Oct 03
JustinApple, iOS Apple, iOS, iPhone, keynote
It’s a given that Apple is going to announce a new iPhone tomorrow (October 4). Nobody doubts that. But for the last couple of months, I’ve been following this insane barrage of conflicting rumors that we’ll have an iPhone 5 with a four-inch screen, LTE, and even the kitchen sink; or that we’ll have an iPhone 4S with an A5 and a better camera. Or, we’ll have both. Or, we’ll have both, as well as a continuation of the iPhone 4. Or, as MacRumors has posted today, we’ll have all of this, in addition to the continuation of the iPhone 3GS. Most ridiculous of all, there are now rumors that the iPhone 5 will be exclusive to Sprint. It seems that these rumors have reached a fever pitch today, with all the sane rumors fading out in favor of the most absurd. So I thought I’d try to bring back the sanity by clarifying what will most likely happen tomorrow, going through some of the major rumors one by one, and providing my reasoning behind why a given outcome is to be expected.
Steve Jobs will not do tomorrow’s keynote.
We all want to see Steve Jobs perform tomorrow’s keynote. Let’s face it – he’s the best presenter in the world, and there will never be another like him. Furthermore, Steve Jobs was Apple. Without Steve, there will be no Apple. At least, that’s what most people, myself included, tend to believe. And that’s exactly why Steve will not do tomorrow’s keynote. Apple has to show us that we’re wrong on this, and that Apple can continue to exist without Steve. Tim Cook will be the major figure at tomorrow’s keynote, to better position him in the public view as a capable leader.
Sprint will not gain iPhone 5 exclusivity.
I shouldn’t even have to explain this one. One of today’s rumors says that the iPhone 5 will initially be exclusive to Sprint, and that AT&T and Verizon will meanwhile be stuck with the 4S. Sprint, as compared to the likes of AT&T and Verizon, is a relatively minor carrier. Why would Apple commit suicide by placing the fate of the iPhone in Sprint’s hands and turning their back on their already enormous consumer base? They won’t. This is just Sprint coming out in the open about their wet dream, and nothing more. Apple would never ditch the two largest carriers in the US in favor of a smaller one.
The iPhone 4S will be the only iPhone announced tomorrow.
Perhaps the most pesky next-gen iPhone rumor is that the redesigned iPhone 5 will have a bigger screen. Two things:
A. The iPhone always has had, and always will have, a 3.5-inch screen. While up until 2010, there was nothing to ensure this, there is now the iPad. The primary difference between the iPad and the iPhone is screen size. Apple wants owners of iPhones to also purchase iPads. How do you make sure this happens? Keep the devices radically different. And since screen size is the only real difference, it will remain so. If Apple gave the “iPhone 5″ a 4 or 4.5-inch screen, it would then become satisfactory for many of the iPad’s purposes (books, full-time web browsing, productivity, HD video). The iPhone 5 would then begin to cannibalize iPad sales. While I would still purchase a hypothetical upcoming iPad 3 after owning this hypothetical big-screen iPhone 5, I am not the average consumer. I’m an Apple geek. I blog about Apple, and code for Apple’s platforms. I need a large range of Apple devices to do these things well. If Apple makes it, I have to have it. The average consumer… not so much. They buy a device that meets their needs, and most likely won’t buy an overlapping device.
B. Screen size aside, there will not be a redesigned iPhone 5. It will be the iPhone 4S. Notice that there have been no leaks of parts for a redesigned iPhone 5. All the parts indicate an iPhone 4S. Furthermore, the name has even appeared in recent iTunes betas. As much as I’d like an iPad 2-like design for an iPhone 5, what motivation would Apple have to do this? Once again, Apple still wants to sell iPads, and wants the iPhone and the iPad to remain differentiated.
The iPhone 4S will basically be as the more sane rumors have described it.
It’s more or less a given now that the iPhone 4S will have a dual-core A5 processor, as seen in the iPad 2, and an eight-megapixel camera. It will keep the design of the iPhone 4. I’d also say that Assistant is more or less a sure thing. However, Assistant won’t be this huge revolution everyone’s making it out to be. Remember how much Apple hyped up FaceTime, saying it’s the future of calling? Now, how many people actually use FaceTime, apart from trying it out when they first get a device that supports it? Assistant will be the same thing. It’ll be cool. It might even work well. But nobody’s really going to use it much because the way we interact with our phones today works and works well, and speech recognition just really isn’t as great as people make it out to be.
Perhaps more debatable is network support for the iPhone 4S. I can see the world phone thing from two different sides. From one viewpoint, you have the fact that Apple would just have to manufacture one model. From the other, you have the fact that most iPhones sold are still carrier-locked (and the carriers will never have it any other way), so it still doesn’t carry any other real benefits. LTE’s not gonna happen though. I believe only five US cities have it on AT&T. The technology simply isn’t widespread enough to be of any real value. Furthermore, it’s still too much of a battery whore. Until new, more efficient, LTE chipsets are out (supposedly next year), Apple won’t put it in an iPhone. Plus, about that time, LTE may be widespread enough to be of some actual use.
Then we have HSPA+. I’m expecting it. Why? I guess it’s because why shouldn’t I? HSPA+ is far more widespread than LTE (in fact, the town I live in, which is by no means significant in any respect, has it). 3G is getting a bit slow to do a few things, and with iCloud about to be released, more speed certainly helps Apple provide a better experience with their devices and services. Plus, as far as I know, HSPA+ is far less of a battery whore than its LTE cousin.
The lineup will be as follows: 8GB iPhone 4, 16GB and 32GB iPhone 4S.
I’ve already explained why Apple will not be releasing an iPhone 5. The next thing to answer is why the 3GS will be no more. I myself am a 3GS owner, and trust me when I say it’s beginning to grow long in the tooth. It’s running iOS 4.3.3, and it’s starting to get pretty slow. No doubt iOS 5 will make this even worse. Not only will Apple not want to sell a device that feels slow (seriously, that’s Android’s thing), but it’s inevitable that the 3GS will not support iOS 6 next year. And Apple won’t want to be selling a device that won’t be able to run the OS announced the day after it’s finally discontinued for good. Anyone remember Windows XP, that really old OS that just won’t go away? If Apple kept the 3GS around any longer, it would be Apple’s XP. It would be something supported far past its useful life.
I hope this helps sort out the endless stream of iPhone rumors that have been going around. I know I didn’t touch on things like NFC (but really, read the bit on LTE and apply the same reasoning), and I know it’s possible that I could be wrong, but I’m reasonably sure of everything I’ve written here. Go ahead and bet on it. As for me, if Apple allows pre-orders tomorrow, I will be pre-ordering my iPhone 4S promptly. 
Jun 07
JustinApple, iOS, Review 5, Apple, beta, home screen, iOS, iPad, iPhone, newstand, preview, review
At the beginning of WWDC 2011 yesterday, Apple announced iOS 5 and iCloud, along with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (again).
Apple claims iOS 5 includes over 200 new features, previewing ten of them yesterday.
Let’s look at a few of these features, as well as a few of the bugs that I hope will be fixed by the next beta release.
Warning: iOS 5 betas supposedly cannot be downgraded to iOS 4.x, particularly on devices that have a baseband (iPhone, and iPad 3G). While I have not tested this, and I have written an article about how to downgrade betas in the past, there is no guarantee that my method will work this time. Download and run the iOS 5 beta at your own risk.
With that in mind, I’ve only upgraded my iPad 2 to the iOS 5 beta. My iPhone remains on iOS 4.3, and as such, this post will only cover iOS 5 as seen on the iPad.
The iOS 5 home screen, as seen on my iPad 2
There are a few things to notice here. First, a new app called Reminders (no, it’s not an App Store app, it’s built-in; I have no need for a to-do list app and would never install one =/). There is also a new app/folder called Newsstand. I’m not entirely sure which one it is, as it appears in the multitasking tray (probably a bug), but it opens like a folder.
My Social folder, containing the new Messages app
In iOS 5, Apple is introducing the new iMessage service. Apple is also adding the Messages app to the iPad and iPod touch in order to allow usage of this service (however, iPads and iPod touches still cannot send regular SMS messages). iMessage is an instant messaging service provided exclusively to users of iOS devices, that gives SMS-like messaging, with the ability to send media, receive read receipts, and see notifications that indicate when the other user is typing. It feels a lot like the old iOS Messages app, while adding a lot of features similar to those found in Windows Live Messenger.
Game Center in iOS 5
In iOS 5, Apple has enhanced Game Center, adding the ability to have an avatar for your profile. Furthermore, they are also adding official support for turn-based games, which will probably bring many promising offerings once iOS 5 is released this fall. Until then, games that leverage this functionality most likely will not appear in the App Store, as Apple does not accept apps written using a beta version of the iOS SDK (much like how Game Center was utterly useless in the iOS 4 betas since no games supported it).
Newsstand
Much like the new functionality in Game Center, there isn’t much to see here either. No apps support the functionality offered by Newsstand yet, and the Store button is disabled. Newsstand is supposed to be a collection of newspaper/magazine apps. It is also supposed to be capable of pushing updated content to these apps. Most likely, there won’t be much to do with this until after the official release either.
A couple of screenshots of the Reminders app
In what I consider to be a questionably stupid move on Apple’s part, iOS 5 now includes a built-in to-do list app called Reminders. Considering something of the sort could exist perfectly fine on the App Store (and, in fact, many things of this sort already do), I’m really wondering why Apple bothered with this one. Nonetheless, you can see a couple of screenshots of it in action above. You set up tasks that the app can remind you about either by time, or, in what may be the one interesting thing about this app, by place. Supposedly, when you’re at a certain location, it can deliver a reminder. Anyway, the first screenshot above shows my list of reminders, and the second shows those tasks which I have completed (even though I just threw that up on the spot, it’s pretty accurate about what I do and don’t get done).
The emoji keyboard on iPad… finally!
As seen above, Apple has finally enabled the emoji keyboard for iPad (well, they’ve enabled the ability for you to enable it). Just go into your keyboard settings, and add the Emoji keyboard like any other. Then annoy your fellow iOS users to death with emoticons.
The split keyboard
While on the topic of the keyboard, Apple has added the ability to split the keyboard in iOS 5. Hold the keyboard dismiss button to access the option to do so. Some people I’ve spoken to love this feature. I, however, find it dismally annoying. It makes me really prone to typos, by both making the buttons smaller, and by putting them in unusual locations. I hate it, and will still be using the regular keyboard, but your mileage may vary. Also of note, you can undock the keyboard to move it up or down the screen as you wish, while keeping both halves attached and the buttons their usual size. This feature may be useful for some, but I will be leaving the keyboard in the tried and true location of the bottom of my screen.
The About menu in General Settings
Okay, there’s a few important things to notice here. First off, the build number of this beta is 9A5220p. Second of all, there’s an option to change the device name… on the device itself. In addition, there is a Diagnostics and Usage menu, which gives you the ability to turn the option to send such data to Apple on or off (something normally done in iTunes).
These next two observations are quite significant. Why would Apple give you the option to do these things on the device itself?
Apple has finally dropped the requirement of having a PC or iTunes. iOS devices are now completely independent. When you open the box of an iOS 5 device, it will no longer greet you with the familiar “Connect to iTunes” screen. It will instead prompt you to set up the device… on the device itself. As pointed out in the keynote, this is the logical conclusion to their theory that we are living in a “post-PC era.” To enhance the independence of the device from iTunes, you may also delete music directly from the device in the Music app. There is also a Usage menu in General Settings that provides an overview of the amount of storage used by a given app, along with the ability to delete a given app outright, or to dump its data (I greatly appreciate this feature; I commonly download videos using Terra Web Browser then have it open them in VLC. VLC can play the videos just fine, but it gives no way of deleting the copy of the video that Terra dumped in its documents folder. And considering some giant douche forced Apple to pull the VLC app, that’ll never be fixed either).
Over-the-air updates
As seen above, Apple has also introduced over-the-air updates in iOS 5. Supposedly it will also be more efficient than the previous update mechanism, as it will only download that which has changed, as opposed to an entire firmware image. It does, however, seem to be somewhat buggy at this point. While I don’t know if it’s even really enabled in this beta, or if it’ll allow you to update between betas, it claims I’m not connected to Wi-fi, even though I am.
As a side note, as much effort as Apple has put into removing the dependency on iTunes, I wonder why they’ve also added Wi-fi syncing with iTunes now.
While I think it’s broken in this build as well (either that or the iTunes 10.5 beta is broken), there is an iTunes Sync option in General Settings that allows you to sync over Wi-fi, although it claims that iTunes is never available to sync to.
iCloud
Furthering the theory that we are living in a “post-PC world,” Apple has introduced iCloud, their cloud storage service. As seen in the Mail option above, Apple is now giving away @me.com e-mail addresses for free. It also includes the former MobileMe service of Find My iPad. It also introduces the ability to sync your bookmarks, notes,contacts, calendars, and reminders, as well as Photo Stream, a way to store your photos in the cloud (why it gives Photo Stream a separate menu, I don’t know; the only option that menu gives is yet another on/off slider). By the way, did anyone notice that Apple changed the slider images? Personally, I liked the old ones better. As seen immediately above the big red Delete Account button, you can also back up your devices straight to iCloud. However, this disables automatic backup with iTunes, so I left it disabled.
Twitter integration in iOS 5
iOS 5 now features direct integration with Twitter, allowing single sign-on for all Twitter apps, a most welcome addition after Twitter’s basically made developers of Twitter clients bend over and take their crappy web-based authentication. Apparently iOS will be spared the awful experience, as you can add accounts directly in the Settings app.
Posting to Twitter from Safari
You can also post to Twitter directly from certain apps, including Safari (pictured above) and Photos. However, photos tweeted from Photos seem to be in highly reduced quality.
While I find this functionality both well-implemented and convenient, I’m slightly worried about the precedent that it’s setting. If Apple is this accepting of third-party software out-of-box, this may eventually introduce Facebook support in iOS. Considering I do not use Facebook, I would find this to be unnecessary bloat. And for those that do, if I really need to scare you with what may happen, this could lead to crapware in Macs down the line. What I’ve always enjoyed about Mac OS X is that Apple makes both the hardware and the software, therefore wants to make both work well together, not loading a ton of crapware onto Macs out of box. While this is somewhat different, it is setting a precedent that I’m concerned may lead to such things.
A notification in iOS 5
As was probably the most (over-?)hyped feature of iOS 5, Apple has included a revamped notifications system. While I’ve never used MobileNotifier, I’ve seen screenshots/videos, and the fact that Apple has hired its developer, Peter Hajas, is apparent (while talking about Apple hiring a jailbreak developer, let me add a bit to my rant on Sony by saying Apple is setting an excellent example of how Sony should’ve handled their argument with Geohot).
Notification Center
Apple has also provided Notification Center, a summary of recent notifications. It allows you to open the app that created them, or to clear the notifications created by a given app.
Lock screen notifications
Notifications on the lock screen have also been improved. You can swipe across one to go to the app that created it, and it now handles multiple notifications better.
Notification options
Notifications in iOS 5 are also incredibly customizable. You may select whether they appear in Notification Center, whether they appear on the lock screen, and even how many messages appear in Notification Center. Furthermore, it is also of note that Apple has not completely removed the old notification system. You can configure an application to use the old notification style by setting it to use “Alerts” instead of “Banners.”
Thank you for reading my review of some of the many changes in iOS 5. While not pictured, a couple of other things are of note, such as the music app having been split into two on all devices. The music app on iPad has also been redesigned. The one thing that really, really peeves me about iOS 5 thus far, and I really hope is a bug that Apple plans to address, is the “lock out of device upon X incorrect passcode attempts” functionality. For one thing, syncing with iTunes no longer resets this lockout. Furthermore, even if it did, if Apple really plans to cut the cord and sell to users who don’t own a PC or a Mac, they’ve gotta at least make that functionality an option. My password would take millions of years to bruteforce, and I’d rather some stupid kid playing with my devices not prevent the person intended to access the device (me) take millions of years to get into the device owned by the person who actually knows the password. I don’t need a software-enforced lockout to keep my stuff safe. Besides this (hopefully once again a bug that will soon be addressed), my only real disappointment with iOS 5 is that it hasn’t provided a unified way to access files across apps (as opposed to the Open in… functionality that gives me a mild measure of trouble in VLC). Storage space is finite, and having to make a copy of a large movie just to watch it, as opposed to being able to just watch the copy that I downloaded from its present location, is quite annoying.
In summary, while iOS 5 has a couple of critical bugs, and lacks one feature I really wanted to see, it’s certainly moving even further in the right direction. The best mobile OS on the market today, and most likely for the entire foreseeable future, has gotten better with messaging across devices, sexy new unobtrusive notifications, finally gaining complete independence from the PC, and built-in free cloud backup and syncing.
May 04
JustiniOS, Review iPad, iPhone
Okay, so this isn’t the big iPad review everyone was expecting. And what I’m about to say isn’t what anyone wants to hear. I decided not to finish my review of the iPad. Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, namely that I accidentally lost a good chunk of the review, that there’s already numerous iPad reviews out there, and reviewing each included app in the detail I normally give app reviews would simply be too complicated, I’m not going to publish the review. As for my opinion on the iPad, suffice it to say the biggest reason I decided to cancel the review is that I’m too busy enjoying my iPad to write a long blog post about it. It does quite well as a laptop replacement though, as I’ve been using my iPad for most things I’d ordinarily use a desktop or laptop for.
Now for the main point of this post.
In the past, I’ve written reviews of my favorite apps. Now, assuming I don’t get too much demand, I’ll review any app the app’s developer requests me to. The only requirement is that I’m provided with a promo code for the app. I have past experience reviewing apps, as seen in my SoundHound and IM+ reviews. If an app has both iPad and iPhone versions, or is at least optimized for both, I’ll deal with both in the same review. Considering both my iPhone and my iPad are jailbroken, I will also review SOME jailbreak apps under the same conditions. However, I will do this at my own discretion. If I feel the app is harmful to my devices, I will refuse to review it. A few badly-written jailbreak apps HAVE caused me trouble before, so I am a bit cautious as to what I do and don’t install.
If you’re interested in my review services, please contact me at justin [at] justindaigle [dot] com.
Also, I’ve hidden my last post. Comex has released Spirit, so it no longer serves a purpose. It also was made the target of comments by a fake Geohot and a [questionably] fake Comex, as well as numerous ignorant hate comments.
Apr 12
JustiniOS iOS, iOS4, iPhone
Perhaps many of you have made the same mistake I have: upgrading to iPhone OS 4.0 thinking there will be a jailbreak soon, then realizing it won’t happen until summer. And to make things worse, it’s buggy.
Well, I got myself into this mess, I got myself out. I’ll explain how and hope it’ll help some people out there. This information does NOT apply to the iPod Touch (as it doesn’t have a baseband) or the iPhone 3GS with the new boot ROM (since 3.1.3 can’t be jailbroken on it, and the combination of a jailbreak and 3.1.3 are required for this guide).
First off, here’s what you need:
1. An iPhone that isn’t a 3GS with the new bootrom (I did this on my 3GS with the old bootrom)
2. An iPhone OS 3.1.2 IPSW
3. An iPhone OS 3.1.3 IPSW
4. blackra1n
5. A Mac (sorry; see the next requirement, it’s Mac-only; ah well, it’s always fun to rub the occasional Mac-only application in the face of Windows users 
)
6. Pwnage Tool
7. [3GS only] SHSH’s on file on Saurik’s server
I know there’s other guides for downgrading from 4.0 out there, but they all involve iRecovery, which as far as I know isn’t supposed to work on the 3GS. Maybe someone can correct me on this. Either way, if you happen to have all the prerequisites I’ve listed, this should work for you.
Sorry I don’t have screenshots, but this obviously isn’t something that’s easy to do at will. This was something I had to do once and hopefully never again.
Now, let’s get started, shall we?
1. Make sure you have the entry for Saurik’s SHSH server in your hosts file.
74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com
2. Open iTunes, connect your iPhone, and Control-click on Restore. Then, select your 3.1.2 IPSW to restore to it. Let it restore. It’ll quit with an error in the middle of “Restoring iPhone firmware.”
Why?
It quits with an error while attempting to restore the baseband. It won’t let you replace the 4.0 beta’s 05.13.03 baseband with 3.1.2′s (or 3.1.3′s for that matter, which is why we’re going the indirect route).
3. Your iPhone will now be in recovery mode, demanding you connect it to iTunes. But, it’s actually running a fully-functional 3.1.2. Let’s get it to work now. Run blackra1n on it. Once it finishes, you’ll be greeted by a functional 3.1.2, but it can’t communicate with the new baseband so it can’t function on a cellular network. Time to fix that.
4. Run Pwnage Tool, using your 3.1.3 IPSW. Select your iPhone model, and when it asks that it’s already pwned select yes. In theory, you could just put it in DFU mode while you were still in 4.0 and answered no to this, but I didn’t get to test that method, so I can’t say if it works in practice or not. Assuming you have a regular AT&T contract, answer yes to that as well (or whatever the supported carriers in other countries are if that applies to you). Now, build the firmware and wait for it to finish.
Why Pwnage Tool here?
Pwnage Tool, especially the newest release, rebuilds the firmware and removes the baseband update, since it’s assumed by default that baseband updates are bad for people who want to use Pwnage Tool. Meaning it will restore without an error this time since it won’t try to overwrite the baseband. And yes, we’re almost done.
5. Place your iPhone in recovery mode.
Not sure how?
6. Open iTunes, and restore to your new custom firmware.
7. You should now have a jailbroken 3.1.3 that can communicate with the 4.0 beta’s baseband that you’ll unfortunately never be able to downgrade from.
8. Restore from your latest backup to get all your precious settings, contacts, and messages back.
Having trouble?
If you’re like me, you’ll encounter the misfortune of getting an error that says something about “the backup operation failed.” I have no idea what causes this, but disconnect your iPhone and reconnect it. Somewhere in all this, it should have re-activated your iPhone. Now, right-click your iPhone in iTunes and select “Restore from backup.” Now restore. It should work this time.
I hope this helps some of you who were in the same boat as I was.
Two announcements.
1. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Needless to say, this opens numerous review and tutorial opportunities. 
2. Speaking of pictures, my school’s prom was Saturday. I should have a picture from it to post here soon.
Mar 03
JustiniOS, Uncategorized baseband, iPhone
For those who keep up with me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jrdaigle1000), you would know that last night around 9PM, my iPhone just randomly quit working. I attempted rebooting it several times, but accomplished nothing. I finally had to restore, and apply a backup from about a month and a half ago. It took me about three hours total to restore, apply the backup, sync all my stuff, jailbreak, and apply all my customizations. Strangely enough, some of my cracked apps actually remembered all their settings, making it somewhat less painful.
Am I writing this to discourage people from jailbreaking?
Absolutely not.
If you read the rest of the post, you’d notice that I said that I jailbroke almost instantly after restoring (also, thanks to Link Tamake for warning me not to use the 3.1.3 update). The customization/system tools/cracked apps/tethering makes it 100% worthwhile. I still find it strange that this happened to me only hours after someone else reported the exact same problem though. A new virus? Some people say no, but I still find it quite suspicious.
If anything, besides the loss of three hours, I benefited from this. I was originally on 3.1, but I took advantage of this to restore to 3.1.2, which fixes the annoying bug that disrupts service, requiring a reboot to fix (For the record, this bug plagued me quite a bit). Also, for some odd reason, redsn0w didn’t like my 3.1 IPSW, making me unable to enable verbose boot. It recognized my 3.1.2 IPSW, however, so I now have a nice, shiny verbose boot going. This is probably the geekiest thing ever said, but there is something truly magical about that text informing you of how the boot process is going flying across the screen.
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