Update 7/11/11: We are updating this guide right now. Bookmark it and check back shortly to see the surprise we have in store for you. Hint: One word – extensive.
I have written a lot about one off jailbreak apps but never put together a starting guide. With the jailbreakme.com 3.0 just released, there are a lot of first-time jailbreakers here looking for some good jailbreak apps and Cydia tweaks.
We regularly highlight good Cydia apps and jailbreak tweaks here but a guide like this will be useful for a beginner as well as a veteran jailbreak app.
You can follow this simple how to jailbreak guide to perform the newest jailbreakme jailbreak.
As soon as you Cydia, here are a few jailbreak apps to consider installing from the new brown app – Cydia.
Here is a small on primer on using Cydia.
- Apps are often referred to as Packages – especially in the Manage tab.
- Sources are repositories from various developers where you can find jailbreak apps, themes, cydia tweaks etc. You may add different sources/repositories from Sections -> Repositories.
Jailbreak Apps vs Tweaks
A lot of people don’t realize the difference between apps vs tweaks when it comes to installing stuff from Cydia. I made the same mistake until I was schooled by one of the jailbreak developers.
Jailbreak apps have a physical icons on your home screen like App Store apps. Jailbreak tweaks however don’t have separate icons instead they let you change the behavior of iOS or add functionality to existing apps.
Must Have Jailbreak Apps
Winterboard – Beautify iOS with Themes
Winterboard is the open source version of iPhone’s native Summerboard. This basically lets you add powerful theming to your iPhone. Winterboard itself does not gives you themes. Once installed, you can search and find winterboard themes you like in Cydia. There are a lot of them.
We have collected some of the best iPhone Winterboard themes and iPad Winterboard themes. Make sure you check them out and install themes to your liking.
You can download complete themes or just skin certain aspects of your iOS like lockscreen, status bar, dialer, etc.
Tip: When you look a theme in Cydia, check out Winterboard themes (Complete). They tend to have more apps, lockscreen, dialer, iPod, etc.
PDAnet – Free Internet Tethering
Do you have an iPhone and an iPad or iPod Touch? Use your iPhone’s data connection and create a Wi-Fi hotspot. Get free internet tethering with one data plan you already pay for. Read our PDAnet review here.
MobileTerminal – Your SSH Terminal
For a power user. You can use a terminal from within your iPhone! Try managing your web server from your iPhone. The feeling is priceless! :-p
If you have trouble with MobileTerminal on iOS 4 check out the link to see how to get the latest version.
AptBackup – Backup Cydia Apps
For those jailbreaking with every iOS firmware upgrade, installing jailbreak apps and tweaks over and over again can become painful. Aptbackup lets you backup Cydia apps and settings to iTunes and then restore it when you need it.
AppBackup – Backup App Store App Settings
iTunes can backup App Store apps and settings. But, you cannot transfer your settings for apps between devices. AppBackup cydia app lets you do just that. You can save your settings from various apps from one device, backup to your computer and import it into your other iOS device.
Remove Background – Free up iPhone Memory
iOS 4 is great with multitasking. However, at times it ends up consuming all the free memory available making your iPhone or iPad dog slow. Remove Background jailbreak app lets you easily clear all the background processes in one touch. You can exclude certain apps from being cleared for eg. never clear Safari or iPod. Make sure you get the SBSettings toggle to quickly access this from the status bar.
WiFi Sync – Sync iPhone Over the Air
Apple heavily borrowed from this innovative jailbreak app in iOS 5. If you don’t have iOS 5, like most of us, you can get Wireless over the air sync for your iOS device this cydia app.
Notified
Apple’s notification system sucks. Notified, a free app in Cydia fills the void nicely. Check out our Notified app review here. But, also check out MobileNotifier which is much closer to iOS 5 notification system.
Backgrounder – Run Apps in Background
The very first app I install after jailbreaking. This gives you the ability to run any app in your iPhone in the background. With iOS 4 bringing native multitasking support, most people won’t need this app. However, even now there still several App Store apps that don’t support multitasking. You can force those to run in the background with this app.
Tip: In Cydia, when you search for Backgrounder, make sure you do not download the one with (2.x).
Once installed, open up Backgrounder app and for the most part the default settings would work. I’d highly recommend checking out the Activator screen where you can control the shortcuts to enable & disable backgrounding.
Also, I always go into ‘Global’ tab and turn on the badge. This helps me know when an app is running in background so I don’t run my battery down. (the reason Apple doesn’t allow backgrounding natively) We just have to have a watchful eye on it.
Backgrounder has gotten iOS 4 support now.
Must Have Cydia Tweaks
SBSettings – Install this first
SBSettings is a powerful app. It provides easy to access toggles for most of the services in your iPhone. You can turn off 3G, Voice, EDGE, Bluetooth, WiFi, adjust volume, SSH, etc. with a single swipe across the status bar and a tap on the toggle. A must have.
With Winterboard installed, you can also theme your SBSettings windows.
Tip: Check out SBSettings ‘More’ button and ‘Set Toggles’ to turn on/off the toggles you use often. And Processes button gives you another way to kill running processes and free.
Activator – Swiss Army Knife Tweak
I believe this app gets installed along with Backgrounder. But, even if you don’t get that Activator lets you add some awesome gesture & button controls. It totally lets you customize your volume button control, home button, power button or swipes across status bar, or on the screen to do various things for various apps installed in your phone.
For eg. you can set your iPhone to open Weather app when you shake it. Or swipe your lockscreen status bar to launch camera app. Double tap status bar to launch iPod controls. You get the idea.
Tip: Take it easy and start off with a couple of settings. Once you remember those shortcuts add more.
The Infini Trio – InfiniDock, InfiniFolders, InfiniBoard
The trio of these apps remove restrictions Apple has on various items in your homescreen.
Infinidock – lets you add as many apps on the dock as you want. You get to swipe horizontally to choose the one you want from the dock.
Infiniboard – lets you add more than 4 rows to your homescreen. You just scroll vertically reducing the number of pages you have.
Infinifolders – lets you have more 12 apps in iOS 4+ folders.You just scroll vertically and have as many apps as you want inside a folder.
OpenSSH
This is for a power user who is familiar with ssh’ing into unix/linux/Mac with a terminal. You need OpenSSH installed to SSH into your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Also, it is a good idea to change the default iOS SSH password as a first thing. Make sure you get the MobileTerminal app mentioned in the previous section.
RunningList – List of Apps Running Now
Shows you a list of apps running in multitasking mode in the iOS search screen.
CyDelete – Delete Cydia Apps
Lets you delete Cydia apps just like deleting iOS apps by holding an app and making it wiggle, tap on the x to delete apps.
PagePreview – Launch Apps Super Fast
If you are an app addict like me, you probably are sick of swiping 8-9 pages to get to that app in the last page. With this Cydia tweak installed, you can just tap and press the page dot to get a page preview without actually swiping multiple times. I can even pick an app from the preview window and launch it.
CameraLock – iOS 5 Style Lockscreen Camera
If you have been envious of the iOS 5 style camera icon on the locksreen, you can get it right now this the CameraLock cydia tweak.
Lock Calendar – Appointments on your Lockscreen
iOS lockscreen is pretty minimal and has a lot of empty space. One thing I like to know everyday is my appointments for the day. With the Lock Calendar cydia tweak, I get my upcoming appointments right on the lockscreen for a quick glance.
Ultrasn0w – Carrier Unlock Your iPhone
Ultrasn0w is the extension that unlocks an iPhone and lets you use your iPhone GSM version on any carrier. You can even get Ultrasn0w for iPhone 4.
Tip: You can unlock AT&T iPhone 4 to use on T-Mobile but you can’t use 3G speeds since there is an incompatibility.
iPad Cydia Tweaks
Most of these cydia tweaks can be used for iPad and iPad 2 as well. However, there are a few Cydia tweaks especially for the iPad. Here is where you can find and try them on.
Full Force – Run iPhone Apps in Fullscreen
Don’t you hate the pixelated double-pixel mode you have to run apps that aren’t made for the iPad? It looks crappy at best. With the Full Force tweak, you can run certain iPhone apps in fullscreen mode on the iPad and iPad 2. This is fantastic compared to what Apple provides.
RetinaPad – Run iPhone Apps in High Res
Even if you were happy with Apple’s double-pixel 2x mode, there is no reason we have to see the app in such pixelated condition putting the iPad screen to shame. With Retina Pad Cydia tweak, we can run the apps in high resolution when retina graphics are available for the app.
Other Good Free Jailbreak Apps
I am going to leave this section to you guys. Share your best finds in the comments and I will add them to the list here with a brief description.
- Lockdown – A great app to password protect certains apps or all apps. Also, has an useful option to prevent apps from getting accidentally deleted.
- Battery Control – Nice options to display battery as percentage and a paid option to add more styles. (thanks @speedlifes)
- Notifier – Adds taskbar notifications for stuff like new mail, missed calls, voicemail, etc. (thanks @ragart)
- WiFiFoFum – An awesome WiFi hotspot scannerwith several interesting features. (thanks @speedlifes)
- WeatherIcon – Adds current weather to your status bar.
- Five Icon Switcher – adds five icons to the iOS 4 fast app switcher
- Folder Closer – Fixes an annoyance with iOS 4 folders
- Frash – Flash for iPhone and other iDevices.
So, comment away!
