iPhone Hacks

iPhone Hacks

by David Jurick, Damien Stolarz, Adam Stolarz
Released April 2009
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596516642

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Book description

With iPhone Hacks, you can make your iPhone do all you'd expect of a mobile smartphone -- and more. Learn tips and techniques to unleash little-known features, find and create innovative applications for both the iPhone and iPod touch, and unshackle these devices to run everything from network utilities to video game emulators.

This book will teach you how to:

  • Import your entire movie collection, sync with multiple computers, and save YouTube videos
  • Remotely access your home network, audio, and video, and even control your desktop
  • Develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch on Linux, Windows, or Mac
  • Check email, receive MMS messages, use IRC, and record full-motion video
  • Run any application in the iPhone's background, and mirror its display on a TV
  • Make your iPhone emulate old-school video game platforms, and play classic console and arcade games
  • Integrate your iPhone with your car stereo
  • Build your own electronic bridges to connect keyboards, serial devices, and more to your iPhone without "jailbreaking"

iPhone Hacks explains how to set up your iPhone the way you want it, and helps you give it capabilities that will rival your desktop computer. This cunning little handbook is exactly what you need to make the most of your iPhone.

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Table of contents

  1. Dedication
  2. CREDITS
    1. About the Authors
    2. Contributors
  3. PREFACE
    1. Computing and Communication
    2. How to Use This Book
    3. How This Book Is Organized
    4. Conventions Used in This Book
      1. Using Code Examples
    5. Acknowledgments
    6. We’d Like to Hear from You
  4. 1. IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH HACKING BASICS
    1. 1. Learn the Language of iPhone Hacking
      1. The iPhone Cellular Standard
      2. iPhone Applications
      3. The iPhone’s Unix Heritage
      4. Chroot, Jails, and Jailbreaking
      5. The SDK and the App Store
      6. Unlocking
      7. iPhone OS and Firmware
    2. 2. Discover Your iPhone’s Hackability
      1. Taking Inventory
        1. Step 1: Identify your phone model.
        2. Step 2: Identify your firmware and baseband version.
        3. Step 3: Identify your bootloaders.
        4. Wait before you update the firmware.
        5. Step back to a previous firmware version.
    3. 3. Open Your iPhone or iPod touch to Customization by Jailbreaking
      1. Why Jailbreak?
      2. A Brief History of Jailbreaking Applications
      3. Jailbreaking with Pwnage and QuickPwn
      4. Jailbreaking the Latest Firmware
    4. 4. Install Third-Party Apps
      1. Enter Installer.app
      2. Enter Cydia
      3. Repositories
      4. Trusting Sources
    5. 5. Manipulate Your iPhone’s Filesystem
      1. Access iPhone Files from Your Computer
      2. Understand the Hierarchy
      3. Browse Your iPhone Directory on the iPhone Itself
      4. MobileFinder
      5. Mobile Safari
    6. 6. Back Up Your iPhone’s Files
      1. Strategy 1: Use iTunes
      2. Strategy 2: Use the Cloud
      3. Strategy 3: Manually Back Up
        1. Photos
        2. Music and photos
        3. Desktop files
        4. App Store applications
        5. Jailbroken applications
  5. 2. TROUBLESHOOT YOUR IPHONE OR IPOD TOUCH
    1. 7. Triage Your iPhone
      1. Applications
      2. Operating System
      3. BIOS
      4. Hardware
      5. Summary
    2. 8. Force Quit an iPhone Application
    3. 9. Reboot Your iPhone
      1. Power Off Normally
    4. 10. Restore and Recover Your iPhone
      1. Restore
      2. Entering Recovery Mode
      3. Restoring the Firmware
      4. Exiting Recovery Mode
    5. 11. Enter DFU Mode
      1. Entering DFU Mode
      2. Exiting DFU Mode
    6. 12. Get Quality Support with iPhone Hacking
      1. The Community
      2. The iPhone Dev Team
      3. Hackint0sh
      4. The iPhone Wiki
      5. iClarified
      6. modmyi.com
      7. Real-Time Tech Support: IRC
      8. Some Favorites
  6. 3. MESSAGING AND COMMUNICATION
    1. 13. Get the Most from iPhone Email
      1. iPhone Email Support
      2. Email as a Clipboard and Hard Drive
      3. Setting Up
      4. Copy and Paste
    2. 14. Unleash the Full Power of Texting
      1. Send Multiple Text Messages via Email
      2. Send SMS Through Your Instant Messenger
      3. Sending MMS Messages
      4. Receiving Multimedia Message Service (MMS) on the iPhone
    3. 15. Text Your iPhone with Your Desktop Instant Messenger
      1. Add Your Phone to Your Instant Messenger
      2. Note to Self
      3. Shrinking URLs for Text Messages
    4. 16. Enable MMS Picture Messaging on Your iPhone
      1. Picture Messaging, WAP, and WAP Push
      2. Adding WAP Push to a U.S. AT&T Account
      3. Using SwirlyMMS
      4. Sending MMS
      5. Receiving MMS
    5. 17. Increase the Duration of Your iPhone’s SMS Alert
    6. 18. Use Instant Messaging on Your iPhone
      1. Web-based IM Applications
        1. FlickIM
      2. beejive’s Jivetalk
      3. App Store Apps
      4. Free Apps
      5. Jailbreak Solutions
    7. 19. Connect to IRC on Your iPhone
      1. Remote IRC to Your Mac
      2. IRC Out and About
        1. Rooms
        2. iRCm
  7. 4. MEDIA AND DATA
    1. 20. Carry a Portable File Server
      1. Air Sharing
      2. Mobile Studio
      3. Bonjour
      4. Limitations
      5. Going Beyond
    2. 21. Convert Videos, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Discs to iPhone- and iPod touch–Ready Formats
      1. Video Compression 101
      2. HandBrake
      3. Command-Line HandBrake
      4. QuickTime Pro
      5. iMovie (OS X)
      6. Photo-JPEG
      7. Hardware Assist
      8. Videora (Windows)
      9. Web-based Conversions
      10. DVD and Blu-Ray on Your iPhone
      11. DVD and Blu-Ray Ripping
      12. Why Is It So Hard?
      13. Ripping on a Mac
      14. PC Ripping
      15. Encoding and Conversion
      16. Mac Encoding
      17. All-in-one Programs that Rip and Convert
    3. 22. Present PowerPoint on a Projector or TV Using Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Simple Slide Export
      2. Exporting with Animation
      3. Hack It with Screen Capture
      4. Capturing Audio and Video
      5. Presenting
      6. One More Thing
    4. 23. Sync Music and Videos from Multiple Computers to Your iPhone
    5. 24. Stream Music and Videos from Your Computer to Your iPhone
      1. Mac
      2. PC
      3. Linux: MythTV
      4. Cross-Platform: Simplify Media
      5. Other Options
    6. 25. Read News, RSS, and Websites Quickly
      1. Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
      2. View RSS Feeds on Your iPhone’s Web Browser
      3. Google News
      4. View RSS Feeds on Your iPhone with App Store Apps
      5. More than RSS
      6. Intelliscreen
    7. 26. Read e-Books on Your iPhone
      1. An e-Book Reader Anthology
      2. Stanza
      3. eReader
      4. BookShelf
      5. PDFs
      6. Classics
      7. ComicZeal
      8. Finding Professional-Quality Content
      9. Dictionaries
        1. WeDict (free)
        2. AHED
    8. 27. Take Panoramas and Nightshots with Your Built-in Camera
      1. Resolution and Field of View Enhancement
      2. Low Light Conditions
      3. PanoLab Pro
    9. 28. Record and Upload Videos with Your iPhone
      1. A Brief History of Consumer Filming
        1. Cycorder
        2. iPhone Video Recorder
  8. 5. GAME EMULATION
    1. 29. Understand the Homebrew and Emulation Scene
      1. Emulation
      2. Homebrew
      3. Running an Emulator
    2. 30. Play Nintendo Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Getting a Homebrew ROM
      2. Installing NES
      3. Extracting Your ROMs
    3. 31. Play Sega Genesis Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Getting a Homebrew ROM
      2. Installing the Emulator
      3. Extracting Your ROMs
    4. 32. Play Nintendo Game Boy Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Getting a Homebrew ROM
      2. Installing gameboy4iphone
      3. Extracting Your ROMs
    5. 33. Play Super Nintendo Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Getting a Homebrew ROM
      2. Installing snes4iphone
      3. Extracting Your ROMs
    6. 34. Play Nintendo Game Boy Advance Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Getting a Homebrew ROM
      2. Installing gpSPhone
      3. Dumping Your BIOS
      4. Extracting Your ROMs
    7. 35. Play PS1 Games on Your iPhone or iPod touch
      1. Copying an ISO for the Game
      2. Extracting the PlayStation BIOS
      3. Testing Your BIOS and ISO
      4. Installing psx4iphone
  9. 6. TELEPHONY HACKS
    1. 36. Use GSM Codes to Configure Phone Features
      1. Current Account Balance
        1. Current Account Balance
        2. Current Airtime Usage
        3. Call Waiting
        4. Outgoing Caller ID
        5. Incoming Caller ID
      2. Call Barring
        1. Route
        2. Network Code
        3. Type
      3. Call Forwarding
        1. Code
        2. Option
      4. Enter Field Test Mode
      5. Display IMEI
    2. 37. Add Speed Dial with Custom Icons
      1. Set Up Speed-Dial Shortcuts
        1. Speed dial via Web Clip
        2. Speed dial via application
      2. Making It Look Good
      3. A Quicker Way
      4. One More Thing
    3. 38. Access Your Asterisk Voicemails on Your iPhone or iPod touch
    4. 39. Access Your Vonage Voicemails on Your iPhone or iPod touch
    5. 40. Use Voice over IP on Your iPhone or Second-Generation iPod touch
      1. SIP
        1. SIP
        2. Fring
        3. truphone
        4. SiAX
        5. Wi-Fi vs. 3G
    6. 41. Get Visual Voicemail on T-Mobile or Other Carriers
      1. Visual Voice Email
        1. Visual Voice Email
    7. 42. Automatically Translate Your Voicemails to Text
      1. Various Services
        1. SpinVox/Ureach
        2. VoiceCloud
        3. Other service features
    8. 43. Update Twitter or Your Blog with a Phone Call
      1. Other Services
    9. 44. Create a Podcast While Driving
      1. Other Options
  10. 7. UNLOCKING AND ACTIVATION
    1. Methods of Unlocking
    2. General Unlocking Advice
    3. 45. Buy an Unlocked iPhone from Apple
    4. 46. Unlock Your iPhone with Software
      1. How Does It Work?
      2. BootNeuter (for Original iPhone)
      3. Yellowsn0w (for iPhone 3G)
    5. 47. Unlock Your iPhone with a SIM Hack
      1. Example: i3gSim
        1. Example: i3gSim
      2. Vendors and Caveats
    6. 48. Configure Your iPhone After Unlocking
      1. Fix Cellular Data Settings
        1. Step 1: Learn your APN.
        2. Step 2: Edit your APN settings.
      2. iPhone Configuration Utility
      3. Download a Carrier Bundle from Cydia
      4. One More Thing: YouTube Fix
  11. 8. CUSTOMIZATION
    1. 49. Add Custom Ringtones to Your iPhone
      1. Custom Ringtones via iTunes
      2. Custom Ringtones via Other Applications
        1. GarageBand
      3. The App
      4. The iPhone App
      5. The Directory
    2. 50. Skin Your iPhone and Change System Sounds
      1. Introduction to Themes
      2. Using WinterBoard
      3. Understanding WinterBoard
      4. Changing Sound Files
      5. Changing Carrier Logos
      6. And More
    3. 51. Change Your Boot Screen
      1. Via Pwnage
      2. Via the LogoMe App
    4. 52. Enhance Autocorrection with Address Book Entries
    5. 53. Skin Your iPhone Externally
      1. Setting the Scene
    6. 54. Hide Unwanted Applications
  12. 9. NETWORK HACKS
    1. 55. Use Your iPhone or iPod touch as a Trackpad
    2. 56. Control Your Desktop or Laptop with Your iPhone or iPod touch
    3. 57. Control Your iPhone or iPod touch with Your Desktop or Laptop
    4. 58. Connect to Your iPhone with a Secure Shell (SSH) Terminal Program
      1. Installing an SSH Server
      2. SSH Client Software for Windows
      3. SSH Client Software for Mac Users
      4. What Do I Do Now?
      5. Hacking the Hack: SSH with no passwords
      6. SSH with no passwords
        1. iPhone→server with no passwords
        2. Test
        3. root and mobile
    5. 59. Administer Remote Servers with a Terminal Program
      1. TouchTerm
      2. iSSH
      3. Other Options
    6. 60. Mount the iPhone Filesystem on Your Mac with AppleTalk or SSH
      1. AFP
      2. MacFUSE
      3. Linux, Windows, and other OSs
    7. 61. Easily Manage All the Network Services on Your iPhone
    8. 62. Track and Recover Your iPhone
    9. 63. Track, Recover, and Control Your iPhone
    10. 64. Make Your iPhone or iPod touch a Web Server
    11. 65. Connect to Your iPhone or iPod touch from Outside Your Home/Office Network
      1. IP Addresses
      2. Port Forwarding
      3. Dynamic DNS
      4. One More Thing
    12. 66. Print from Your iPhone to Any Fax Machine
      1. Fax Technology
      2. Email-to-Fax Services
      3. Printing on the Go
      4. Receiving Faxes
    13. 67. Tether Your iPhone’s EDGE/3G Network to Your Laptop
    14. 68. Run Applications in the Background
    15. 69. Keep Your Wi-Fi Running All the Time on Your iPhone
      1. Programming
    16. 70. Trick Your Wi-Fi Apps into Working Over 3G
  13. 10. APPLICATION HACKS
    1. 71. Create Music with the iPhone and iPod touch
      1. The Basics: Silly Instruments
      2. MiniPiano
      3. Learning
      4. Tuning Your Instrument
      5. Recording Your Performances
      6. Mixing and Synthesis
      7. Ocarina
      8. Going on Stage
    2. 72. Triangulate Distances with Your Built-in Camera and GPS
      1. How does it work?
        1. How does it work?
      2. Applying the Hack
    3. 73. Add More Ways to Sync
      1. From Your iPhone to Your Computer
      2. Migrating from Smartphone to iPhone
    4. 74. Alter Your Voice and Outgoing Caller ID on the iPhone
    5. 75. Use Your iPhone as a Media Remote Control
      1. Apple TV & iTunes
      2. Web-based Controls
    6. 76. Make Your iPhone or iPod touch Talk
    7. 77. Copy and Paste Between Applications
    8. 78. Download YouTube Videos Instead of Streaming
    9. 79. Acquire New Media with dTunes
      1. Music
      2. Video
      3. Torrents
    10. 80. Back Up Your Jailbroken Apps
  14. 11. DEVELOPMENT HACKS
    1. 81. Turn Command-Line Scripts into iPhone Apps
      1. Writing Scripts
        1. Core Utilities
      2. Hello World
      3. Backup Locally
      4. Back Up to a Server
      5. Wrap the Backup in an Application
      6. Set the Icon and Picture
      7. Handle Timeouts Gracefully
      8. Display Result Codes
    2. 82. Edit Mac OS X Property Lists (plists)
      1. Tweaking a Property List
      2. Editing on Non-Mac Platforms
    3. 83. Create Periodic Tasks that Run in the Background
      1. Getting to Know launchd
      2. Creating a Recurring Task with launchd
      3. Protect Your Tasks with Timeout
        1. Debugging launchd scripts
      4. Easy launchd Plist Editing
      5. Create Periodic Backups with launchd
    4. 84. Manipulate iPhone Application Databases
      1. Learning SQL
      2. Running SQLite
      3. Browsing Databases with a GUI Application
      4. Extending the iPhone Call Database
    5. 85. Sync Your Call Log with iCal on Mac OS X
      1. iphonelogd
      2. iPhone to Server
      3. Server to Mac
      4. Import to iCal
    6. 86. Choose Between the Apple SDK and Open Tools for iPhone Development
      1. The Contenders
      2. Cost
      3. Documentation
      4. Features and Limitations
      5. Distribution
      6. Lag Time
      7. To Each His Own
    7. 87. Develop iPhone Applications with Apple’s SDK
      1. Downloading and Installing the SDK
      2. Building the UICatalog Sample
      3. Install the UICatalog Sample on the Device
    8. 88. Self-Sign Your SDK Projects
      1. Code Signing with Self-Signed Certificates
      2. Code Signing with ldid
      3. Disable Provisioning in Xcode
      4. Disable Provisioning Checks on the iPhone
    9. 89. Manually Install Applications
    10. 90. Use a Virtual Machine for Building iPhone Apps
      1. Downloading and Configuring the VM
      2. Building the Samples
      3. Ready to Go
    11. 91. Develop iPhone Applications on Your iPhone
      1. Installing the Toolchain
      2. Building an Open Source Program on the iPhone
      3. Build the UICatalog Sample
    12. 92. Restart Your SpringBoard to Reveal Newly Installed Applications
    13. 93. Create a UI Without Interface Builder
      1. Specify the Application Delegate Class
      2. Create the Main Window and Root Views
      3. Create Subviews for Your Custom View Controllers
      4. Removing the NIB from Your Project
      5. Explore More UIKit Controls
    14. 94. Use API Explorer to Peek into Built-in Frameworks
    15. 95. Access Private APIs
      1. class-dump
      2. Add a Private (or Public) Framework to Your Application
      3. Add a Private Class to Your Application
      4. Add a Private Method to Your Application
  15. 12. HARDWARE HACKS
    1. 96. Adapt Existing Headphones to Work with the Original iPhone
      1. Hacking the Wire
    2. 97. Make the Original iPhone Dock Work for the iPhone 3G
    3. 98. Make Noise-Cancelling iPhone Headset
    4. 99. Use the iPhone Camera for Close-Ups
      1. Physically Adjust the Focus of the iPhone’s Camera
      2. Use Camera Viewfinders
        1. Mobile Phone lenses
        2. Improvise a lens
    5. 100. Watch Your iPhone or iPod touch on a TV
      1. RF Modulation
      2. Swanky Hotels
    6. 101. Mirror or Output the iPhone Screen with TV-Out
      1. ScreenSplitr
      2. TVOut
    7. 102. Connect the iPhone to a Car
      1. Front-Seat Entertainment
      2. iPod/iPhone Integration
        1. Adding iPod integration
      3. Controlling Your iPhone/iPod touch
      4. Rear-Seat Entertainment
      5. In-Vehicle Internet
    8. 103. Use Your iPhone with Gloves On
      1. DIY Conductive Glue
      2. Conductive Thread
      3. Premade Solutions
    9. 104. Peek Inside Your Device
      1. Tools
    10. 105. Disassemble and Reassemble Your Original iPhone
      1. It’s Open!
      2. Removing the Battery
      3. Replacing the Battery
    11. 106. Disassemble and Reassemble Your iPhone 3G
      1. Replacing the Battery
    12. 107. Disassemble and Reassemble Your Original iPod touch
    13. 108. Disassemble and Reassemble Your Second-Generation iPod touch
    14. 109. Learn the Pinouts of the iPhone and iPod touch
      1. The Headphone Connector Pinouts
      2. Using the Headphone Jack
      3. The Dock Connector Pinouts
      4. Finding Pins
    15. 110. Make an External Camera Illuminator for Your iPhone
    16. 111. Control the Physical World from Your iPhone
      1. Hacking into the R/C Controller
      2. Hacking the Hack
    17. 112. Charge Your iPhone from (Almost) Any Source
      1. Buy a Universal Charger with a Dock Connector Passthrough
      2. Buy an Adapter for Your Existing Charger
      3. Build Your Own Adapter
      4. Make a 3G Adapter Cable to Charge via FireWire
        1. Voltage regulator chip
      5. Hacking the Hack
    18. 113. Connect Your iPhone to a Serial Port Using a Dock Connector
      1. Talking to the iPhone
    19. 114. Remote Control Your iPhone or iPod touch with the Dock Connector
    20. 115. Read Signals from an Infrared Remote Control—Without Jailbreaking!
    21. 116. Connect a Serial Device to Your iPhone—Without Jailbreaking!
      1. The Circuit
      2. Programming the Cypress Chip
      3. How it Works
      4. Hacking the Hack
    22. 117. Connect a Keyboard to Your iPhone—Without Jailbreaking!
      1. How It Works
      2. Hacking the Hack
    23. 118. Use Your iPhone to Go Back in Time
  16. Index
  17. About the Authors
  18. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: iPhone Hacks
  • Author(s): David Jurick, Damien Stolarz, Adam Stolarz
  • Release date: April 2009
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596516642