iPhone update oddness?

On Aug 26, 2007, at 6:39 AM, Big Steve wrote:

> Could it be that the new iPhone software breaks iFuntastic so badly
> that it
> forces a restore? If it does, then maybe I won't bother customising my
> iPhone any more. Or do we think it was just a random iCoincidence?

I'm thinking yes since I the update had me do a restore as well since
I had had some hacks on my iPhone as well.

Aaron Benedict
Co-host of "The Second Time Around" podcast
www.benedictfamily.org/podcast
aaronbenedictfamily.org

> On Aug 26, 2007, at 5:39 AM, Big Steve wrote:
>
> Could it be that the new iPhone software breaks iFuntastic so badly
> that it
> forces a restore? If it does, then maybe I won't bother customising my
> iPhone any more. Or do we think it was just a random iCoincidence?
>
> Steve

It is likely that the system has a way to detect modifications and
restores to a default process before applying a system patch. If the
patch was applied nilly-willy to a system (that may have been
modified) you could end up with a non-usable, or non-secure system.
It actually seems like a good idea to make sure a tightly written
system, such as the iPhone's OS X is not made unusable.

It would be nice, though, to have a part of the system that could be
put aside for developers to use for applications or other modifications.

Ray

On 8/26/07 05:39 AM, "Big Steve" <bigstevemactampabay.rr.com> wrote:

> Could it be that the new iPhone software breaks iFuntastic so badly that it
> forces a restore? If it does, then maybe I won't bother customising my
> iPhone any more. Or do we think it was just a random iCoincidence?

That's definitely it. Thus far, all the ringtone apps are so hacktastic that
they muck with the firmware and all the rest. So, when you update your
iPhone, all your changes get blown away.

Considering that, in theory, adding a new ring tone is just a file transfer,
the unstable nature of these hacks is so unimpressing me that I'm staying
far away. I don't need to muck with my phone that much just for a custom
ringtone.

--
John C. Welch

> Considering that, in theory, adding a new ring tone is just a file transfer,
> the unstable nature of these hacks is so unimpressing me that I'm staying
> far away. I don't need to muck with my phone that much just for a custom
> ringtone.

See, I'm not so sure that they do render iPhones unstable ‹ other than that
the iTunes updaters from Apple clash with them to the extent that the yellow
triangle o' doom appears. I've had three iPhones so far (long story), and
I've slightly modded all of them using iFuntastic. While I've had issues
with the first two (very poor battery performance on the first, a cosmetic
problem on the second), the only actual problem I've had regarding "hacking"
any of them didn't occur until I tried installing the second Apple update
‹ the first went fine, simply removing, if I recall correctly, my updates,
which I then re-applied with iFuntastic.

In short, then, there seems to be nothing inherently unstable about what
iFuntastic does to my iPhone. I kind of like having the Rolling Stones play
when my wife calls me, and having a graphic that reads "MyPhone III" instead
of "AT&T" is simply a little bit of fun. And, given that it appears to cause
no instability at all during daily use, I have no problems doing it. Now,
adding actual applications, well, that's another story altogether. Not tried
that yet, although the voice-recorder programme looks really useful. Any
takers?

Steve

On Aug 27, 2007, at 2:33 AM, Aaron Benedict wrote:

> On Aug 26, 2007, at 6:39 AM, Big Steve wrote:
>
>> Could it be that the new iPhone software breaks iFuntastic so badly
>> that it
>> forces a restore? If it does, then maybe I won't bother
>> customising my
>> iPhone any more. Or do we think it was just a random iCoincidence?
>
> I'm thinking yes since I the update had me do a restore as well since
> I had had some hacks on my iPhone as well.

This is well known from the first update. If the phone has non-
standard anything, Apple doesn't try to patch it and hope that the
non-standard stuff doesn't get in the way, they restore to a known
point.

To me, that makes sense: you can't possibly patch unknown code
successfully 100% of the time.

As to ring tones: do I think a means should be available to add
those? Yes. Have I ever, on any phone, added a ring tone? No.
Mercifully, iPhone includes "Old Phone" so I finally have a cell
phone that "sounds right" (to a USA person--entirely wrong for most
of the rest of the world, but these phones are being sold in the
USA). (I wonder what Old Phone will sound like in versions of the
phone sold elsewhere--Apple is a company that might actually get that
right in the regionalization.)

    --John (still tempted to set the ring for his boss to "Alarm")

On 08/27/2007 08:53 AM, "Big Steve" <bigstevemactampabay.rr.com> wrote:

>> Considering that, in theory, adding a new ring tone is just a file transfer,
>> the unstable nature of these hacks is so unimpressing me that I'm staying
>> far away. I don't need to muck with my phone that much just for a custom
>> ringtone.
>
> See, I'm not so sure that they do render iPhones unstable ‹ other than that
> the iTunes updaters from Apple clash with them to the extent that the yellow
> triangle o' doom appears. I've had three iPhones so far (long story), and
> I've slightly modded all of them using iFuntastic. While I've had issues
> with the first two (very poor battery performance on the first, a cosmetic
> problem on the second), the only actual problem I've had regarding "hacking"
> any of them didn't occur until I tried installing the second Apple update
> ‹ the first went fine, simply removing, if I recall correctly, my updates,
> which I then re-applied with iFuntastic.

It's not the hacks themselves making the iPhone unstable, it's the way they
work, and what they do that I dislike. I am FAR more conservative with
embedded devices that have high operational requirements like the iPhone
than I am "general purpose" computers. The fact that none of these hacks
survive a system update tells me that they are mucking about in places they
shouldn't, and quite frankly, I've not seen anything so critical in any of
them that OMGMUSTHAVE is the reaction.

I've seen what happens when third party hacks go wrong, and on a deserted
road with a flat tire is NOT the time to discover that your neato game just
snagged your radio stack so hard that you can't make a call, and yes, I have
seen third party apps do this on other phones.

I need my phone to work every time, and to that end, I'm willing to wait for
a "proper" SDK to get "real" applications. Not that I've been missing
anything, and that's with daily use of both an iPhone and a WM 5 device.

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

On Aug 27, 2007, at 8:42 PM, John C. Welch wrote:

> It's not the hacks themselves making the iPhone unstable, it's the
> way they
> work, and what they do that I dislike. I am FAR more conservative with
> embedded devices that have high operational requirements like the
> iPhone
> than I am "general purpose" computers.

As it was put on a recent podcast (sorry, I'm not sure which one):
"I'd be happy to try this on someone else's phone."

   --John