The Ultimate Official iOS / Android Thread

[Draz]

In this thread, we will discuss everything about the operating system of both iOS and Android. From iPods, to Tablets, to Phones. Discuss apps from all categories, games, educational, productivity, utilities, etc.

If you have a rooted Android system, share the pros and cons of such capabilities. If you have a Jailbroken iOS system, share Cydia tweaks, hacks, and sources / packages important.

I'll begin. Considering I have Jailbroken all of my capable iOS hardware's, I found it necessary to post some of my favorite tweaks and apps.

1. Kik Messenger - Amazing messenger, perhaps the only one I use. I love this app because it reminds me of AIM (AOL Messenger), if you were a fan of that service you will love this. You will also enjoy it if you aren't familiar with it. Very simple and easy to use, works amazing on every device. (My Kik username is draszo, if anyone here ever want to chat!)

2. Pandora - Music App

3. Instagram

4. Spotify - Great music App

5. TextPlus - Great App for texting and calling. It provides users with the ability to have a number in their area / location. Earning minutes are simple for calling, either watch 30 second videos to earn 2 minutes / 4 credits, or complete offers to get large amount of credits. You may also find it useful to purchase minutes and credits. I use this because I found it to be the easiest app, free, and actually have a great interface, not to mention no ads that pop up.

6. KMeye - Useful if you have a security system installed, you can view your cameras on any IP on any device (iOS/Android capable)

7. Ruzzle - Fun, quick, puzzle game. I was addicted to this.

8. Evernote - Writing app, for free.

9. Dropbox - Useful for storing files such as media, pictures, documents.

10. Netflix - Watching movies, tv shows.

11. iFile - Great for accessing all of your files on your iOS device.

12. McTube - I LOVE this YouTube App. Only one I use. You can watch videos in 720 or 1080p automatically, minimize it and still have it play. You may also cache the video, download it, and watch it later. Great use for when traveling without Wi-Fi, or whenever you watch to watch your favorite subscriber videos.

13. 4 Picture, 1 Word - Lately got into this game, very fun indeed.

14. My Folder - Ever want to put a password on your apps? Now you can. Useful if you have pictures you don't want any eyes other than yours to see.

15. Fun Facts - Been using this app when I'm on the train, good facts keeps me busy.

16. Chrome Browser - My favorite browser. Will update some more good browsers later.

17. vShare - This app is used for Jailbroken users only. Basically the alternative to Installous which is gone. It is used to download free and paid apps, instantly. I've been using this only. considering App Cake sucks, or I don't have time to use it. It's interface is better, however I still do miss Installous.

18. App Sync - This tweak is needed to install cracked apps.

19. Swipe Selection - This tweak I use the MOST. I use it most because it's a better way to edit your text by simply swiping through the keypad on the iOS device, making spelling errors one less pain in the butt. I strongly suggest downloading this, it doesn't do anything but help increase editing.

20. Activator - This tweak is helpful, for movements such as swiping the clock or status bar left or right to do previous or future actions such as swipe backwards to go to the previous song, or forward to skip. Tap to pause, long tap status / clock to play, etc. I found it a must have on my iPod touch.

21. App Cent - This tweak helps show percentage of your apps while their downloading on the springboard. If you rather look at the bar loading, fine. I tend to like the specific accurate % sign to notify me where the app is currently at when downloading.

22. Bolt - This tweak is used to remove the battery icon and places a number and a % sign of the battery. Example (67% battery left)

23. Low Power Banner - This tweak I installed to remove the notification that pops up that says I have less than 20% battery left on the iOS device. Many of us know how annoying this tend to be, so instead, if comes up as a notification on the status bar, rather than a pop up. I found it useful because I don't to pause whatever I'm doing to remove the notification.

24. Accelerate - This weak is used to speed up the device. I use it when I'm trying to get some good work done on the device. You would be surprised how fast your iDevice can go when Accelerate is activated. You can choose many different speeds. Be careful, it drains battery.

25. Springtomize - Haven't used this much, but it's great for modifying your springboard.

26. Winterboard - Every Jailbroken device should have this installed. Great for themes.

27. Zeppelin - Good tweak used for putting a different icon on your devices status bar. I picked the blue cloud.

Here are some pictures of my Ipad 2 using different springboards.

1.Honey Comb


2. Windows 8


3. Mountain Lion



Feel free to contribute. Lets make this thread big. If you have any questions or concerns on how to Jailbreak feel free to respond here. You can now Jailbreak devices iOS 6.01 - 6.02. If you feel the need to do this later on, do not update to 6.03 because there is no current method to do that for this firmware.

If you have any useful apps you want to post or review, go ahead. If you're looking for specific apps, perhaps some of your ISH'er members can assist you in what you're looking for.

I'll update this list with more advance apps and tweaks, as for now go ahead and contribute! You don't need to be a rooted / jailbreaker to post! Keep in mind, if you're going to post some apps, themes, or even suggestions, be sure to put some details on it.

[andgar923]

I don't like to jailbreak because battery life and overall functionality is important to me. I've tried jailbreaking my iPod and iPhone twice and while it added some nice features/benefits, the overall experience took a hit and battery life sucked.

I do have a jailbroken ATV and even that isn't consistent. At times you troubleshoot and tinker with stuff far too much for my liking. I want to just use it without issues.

But to each their own.

I am anxious to see what Jon Ive does differently. I don't have an issue with the current grid layout, what I do want is added functionality. I don't like widgets, but i do wish there was shortcuts that allowed access to certain actions, such as toggling WIFI on and off with ease.

[Draz]

I don't like to jailbreak because battery life and overall functionality is important to me. I've tried jailbreaking my iPod and iPhone twice and while it added some nice features/benefits, the overall experience took a hit and battery life sucked.

I do have a jailbroken ATV and even that isn't consistent. At times you troubleshoot and tinker with stuff far too much for my liking. I want to just use it without issues.

But to each their own.

I am anxious to see what Jon Ive does differently. I don't have an issue with the current grid layout, what I do want is added functionality. I don't like widgets, but i do wish there was shortcuts that allowed access to certain actions, such as toggling WIFI on and off with ease.

Have you been installing tweaks and hacks too much? You may have installed some of them that were potentially not supposed to be for your device or firmware. That causes it to slow down, or even work improper. Which is why Jailbreaking is for the user who wants to take the device to another level, but not everyone can handle installing tweaks.

I've been there myself not to long ago, installing too many tweaks that you don't know about can be bad for the device, especially if you don't know if the author releasing it can be trusted. The battery life for my jail'd idevice hasn't taken a toll .. unless I turn on accelerate which it does because it's taking the device into another level for speed.

Last but not least, about the widgets, we all feel the same. Sadly, that's one of the reasons why we jail our devices, to have that function and others. You should try doing it again but with more control over what you install and tweak. If not, that's cool. I enjoy the themes as well from jailing, the advance themes are great.

[andgar923]

Have you been installing tweaks and hacks too much? You may have installed some of them that were potentially not supposed to be for your device or firmware. That causes it to slow down, or even work improper. Which is why Jailbreaking is for the user who wants to take the device to another level, but not everyone can handle installing tweaks.

I've been there myself not to long ago, installing too many tweaks that you don't know about can be bad for the device, especially if you don't know if the author releasing it can be trusted. The battery life for my jail'd idevice hasn't taken a toll .. unless I turn on accelerate which it does because it's taking the device into another level for speed.

Last but not least, about the widgets, we all feel the same. Sadly, that's one of the reasons why we jail our devices, to have that function and others. You should try doing it again but with more control over what you install and tweak. If not, that's cool. I enjoy the themes as well from jailing, the advance themes are great.

Naw I didn't try to install many tweaks or hacks.

to be honest tho, this was a year ago that I tried jail breaking, so perhaps they've made improvements.

I've thought about jail breaking again, but I don't feel like going through the steps and trouble shooting.

[andgar923]

convince me why I should JailBreak my iPhone.

[ImmortalNemesis]

I am anxious to see what Jon Ive does differently. I don't have an issue with the current grid layout, what I do want is added functionality. I don't like widgets, but i do wish there was shortcuts that allowed access to certain actions, such as toggling WIFI on and off with ease.

I want something like windows 8, it was what I was hoping iOS would develop into. The live tiles is brilliant and for some reason apple dropped the ball on that. They had the idea awhile ago when the gears on the settings app would move when you needed to update your phone, but nooooo. Really pisses me off they didn't go that way. It's a cleaner more effective way of getting around widgets.

I wouldn't mind having stupid apps like weather if the icon changed depending on if it was raining, going to rain etc, and displayed the temperature and had an arrow pointing up or down in case the temperature was going to change drastically.

I really hope he takes care of some of the more ...interesting designs like the denim thing.

On the jailbreaking note I agree for iPhones/iPads (probably) but on the iTouch, it's way nicer since it's most likely a less important gadget in your life so the loss of battery life isn't hurt that bad.

[andgar923]

I want something like windows 8, it was what I was hoping iOS would develop into. The live tiles is brilliant and for some reason apple dropped the ball on that. They had the idea awhile ago when the gears on the settings app would move when you needed to update your phone, but nooooo. Really pisses me off they didn't go that way. It's a cleaner more effective way of getting around widgets.

I wouldn't mind having stupid apps like weather if the icon changed depending on if it was raining, going to rain etc, and displayed the temperature and had an arrow pointing up or down in case the temperature was going to change drastically.

I really hope he takes care of some of the more ...interesting designs like the denim thing.

On the jailbreaking note I agree for iPhones/iPads (probably) but on the iTouch, it's way nicer since it's most likely a less important gadget in your life so the loss of battery life isn't hurt that bad.

According to rumors the iOS team is really excited on what they're working on. But the most important thing that Ive is bringing is a closer relationship with the hardware team. Often times the iOS team and the hardware team wouldn't know what each other was working on. Now that they're working together, I predict faster/smoother performance all across, and longer battery life. Aesthetics and features isn't the most important thing with this new partnership, performance and quality will be.

I'm sure they've toyed with great futuristic ideas but didn't release them on the OS for performance reasons, along with fear of changing the way the OS is built. I think that we'll truly see the next evolution of not just the iOS but the iPhone in their next iterations (aka not the iPhone 5s).

And yeah I agree, Windows Metro is smooooooth.

[Draz]

convince me why I should JailBreak my iPhone.

It takes literally 3-5 minutes tops to do it, no trouble shooting no nothing. Simple, it's only a bonus to what you can do. Free apps, free themes, tweaks and hacks that improve the system. I would do it just because it gives me more control over my product.

[ripthekik]

I have a rooted Nexus 7. Great device, it does everything exactly the way I want it to. I set up the way I want it to look, move, and react.

Recently I got a windows 8 touchscreen laptop, so I use it a bit less.. but still glad to have it.

[andgar923]

It takes literally 3-5 minutes tops to do it, no trouble shooting no nothing. Simple, it's only a bonus to what you can do. Free apps, free themes, tweaks and hacks that improve the system. I would do it just because it gives me more control over my product.

Give me examples.

I understand the jailbreaking process, it has been a while since I jailbroke a non Apple Tv so I'm out of the loop as to what's available out there. From my understanding and quick research, jailbreaking still compromises the overall experience for some, it still drains battery life depending on what you install, it still creates issues with some apps and functionalities. I remember jumping through hoops to get free apps, most of them were older versions, and many wouldn't work or would constantly crash.

Is saw the top '100 reasons to jailbreak your iPhone' vid, and out of the 100 reasons only a few made me think it was worth it. Specially since iOS has already implemented some of those features.

My boy has tried to convince me before, he jailbreaks all his products so he has experience. Yet he's always complaining about battery life and other bugs.

[CeltsGarlic]

I use kik too. Good call.

[Draz]

Give me examples.

I understand the jailbreaking process, it has been a while since I jailbroke a non Apple Tv so I'm out of the loop as to what's available out there. From my understanding and quick research, jailbreaking still compromises the overall experience for some, it still drains battery life depending on what you install, it still creates issues with some apps and functionalities. I remember jumping through hoops to get free apps, most of them were older versions, and many wouldn't work or would constantly crash.

Is saw the top '100 reasons to jailbreak your iPhone' vid, and out of the 100 reasons only a few made me think it was worth it. Specially since iOS has already implemented some of those features.

My boy has tried to convince me before, he jailbreaks all his products so he has experience. Yet he's always complaining about battery life and other bugs.

If that doesn't convince you then I don't think I really have a say much. It's basically the type of person you are. If you're fine with your product and feel like you get what you paid for, then there's really no need to experiment and add to it. However, there are people out there who feel like they want to get more out of their moneys worth, after all, who wouldn't want more additional features?

Some tweaks I've used that I found useful are the "Tap to open" lock screen. I'm tired of sliding it, who isn't. Some installations are just small tweaks, things that we should be able to choose, things people invent because some of us feel that we need this or that, and give it to us with the ability to own it. Other than that, the main reason TO do it, is getting paid apps for free.

[Draz]

Does anyone else use iBlacklist?

I seen it. I don't have an iPhone to use it, but it should be worthy.

Also, if you guys knew, there's an App for detecting and unblocking blocked numbers, it also does other things like searching the person up, etc. I believe it is iBlacklist .. or also another app. I'll look into it if you're interested & post it.

[ImmortalNemesis]

According to rumors the iOS team is really excited on what they're working on. But the most important thing that Ive is bringing is a closer relationship with the hardware team. Often times the iOS team and the hardware team wouldn't know what each other was working on. Now that they're working together, I predict faster/smoother performance all across, and longer battery life. Aesthetics and features isn't the most important thing with this new partnership, performance and quality will be.

I'm sure they've toyed with great futuristic ideas but didn't release them on the OS for performance reasons, along with fear of changing the way the OS is built. I think that we'll truly see the next evolution of not just the iOS but the iPhone in their next iterations (aka not the iPhone 5s).

And yeah I agree, Windows Metro is smooooooth.

while I enjoy the iPhone design usually, and the MacBook as well. I find Ive to be a bit overrated. I mean packing the hardware in a slim casing is nice, but there's only so much you can do. And software wise I don't see much he can do except perhaps simplify ios even more.

I agree the next evolution is in 18 months or so when the ten iterations of so x is done, and I think that'll be the finished product of the merge, but I feel ios is in need of at least a slight facelift.

[Patrick Chewing]

I officially hate Jelly Bean