The App Store gets a new design for the Updates page.
iAds
For developers, iAds can now go full screen. That includes the big iPad screen, which Apple says allow for “immersive, interactive iAd experience”. They also say the new banner format is easy to implement.HTTP Live Streaming metrics
HTTP Live Streaming, the technology Apple uses to stream high quality video including their own press conferences and events, now includes viewer engagement and performance metrics. This is intended to help developers fine tune and optimize their content.Settings
Not only does Settings hide the usually interesting tweaks found in any new iOS version but this time it’s home to one of the marquee new features — Wi-Fi Personal Hotspot.Personal Hotspot (iPhone 4 only)
Freshly sandwiched in between VPN and Notifications for iPhone 4 users is the new top-level Personal Hotspot setting. (It also find it in Settings: General: Network: Personal Hotspot, where it replaces the previous Tethering setting, but why dig that deep when you no longer have to?)
When you tap Personal Hotspot you’re taken to a screen that lets you toggle it on or off (why can’t we do this top-level like Airplane Mode or VPN?) along with your — visible — current WPA access point password (with no choice to hide it). Instructions on how “to connect using Wi-Fi” have been added to the previous tethering instructions for Bluetooth and USB. As before with Bluetooth, if you don’t have Wi-Fi enabled you’ll get a popup asking if you’d like to enable it or if you’d prefer to tether via Bluetooth (if that’s enabled) or USB.
You can change your WPA password by tapping on it, and you’re warned the new password must be at least 8 characters long (we recommend something not easily guessed like “password”) and that changing the password will disconnect any currently connected devices.
When activated you get the same blue bar across the top of your iPhone that tethering presented under iOS 3 and iOS 4, though renamed Personal Hotspot and now indicating the number of devices connected (up to a maximum of 5).
Installous once again has wowed us with its ability to be so much more than a simple app repository. Due to the overwhelming number of pirates on the previous Appulo.us server, the app now uses a better, harder, faster, stronger server that’s much, much, much more user and network friendly. Browsing and downloading apps is now easier than ever on your 3G phone. Again, we caution you to watch out for apps that are just pirated versions of App Store apps. Rather, use Installous to get those apps that are gone now from the App Store or couldn’t make it on there in the first place (like those with adult content).
Cycorder is a little less pivotal this time around because 3GS users already know what it’s like to have a good video camera on the phone. Nevertheless, Cycorder is a tremendous app for those of us who still live just fine with our 3G iPhones. Cycorder records video just as well as it did last year and has added a few bug fixes since the writing of this article last August. Today you’ll find a much easier-to-use app as well as one that’s a bit more flexible in terms of shooting.
Wi-Fi Sync is a new app we're adding to the list for 2010 - a real must-see-it-to-believe it app. All it requires is that both your iPhone and PC with iTunes installed be on the same network together. Once you have the app downloaded and the required program running on your PC (with either Mac OSX or Windows 7), the software interfaces with your iPhone a single time and pairs it with your PC - much the way a Bluetooth device would be paired with its counterpart.
In 2009 I cast off Cylay because of Apple’s new MobileMe service that can find your phone for you without need for any jailbreaking. However, in the months since then, it has come to light that MobileMe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, so I’m changing sides here and recommending you stick with Cylay for your security needs.
Categories is a pivotal app for those of us that want a little more organization out of our phones. Categories allows the user to “wrangle” the icons on the various home screens into a self-contained folder that can then launch those programs. The idea works as well as it is ingenious – that is to say incredibly well.
MMS is a recent feature of the iPhone that has made a big splash in the tech community because it was something that EVERY other phone out there was capable of doing. Thankfully, MMS is now available on any and all text messages you send out. However, this still eats into your 200 message limit if that’s something still limiting you on your account.
SBSettings is an essential (and totally free) application. Right after you jailbreak, after OpenSSH, this should be the second app you download off Cydia. SBSettings overlays a menu that contains the basic functions of the system “options” menus. This overlay menu is easily accessed by swiping the bar at the top of the screen with the time and contains things like Brightness, 3G, Wi-Fi, and other switches to turn things on and off.
MCleaner is basically the iBlacklist app for the iPhone, but a bit more sophisticated. Unfortunately, unlike last year when a vast majority of the apps on the store were free, MCleaner too is not free. However, you can give it a 15 day trial and see if it is for you. What it basically does is MCleaner creates blacklists and whitelists of callers that you can decide upon. Then, you can even choose how the phone will ignore a blacklisted caller for instance.
Other paid apps are cool to have if you need them, but 3G Unrestrictor is a relatively cheap ($3) app that is vital if you’re ever going to take your iPhone into the “Unlimited” plan you actually purchased it for. In 2009, I advised you to get VOIPover3G, that app has been discontinued and has been replaced by a bevy of 3G restriction-lifting apps. 3G Unrestrictor continues to be the cheapest and best of the best.
Firewall iP works for you in ways that I didn’t think would be possible on an iPhone. Basically, Firewall iP functions as Zonealarm would on the PC but on your iPhone, allowing through traffic and blocking traffic just as a real firewall would. For those that jailbreak often and download a lot online, a decent firewall is great protection on a PC, but it seems like it’s quickly becoming essential on the iPhone as well.
