Brian Minor » Hack

Installing the same app twice on the iPhone

Brian Minor — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:12:15 +0000

A couple weeks ago I set out to try and figure out, how to install the same application twice on the iPhone. The results where slim to none and there was only one site I found that had promise, but every time I tried it the app would crash before it could fully load. So I decided to take the little information I had learned and figure it out on my own. And I am happy to say I had success and have had the same application on the iPhone working for a week with no issues.

Watch the video or follow the step by step directions and if you have any issue getting it to work just let me know what app and I will see what I can do.

Directions

Open iTunes
Go into the Application section
Right click on the application you want to duplicate
Select Show in Finder (Show in Explorer on PCs)
Right click on the .ipa file and copy it to you desktop (or where every you’d like)
Replace the .ipa with .zip – An IPA files is just another type of a .Zip file
Un-compress the zip file
Open the new folder and Go into the Payload folder
Right click on the App and select show package contents (MAC ONLY STEP, Should just be a folder on the Windows)
Find the Info.plist files and open it in you favorite editor. (I prefer Plist Editor Pro)
Change the “Bundle display” name to whatever you’d like. This is the name that will be displayed on the iPhone (optional step)
Change the “Bundle identifier” (I recommend just putting a 2 at the end.)
Save the file
Open your favorite FTP software and connect into your iPhone/iPod Touch
Navigate to the root directory and then into the Application folder
Transfer the application into this folder
Reboot or Respiring your iPhone/iPod and the application should now be somewhere on your home-screen
Open the App and enjoy

If you have any issue please watch the video above.

Installing OSX on a PC is easier then ever

Brian Minor — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:30:11 +0000

As most of you know I now have a Mac at work so I really don’t need to worry about this any more, but I gotta say I really wish I had this software back when I was messing with the Hackint0sh software installers.

Psystar the company that Apple would just love to destroy, has recently come out with a downloadable ISO file (disk image file) called Rebel EFI, this file when burned to a disk allows you to boot from it then use a normal OSX disk to install from, but this ISO also checks out all your hardware and get the correct drivers, so basically it take away all those hard and annoying hours of reinstalling the OS over and over again, until you have all the correct items checked to get it to boot.

So far the reviews I have seen have been pretty good, there is always going to be a few issues you may encounter with any solution, but if you already have a copy of OSX this is a free download so you might as well give it a shot. They have all the instruction on how to install everything on a WIki page you can fine here.

Good luck and let me know how it all works out.

UPDATE: apparently the 0.00 price tag is an error or a scam, The software requires an activation key they they do charge $49.99 for.

Google Voice and your Top 5 List

Brian Minor — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:47:20 +0000

It seems like almost every carrier is doing a top 5 (some even 10) list. With these lists they allow you to add 5 to 10 “friends”and no matter what carrier/provider they use, you can call for free and not waste any of your minutes. They all seem to have their own little names. AT&T calls it the “A-List” and Verizon calls it “My Fave Five”. But in the end it’s all the same.

Most of you are thinking, yeah, we know this already, but as I was changing some setting in my beloved Google Voice account I noticed that they allow you to change the number that appears when you received a call from someone. You can have either their number display, which is of course the default and what most people would want. But they also allow you to always have the google voice number show up with every call.

So my workaround is why not just add your google voice number to your top 5 list and give everyone that number. Then change it so that all incoming calls come from your google voice number and never waste your minutes on incoming calls again.

But thats not all, google voice allows you to make outgoing as well, by calling your google voice number, then dialing the number you want to call. So no wasting minutes on outgoing calls either.

Okay, now I know for some of you this just wont work. A lot of us love to always know who is calling before we answer the phone, but google helps with this as well. Google Voice give you control of what numbers you want to ring straight through, but it also give you the ability to have callers announce themselves first and/or just announce their number or name (if in contacts) and then gives you the ability to answer or send to voicemail.

Also, keep in mind you can still give out your real number to the other 4 in your list and anyone else who is worth wasting your minutes on. This workaround is meant to be given out to all those that call you constantly and love to talk for hours or perfect as a business line.

If you think this is something you could really use and want to give it a shot, I have 2 Google Voice invites to give out just leave a comment below and I will pick 2 at random and send out the invites later this week. Just be sure to add the tag “I want an Invite” to the beginning or end of your comment.