A beginner’s guide to the iPhone and its world of possibilities


So you’ve got your shiny new iPhone. It’s jailbroken, maybe even unlocked. Well done, you’ve come this far. But now you’ve got the hard part over with, what exactly can your new box of tricks do? And more importantly, how do you do it? That’s what this guide is for!

Apps you really should have installed

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Boss Prefs

One thing you will learn about your new iPhone, is it likes to use power. Lots of it. In order to save batter life, you’ll want to turn off things like SSH and WIFI when not being used. This app, and others like it, do exactly that. A must have!
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Summerboard

You’ve no doubt seen screenshots of brightly coloured wallpapers and icons, and wondered how people get them. It’s much more simple than you would imagine, thanks to Summberboard. This little gem allows you to set your own wallpaper, or use that of hundreds of different themes that can be downloaded through Installer. A customisers dream.

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SwirlyMMS

One of the most publicised shortcomings of the iPhone is it’s lack of any kind of multimedia messaging capabilities. This is where SwirlyMMS comes in. The app gives you what Apple should have from day one: MMS on the iPhone. Check our guide for installing and setting up SwirlyMMS here.

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iSMS

An alternative to the default SMS application, iSMS also allowed the forwarding of messages. iSMS also makes texting much more like a normal phone, doing away with the IM feel of App’s solution.

Apps that take the iPhone that one step further

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Twinkle

Do you Twitter? If not, why not? If you do, read on. Twinkle is a little app that makes Twittering on the move a cinch. With the added bonus of the app knowing where you are, and finding fellow Twinkle users near by. Pretty nifty indeed.
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MxTube

The main problem with YouTube is the inability to save the videos for viewing offline. MxTube fixes that in one simple to use package. Download and watch any video on youtube, all on your iPhone !
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Wallpaper

If you’re like me, you spend ages looking for just the right wallpaper, then you find it in someone else’s screenshot! With ‘Wallpaper’, you can see what everyone else has as their wallpaper, and then set it as your own if you like it. I’ve found so many cool walls this way.
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Sketches

Does anyone remember EtchaSketch ? ‘Sketches’ brings all the memories flooding back, complete with ’shake to clear’ function!

More apps will get added to this guide over the coming days. I’ll also be adding more tips for new iPhone users, including guides on how to do common iPhone tasks, such as emailing photos and downloading themes. All the apps on this page are either available via installer by default, or are/will soon be listed in our Installer sources section. If you have any requests, please please use the comments section. Tell us what YOU want to know.

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