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Install Apps on Your iPhone Easily, No Hacking Skills Required

gizmodo.com — If you wanted to install third-party native software in your iPhone but you didn't had the necessary technical knowledge or courage, the newly updated iPhone Installer.app will make it so easy that it will be hard to resist. We have tried it in Mac OS X and, as you will see in the tutorial after the jump, it works perfectly

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  • chawkie, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9This is getting very, very tempting...now if someone would just get that NES emulator (or even better, an SNES emulator) running at full speed...
    • therealgeddylee, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1True, prior to hearing about the NES emulator I was very cautious about messing with my iphone, now I'm just waiting for these apps to not require OSX...
      • JonLatane, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Problem is, since UIKit is similar to OSX APIs, it's pretty much all Mac developers making iPhone applications. Since the typical Mac developer is also a Mac-exclusive user, it's not likely any of the people doing this hacking care to develop a Windows version. It will probably take another team to port it/rewrite it.
    • JGuest, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10The newest version of NES.app for the iPhone works almost perfectly... a HUGE improvement from the earlier versions. I would recommend going for it.
      • MiDri, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Buttons still kinda suck... =(
        • WiseWeasel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Agreed. I wish they would focus less on making the controls look like a NES gamepad, and more on making them USABLE...
  • DarkMeld, on 10/10/2007, -14/+3What happens wen u run outta desktop space on the iphone?
    • filefly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Translation: "What happens when you run out of desktop space on the iPhone?"
    • JGuest, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6There is a program named Launcher.app that sits on your desktop, it can launch all the "hidden" apps you have installed.
    • toolsdrummer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"Right now there is a hard limit of the springboard that only allows 20 icons. You can install a third party app called launcher that will give you room for more."
      -Terc
      • Terc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Thanks for at least citing me.

        I have since realized that both installer.app and launcher.app are closed source. They may not be such a good choice because there is no way to know exactly what they are doing. (no way to look through the source for malicious code)

        Having said that, I still think that the installer and launcher are well built apps (Launcher needs some attention before it's on par with Installer.app) If you're still interested go here:

        http://iphone.nullriver.com/beta/
    • drjones78, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2There is an application that acts as an App launcher, that you can install with Installer.app.

      It makes sure to put an Icon for it on the springboard. When you click it, it will bring up a list of all the 3rd part apps on your phone. Hopefully one day, Apple will modify spring board to have pagination or something along those lines.

      Things are starting to take off... I have a good 15 extra 3rd party apps on my phone now.
    • DAllenJ, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1What about making the desktop scroll, like the contacts list?
      • badjoke, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm sure that's how it'll work once apple gets (or allows) enough apps to fill the home page. Either that or there will be a hard limit and you'll get to choose which apps you want on your homepage.
  • Callidus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+52I'm going to pistol whip the next person who says "after the jump"
    • xposiactionx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10MAC: Hey Farva, whats that thing you say when you want someone to click your link?
      FARVA: After the jump?
      MAC: OHHHHHH! *hands over gun*
      • breckinshire, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1You, sir, are a comic genius. Best comment of the day!
    • proghead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11Mmmmm... pistol whip....

      *drool*
    • unloud, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"Pistol whip you, dip you then flip you
      Then dance to this ***** music we crip to"


      ...what? I'm a thug....really.
  • smellytim, on 10/10/2007, -5/+6man this is a really tight application. i wish i knew some good apps
    • WiseWeasel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3VNotes (voice notes/recorder) and NES are pretty killer... The Lights Off game is also fairly slick and challenging...
  • jsayreallen, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4I would be all over hacking my iPhone if my warranty didn't go out the window
    • yokozuka, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11It doesn't void your warranty. You can hack it with no fear because if your iPhone ever needs repair you can restore the software using iTunes and it will be totally clean, like when it came back from the factory.
    • quazywabbit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I don't see how it would be breaking the warranty. The most you would have to do is have everything wiped and restored on the iPhone and it would be back to factory defaults.
    • fahrvergnuugen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I had my "hacked" phone replaced under warranty - no questions asked. I actually had a defective phone, it shut off one day and would not turn back on.
    • ninetimes, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Well, hopefully the hacking tools will get refined enough and reliable enough that Apple will have little choice but to open the iPhone for 3rd party development. It's pretty dumb that they didn't allow 3rd party apps in the first place.
  • proghead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3video of installation and operation? sorry im just really paranoid about bricking it.
    • enderiii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I've run this over a hundred times. I've only been forced to do a restore when I was messing around with trying to make it so you don't have to hold the power and menu button. (Which means no brick)
    • badjoke, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I was scared too, and it worked very easily. Just make sure to hold those buttons for a long time (past the restart). First time, I didn't hold them long enough but the terminal just said "gotta hold them longer buddy!" or something of the sort.
  • Rileyper, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3First thing i need to do to install apps to my iPhone is to shell out 600 for the iphone first
  • lucidguru, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2What the hell does the TFSU stand for in the image?
    • proghead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7the ***** shut up

      (yoda remember?)

      also it might help to read the comments.
    • SVPirate, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It should so be TFUS as in 'The ***** Up, Shut', if it was a full sentance it would come out as 'The ***** up, you will shut', surely?
  • AbeVigoda, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Doom doesn't work. NES doesn't come with games. Lame.
    • badjoke, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I noticed this too. Hopefully they'll get updated/repackaged soon.
    • WiseWeasel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Doom is a tech demo, and they haven't figured out how to implement controls (no idea how you could do a 1st person shooter on a touchscreen without hooking up a mouse and keyboard anyways). Of course the NES emulator comes without games. It would be illegal for them to distribute any games with it. Google is your friend if you're looking for NES ROMs, however... I had good luck with moreroms...
      • LoungeActx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yeah true...but for PPC users we can't jailbreak the phone to add the games yet...so we're stuck...
  • enderiii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4fyi: Windows version is being worked on.
    • MxM111, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Link?
      • enderiii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It should be working in theory... but it crashes at a certain point ;)
  • BRadZ15, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3most amazing thing. EVER.
  • snozle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5we need a repository for 3rd party apps with reviews. There are a ton of them out there for the webapps, but none that I know of for native ones.
    • WiseWeasel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Since the Installer.app folks are running the repositories, and they already list some detailed info for each project, it would be nice if they also added user reviews and such to their website. It seems they're doing a site redesign anyways; here's hoping for this addition...
  • jer.williams, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Install worked like a charm. I imagine using the terminal might be a little scary to some people, but there's nothing to it.
  • smxy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4IMPORTANT TIP: after you have Installer installed, the first application you should install is Launcher. This is because the SpringBoard doesn't scroll, so you need a place for your apps to show up. If you don't, then Installer will get pushed off the screen where you can't get to it. With Launcher installed, that won't happen.
  • monsterofNone, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1"but you didn't had"... moran
  • DylanQ, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4Why is Installer.app getting so much attention? Installer.app represents everything that is NOT open source.

    The application's lead developer has done EVERYTHING he can to keep the open source installation apps from gaining popularity.

    In addition to all that, running closed source apps on the iPhone is STUPID. If you people had any idea how dangerous that is, or how unsecure the iPhone's system is (EVERYTHING RUNS AS ROOT), you would NEVER trust a closed source app.

    Please check out the alternatives to Installer.app, there are some great open source apps that work much better. PXL is a cross-platform installer that runs from your PC and is extremely userfriendly. Soon there will be an on-device installer for PXL as well. Check it out at http://pxl.googlecode.com/ and you can find .pxl bundles at http://pxl.ibrickr.com/
    • WiseWeasel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3There seem to be plenty of open source packages available in Installer.app... Not sure why you gotta be hatin'... Keep in mind that many of the iPhone developers are coming over from the MacOS world, where there isn't such a bias against closed source software. If the releases are coming from trusted sources, with a history of making nice apps, and they work well, then I don't give a rat's ass what license it uses... If open source projects are better than or equivalent to the alternatives, I'll use that; otherwise, closed source it is...
      • DylanQ, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0The open source alternatives are just as nice, they just aren't getting the attention. I'm not "hatin'", I'm just not okay with the developer of Installer.app's attitude toward open source (or his actions, for that matter), and I want people to understand the inherent security risks that come with installing closed-source applications.

        The iPhone is NOT like your Mac, and it is simply NOT safe to run closed source applications. It's like letting anyone you want use your computer as root any time they want.
    • DylanQ, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Why the hell is the guy above me getting dugg when I'm getting buried? Installer.app and other closed source apps on the iPhone are a security risk, it's as simple as that. There is nothing open source about it, and the developer of Installer.app and Launcher.app actively tries his best to eliminate the open source competition while stealing from them as well (did you notice how his icon is just a modified version of the MobileTerminal icon?).
      • lupinglade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You moron, its because he made the MobileTerminal icon too. (And I am him...) Also, someone actually contributed the Installer.app icon to us, we didn't make it. As far as stealing... Launcher.app is open source, we released the source, try http://www.nullriver.com/~zigzag/Launcher.src.zip . Next, we were first to the table with an installer -- how is it that we are stealing anything? So far we see that they are stealing from us, but you dont' see us trying to spread lies and FUD. To each his own.
        • DylanQ, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1lg, I'm giving up with this argument, it's pointless. You have done nothing but harm the open source community, and the fact that everybody else is uninformed only benefits you. There's a GOOD reason you aren't welcome in the ox86 irc channels anymore. Keep playing your immature games, sooner or later people will realize what a stupid move installing closed source software is. I hope that before that day comes you will open up Installer.app to the community (because there are lots of us who would actually love to try it, if not for your attitude and the idea of closed source software).
        • lupinglade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You are spreading FUD. I left osx86 because you were spreading FUD there too. Find something better to do. Obviously you have vested interest in this. PS. There is nothing wrong with closed source software, or maybe you should stop using the iPhone altogether? Since its closed source, hmm? Go work on your code, instead of spreading lies. Kthx.
        • omnivector, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1hey lupinglade, I'm not trying to enter said argument here. I just have a question -- why did you guys choose to make installer.app closed source? not a flame or anything. I'm just curious what your reasoning is.
        • Burn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Don't you guys actually bother to actually read other people's comments? He not only said "Launcher.app is open source, we released the source", but also linked to the damn source code.

          Sheesh.
  • dareiff, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I went ahead and took the plunge.. Here's to hoping a few 'better' basic apps come out soon.. I couldn't care less about the NES Emulator.. Give me twitter and .. something else..
  • vrillusions, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7dugg for the yoda holding an iphone
  • br0ken1128, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I went ahead and did this, and then installed the 3rd party sources so I'd have SSH .. this is the one app I've been wanting! I liked my old pocket pc phone mainly for the ability to SSH .. everything worked like a champ!
  • seekandestroy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4No hacking skills required.. if you wanna be alone yanking it to gadgets all your life. In reality..

    Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills
  • theguz4l, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So is this compatible with Windows (XP or Vista)? or is this a Mac only thing...
  • pauldy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1No hacking skills required???? Your right someone has posted a 4 page guide on the steps to get this app working but it isn't exactly double click to install here. They have made it pretty easy but the same is true with the ssh installer. Once you have shd with sftp running on the iphone using programs that mount sftp shares on your machine makes installing apps as easy as a drag and drop and it doesn't take up a precious slot on your home screen.
  • DylanQ, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0For installing on Windows, check out ibrickr.com. It's an GUI installer that runs from the PC and requires zero of this command line stuff.
    • enderiii, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You can install Installer.app using iBrickr but for some reason it says the package is a highly experimental beta which... it isn't. As you can tell from all these posts, it's working pretty well.
  • Smoov, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Courage?

    How debased our language has become when this word is used in such a context.
  • coderedfilm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5ok, so how the hell do you get the nes roms onto the phone???
  • AbeVigoda, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0NES ROMS. NES ROMS sans hacking.
  • DJCraig, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I tried it, and this is what I got in the command line:
    ...
    5 FilesystemCheck 1...
    6 FilesystemCheck 2...
    7 Mounting File Systems
    8 Moving files into place...
    Failed: (6) RecoveryDittoFileCopy: Operation Ditto failed

    I can't find any mention of "Operation Ditto" anywhere on the Internet! I tried searching Google, the iPhone Dev Wiki, the comments on here, the gizmodo site and comments, and the iPhone hacking forum, no mention. My iPhone seems to be unaffected.
    • lupinglade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2If you get this, try it again. Known issue that seems to happen sometimes.
  • dpowre, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0im trying to install NES Roms

    when i type "mkdir /var/root/Media/ROMs/
    mkdir /var/root/Media/ROMs/NES"

    it comes up saying "permission denied"

    and suggestions?
  • theOctagon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Keep us updated on the ROM inquiry. We are waiting on more directions.
  • rgury, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0What is the matter with these developers. You write and spend time all with all these hard to write applications... (Vnotes or Nullrivers installer)

    GIVE US AIM SANS SAFARI!!!
  • AbeVigoda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0It should be as simple as using Fugu (link: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15693) but I can't seem to get my iPhone and Fugo to talk to each other.
  • m00gg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Mad props to Nullriver and the sources community for pulling this together so quickly.
    I wonder how Apple will respond? I for one hope they will let this organic growth flourish!
  • quickfix98, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0More hacks here:

    http://iphone.corank.com
  • chookalana, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1worked fine for me. Accept it will not allow me to copy ROMs to my phone.
  • PacketScan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Get it.. Use it... Love it....
  • stmfreak, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I'm lovin' it. New apps show up every few days, just check the installer and blam! The latest toy is the new AIM client. And my RSS reader just upgraded to a version that supports multiple feeds, sweet.
  • sriky, on 01/13/2008, -0/+0visit http://lern2hack.blogspot.com

    for hacking tutorials,tips,tools,info,latest hacks,vista & xp hacks & more..
  •  

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