Saurik

The State of App Piracy and What Can Be Done to Fix It

Alex Heath ∙ Updated November 13, 2019

[iDB does not condone app piracy.]

Have you ever been inside a peddler's mall? It's basically a huge consignment shop where different vendors come and sell their knick knacks under one roof.

People who have items to sell in a peddler's mall pay the mall's owner a percentage of their sales for the rights to sell in the store. People will come to the peddler's mall to see what kind of deals they can find and to barter with the sellers.

In a way, the peddler's mall is a lot like the App Store. And folks, people are shoplifting.

Jailbreakers to Become New Targets for Major Corporate Marketing?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Since its inception, there was a dark cloud hovering over the jailbreak scene. People feared legal ramifications from Apple for "hacking" their iDevices, similar to what GeoHot is involved in with Sony. That all changed last summer when the government made an announcement that jailbreaking was legal by U.S. law.

Here we are, almost a year after the official statement, and the community is as big as ever. Saurik, the mastermind behind Cydia, estimates that there are between 10-15 million jailbroken devices in the wild. ModMyi founder Kyle Matthews shared a few other interesting statistics this morning about the iDevice hacking community that should catch the attention of major marketing firms....

Cydia Gets a Special New Feature – Introducing the QuickBar

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 1, 2011

If you loaded up Cydia today to peruse the latest selection of jailbreak tweaks and apps available to download, you might have rubbed your eyes a bit to make sure you weren't seeing things.

Yep, Cydia got a special new feature, and no doubt for a limited time only. It's called the QuickBar. Yes, that QuickBar.

It looks like Twitter's panned QuickBar made the move from Twitter's official iPhone app to Cydia.

Don't believe us? Check it out for yourself, or take a look at the proof inside...

Tutorial: How to Install Cydia 1.1

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Saurik has released a major Cydia update for jailbreakers. Cydia 1.1 includes many improvements and additions to the already beloved jailbreak store.

Cydia 1.1 was released this morning, and the update can be found in Cydia's "Changes" section. We've put together a step-by-step tutorial to guide you through updating to Cydia 1.1 on your iPhone...

Cydia 1.1 Released: Faster, Lighter, and More Stable

Guest Author ∙ March 26, 2011

Saurik has just released the long awaited update to Cydia. Cydia. 1.1 has been nearly re-written from 1.0 and includes several new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.

According to Saurik, Cydia 1.1 is faster, slimmer, and more stable; including an improved search algorithm and "resume where you left off".

To update to the newer version, simply launch Cydia from your iDevice, then refresh your packages (which will be done automatically), then you will be prompted to upgrade "Essential packages", select "Complete Upgrade". Cydia will be updated to version 1.1 and then will require you to restart Cydia...

Cydia Gets Much Faster

Guest Author ∙ March 22, 2011

Jay Freeman (aka saurik), creator of Cydia and a key player in the jailbreak community, has been working hard the past 3 months trying to make Cydia an even better experience for all of us.

Cydia can be very slow at times (especially if you've got several repos added); taking several minutes to load up completely, sometimes to the point where it drives you nuts. Saurik has been hard at work and claims he has greatly improved Cydia response times, which should give a noticeable speed boost...

Saurik: What to And What Not to Expect From the Next Version of Cydia

Alex Heath ∙ March 15, 2011

In a recent post about the next version of Cydia, we got some great feedback from users about what features they'd like to see in Cydia 1.1.

The creator of Cydia, Jay "saurik" Freeman posted a long and informative response to our article that gave some insight into the current and future state of Cydia. He chose many questions posed in the article's comments to address key issues.

We're very grateful that saurik decided to share this information with us. He addresses several key topics concerning Cydia...

Ryan Petrich Teases the Next Version of Cydia, It Will Be “Awesome”

Alex Heath ∙ March 14, 2011

Ryan Petrich, developer of jailbreak apps like SwitcherMod and Action Menu, is helping work on the next major version of Cydia with saurik and team. Cydia 1.1 is slated to bring significant updates, and will most likely focus heavily on graphics.

While we're not sure when Cydia 1.1 will be ready, it seems to be coming along nicely on the development side of things...

Update from MyGreatFest: iDB Official Sponsor and iPad 2 Giveaway

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 7, 2017

In case you didn't know, MyGreatFest is a new convention taking place later this year. MyGreatFest is not any normal gathering; it is the world's first iDevice and jailbreak convention.

We've already given you several details about MyGreatFest. The first event will be held this September in London, U.K. The team behind MyGreatFest plans on holding more conferences in the U.S. after the first event takes off.

We here at iDB are proud to announce that we are an official sponsor of MyGreatFest, and we will be bringing you more coverage of the convention as the date approaches.

Dev Team Working on iTunes Alternative for Jailbreakers?

Alex Heath ∙ February 28, 2011

Could it really be true? After years of complaints from disgruntled iTunes users, could the Dev Team be working on an iTunes replacement for the jailbreak community?

While it does seem too good to be true, there is a definite chance that jailbreakers will have their own iTunes-like app that works specifically for jailbroken iDevices. A famous jailbreak developer has raised speculation that the Dev Team is in fact working on an alternative for iTunes.

MyGreatFest Will Be The World’s First iDevice/Jailbreak Convention

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

MyGreatFest is going to be the world's first jailbreak and iCommunity convention. The event will take place on September 17, 2011 in London, UK.

The conference is still being organized, but the MyGreatFest team promises that their convention will be an educational and fun experience for any iDevice user. They already have the one and only Jay "saurik" Freeman confirmed as a keynote speaker for the convention (he invented jailbreaking). So, we know they mean business.

“Theme It” Store Released in Cydia, Direct Competition for Cydia’s Own Theme Center

Alex Heath ∙ Updated May 26, 2017

Finding good themes for a jailbroken iPhone has never been that easy. Themes are usually posted by designers on forums and portfolio websites, and it can be difficult for the average jailbreaker to discover all of the great themes that are out there.

Cydia recently added the "Theme Center," which aims to help users find the plethora of Winterboard themes for jailbroken iDevices. The Theme Center is a great addition to Cydia, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

"Theme It" is a new jailbreak app that aims to be the "Theme Store you've been waiting for." It does look very promising...