Andy's Reviews

It sure didn’t take long for people to make a theme on Cydia that would make your iPhone or iPod touch very similar to how the iPad from Apple looks. Unfortunately, you need to have Winterboard to use those themes, and I really don’t like Winterboard. It slows everything down tremendously and it is a huge battery drainer. So today, I’ll show you exactly how to make your device look almost exactly like an iPad without Winterboard.

Apps from Cydia that you will need:

MakeitMine

BossPaper

Shrink ( Not necessary, but makes it more similar to the iPad)

You will also need to have OpenSSH installed and a program like WinSCP for Windows or Cyberduck for Mac to view your device’s files.

1) There isn’t any specific order you need to begin, so let’s start with MakeitMine. MakeitMine is a neat app that allows you to change the name of your carrier or the word “iPod” in the top left of your device. Simply rename it to iPad.

2) Next, go into BossPaper to change the background image. Enable it once you enter it and then go to individual pictures. Then add this resized image of the background of the iPad by selecting it from your Camera Roll. (Credits go to @razorianfly for making it) After adding it, your background should immediately change.

3) Time to change the dock. Make sure you have OpenSSH installed and go into your SSH client. Enter your IP address of your device. (Go into settings.app->Wi-Fi->select your network. The info will be right there.) (Use root for the username and alpine for the password) Navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app. Then scroll down to SBDockBG.png. I recommend renaming it rather than deleting it. Then use the dock image I provide below and make sure you name it SBDockBG.png. Then drag it into Springboard.app and respring or reboot your device.

Oh yes, and if you guys with iPods really want to make it very similar to the iPad, replace the music icon with the one I provide below also. Go to /Applications/MobileMusicPlayer.app/. Scroll down until you find icon-AudioPlayer. Rename that to something else and make sure you rename the icon you want to use icon-AudioPlayer. Then drag it into the music app and respring or reboot your device.

4) Final step! This is not necessary, unless you want to make your device look more like the iPad. Search in Cydia for an app called “Shrink ” that will shrink the icons on your device. It’ll cost you $0.99, but if you added a repo to your sources such as repo.beyouriphone.com, it’ll be free. Download it and after that’s done, go into settings.app. Scroll down and you should see Shrink there. Tap on it to go in it’s settings. Then you’ll be able to shrink them down to many different sizes. I suggest going with 75%, but you can shrink them down to any size you want. Then press the respring button in the settings after choosing your desired size.

5) Congratulations! You are done! Your device should now like very much like an iPad now! Here’s an image comparing the two after you finish everything.

Instead of writing a huge post about the iPad, just watch the keynote to get all the info you need.

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/1001q3f8hhr/event/index.html

Voices from tap tap tap is one app I’ve been having some fun with lately. It allows you to record you or something else and then you can be able to change the way you sound in 17 different ways. For example you can make your voice high and squeaky by using the Helium sound effect or Chipmunk sound effect. To make it deep and slow, you can use the Witness and Turtle effects in Voices.

One thing I really like about this app is the user interface. You can tell the people that worked on it put a lot of time to make it simple to use and also beautiful. Everything in Voices is nice to look at.

There also is a way to share your recordings to Twitter, Facebook, or either email. I recently shared a recording I made and everybody laughed and had a good time with it.

I recommend Voices for a good laugh and also to show off and have fun with it with friends and family. For me, the laughs and fun from this app makes it worth it for me. It’s $0.99 well spent for me.

*Only works with second and third generation iPods with a mic, such as the Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic*

I recorded the song that’s becoming very popular thanks to American Idol, “Pants on the Ground” with Voices and got some hilarious results. Check them out!

http://voicesapp.com/1614ah

http://voicesapp.com/8qqllz

Enjoy my solutions for the last levels of Pocketball! Again, these are not the only solutions for these levels. These are the solutions I came up with. I will be making a guide for the bonus levels also! Once you complete all 30 regular levels, you will get four more levels to solve.

Level 20

Level 21

Level 22

Level 23

Level 24

Level 25

Level 26

Level 27

Le vel 28

Level 29

Level 30

Showtime (http://showtime-app.com/) is definitely one of the better web apps I’ve ever seen for the iPhone and iPod touch. Not only is the designed very well, it’s also very useful for those people that that like to keep up with their favorite TV shows.

Showtime will keep track of your favorite shows and will let you know when new episodes are available to watch. (To use the web app, go to the website I provided above and add it to your homescreen.) When you launch it, you will see two main things, a Watchlist and a Weekly schedule. The Watchlist will provide a list of all the shows you added and you can see full episode listing for upcoming episodes and previous episodes and when they aired. The Weekly schedule provides a list of new episodes coming out this week.

Anyway, go check out Showtime! I feel it’s one of the better web apps out there and it is designed very well.

Screenshots

Enjoy! Link to Pocketball! Again, these solutions are not the only ways to solve a level! I’m just giving you my solution to the levels!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocketball/id338933279?mt=8

Level 8

Level 9

Level 10

Level 11

Level 12

Level 13

Level 14

Level 15

Level 16

Level 17

Level 18

Level 19

Pocketball by Big Bucket Software is a game I just picked up today when it’s price decreased to $0.99. So far I’m really enjoying the game! Pocketball is a game where you have to guide all the balls into a pocket by drawing ropes between different pegs. There also are some obstacles that will make the game more challenging like nukes that will make your ball explode or boosters that will redirect your ball in a different direction.

So far I’m up to level 8 and the levels are slowly becoming more harder. So to help you guys out if you totally cannot figure out a level, I will provide some screenshots to show you how to pass a level! Enjoy and please comment! *the solutions that I have might not only be the only way to solve a level, so if you find another way, good for you* I’ll be adding more solutions later.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Level 7

Hey guys! Today I want to share a useful tip to all the people that use Twitter out there!

Countless of times I’ve heard people saying Tweetie (1 and 2) needs to clear their cache faster! Clearing their cache will make new avatars from you and other people display instead of your old one. Well I’ve discovered a cool way to clear the cache by yourself without having to wait! Before you start, make sure you are jailbroken and have iFile installed from Cydia.

1) Navigate to /var/mobile/Applications/Tweetie

* if you have the original Tweetie and also Tweetie 2, you should see two files named Tweetie. I’ll tell you how to clear the cache of both apps*

2) -How to clear cache of the original Tweetie- Enter the app and go into Library. You should see some other files like Cookies, Preferences, WebKit, Youtube, and Caches.

3) Press Edit, select Caches and delete it by pressing the trash can.

4) Then press Edit and the +. Call the file Caches and make sure the type is Directory.

5) Your done! Next time you fire up Tweetie, you should be able to see the new avatars of you and your followers instead of their old ones!

Clearing the cache of Tweetie 2 is pretty much the same also.

1) Head into it, go to Library, press Caches, then you should see two files that begin with com.atebits.

2) Delete com.atebits.tweetie.profile-images

3) Make sure the the type is a Directory and name the new file com.atebits.tweetie.profile-images

4) There you go! Now Tweetie 2 should display the new avatars of your followers and also you!

First off I’d like to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Enjoy it!

Today developers are cutting prices for their apps in celebration of Thanksgiving and also for Black Friday. Big developers such as EA and Gameloft cut prices off of many of their games, but one app that wasn’t a game caught my attention, ColorSplash by Pocket Pixels Inc.

Colorsplash is the app that will help give your photos the “wow” factor by making your photos black and white, while you edit the part of the picture you want to stand out. This effect draws the viewers attention toward the colored area.

I’ve had ColorSplash for not so long and I’m loving it. It’s fun for me to edit my pictures and make them even more striking. Sharing your pictures to Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter is very easy and painless.

I have to say, anybody that loves editing photos and making them stand out should get this app. For me it was worth the 99 cents. Make sure to grab it before the sale ends!

Features:

Screenshot

Photos I edited with ColorSplash

Probably the hottest game for the iPhone that everyone has been talking about for the past week is Eliminate Pro by ngmoco. Eliminate is a multiplayer first-person shooter that actually plays very smoothly for a type of game like this on the iPhone. There are many good things to say about this game but there are also some things I dislike about it too.

First off, the good things about Eliminate. I have to say, the gameplay is excellent. The controls I think are pretty good, but many people may think different about that. Shooting is very basic, just aim your gun and tap to fire. An option is provided for your gun to auto fire when your aim is on another person.

There are many weapons, armors, and upgrades you can get by earning credits playing against your friends or people around the world. Usually the people with better armor and guns will do better online. Depending on the number of kills you get in a game is what earns you more or less credits to spend towards guns, armors, or upgrading your current gear. In Eliminate you can play against bots also if you want some practice before playing friends or people online.

5 maps are available in Eliminate for you to play on (Bedlam, Lift, Tank, Flood, and Onrail). Personally I really don’t like Tank and Flood. There isn’t enough space and the best power-ups are very close by each other. The best power-ups in Eliminate are the Berserker Shield and the Invisible Cloak. The Berserker Shield makes you invincible for a short period of time and you can kill people instantly if you run into them. The Invisible Cloak makes you invisible for a short period of time so you can shoot opponents with a hard chance of them seeing you. The rest of the power-ups are easy to figure out what they do. *Oh and make sure when you kill an opponent to pick up the credits and health from them.*

Onto the things I dislike. First off, the energy recharge system. Waiting for your armor to recharge before you can play online for credit? That’s just dumb I think. I would have rather pay 1o dollars straight up rather then have this energy recharge system. Once your energy runs out, you either have to wait like 2 hours for a 1/3 of your energy to recharge. C’mon ngmoco, 2 hours for just 1/3 of your energy to be refilled? That’s one of the main things people dislike about Eliminate. The only way to recharge energy faster is to buy power cells. 20 power cells cost $0.99, 120- $4.99, and 975- $29.99.

Also I want to mention the match making. Sometimes me, a Level 11 goes up against a level 20. That is a total disadvantage for the players that are under level 20 as that player has a better gun and better armor. I think ngmoco should improve the match making so level 10’s go up against level 9’s and 11’s not level 20’s. Doing that will makes the whole game more fair and everybody has a chance to win.

Overall, Eliminate has more positives than negatives. The gameplay and whole experience is very satisfying, especially when you win a match. But, the energy recharge system and match making really are some big problems I’m sure everybody wants to see being improved on. I recommend Eliminate to everyone who love first person shooters. Also it’s FREE so nothing will be coming out of your wallet.

* If you want to play against me, add me on Plus+! *

andyL

More Screenshots