Apple iDevice clubhouse: Now with essential apps and tweaks!

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

Going to do this right this time, and prove that iDevices can actually be useful to the average geek and not just for looks/sex appeal to the masses.

This thread is going to avoid discussion on pirated apps.

Cool apps:

Acrobits Softphone/Groundwire: Full fledged SIP/VOIP app. works as good, if not better than the anrdoid equivalents. G729 codec support, incoming and outgoing calls, ties in with phone contacts. Seamless transition from 3G/LTE to WiFi and back (between calls). Works on iPads and iPods, turning them into wifi/3G VOIP phones.

For reference, i have two VOIP accounts with mynetfone (an australian VOIP provider) one with a landline 'home' number that links to my iphone, and one without an incoming number that i use for private calling. due to the prices here in Au, VOIP calls to landlines are free, while i get better mobile to mobile rates from the phone as normal.

See the spoiler for a screenshot of this running fullscreen on my first gen ipad, turning it into my home phone on wifi and 3G.

Teamviewer: Remote desktop control app, with a free PC client/host. Does NOT require port forwards. The iPad version gets bonus points here, because you can have it change the hosts resolution to match your iPad, for a 1:1 screen image with native touchscreen support (no dragging a mouse cursor - its like having a touchscreen windows on your iPad)

Teamspeak 3: I suppose this only applies if you use teamspeak for gaming, but its damn handy to have on your iphone - on anything with iOS6, it also works perfectly with bluetooth headsets.

Chrome: synced browser between your desktop and mobile browsers, including tabs and passwords? yes please! (incognito mode for those late night iPad porn sessions too

)

Stanza: Free app. Tie this in with Calibre (windows software) and you have a damn powerful Ebook combination. Convert any PDF, Epub or text file to fit properly on your device, and download them over the built in wifi server in Calibre.

Mundane but useful apps:

Techpowerup app: well, duh

Facebook Messenger: Not just the facebook app, this ones purely for messaging. Latest versions are adding VOIP calling, probably through their tie-ins with skype.

Skype: Video calling is a lot easier on a phone/tablet than on a PC, since the camera is integrated. Like facebook, this can be used to save money as a 'free' alternative to texting people (assuming they use the skype as well)

Google Maps: again with the obvious. best free navigation system around.

Flashlight (or any similar app): holds on the camera flash, making your phone a flashlight. should be a stock feature, but its not.

Tunein Radio: away from home, or poor signal? use wifi or 3G to listen to online versions of your favourite radio station

Speed Test: the app version of speedtest.net, this lets you do some tests to determine the speed of your 3G/LTE/wifi networks. can be useful for troubleshooting problems.

Essential Tweaks:

A few battery life tweaks:

Turn off bluetooth if you arent using it. Same with LTE on the latest devices.

If you're using an iPad for offline purposes, set it to airplane mode so that the battery doesnt drain at all when its idle (for example, ebook reading)

Do not disturb mode (ios6) on a timer can be used to save battery life as well - since notifications arent waking up the screen, beeping, or vibrating, it can extend battery life quite a bit when you're asleep or at work.

Disable auto screen brightness - this can actually waste CPU power and cause lag on older iDevices, quite noticeable on my first gen iPad.

Jailbroken Tweaks/apps: These are cydia tweaks/apps, some free, some paid.

Adblocker: Something i really miss on non-rooted android devices and non JB iDevices. On apple, this works really easily: it keeps a list of known ad links/addresses, and when you choose to do so, it simply blocks them from showing. This can be used to block the ads in free apps like angry birds, making them lag less and behave more like the paid versions.

Since my iphone 5 cant be jailbroken at the time of writing, this will focus on iPad jailbreaks that i'm runninng.

FullForce and Retinapad: Hacks to make 'iphone' apps look like 'ipad' apps. Extremely noticeable on apps like facebook messenger, which dont have ipad versions. Removes all the aliasing/jaggies on text when in '2x' mode.
Here is a comparison of the Groundwire app in 2x mode, between stock apple and retinapad (paid). the fullforce (free) i have glitches out with groundwire.

Note the rather large difference in quality of the text - thats not compression in the images, thats just how bad apple screw over 'iphone' apps on the ipad without these tweaks.

Displayout: more or less, this tweak allows you to modify the behaviour of VGA/HDMI output. you can force specific resolutions (if hardware supported) for all apps, instead of needing an app to officially support external displays. This solves a lot of problems with video apps (that arent youtube) not mirroring onto external displays. (PS: angry birds on a 40" LCD is awesome)

ManualCorrect: a replacement/additive to the infamous autocorrect. changes the behaviour quite drastically, and for the better. google will show better examples for this than i can provide.

Quasar: multi tasking for the ipad! this allows you to run apps in a window, letting you run two (or more) apps simultaneously. Doesnt work right for me on a first gen ipad, as the hardware is too slow but shows enormous potential for multitasking.

Factory reset your iphone without losing jailbreak!

Run the windows program Semi-Restore
http://semi-restore.com/

let the phone reboot, ta-da!
i also used the program http://www.copytrans.net/ so that i didnt need itunes (it downloads legit apple drivers from apple, and installs them without itunes)

in my case since it was jailbroken, i had to re-jailbreak the phone with evasion, and reinstall the 'preferenceloader' tweak (had to set it to 'hacker' mode in cydia to see it), otherwise tweaks didnt show up in the settings app.

wolf · Jun 8, 2011

I'd love to join man! lots of apple hate in TPU, but I gotta say I do love their Phones

iPhone4 16gb Black, not jailbroken.

PRO's

Beautiful screen (high resolution)
Very sensitive touch screen
Great camera for stills and 720p video
Form, this phone looks fantastic.
Simplicity (buttons mostly)
Pre installed apps, comes with 99% of what you 'need'

CON's

iTunes store or you need to jailbreak... BIG con.
Almost 'need' for screen covers and cases
Battery life with 3G and WiFi on
Interface can be clunky, and hardly optimisable without jailbreaking

I'm sure there is more Pro's and Con's so I'll add them as I think of them

also the battery on my iPhone 3G still holds up exceptionally well with 3G off! probably in the realm of 4-5 days standy and light use, not bad for ~3 years old used constantly since purchase, until about one month ago.

Fourstaff · Jun 8, 2011

iDevice clubhouse instead?

I am using an iPod Classic 80Gb, sign me up?

iTunes+iPod is "good enough" for me, but obviously not enough for fussy people wanting the best. I like Apple's engineers and design, they seem to be always ahead of the curve.

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

i went with those names for people searching for the thread, makes it easier to find.

Mines due to arrive later today, so i'll be writing a mini review on it when it does. I'd appreciate it if you guys did similar for your devices - in spoiler tags, write up your impressions both positive and negative for the devices. Think the pro's and cons at the end of a TPU review.

Fourstaff · Jun 8, 2011

Probably not going to write a review for mine, its going to celebrate its 4th year anniversary soon. Battery life is still decent (can last me a day's use, probably about 8hr?), and can still store all my music, so upgrade is not needed.

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

Fourstaff said:
Probably not going to write a review for mine, its going to celebrate its 4th year anniversary soon. Battery life is still decent (can last me a day's use, probably about 8hr?), and can still store all my music, so upgrade is not needed.

still useful for people to know if they find one out there second hand.

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

Iphone 4 32GB review

Pros:

Screen - VERY clear and easy to see. default fonts are excellent to read, even at tiny DPI (zoomed out)
Touch controls - very, very responsive. no need for a stylus at all. Menus and programs scroll more smoothly than samsung galaxy S, a high end android phone.
Audio quality from 3.5mm jack - really not a surprise, apple made sure the phone looks and sounds good. can drive my sennheiser HD555 headphones as good as my auzentech sound card, slightly less bassy but excellent overall.
GPS is extremely accurate. better than my navman and nokia N95 by a mile, however the phone didnt come included with any GPS applications - they have to be purchased seperately.
Camera - the camera itself is quite good for still objects, without needing excessive lighting to take good snaps. see the followling close up of an LED keyboard with flash on - something my other cameras choked on. Every single hair and mote of dust is visible.
Physical mute/silent switch on the phone for beeps/calls etc.

http://img.techpowerup.org/110607/Capture470.png

(not image tagged for those with slow net)

Cons:
Camera software - in typical apple fashion, you have almost zero control. apart from a (hidden) zoom slider, the slider to change between camera and video, a flash control and the button to take the photo you have.... nothing. you cant even change the resolution of the photos being taken.
Multi tasking is terrible. Having a single VOIP application up with multitasking (and not the silly Push notifications) drains the battery about 5 times faster.
Auto correct. nuff said, but easy to disable.
Non expandable storage. Every android and his dog has a micro SDHC slot.
Bad handling of VOIP. they did their best to block it working, probably from telcos pressuring them. due to no multitasking you either have to leave the app onscreen to receive calls, rely on push notifications (which are often delayed, meaning you miss the call) or use a program which can hack multitasking like acrobits groundwire - which drains the battery fairly fast (you'll be recharging every day, guaranteed)

In the middle:
Video recording. Its fluid and a good FPS, but it doesnt handle low light too well - and the mic sensitivity is quite low. It seemed to use the regular voice call mic, which meant it was facing the wrong way - it records the sounds from whoever is recording, and not what the camera is pointing at.
Safari browser: its tabbed, its fairly simple to use... but some weird decisions (to boost battery life, i'm sure). HTML5 and flash content like youtube only work in their own applications, and not via the browser - which means embedded flash on websites doesnt work. You can install applications/mods/hacks to make it work, but android has a one up there.
Push notifications. Apples version of 'multi tasking'. The short version is that instead of the phone being capable of more than static, non updating screens to save battery life, they get your application developers to run a push server - which basically sends your phone a text message via its internet connection when something happens, rather than leave the app up and checking constantly. Yes, this does quite well for say, facebook notifications or other non-time critical things... but its really worthless for VOIP calls such as skype, or real time chats. Its far better than nothing at all, but it just proves that apple really dont want multi tasking, they just want long battery life and a responsive phone. they dont trust users to know how to quit an application to free up resources.
Limited to apple exclusive hardware for the most part. This is not new, everyones used it by now. at least generic bluetooth hardware works just fine (keyboards, headsets etc). While apple specific hardware often comes with a big price tag, at least you know it exists and is guaranteed compatibility.
Huge app selection - but android has the same (or greater). Poor symbian

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

if ipod classics are allowed how about my old nano?

Frick · Jun 8, 2011

I have two iPod minis torn asunder somewhere.

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

cheesy999 said:
if ipod classics are allowed how about my old nano?

of course. as i said above, people still have them, and people still sell them second hand or give them away. lets do it the TPU way and accumulate generations of apple hardware knowledge in the one place.

kurosagi01 · Jun 8, 2011

I got a jailbroken 4.2 Ipod touch 2nd generation 8GB.

Mussels · Jun 8, 2011

i'll add everyone in the morning (and link to the reviews) will need to sort out some kind of method to get them added in.

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

Ipod Nano 8gb Gen ? (the unprofessional review)

the ipod has a very long battery life (like a day or something, it says 24 hours on the box), it has 8gb of storage, which isn't enough if your music collection is big enough for you to need an ipod, it comes with some games (which aren't very good) and it will display .txt files but not make them, it plays videos very well but the screen is very small (nano - infact), when you plug your headphones in sound comes out, which can be changed by using the equalizer presets which never seem to produce a sound you actually like.

Conclusion:All in all a must buy for anyone who likes things where the paint chips off at the edges (oh, and this model has a bonus as it will carry on playing music even when the ipod shuts of and says 'connect to charger')

the Good points of this ipod may be added when i'm in a better mood

Wrigleyvillain · Jun 8, 2011

iPhone 4 here provided by my job. I'm a general IT tech, primarily Macs as at an ad firm last 8 years. Grew up using Macs in the 80s and now they provide my living. However I also love games which got me into building PCs.

cadaveca · Jun 8, 2011

Got an iPhone 3GS 16GB here, iPod Nano 4GB, iPod Touch 8GB. Using Beats by Dre PowerBeats with all of them; Killer music/movie/workout combination.

cadaveca · Jun 8, 2011

cheesy999 said:

You may find it funny, but 'dem things never fall out of my ears when running, and have excellent audio. I use voice control with 'em too, so I never need to pull the phone out of my pocket, even to make a call.

They are a bit overpriced, but I tried many sets of in-ears looking for ones that would stay put, and stay put they do, which to me, makes the price more than worth it.

Wrigleyvillain · Jun 8, 2011

cheesy999 said:

Um yeah dude I was already about to comment that based upon your "review" of your iPod that perhaps this isn't a clubhouse you actually want to be in. The laughing at dude's choice of workout headphones just makes it even worse.

Ok, yeah, you're one of those audiophile freakos blessed with the hearing and pitch distinction capabilities of a bat. We get it.

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

Wrigleyvillain said:
Um yeah dude I was already about to comment that based upon your "review" of your iPod that perhaps this isn't a clubhouse you actually want to be in. The laughing at dude's choice of workout headphones just makes it even worse.

Ok, yeah, you're one of those audiophile freakos blessed with the hearing and pitch distinction capabilities of a bat. We get it.

no its just a personal hate of the brand, i don't think that was the right smiley really, maybe this would of worked better :mad:

, i prefer over ears for the staying on my head part

whats wrong with my ipod review, it manages to do everything, to a tolerable level, nothing really stands out as spectacular, apart from the gui

Wrigleyvillain · Jun 8, 2011

No maybe taking yourself and your attitude somewhere else would be "better". There's an Audio clubhouse or some shit iirc.

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

Wrigleyvillain said:
No maybe taking yourself and your attitude somewhere else would be "better". There's an Audio clubhouse or some shit iirc.

calm down, didn't mean to offend anybody :eek:

if it matters my ipod is better then my phone and psp at playing music, thats why i use it

cadaveca · Jun 8, 2011

cheesy999 said:
i prefer over ears for the staying on my head part

Not everyone has the same tastes for what they prefer when it comes to this. And over-the-head sets, while running, will come off just as easy as other in-ears. I like to run, and alot, and bulky headphones totally ruin that experience.

Most over-the-head also lack the "controltalk" features, too. The PowerBeats were designed specifically for use with Apple products, and offer all the functionality of the included phones, and then some.

I'm not offended, at all...you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to have an opinion that differs from yours, however, I won't poke fun at your opinion.

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

cadaveca said:
Not everyone has the same tastes for what they prefer when it comes to this. And over-the-head sets, while running, will come off just as easy as other in-ears. I like to run, and alot, and bulky headphones totally ruin that experience.

Most over-the-head also lack the "controltalk" features, too. The PowerBeats were designed specifically for use with Apple products, and offer all the functionality of the included phones, and then some.

I'm not offended, at all...you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to have an opinion that differs from yours, however, I won't poke fun at your opinion.

i was talking to wrigleyvillan

i'm well aware of the different tastes in headphones, i think mainly it comes down to what you listen to

, dre's seem to be liked by the rap/hip-hop crowd

cadaveca · Jun 8, 2011

cheesy999 said:
i was talking to wrigleyvillan

i'm well aware of the different tastes in headphones, i think mainly it comes down to what you listen to , dre's seem to be liked by the rap/hip-hop crowd

Yes, but he was talking about your comment to my post, and I am commenting on the discussion that spawned off of that. No big deal.

I'm a guitarist...playing primarily rock music, and usually stuff that's not to commonly heard. I choice in headphones doesn't dictate me fitting within a stereotype, but thanks for that anyway.

I play piano, drums, and trumpet too. You see, I'm a musician, and audio reproduction is critical to my trained ears. So I get the workout/phone functionality, and pretty damn good audio...and my choice has nothing to do with the music I listen to or play, surprise, surprise... :rolleyes:

Wrigleyvillain · Jun 8, 2011

All right, no prob. Perhaps I'm too on guard and touchy as this is an Apple product clubhouse on TPU and I expect there to be some BS.

cheesy999 · Jun 8, 2011

do you have a review for us wrigley? i've never had an iphone 4 for price reasons

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	MightyX
Processor	Ryzen 9800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650I AX
Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
Memory	32GB DDR5 6000 CL30 tuned
Video Card(s)	Palit Gamerock RTX 5080 oc
Storage	WD Black SN850X 2TB
Display(s)	LG 42C2 4K OLED
Case	Coolermaster NR200P
Audio Device(s)	LG SN5Y / Focal Clear
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RBG Pro SE
Keyboard	Glorious GMMK Compact w/pudding
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	case populated with Artic P12's
Benchmark Scores	4k120 OLED Gsync bliss

System Name	Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor	3570K // 10400F
Motherboard	ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling	Stock // Stock
Memory	2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage	Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s)	LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case	NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply	Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor	3570K // 10400F
Motherboard	ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling	Stock // Stock
Memory	2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage	Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s)	LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case	NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply	Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w

System Name	PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 3600
Motherboard	MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling	Phanteks PH-TC12DX, 3 x NZXT FN 140mm, 1x NZXT FV V2 120mm
Memory	32gb DDR4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	ASUS R9 290 DCII-OC 4GB
Storage	corsair mp600 1TB
Display(s)	LG 27MB85Z 27" 1440p
Case	NZXT Source 340
Power Supply	Thermaltake 675w
Mouse	Logitech G500S
Keyboard	Logitech G510S
Software	Windows 8.1 64 bit

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Dell SK3205
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Ultraman
Processor	Intel core i9 13900HK
Motherboard	Alienware/Dell inverted motherboard
Cooling	Alienware/Dell cooling solution + IETS GT500 cooling pad
Memory	Alienware/Dell 32GB 6000mhz DDR5
Video Card(s)	Nvidia RTX4080 12GB
Storage	1TB Dell supplied NVME + Samsung Evo 1TB NVME
Display(s)	AOC Gaming CU34G3S/BK
Case	Alienware X16
Audio Device(s)	onboard/Speakers: Logitech G560
Power Supply	Alienware/Dell battery + 330W charger
Mouse	Microsoft Pro Intellimouse - White
Keyboard	Ducky One2 SF White MX cherry Red
Software	Windows 11

System Name	DarkStar
Processor	i5 3570K 4.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asrock Z77 Extreme 3
Cooling	Apogee HD White/XSPC Razer blocks
Memory	8GB Samsung Green 1600
Video Card(s)	2 x GTX 670 4GB
Storage	2 x 120GB Samsung 830
Display(s)	27" QNIX
Case	Enthoo Pro
Power Supply	Seasonic Platinum 760
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard	Ducky Pro MX Black
Software	Windows 8.1 x64

Apple iDevice clubhouse: Now with essential apps and tweaks!

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