is a big disaster in india because it exorbitantly priced.. you should do a story on that..
Posted by: Serviced Apartments Bangalore | September 14, 2008 11:26 PM
People are way too skeptical about jailbreaking.
It's 100% reverisble. a DFU restore wipes everything on the phone... any jailbreaking done is software based.
UNLOCKING is another story, but just adding filesystem access to your phone is nor harmful...
and honestly, why are you going to pay more for the iphone than you do for other smartphones that allow you to use the OS, and then not want access to the OS?
The thing that makes the iphone so great is it's running darwin, same thing as os x.
(granted a port for the iphone arch, but still.)
had a first gen phone.. jailbreaked no worries.. even had it serviced by apple without a problem.
Don't let the apple scare tactics worry you.
Even steve wozniak has a jailbroken phone...:P
Posted by: Bezerker | September 15, 2008 8:28 PM
MxTube is easily the most helpful app for the iPhone/Touch. tons of videos straight to your phone... GPSPhone/GameboyforiPhone/SNESforiPhone are all a close second, since it's nice to be able to have many of my SNES/GBA/GB games on one machine instead of always having to switch/bring along extra carts for my DS. And portable (US) EarthBound = complete win. My iPod gets more playing time than my DS now...
@ Marcelo
one app: iJailbreak.
Posted by: chris | September 30, 2008 7:12 PM
PLEASE PLEASE HELP ASAP!!! I just jailbroke my iPhone and am eager to begin Winterboard customization. However, I have NO IDEA how to run Installer or Cydia. Which one does what? And then when I go on them and search, for example, "winterboard", nothing shows up. What's going on? :(:(:(
Please email me at purpleglitterpen@gmail.com as I won't be able to get back to this post.
PLEASE, IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS, HELP ME!!!
Thanks so much.
Posted by: newiphoneowner | October 6, 2008 6:21 PM