Appigo Todo Review

A friend of mine and I have been discussing To Do applications in light of Jott moving to a subscription model. After reviewing documentation available on different applications, Ralph Jarvis selected Appigo TODO. Herewith is his review.

Appigo TODO
Reviewed by: Ralph Jarvis

This application promises that it will provide the following:

• Free desktop synchronization software to interface with the iPhone application and the iCal calendar on a Mac.
• No other application purchases required.
• Customizable Focus List to identify and complete important issues first
• Context and Tag options for each task
• Repeating tasks capability
  
• Task sharing through email
• Third party integration [e.g., Toodledo, Remember the Milk]
• Language support for English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish

Based on these features, the application yielded a number of experiences, some documented, some not.

PROS:

The value of this application is the integration to current Apple applications, not third-party applications such as Toodledo or Remember the Milk. Being able to access the iCal and Address Book enhances the tasks at hand. Appigo has a feature called “multiple task types” and provides the user the ability to link a task to a call, email, web address, or physical location. How useful these features are will depend on use and the application has not been used long enough.

Another valuable feature is the flexibility to create tags and assign the to a task. For example, previously New Year's Resolutions were always on a typed list, paper or on a back of an index card. With TODO, a tag called “Resolutions” was created and assigned to the todos representing News Years Resolutions. To access, simply sort on the "Resolutions" tag and it will display resolutions that have yet to be completed.

Most todo lists have the ability to create “lists” or categories and this application makes it easy to set up. Since the application can be integrated with iCal, it is easy to standardize categories in both applications.

I [Ralph Jarvis] purchased Bento last year to develop a CRM. The application is linked to the Mac's Address Book and therefore information from the CRM can be incorporated in corresponding todo items. This capability was not documented, so it remains to be seen how well it works.

CONS:

Appigo advertises excellent customer support. Experience attempting to get support demonstrated that there is little tangible support [but most small companies do not have that luxury, do they?]. I would never give “excellent” to any support group that takes more than 2 hours. In my two instances, both emails were replied over 12 hours later. Regarding the “excellent” customer service, it was polite, but their support only copied web pages as solutions [they really do not understand the support role at all] and there was no phone walk-thrus either. I would recommend that Appigo either hire more support personnel or rephrase their quality to properly set expectations. Don’t expect a lot of support.

If you have always updated from your cradle, then you will have to change your routine. Since I always updated my iPhone with the cradle that came with the phone, I was surprised to find that I had to change my convenient update process to fit Appigo’s new process [albeit, this is supposedly an Apple problem, since the process and code were not in the SDK?]. Currently, there is no support from Appigo for serial synchronization from the iPhone to the MacBook. For those techies out there, maybe you can offer some additional insight.

After hours of tenacious manipulation, I was able to make the iPhone work with my MacBook. The synchronization program always has to be on and consequently, is always on my desktop [I wish they would learn how to minimize this annoyance, perhaps that is not documented in the SDK either?].

SUMMARY

As a relatively new application, I would give them a B- and expect technical enhancements without additional costs. Appigo has set a $10 fee for the application [which I find a little high, perhaps $5 would be better]; however, the synchronization tool is free. The recommendations on the iTunes Apps Store are encouraging to potential users and the integration with Apple applications is the best value of this product. The downside is the “average” support for the product.

Thanks Ralph for the review. What say the wisdom of the crowds? If you have additional input on this application, please feel free to comment on this post.

iPhone Twitter Clients

I have been using Twitter on the iPhone since the first Twitter clients were released to the AppStore. In the one-and-a-half years since the iPhone's appearance, I have used most of the major clients available. Until recently, the Twitter clients on my iPhone simultaneously were:

• Twitterific
• Twittelator
• Twitterfon
• TwitterLink
• Tweetie

There have been others that have come and gone almost as fast. These tended to be the "all-in-one" IM solutions allowing tweets and messaging through a number of different services. In all the cases that I tested, the all-in-one solutions were basic Twitter entry engines and nothing more. As a result, they were dispatched to the deleted file rather quickly since my messaging tends to SMS and Skype.

Twitterific: Of the remainder mentioned above, up to recently my favorite has been Twitterific. I have used the free version since it first appeared in the AppStore. It provides a simple interface to view tweets in list view:



The view gives the message, the tweeter's badge, and how long ago it was sent--basically everything you need.

Twitterific also provides a detailed view providing the same information at a larger font, as well as buttons to reply, mark as favorite, switch to list view, check the tweeter's detailed identification information, refresh the tweets on the iPhone, and initiate a tweet.



Twitterific's detailed information gives the name, userID, number of followers, location, bio of the tweeter.



It does not allow further drill-down.

Finally, the user can initiate a tweet with a window that allows typing with real-time character count (important with 140 characters of real estate), the ability to post a picture, and the ability to mark current location.



All-in-all, Twitterific has is good. However, since I link to a lot of Web pages in my tweets as well as re-tweeting a lot of information, I found these capabilities lacking--particularly the inability to have links automatically shrunk. Twitterific is free in the AppStore and the Premium version provides multiple account support for $9.99.

Twittelator: The second client that I have used heavily is Twittelator. I tried it out during the fall when I had a second Twitter account that I used frequently. I figured instead of upgrading to a client that could handle multiple accounts, it would be an opportunity to directly compare Twitter clients. Again, Twittelator provides a basic view screen. One difference is the screen will group senders together when their messages are sequential.



A key advantage of Twittelator over Twitterific is that the user can mark a tweet as a favorite (star) or reply (return arrow) directly from the list view screen. Also, touching the sender's badge will bring up the sender's detailed information.



The detailed information available on the initial screen is comprehensive compared to Twitterific, including a list of followers as well as buttons to access the sender's favorites, initiate a reply, initiate a reply, and send a direct message.

Twittelator is a great product. My main complaint was the list screen with the grouping of tweets. For some reason, I found it more confusing than helpful. It is a good client. Twittelator is available free in the AppStore and a Pro version that provides multiple accounts is $4.99. For the differences in features of the upgraded versions, you get more for your money with Twittelator than Twitterific.

Twitterfon: The third client I used was Twitterfon. Of the three discussed to this point, I found Twitterfon to have the cleanest list view. First, it opens where you last viewed. While the others do the same, it can sometimes confusing which was the last tweet viewed. Not so with Twitterfon.



As the above image indicates, new messages that have not been viewed since last access are color-highlighted.

Tapping a tweet will bring up an abbreviated profile screen that provides the number of followers, the ability to reply, send a direct message, and re-tweet a message.



Since I often re-tweet messages that would be of interest to my followers, the re-tweet button is very handy. The detail screen also provides a button to bring up the tweeter's complete profile and a button to access the person's tweet timeline. Of the three mentioned so far, Twitterfon is the best of the lot. Twitterfon is free in the AppStore and there is no premium version. Therefore, if you are looking to support multiple accounts, you will need to look at other clients.

TwitterLink: The third client has very basic Twitter functionality. It's one claim to fame is that it installs a bookmarklet that will allow the user to view a Web page, shrink the URL, and automatically insert that URL into a TwitterLink message window.



It was a major shortcoming of the previous three clients and I used TwitterLink just for that purpose. By using the easily installed bookmarklet, it was easy to send a shortened URL.



The big drawback is that TwitterLink is good at basic messaging only, it does not let you browse tweeters you are following. TwitterLink is free in the AppStore.

Tweetie: The final client is Tweetie. After much review and looking at recommendations on Twitter, it seemed that Tweetie was the most popular of the clients available for the iPhone. The list view screen is similar to others mentioned in this review--it is clean, carries the tweeter's badge and message. A major advantage of Tweetie over the others is the posting time is a date and time, not a relative time. I find this easier to determine whether a tweet is still relevant. My one complaint is that Tweetie does not highlight unread messages loaded since the last time the application was accessed.



Tweetie provides two views: Basic, and bubbles (similar to the iPhone's SMS application). Views are selectable through Tweetie's settings in the iPhone Settings application.




A second clean feature is swiping an entry brings up a menu that allows the user to rely, set the tweet as a favorite, or view the sender's profile.



The profile information is the most comprehensive of the clients reviewed.



As the image above illustrates, the user can get about all the information they need on the tweeter, view their timeline, followers, who they are following, as well as send replies, direct messages, or block/unblock that individual (selections are off-screen at the bottom of the preceding image).

The message screen allows the user to insert a picture (much as the others, it uses twitpic.com), insert current location, and provides real-time characters remaining in the message. However, a great feature is the "More" button that provides access to some features not available in other clients.



A major negative of Tweetie is that documentation is difficult to find. It is on the atebits.com Web, but you have to search for it. If the application had basic instructions on setting up multiple accounts, where you can find settings, and similar information, it would be very helpful.

Tweetie has a feature I have not seen in others except TwitterLink--using a bookmarklet, you can add a link to a message and the link is shrunk to save characters. However, finding out how to set up the bookmarklet can also be an adventure. It would be a great improvement if they provide a link to a Web site as done by TwitterLink that walks you through the set-up process, including the basic entry of the bookmarklet.

With that said, Tweetie seems to the be the best of the bunch and within striking distance of having features found favorable in other clients. Hopefully, these features will be made available in future releases. Tweetie does not have a basic free version, but is available for $2.99. For feature versus cost, it is the best of the clients reviewed here.

If you have information to add or insight into Twitter clients not covered in this post, please feel free to comment.

All I want for MacWorld

This is getting to be old. It's the same old story. The iPhone is a great phone, and could be a great handheld computing device...but. So, all I want from MacWorld is not an iPhone Nano. It's not a new larger iPhone/iTouch Netbook. I want the things that should have been available on the iPhone when it first appeared.

Understand, I practically live on my iPhone. I can go for days without using my computer. I can track my personal and business email. I can research information on the Web, and I can take notes for later use. More often than not, I even write my blog posts on the iPhone (this is one of those exceptions). The point is that I use my iPhone a lot and I use it many times as a substitute for my laptop. With that background, here are my gripes.

After a year-and-a-half of clicking back-and-forth between applications trying to remember that 45-digit long URL, Apple give me Cut/Copy/Paste. It can't be that hard. People have applications in the AppStore with the feature enabled. It doesn't matter if you screw it up and have to redo it at a later date, just give me the damn function. My memory isn't what it used to be. Therefore, memorizing a piece of information and switching between applications and then typing is getting less productive the older I get. When I forward a message in email, I don't like to make the reader suffer through all the various forwards. As a result, doing so on the iPhone can literally take hours. It's a dumb feature to be missing and enough is enough.

Add Flash. I don't care if it's doggy, just give me the capability to view Flash content on the iPhone. Whether Steve Jobs likes it or not, Flash is a Web standard. I am finding that there are numerous Web sites that I do not have access to simply because the iPhone does not support Flash. As Adobe expands their Web application suite, this is only going to get worse. Add to this problem the fact that many sites are also now using Microsoft Silverlight and the problem gets worse. Quicktime is a Web standard; good for you Apple. However, Flash and Silverlight are also standards and the iPhone should also support them.

Bring Mobile Safari up to standard so it can be used with sites such as Google Apps. If this means an improved Java engine, so be it. While Apple may be protecting their installed base of iWork users and continuing to show appreciation for the Microsoft Office for Mac crowd, the fact is sites such as Google Apps are catching on and users want access to the presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet functions offered. Locking this capability out of the iPhone will only drive users to alternative platforms (such as the Google OS-based phones). Embrace the evolving Web and ride the wave. Otherwise, Apple may be left in the backwash of a missed wave, much as happened in the '80s.

While I would love to have the ability to rename photos on the iPhone (as has been on my gripe list for more than a year), at a minimum, let me at least pull up the image information. The information on date and time taken are available in the phone as that information is passed to iPhoto. Make it available directly on the phone for crying out loud. While you are at it, allow the photo application to capture GPS coordinates since that field is available.

Finally, Documents-To-Go, get your act together and release the package for the iPhone. I have heard rumors of this being done since the iPhone was released and I am still waiting. Is it copy/paste that's holding you up? If so, implement your own version.

What say you? While I don't mean this to be a infinite wish list, what are the absolute functions that you feel are needed to make the iPhone a true portable computing substitute?

What's on My iPhone

It's been awhile since I've written about applications on the iPhone. The last time I discussed a number of jailbreak apps that I had tried out or used heavily. However, since upgrading to the iPhone 3G, I have been running strictly legit apps. (I still have jailbroken apps on my original iPhone, but nothing really impressive.)

So what do I have on my iPhone? Here goes:

Page One/Line One:
- SMS
- Calendar
- Photos
- Camera
All standard Apple apps and in their original locations.

Page One/Line Two:
- YouTube
- Bloomberg
- Maps
- Weather
YouTube and Maps are the standard Apple apps. I have substituted the Bloomberg app for the standard Apple Stocks app because it is so much better; stores and provides more information; and is free. I don't use Apple's Stocks application. Weather is a Safari shortcut for the Weather Underground site (http://i.wund.com) and I have it set to my local weather. Weather Underground provides in-depth seven-day forecasts as well as local weather radar on the same page. I don't use Apple's Weather app.

Page One/Line Three:
- Mobile News
- Calculator
- Evernote
- Reader
Only the Calculator is an original Apple app. I have an HP-21-like financial calculator on the phone also, but find the Apple Calculator simple and reliable for most day-to-day uses. Mobile News is the Associated Press' free news application and I find it simple, and provides a great overview of world, US, political, and business news. While I still use Apple's notes app, it has been relegated to page two. Evernote is a free application that provides easy notetaking, allows voice recording, allows snapshot notes, and syncs all these in the cloud. Evernote also has Web access as well as an app that runs on the Mac. The result is information can be accessed virtually anywhere (unlike Apple's Notes app). Finally, Reader is a Safari shortcut to Google's iPhone-optimized reader page. This fills the bill for information not provided by Mobile News.

Page One/Line Four:
- Contacts
- Settings
- Twitterific
- Jott
Contacts and Setting are the standard Apple apps. Twitterific is my primary Twitter client and is used quite often. Jott is my preferred ToDo list application because it allows voice transcription of notes and ToDos. This makes it great when driving and something comes to mind that I wamt to remember.

The Dock:
- Phone
- Mail
- Safari
- iPod
These are all standard iPhone apps and in their original position.

With a few exceptions, these are the workhorse applications I use. I have a total of nine pages of apps and shortcuts, some used quite often and others that are there if I need them. Others of note include:

- 1Password for keeping track of various user IDs, passwords, and related Web site addresses.

- AppStore for keeping applications updated and installing new ones.

-AirSharing for keeping various Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files that
I need to reference on the iPhone.

- Wikipanion for looking up those quick items that don't require an in-depth Google search. It's a free app.

- Google Search with the voice recognition capability. I find that I use this app a lot more since they added the voice recognition.

- New York Times application. This fills the holes left by Mobile News and Google Reader, but the application is prone to frequent crashes.

- SportsTap, a comprehensive sports tracking application.

- iBlogger which I use to write most of my blog entries. I paid for this application and it has been worth every penny.

- i.TV for tracking what's on TV as well as finding what's playing at local theatres.

There are other applications that I use from time to time, but not nearly as frequently as the ones mentioned. I will cover some of them at a later time.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

iPhone November 2008

It has been awhile since I posted to this blog for the primary reason that I did not have anything significant to add to the conversation about what a good or terrible phone the iPhone represents. However, there are a couple of items that I have not seen mentioned that I think warrant discussion: 3G coverage improvements; iPhone battery improvements; AT&T's Wi-Fi hotspots; and blogging applications.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and when I first got my iPhone 3G, the 3G coverage was marginal at best. That is, in many places, a 3G signal was not available; where there was a signal, it was so weak that the phone would switch back and forth between 3G and EDGE; and when you did get a signal, it would suck the energy out of the battery in no time. Over the last month or so, that seems to have changed. With the release of the 2.1 update, the 3G radio seems more stable. In addition, it does not seem to drain the battery as fast. However, the biggest improvement appears to be the 3G network itself--finding a strong 3G signal now appears to be the rule instead of the exception. Quality has improved as has stability. Speed is exceptional.

Along with these 3G improvements has come a related improvement in battery life. I can now typically get a full day out of a charge, something I could not do just a few months ago.

Now for the bad news--AT&T's Wi-Fi hotspots work terribly on the iPhone. First, the hoops you have to jump through just sign on to the hotspot is a genuine pain. You connect by Safari, fill out your phone number and agree to the terms and conditions. Then AT&T sends you an SMS message with a link to use for access. However, half the time, the link is not live (requiring you to enter a really long URL manually into a browser. Another quarter of the time, the link is bad and will tell you that you cannot connect and to try again later. If you should be so lucky to connect, the connection is flaky. That is, when I go to open another Safari window, AT&T will ask me to go through the sign-in procedure again. By this time, it is just simpler to turn on 3G.

Other than that, not much has changed. The iPhone still crashes periodically, although less than when first released. Some apps are good and some are bad. I have been trying out the free blogging applications. I tried to post this using LifeCast, but once the entry was completed it would not upload and I ended up having to manually enter the post online. Therefore I wouldn't recommend LifeCast.

WordPress is an outstanding free blog, but is limited to posting to the WordPress site only. However, it is easy to use, full featured and works well.

Finally, BlogWriter Lite works well, no labels or tags, but will allow you to compose on the iPhone and then post to a blog. I use it for a BlogSpot blog and it works great. The only problem is that it will allow the use of only one blog (I have four). I am willing to buy a blog app, but the choices at present seem to have significant bugs judging from the comments, so I will wait awhile longer.

What are you thoughts on 3G, battery life and blog applications? I would like to hear.

iPhone OS 2.0 Review

Okay, it has been awhile since I last posted, primarily because there was nothing to report other than rumor. Now I have some useful information.

I bought the iPhone 3G 16 GB on Monday, July 14th (because I was traveling the previous week and in a location that did not have an Apple or AT&T store). Therefore, I have had a week of experience with it. In addition, I also upgraded my generation 1 iPhone to OS 2.0 so I had a good reference model with which to compare. With that background, here are my perspectives on the the operating system.

1. Mass email delete/move: iPhone OS 2.0 provides a number of additional features that make it worth the upgrade. Among those are mass delete of emails which was a pet peeve from the older version. The feature was implemented simply and elegantly using an "Edit" button which allows you to select multiple emails by tapping radio buttons. Then when finished with selections, you can choose either "Delete" or "Move."
2. Multiple calendar support: The calendar function now supports syncing multiple calendars between your Mac/PC and the iPhone. While this was not on my wish list for upgrades, I have found it useful for keeping personal and business todos and appointments separated.
3. Screen capture: An undocumented feature of the upgraded OS is the ability to capture the current iPhone screen by quickly pressing the home button and the on/off button simultaneously. The screen capture application on my jailbroken generation 1 phone was one of the most used applications I had. You would be surprised how often you want to show someone who is remote what your screen shows. This capability simply solves that problem. Once you have captured a screenshot, it can be found in the Camera Roll under the "Photos" icon.
   
4. Direct access to contacts: By default, the 2.0 OS places a contacts icon on the iPhone springboard. Again, it was one of the additions I used to have on my jailbroken iPhone that saw a lot of use. It reduces access to contacts by a keystroke and when you are in a hurry to get to the information, the improved access is noticeable.
5. Contacts searching: When you have a large number of contacts like I do, the contacts search can be a real productivity improvement. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have found the feature to be buggy. When first accessing the contacts application, a search line is provided at the top of the screen. The problem that I have found is that many times when you tap into the contact, the screen does not respond. After a few moments, the query field vanishes all together. However, when you tap the bar at the top of the screen, it will come back and works fine.
6. Save photos from email: Another nice feature is the ability to save photos sent to you in an email to your Camera Roll. This is particularly handy when you want fast access to the photo and don't have time to sync and then move the photo on your Mac/PC.
7. Save photos from Safari: Similar to saving a photo in email is the ability to save a photo from a Web page in Safari. While I don't have a frequent use for the feature, it is a nice touch none-the-less.
8. Multiple SMS addressees: While I don't have the occasion to use it all that often, it is a nice touch. My guess is it would be nicer if Apple provided MMS so photos could be sent. I could see myself using that more often.
9. Scientific calculator: By simply turning the iPhone horizontal, the simple calculator becomes a scientific calculator. While this is nice, I would like to see a financial calculator (which I have need of more often) as an alternative to the scientific calculator. However, the scientific calculator does provide a number of functions that can be useful.
10. The AppStore: At last! With the opening of the AppStore and the ability of OS X 2.0 to take advantage of these applications, I see little need to jailbreak a phone. To date, I have added some 46 applications and have kept 43 of them on the phone. Thus far, I have only selected free applications as I want the pay applications to mature a little before I start putting out hard cash. With that said, my favorite applications are: Twitterific ( a great, simple, and useful Twitter client--follow me on wwcasey on Twitter); Boxoffice (movie schedules and reviews from RottenTomatoes.com--easy to use); Jott for iPhone ( a great interface to the Web-based Jott application as well as a great voice recorder that will transcribe your recordings); Shazam (will "listen" to a music clip and return the name and artist--again, it works and I am surprised by how often I use it); Apple Remote (only because it is cool and allows me to scare my wife when I am out of the room...); SportsTap (provides sports scores and standings for virtually any sport you want); PhoneSaber (being a Star Wars fan, a must have); and iBeer (great little accelerometer game and graphics demonstration.
    

Now for the complaints. First, the upgrade is buggy. I find that many of the features regularly crash by dropping back to the home screen. Hopefully, these will be chased down and fixed in the next release (just as was done with version 1.0).

Second, as has been pointed out by virtually every blog and review to date, the OS 2.0 is still missing the copy/paste capability. I find this to be the biggest failing of the current release and would have placed the priority above virtually every feature mentioned above except perhaps the bulk email delete. There are numerous times where a phone number is embedded in a document, and it is not hyperlinked to phone application. A second situation is where you want to extract a sentence or paragraph from a Web page to email to someone, but you are currently forced to send a link to that page. As a result, you cause work for the reader to find the text you wanted them to see in the first place.

Third, even though html email uses the Safari engine to render, you can rotate the message to the horizontal so you can get more of it on the screen. I find this to continue to be a major annoyance.

As a result, of the top 10 issues I had with the generation 1.0 software, only the bulk email delete has been addressed. Not a really good track record.

What are your thoughts--good and bad--about the OS X 2.0 software?

The Apple iPhone Software Roadmap

As you might guess, the blogs are buzzing with the news that the SDK along with a number of enterprise enhancements to the iPhone will be available in June. To recap, the iPhone will natively support Microsoft Exchange Push "everything" (mail, calendar, contacts). Also supporting the enterprise IT organization will be the capability to remotely configure iPhones to a standard enterprise template, the ability to securely communicate using Cisco's VPN, and the ability to remotely wipe the iPhone in case it is lost, stolen, or an employee should leave the company. Also buried in the presentation was the announcement that the June iPhone software update--iPhone 2.0-- will provide parental controls that can be set to restrict access applications such as the Safari browser. Finally, the SDK-developed applications will be available exclusively through a new AppStore that will enable the user to wirelessly download and install the applications.

Most of the buzz is about the enterprise and SDK features, operation, and availability. However, what I found to be the most interesting was a discussion by John Doerr of the venture capital organization Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) announcing the formation of "iFund" a $100 million investment fund for start-up organizations specifically focused on the development of iPhone applications. The iFund opens up a vast applications pipeline supporting the iPhone that will enable the iPhone to quickly capture market both from consumer applications such as games, but also commercial applications supporting a variety of enterprise needs. With the combination of the SDK being made available in beta to a large number of developers today; making the final SDK widely available in June; providing an application distribution approach mirroring the iTunes Store; engaging name companies including Electronic Arts, Sega, Salesforce.com, and others to develop enterprise and gaming content; and KPCB fronting $100 million in seed money for iPhone application development, the stage is set for the iPhone to challenge RIM, Palm, and the numerous Windows Mobile devices on both the enterprise and the consumer front.

This alone gives the existing iPhone legs well into the remainder of the year. However, I expect that on the heels of the SDK release in June, the next generation iPhone with 3G should be hitting the market. The 3G should have at least 32 MB of storage for all those new applications and locally stored content as well as an improved Internet experience. The combination will make the iPhone well positioned for the enterprise.

Jailbreak 1.1.3 -- Just Don't Do It

Over the last several days, I have used the "Nate True" soft upgrade to 1.1.3 and have attempted to upgrade using the "official dev team" upgrade. My experiences are as follows:

First, the Nate True soft upgrade worked as described. However, since I had a number of jailbreaked applications on my phone when I executed the upgrade, they all vanished from the summerboard. When I used installer, I could see the package logged as installed. Most of the packages could be uninstalled and then reinstalled and they appeared in the summerboard and worked as before the upgrade.

Unfortunately, there were several that would take a "script error" and would not delete (from memory, two were the Guitar and he HP21 Calculator). Since the installer thought they were installed, I would not reinstall them. It was for this reason that I decided to use the dev team's "official" upgrade.

Unfortunately, after a day of attempting to use the directions found on http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/01/27/guide-jailbreak-any-iphone-with-113-macwindows/, I did not succeed. On top of that, I have had to restore the phone and lost all contacts, calendar, stock, weather, and notes entries. While I can recover much of this information, I cannot recover all of it.

As a result, unless you simply want to hack the phone for the "fun" of it, I HIGHLY recommend that you leave the phone as Apple intended it. With each subsequent upgrade that Apple releases, the corresponding steps to jailbreak that phone become increasingly complicated and subject to numerous errors. My net out is that the effort is simply not worth it. If and until such time as a jailbreak method becomes MUCH simplified and provides the capability to recover previous data, I am sticking with what Apple has provided.

More Info in Google Reader Update

I also just noticed another change to the Google Reader application. When you click on the "See original" link in any article, instead of moving you to that page, it now opens a new page to present the original. As a result, your reader stays at the last article you were reviewing.

Again, nice touch.

Jailbreak 1.1.3 Problem -- Anyone Seen This?

I think the news on the jailbreak for update 1.1.3 has been adequately covered in a number of other blog posts. However, when I ran the Windows version (using iBrickr), it did not quite install correctly. Granted, I now have 1.1.3 on my iPhone and have the ability to add and run third-party native apps. However, when the update was installing, it took a script error. Then when I restarted the iPhone, the only third-party app that showed up was the installer.

At that point I went to reinstall the third-party apps I had previously placed on the phone and they did not show up! Out of curiosity, I went to the uninstall button on the AppSnapp application and the various applications showed up there. That is, they did not show as installed (and they could not be found on the Springboard), but they did show as able to be uninstalled.

At that point, I began uninstalling the applications. However, there were several that would not uninstall because of a "Main script error." Of the ones uninstalled, when I went to reinstall them, they installed and work just fine. There were a few exceptions where the application was designed for 1.1.2.

However, there are some really great applications that I would like that will not uninstall. Anyone have this problem? Anyone have any idea how to go about a fix without downgrading and starting all over again?

Why Hack the iPhone?

I resisted the urge to hack the iPhone for a few months, but after hearing about all the bricked phones after update 1.1.1, I became very interested in what it was that so many people wanted that they would be willing to brick their phone. My worry was that I did not want to dip into the innards of Mac OS X (even though I am quite at home with UNIX and Linux) and I sure didn't want to brick my phone.

Then I read about the site www.jailbreakme.com. The people at jailbreakme are to be congratulated on their ability to jailbreak the phone. But more importantly, they are to be congratulated on designing a jailbreak approach that is truly user-friendly. First, you don't need to know anything under the hood of Mac OS X. Second, you don't need to remember or follow any complicated directions. Third, you don't need anything but your iPhone and access to the Internet. The result is a jailbreak process that is as simple to perform as the iPhone is simple to use. But it doesn't stop there. The access to applications, the process of installing selected applications, the process of upgrading those applications, and the process of deleting applications are all ... simple. The result is an outstanding process for adding and managing applications on the iPhone that I highly recommend. With such a simple process, why not hack just to see what's available?

I have included a picture of page 1 of my "Springboard" (iPhone home screen). There are two more pages of applications that are not shown. No more complaints about lack of a "Todo" list. There's an application for that. No more complaints about lack of a search facility--there's an application for that. The screenshot is from an installed application. I have games galore. You get the idea, these applications truly extend the capability of the iPhone.

What's missing? I would still like to see a hack that will allow me to copy-and-paste. I figure it is only a matter of time before someone ports a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation package to the device: OpenOffice would do just fine. Finally, file uploading and saving capabilities would bring the device to a true portable computer level.

With that said, I am waiting for a "simple" upgrade that will enable the hack to work on 1.1.2. To date they have provided a package that can be installed on a 1.1.1 phone that will then allow upgrading to 1.1.2, but since it does not have the simplicity of the original 1.1.1 hack, I have not upgraded. I would dare say that until Apple provides something truly valuable, there is no reason to upgrade.

Try out www.jailbreakme.com and let me know what you think.