text:
Is there a way to change font sizes system-wide while preserving UI resolution?
I have a 17" widescreen mac book pro (1920 x 1080) and find it hard to read the small fonts in the finder menu and in the Finder let hand panel even though my vision is good. Even the font's in most applications appear small. I know certain applications will allow you to configure font size but I'm really looking for a system-wide/global solution.
I have tried several solutions such as:
 1.> defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleDisplayScaleFactor 1.5
 2.> User Interface Resolution with Quartz Debug application

and both these mothods/features seem incomplete in that the GUI elements are not scaled smoothly.
I also tried lowering my monitor resolution but that wasn't ideal cause the display gets a bit blurry.

I think I don't get what exactly you want! because you can use zoom tool (right-down corner) to increase font of files and folder. do you want something else?

Basically I want to increase the display scale factor to have a bigger (in size) menu bar that'll allow:
1> increased font size for Menu Bar and the left panel of the Finder Window
2> larger 'close', 'minimize' button on the menu bar
Using zoom-in and out constantly does get tiresome and decreases work efficiency. I am a graphic designer and use Adobe tools such as Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver extensively.
I can't use my macbook pro much because of tiny font and GUI elements. Feels like I bought an expensive piece of paperweight.

You're asking for resolution independence, which Mac OS hasn't fully achieved yet. The best you'll get is probably AppleDisplayScaleFactor.

'mac resolution independence' forums have been around 2007 and some claim that apple confirmed it would be available with Leopard but nothing has happened.
Anyways, Thanks for you help guys.

Any updates on this with the latest Maverick?

Yosemite late 2014, still no system-wide font size settings. Apple's plan to motivate buying new retina Macs which have a proper font scaling?

A solution available here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/81970/changing-finders-font-size-lion

You can use TinkerTool to change the default system fonts and increase their size.

Does anyone know how TinkerTool achieves the font changes? I'm interested, but I don't want to run the commands if they are crazy hacks.

@cksum See “How can I know which setting TinkerTool is modifying?”.

Sorry I forgot to mention earlier, I've also tried tinker tool. While it does increase the font size for most mac apps it doesn't allow customizing other apps (such as the adobe suite that I tend to use day in day out). Also another aspect the problem for which I require a solution is UI resolution (I know mac doesn't fully support it yet). The toolbars and other panels in the adobe suite is are so tiny that it's almost a nightmare to use it. I do get around it sometimes by changing to a lower resolution like 1200x800 but it isn't effective cause it display get blurry (due to non-native resolution).

The Mac OS X system is quite limited in what you can do in this regard. As the TinkerTool example states, "Only native Mac OS X applications will respect your personal font preferences", and Adobe products are definitely not in this category. Adobe products are known for their tiny user interface fonts and graphic elements. Adobe has never provided any relief for this to Mac users.

Try holding down the <Ctrl> key and scrolling the mouse wheel up. This zooms in to the part of the screen where the mouse cursor is located.
<Ctrl>-scroll mouse wheel down to zoom back out to normal level.

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How to disable syncing applications without uninstalling them?
When I disable syncing apps with my iPad, iTunes uninstalls all apps. How can I make iTunes not mess with it and leave the apps on it, even if I disable synchronization?
I tried disconnecting immediately after applying, but this doesn't save the changes I made.

This also happens to my iPods and iPhones.

did you uncheck sync apps in app tab?

What is exactly what you’re trying to do? You can uncheck apps in iTunes -> Applications and they won’t be copied to the iPad/Phone.

@Am1rr3zA the problem is that if I do that, iTunes uninstalls all apps from my device.

if you disable that check box it just not sync in future and your install app remain on your ipad. if this not happen it's bug I guess.

Alternatively you could select sync Apps but choose the applications you want in your iPad and uncheck the Automatically sync new apps. With this you will have only the applications that are selected.

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text:
Is there a better way to travel internationally with an iPhone (3GS/4 specifically)?
I've travelled to Europe and Asia quite a bit with iPhones with no problems (I live in the US), except for the fact that making calls anywhere outside the US is crazy expensive and of course I wouldn't dare turn on data roaming for fear of the thousand-dollar bill.
These days, though, is there not a better way? Can I not go into a shop in the UK and buy a pay-as-you-go micro-sim for 30GBP and call/data away? Is my iPhone (3GS and 4) permanently and forever locked to AT&T unless I jailbreak it, even with a different sim card?
I'm willing to jailbreak my 3GS to accomplish this mission, but I'd like to hear from someone with real-world experience before doing so.
Thanks!

As you've pointed out, US iPhones are locked to AT&T. Fundamentally, that's your only real issue here. If you can unlock your iPhone, then your suggesting of just picking up a micro-sim and using it for data and calls works perfectly. In the UK, we can buy iPhones unlocked, and get our network operators to unlock them.
What you described is exactly what I've done when travelling abroad, but it's entirely reliant on having an unlocked device to start with. From there, you should be good to go. In the UK, there's a massive range of low-cost, pay as you SIM only options to choose from. O2 do a big range of SIM only deals, including micro-sim plans (see here).
The other option to consider is, if you're looking to upgrade to an iPhone 4 anytime soon, buy it abroad, from the UK, unlocked, and then you won't have to jailbreak it in the future. UK and European iPhone models will work perfectly well in the US, and they come with a global warranty as well.

not all European iPhone is unlocked. German iPhones are locked as well.

Yeah, that's true. Although Germany is the only country in Europe where that's the case.

Danish and Austrian iPhones are also SIM-locked. I think UK is one of the rare exceptions...

Yes your iPhone is locked on AT&T, you must jailbreak & unlock it if you want to use another sim. If you only travel to UK, you might take a pay-as-you-go sim. If you travel in many country in europe you might be interested by http://www.callineurope.com/. It might even be interesting if you only go to UK has there is a special UK pass.

The phone doesn't need to be jailbroken, just unlocked.

I traveled to South America last summer and just for that trip, signed up to an AT&T International calling plan that included both phone calls and text messaging. I didn't use my phone a lot (in 2 weeks in Peru and Ecuador) so I only spent about $25, but the text messaging turned out to be critical during a two-day medical emergency involving a family member.   I turned the plan off as soon as I got home.
Recently I went to Asia and just set up the texting plan for $10/month and used it for just one month.  (No phone calls.)
Will something like that work for your for Europe and Asia?  (That is: buy something temporary from US AT&T, focusing just on your upcoming trip, and then shut it off when you get home.)

If you are looking for a truly global answer - this article is updated to let you know which carriers allow an authorized unlock.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1937
If your phone is locked on a carrier that will unlock it, simply see what the price and procedure is to get it unlocked. Only you and apple will know the status of your phone. If you have a used phone, any service rep can look up your serial number and let you know the status of that device in the iPhone device activation database.
If you can't or won't unlock a locked device - then it's a cat and mouse game to get it unlocked. The details depend on the exact version of iOS software and modem firmware on your phone. If you restore your phone - the unlock can get undone. It's not impossible to do, but it's technically tricky and you'll need to get someone to help you or learn the ropes. Do consider if the phone has a problem on the road - you may need a computer to re-unlock it so be prepared to rent a handset if you don't travel with the tools and knowledge to perform another unlock yourself.
Only you can determine if the hassle factor of unlocking your phone outweighs the price of buying one that is authorized to be unlocked.

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text:
What does the error "iTunes could not restore the iPod 'NAME' because the backup could not be saved on the computer." mean?
My iPod was acting up (the clock was going out of sync, it often became unresponsive to touch) so before contacting Apple I decided to try a Backup & Restore.
I plugged in my iPod and pressed "Backup iPod".  It did it fine, it seemed, and let me know when it was done.  Then I clicked "Restore" and after a few of the normal errors (11 and 14) I force-restored it using the Home & Power buttons.
When it was finally restored I selected "Restore from Backup" and picked my latest Backup.  That's where the problem starts... it keeps reaching 2/3 of the way done and then this error appears:
"iTunes could not restore the iPod 'NAME' because the backup could not be saved on the computer."
The problem occurs with all of my backups, and persists after a computer restart and after trying a different USB port (just in case.)
I looked around at several forums and found no one with a similar problem.  The error seems to usually appear for other people when the backup is actually being created, not when the iPod is being restored to a backup like it does in this case.
I hope this was enough information.  Thanks to any help you guys might be able to give :)
Cheers!
- Lindsay

Do you know what the permissions are on the Backup folder in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/?

Agreed. Definitely sounds like a permissions issue. Get info on the folder described above and let us know what permissions are set.

What OS are you running? Did you try to put the iPod in recovery mode?

I have the same problem but my permissions have everything set to allow except for "special permissions"

I have been having the same problems since I added a second user account. I can now only backup my iPad 2 iPhone 4 via my newer user account. I have tried to modify ACL permissions and nothing has changed.

Additional info for this old post: Many times, iTunes will create a snapshot backup right before performing a restore. Likely there is a permissions issue or disk space issue happening during this safety backup process. Since the time of the original post, iTunes has changed the wording to mention available disk space if that is the problem.

I hopefully have a solution to this issue. I also had this problem, and I believe it's because you have insuffient disk space and iTunes being a large program requires so much disk space to be available in order to perform these tasks.
Therefore, iTunes will bring up the error after reaching 2/3 of the way and then the error appears: "iTunes could not restore the iPod/iphone 'NAME' because the backup could not be saved on the computer." The backup you did is there because you're obviously selecting it when "restoring from backup". So free up some disk space and redo the "restore from backup" and it should complete the process without any errors.


text:
Push notifications work everywhere but my home network
I have an 2G (MC Model) 8GB iPod Touch on iOS 4.0 that has a strange issue.  Push notifications used to work just fine, but for the past month or two, I don't get any notifications while I'm on my home wifi network.  If I connect my iPod to any other wifi network (open private, public hotspot, etc), I get flooded with all the past notifications.  I have tried restoring my iPod numerous times, tried downgrading to 3.1.2, tried different combinations of DNS servers (as mentioned on the net), but nothing works.  Any ideas on how to go about getting push to work when I'm at home?

Might be stating the obvious but does the iPod Touch have an internet connection when it's on your home network? (browser, email, ...)

Your push-port (5223) could've been closed. Try to open it in the router-interface.

Tried it, still no joy.  I even went as far as putting my iPod in the DMZ, and that still didn't kick-start my notifications.

@Keith S.: You have DMZ at home? Well, then you should be able to monitor the traffic and see on which port push messages get blocked ;-)

What has changed since the push notifications stopped working?
Sounds like the connection state is being dropped by your home router, either because of a timeout or the connection table is overflowing; most of these embedded routers don't have much memory in them for state info.
What is your access point/router/firewall?  Is it running a custom firmware, and/or have you modified any settings, like connection timeouts?  Some open-source firewalls and router firmwares have options for tweaking the connection timeouts.
Are you using BitTorrent or any other high-connection-count protocols?  If so, what happens if you stop using them for a day or so?


text:
How to stop Safari from unzipping files after download
Safari unzips .zip and .gz files after downloading. How can I stop this behavior?

In the menu bar, go Safari -> Preferences. In the "General" tab, uncheck "Open 'safe' files after downloading". This will stop Safari from automatically unzipping the files.

don't know since when it is the case, but for me and a fresh mojave installation the checkbox did not appear. i first had to activate developer options under Advanced > Show Develop menu in menu bar. Afterwards more options appeared on the general tab.

This is a workaround with side effect: all opening of files after download becomes disabled. A full solution without side effects given by @redochka: hold ⌥ alt when clicking to download. See https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/115634/330523

Just hold the ⌥ alt button while clicking on the download links.
Tested on OS X Mavericks, Big Sur, Monterey. Still works in October 2022.

Still works fine in Yosemite, and is a useful "I only want to do this occasionally" option.

Still works on Big Sur (Intel)

Still works on Monterey 12.6 (ARM) as well in October 2022

Still works on Ventura 13.1 in Mach 2023

In Preferences, at the bottom of the General tab, uncheck the "Open "safe" files after downloading" check box.

Check out this article if you want to keep the "Safe Downloads" behavior but tweak it a little.

Please provide a full answer, do not just link out. This goes against Stackexchange policies.

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text:
iPad case that blocks buttons
Does anyone know of an iPad case that blocks access to the physical buttons.  I would like the user to not be able to hit the homembutton or the sleep button.

Ducktape is your best friend :)

Not about a case - but checkout the guided access - https://support.apple.com/kb/HT5509 - you can disable home and sleep with that in software, doesn't require a case :)

Are you sure you're not looking for a kiosk display of some sort?

there not cases on the market yet, I guess.
But you do can use your creativity and made the case yourself;)
For example like that:
http://carrypad.com/2010/04/15/how-to-make-an-ipad-booksafe-case/

BubCap home button covers block the home button and work with both iPhone and iPad:


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iPhone 3GS screen repair
I dropped my iPhone earlier today. The screen is now full of cracks but the phone still functioning. Is there any cases of DIY style repair being performed? Can anyone share their repair steps for this?

Happened also to my iPod touch >.< hope it doesn't happen to my iPad! :O

I always resisted the idea of putting any bumper because it feels so much thicker and adding an extra layer to the design.

I went through this myself a couple of weeks ago. Stupid tile floor in my office wouldn't catch my phone at 9.81m/s2. I ended up taking my phone into a mobile repair shop and had them replace the screen (voiding my warranty in the process), but was a hell of a lot cheaper than doing it myself. Took all of about 15 minutes.
Your profile doesn't list where you live, but any Apple Authorized repair shop can do it for you (or send it away for repair if they can't do it in house).
That said, it is possible to do the repair yourself. iPhone 3GS glass replacement kits can easily be purchased on eBay and from any other number of resellers. The process for doing it yourself isn't easy, but depending on your own level of handiness, you could do it yourself.
There are some excellent video guides for DIY iPhone glass replacement on YouTube. For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mboB8p-sdw

Thanks for the info! I am in Singapore and I am going to the telco tomorrow to understand what my options are. If the reimbursement is high, I'll probably go to repair shop or even do it myself. :)

Check around for other repair shops. Taking mine to a tiny little place a block from my apartment was about 1/2 the cost of sending it away through my mobile service provider. Best of luck!

My cousin (a non-techie) bought a repair kit last week from ebay, took him about 20 minutes to have a shiny new front on his iphone 3g.  It cost £8.  They were quoted £140 from the apple store & £55 from man in a electronics shop.  Lucrative business!

If I'd been able to find a repair kit locally (I live in Sweden, I would have had to order one from another country) I would have tried to do it myself. Unfortunately, my iPhone's screen was completely shattered and unusable, not just cracked, so I couldn't wait – it's my work phone as well as personal phone, so I needed it fixed asap, couldn't afford the downtime. :(

eBay is a great option for repair kits, you can get them sent globally no matter where you are. Unless perhaps if you are a Nigerian businessman....
Otherwise you can choose an aftermarket iPhone screen repair service, if you are in Perth then www.buddhaiphonerepair.com is a fantastic way to go.


text:
How do you communicate to a Modbus device within an iPhone application?
I would like to be able to develop an iPhone application that can communicate with Modbus devices, but I'm not sure how to proceed. Has anyone had experience with this or are there existing libraries out there for this purpose?

The big question is how you intend to physically connect to the modbus interface. If you are bridging to it via wifi or ethernet then the bridge will almost certainly have a command set specific to that bridge, and you would use that. If you have a serial bridge you want to connect directly to the iPhone you need to sign up for the Made for iPhone and sign some extra NDAs at which point Apple will give you the details necessary to interface with the USB port, then you build an adapter that has a USB-serial bridge and pump serial commands over it.

thanks,The bridging b/w iphone and modbus is through wifi(TCP/IP) communication,.Please Let me know the existing libraries.How to proceed to develop Iphone application

I can't tell you, how it works and whether any libraries exist completely depend on the SPECIFIC device you are using to bridge it.


text:
How can I share a Time Capsule connection?
I have my Time Capsule connected via wi-fi, and I want to share that connection with my other 2 computers via their ethernet. So basically, share the current wifi connection that my Time Capsule has and make sure that my other 2 computers can connect to the internet via that Time Capsule's ethernet ports. Thanks in advance.

Yes you can. Since the Time Capsule is an Airport Extreme with an internal hard drive it's relatively easy to convert it into a wireless to wired bridge assuming you already have it set to hook up to the wireless network.

Open up Airport Utility and start Manual Setup on your Time Capsule
Go to the Internet section
Under Internet Connection be sure Connection Sharing is set to Bridge Mode

If bridge mode is turned on it will share the connection and essentially act like a switch.


text:
Why do local network hostnames resolve only in certain cases?
I have a linksys router which runs "tomato" Linux and serves as the local DNS server. It runs dnsmasq.
I recently upgraded from OS X 10.4 to 10.6. Since then, resolution of hostnames on my local network works in some cases but not others. Previously, this all worked as expected.
Here's an example:
tesla:~ cell$ ping watt
ping: cannot resolve watt: Unknown host

tesla:~ cell$ ping watt.local
ping: cannot resolve watt.local: Unknown host

tesla:~ cell$ ping -c1 192.168.42.1
PING 192.168.42.1 (192.168.42.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.42.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.659 ms

--- 192.168.42.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.659/0.659/0.659/0.000 ms

tesla:~ cell$ host watt.local
watt.local has address 192.168.42.1

tesla:~ cell$ host watt
watt.local has address 192.168.42.1

My guess is that the host command is querying the DNS server directly, whereas ping and any GUI apps (ie. Safari) are using some sort of Mac DNS resolution routines, which are not working properly.
Please let me know if there's any other info I should provide.
Edit: included pinging ip directly in above example
Edit 2: My domain is using .local

ZOMG!!!  "By default, any hostname ending in .local is treated as a Bonjour host rather than by querying the DNS server entries in Network preferences."  ARGH!!! why couldn't they have picked something like ".bonjour"?  see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2385?viewlocale=en_US

ugh, you can't simply disable bonjour because of http://tech.karbassi.com/2007/11/06/leopard-turn-off-bonjour-mdnsresponder/

does pinging the IP directly work?

indeed, changing your domain name appears to be the path of least resistance.  I'm surprised -- apple typically makes very smart decisions in how they choose to implement things.  this is the first implementation decision I've come across which I'd really consider to be quite a boner.  I mean seriously, picking ANYTHING other than ".local" to special-case for bonjour would have been better.

@Kyle yes, it does.  I should have thought to mention that.  I'll update the question.

If you're serving .local via unicast DNS (instead of multicast DNS, as specified in this draft internet standard), include an SOA record for .local; as of v10.6, OS X detects this and switches .local resolution to unicast DNS.  Earlier versions of OS X have other methods of forcing unicast resolution - see Apple's KB article #HT3473 for details.

solution: don't use '.local' as your domain name.  lame.


text:
What is the procedure for replacing the battery on an iPhone?
What is the procedure for replacing the battery on an iPhone?

iFixit has excellent text and video guides for replacing the battery on all models of the iPhone.  Here's their iPhone 4 battery replacement guide.

I have successfully replaced my iPhone 5 screen using this guide a few months ago. (The procedure is very similar to replacing the battery; obviously both require opening the phone.)

Protip: I found I needed a much stronger suction cup than the simple one included by iFixit. I used one from a vehicle windshield GPS-mount that has a plastic lever-clamp to really make it suction down hard on the glass. That was perfect and popped the screen loose about 10 times easier!

If you want to keep your warranty alive at all, take it to your local Apple store or authorised repair centre and ask for the service. Any other action may void your warranty.

IF it's within warranty - it is very helpful. Your battery will be covered. They'll replace the phone.

It depends on which one you have. I have replaced LCDs and glass screens on the 3G before. Following tutorials at Repairs Universe is really helpful. They have videos and detailed instructions. Here's a tutorial. I haven't looked at it, but it popped up by Googling "replace iPhone battery."
Hope this helps!
Thomas


text:
What do I need to do to sell my iPhone 3GS?
I've upgraded my iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4 (and my wife's as well). The new phones came with their own US/AT&T microSIM cards and have been activated. So we still have our old phones with the old SIM cards in them. I've deleted the data off of the old phones, and I would like to sell them.
What do I need to do to sell the old phones? Do I remove the SIM from the phone and expect the buyer to put their own SIM in there? How do they go about getting a legit SIM from AT&T to put in the phone? Or do they use the SIM that is in there? How can I be assured the old phones cannot be linked to my current account in any way?

I wouldn't sell it, before they fix their antenna ;-)

I was actually going to put a "no antenna jokes" line in the question...

One easy option, if you can use the store credit, is to sell them to Radio Shack for $200 [1].
If you prefer cold hard cash, or think you can do better than $200, there's a market for them on eBay, and it's easy to search for the going rate.  The phones will be easier to sell for more if you can jailbreak and/or unlock them in advance.  (How to do that is best left for another question.)
As for how a conscientious buyer activates your old phone through the proper channels, it's my understanding that once you've upgraded your line, your old phone can simply be brought into any AT&T store and associated with a new account.  I.e., you can & should sell the phone without a SIM.
Once it's been wiped and no longer has your SIM, the phone is no longer linked to you.
[1] http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20008186-233.html

The fetch much more than that on eBay, but that is good to know.
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.html?rt=nc&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=iphone%203gs%2032gb&_dmpt=PDA_Accessories&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283&_rdc=1

You should also consider Craigslist. I've heard the demand for used, out-of-contract iPhones is high.

I've actually successfully sold all three of my prior iPhones on eBay (one 2G and two 3G's) -- but for me, the time, effort, and trouble isn't worth it for the price premium over Radio Shack's offer.  Especially for items like iPhones, there's a non-trivial risk of fraud on eBay; and even if you're eventually made right, the resolution process can be incredibly painful.

Gazelle.com specializes in buying and reselling or recycling old gadgets. They pledge to completely remove any user data.

Neat idea. But for a perfect condition 32GB 3Gs with all cables, etc, they will pay only $168.

Technically, once you get a new SIM, the old one is deactivated and no longer associated with your account, so you don't have to bother taking it out. I still would, just to be safe though.
I'm actually looking to buy a 3GS for development. I have a 3G and a 4, but would like that as well. So if you're looking to sell, you can reply to this post lol :-).

It's in pristine condition and I would sell it for $350. Write me at chris@abichandani.com if you are interested.

An old SIM may no longer be associated with an active line, but my understanding is that it's not actually deactivated -- specifically, if you stick it in a random phone, it will enable you to dial 911 (which you cannot do without a SIM).  I don't really understand how much information it retains, but the fact that it's functional has always led me to remove them before selling, to be safe.

Nextworth seems to be a neat site for selling old electronics.
http://www.nextworth.com/search/1/q/iphone/?live=1


text:
Is there an iPhone podcatcher?

Possible Duplicate:
What apps are available for subscribing to podcasts directly on the iPhone

I was glad to see that you can download podcasts directly from the iTunes app on the iPhone, rather than having to keep the iTunes app open to play them, but there's a 20 MB cap on downloads.
I'm looking for a way to subscribe to and automatically download new podcasts over 3G. Is there an app that can do this?


text:
Is there any way to speed up my iPhone 3G since upgrading to iOS4
I have recently upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS4 and there is some noticeable performance issues will some of the basic tasks (text messaging, loading application, etc.)
I have restarted my iPhone and that only resolves the performance issues temporarily.
Is there any way to speed up my iPhone 3G with iOS4 installed?
Update
I have upgraded to iOS version 4.0.1 yesterday and a lot of the performance issues seem to be resolved.  I still see some issues with trying to run apps while listening to music/podcasts.

I've been noticing the same thing on my 3G since upgrading to iOS4.  Mail and Messages sometimes take quite a while to fully load.

According to this post on Gizmodo you can edit the preferences for the Spotlight search feature for a speed boost:
Go to Settings->General->Home->Search Results (Settings->General->Spotlight Search on later iOS levels), and shut off everything you don't need (I disabled Music, Podcasts, Video and Audiobooks; leaving Contacts, apps, Notes, Mail and Calendar checked). Made my phone a lot quicker, more like it was with v2 (I'm still running v3.1.2, jailbroken).
Before, there was a good 2-4 second lag when exiting or loading an app. Now it's back to it's old speediness

Thanks, that solved the issue.  You should update the path to Settings->General->Home Button->Spotlight Search

Thanks very much Rich, huge improvement with this tip.  Evernote in particular loads dramatically faster now.

I did this a while back, and while I think it had some effect, the improvement was not huge. Even with version 4.1, which was supposed to fix this, at least my iPhone 3G is still way more sluggish in most things compared to pre-4.0 versions.

Reset the phone to factory defaults and reconfigure it. It's a lot of work but the performance is almost as good as iPhone OS 3.1.
I've just tried this yesterday and I'm very happy with the results. If you use GMail and/or Exchange accounts (or others) to manage e-mails, contacts and calendars you'll only have to reconfigure your apps.

Can you comment how is the performance after several days and with all the apps again on board?

Apparently doing a hard reset a couple of times in a row can improve the performance:
Speed Up iPhone 3G + iOS4 with a Hard Reset?
(via Lifehacker)

The sounds more like a band-aid than a permanent fix.  I will try it out and monitor my phone's performance over the next few days.

I still don't get why resetting twice it's better than one reset.

@Eduardo agreed. Resetting more than once sounds like an urban myth. The article doesn't say why that would help.

I'm wondering if some of the apps are holding onto memory when you close them, at least the ones that are utilizing the new multi-tasking functionality, and slowing it down? Try removing all of those from the multi-task tray thingy and see if that helps.

Multitasking is not supported on the iPhone 3G.  It is only supported on the 3GS and 4.

Does deleting them from the multi-task bar close the app?  It seems that if I've been using the phone for a while since a reset,  deleting an icon, slids another into view,  it seems that there may be 15 or 16 programs running,  is there a way to tell the phone, "I'm done with this app, don't put it in the background" without the delete step? Kinda like the difference between minimize and close on the desktop>?

If you jailbreak, you can disable some unnecessary launch daemons...not a trivial task though. An interesting read, if nothing else lol.


text:
How can I import contacts into iPhone from Palm Centro?
I'm planning on purchasing an iPhone 4, and I want to know the most direct method of copying my contacts from my Palm Centro to my iPhone. Extra points for solutions that work on Linux.

Have a look into SyncML, it was the only way i managed to get my contacts out of my decade old Nokia.
I'm not sure what the iPhone uses as a contact manager on Linux (Would MobileMe be a good workaround?), but once you've got them out, it's a lot easier to import them into something else.
Google Sync is also worth a look and would avoid your desktop altogether.

I used the palm conduit to send everything that was in palm desktop (windows - not Linux) to Outlook. Then I synced the iPhone with Outlook. Notes disappeared but most of the other data fields were OK

Take a look at Funambol. I've used it to sync my contacts from my old Sony Ericsson into my iPhone... Never tried with a Palm Centro though, but it'll probably work.
You need first to install the app in your old phone, sync with the server, install the app in the iPhone and sync back.
It's also a great way to backup your contacts.


text:
How can I disable multitasking in iOS4?
I upgraded my iPhone 3GS to iOS4 and although I love most of the new feaures, multitasking keeps me checking for open apps.
Is there a way to disable multitasking support in iOS4 or a "kill all apps" app/switch?

Can you clarify what you mean by "multitasking keeps me checking for open apps"?  Are you worried about performance or battery life, and tired of trying to make sure nothing needless is running?  Or is there some kind of background app that is specifically bothering you?

If it's not the battery life for him, it is that for most of us.

You may be worrying more than you need to be.  Apps can only use multitasking for certain functions:

Playing audio
Tracking your location
VOIP
Local notifications and alerts
Complete a lengthy operation

In all cases, rather than the app remaining running, the system keeps it suspended and awakens it at appropriate times, such as when it needs to fetch more audio.  If the app uses too much CPU while it's in the background, it gets terminated.  If the foreground app needs more memory, then the background apps will get terminated as necessary.
The apps in the multitasking menu aren't necessarily consuming any resources or battery life, it's more like a "most recently used" list.  Apps will still be listed there whether or not they are actually running.  You can help prove this to yourself by turning the phone off and on; the recent list will still be populated even though obviously all the apps are terminated.

This is mostly true. However, I got a "low memory" warning when trying to play Rock Band on my iPhone 4 that would only disappear once I manually quit all the apps I had open.

So install a taskkiller @Kyle, but don't go blaming faulty programming on multitasking ;-) It's a bug of the power draining apps, not the OS

I have to agree with @Kyle here, I won't blame multitasking but fact is some apps are just badly developed, If only Apple had foreseen this and given us a kill all button. Clearly they don't have enough manpower to do memory leak analysis on all apps.

With most apps, there's indeed no problem. I've noticed, however, that some apps like Skype definitely drain battery way too fast if you leave them on the background.

@Kyle There is no such thing as iOS "Low Memory" warnings, at least nothing a user can see. When an app like Rock Band displays a warning, it means that Rock Band is trying to use too much memory. Any backgrounded apps will be killed if they use enough memory to affect performance.

@kubi orly? The screenshot comes from tapping "Quick Play" after just opening the game. While Rock Band did produce the warning box, it did not cause the memory shortage.

Everything you do on an iOS device results in dangerously low memory. What Rock Band should be doing is lowering it's own memory usage and letting the OS kill other apps. It certainly should not asking the user to restart their phone. Ugly and uneccissary.

One way to control multitasking on iOS4 is to jailbreak your device, install Backgrounder, and install Remove Recents.

Using Backgrounder you can prevent apps from multitasking until you allow them.
Using Remove Recents will clear out all the "recently used" apps so that only the apps that are actually multitasking are shown.

Completely disabling multitasking is also possible. Here's how to disable Multitasking, Homescreen Wallpaper, or both on a 3GS. A jailbroken device is required.
Edit the file N88AP.plist in the directory /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app on your iPhone. Look for the following key-value pairs and set them to false as shown. Reboot when complete.
<key>homescreen-wallpaper</key>
<false/>

<key>multitasking</key>
<false/>

I figured this out by reading this article about enabling Homescreen Wallpaper on a 3G, although I did the opposite.
http://pixelatedgeek.com/2010/06/ios4-jailbreak-and-multitasking-now-available-for-iphone-3g/
Note:
You will need a way to edit plist files. Either use a special plist editor, or use a tool to convert to XML. To do the conversion on your phone, install Ericia Utilities (from Cydia) and issue the following commands to convert the file to XML and back.
plutil -convert xml1 N88AP.plist
plutil -convert binary1 N88AP.plist

I believe it's an option when you jailbreak using redsn0w. It's an option. Here's a tutorial.

There is no close all option as far as I'm aware, but you can close them one by one:
"Double-tap the home button to bring up the multitasking bar, which pops up from the bottom of the home screen. Then, you simply scroll through the icons, find the one you wish to close, press and hold the icon, and then click the red circle with a dash--Apple's visual representation of a delete symbol." - Via PCWorld.com

There is a close all button if you install sbsettings, it's called  Remove Background. It's a button which closes all the apps and clears the "Recently Used" dock.


text:
How do I create new albums within my iPhone 3GS camera roll?
I'm looking for a way to create new albums within the Photos app on my iPhone 3GS, preferably without having to connect the device to iTunes. Is this possible?

No, it's not possible to create new photo albums in the Photos app on the iPhone.  (Not on my iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.0.1 at least.  And it's not possible on my iPad either.)  See http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1413776 and http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ios-apps/200714-creating-photo-albums-ipad.html.
This Apple Support FAQ describes how to sync photos: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1389.
I wouldn't be surprised if Apple adds this feature soon.  I expect they're working toward making the iPad work completely independently (without syncing), and the iOS (and app) features they add will likely also be added to the iPhone.

iOS 5 and later supports creating new albums. However, the albums do not work like folders in a file system, but rather like tags or groups, because when a photo is added to an album it still physically exists in the camera roll and is linked to from the new album.


text:
Can iPhone battery apps actually prolong battery life?
I've seen a few apps that claim they do some kind of conditioning/deep charge/other jargon to extend the life of an iPhone battery. Is this just hokum or do I really need one of these apps to maximize the life of my battery?

Evan Kroske and @senseful are right.

From what I understand, iPhone apps don't have the power to regulate the power consumption of other apps and iOS system processes. These apps sound like snake oil to me.

Agreed. Each app is given its own sandbox limiting its access to system resources. So I think your understanding is most likely correct.

They do nothing. You can set up a persistent iCal entry to remind you to cycle your battery free of charge. And like was said, there are no approved APIs that provide apps with such low-level access to hardware (you'll note that apps report battery percentage in 5% increments) so they cannot "condition" or "deep charge" a battery. They are nothing more than cash grabs that pray on the ignorance of users and I wish Apple curtailed their approval on the grounds that they do not bring any value to the store.

Apple themselves recommend a deep cycle every month:

Be sure to go through at least one
  charge cycle per month (charging the
  battery to 100% and then completely
  running it down).

If the app reminds you to do this every 30 days, then yes, it will improve your battery life. Unfortunately, I've seen some apps that tell you to go down to 20% and then open the app while it is charging. That isn't letting it "completely run down", and so, it would do nothing for your phone.
Besides reminding you of doing a deep cycle every 30 days, I don't see how any app could improve your battery life. If anything, it would ruin your battery life by staying running in the background.

+1 for "If the app reminds you to do a deep cycle every 30 days, then yes, it will improve your battery life". Priceless! :D

Of course a jail free app could prolong battery life, by tweaking into the system, just like Apple could (and like some android apps already do, since android has almost no management restrictions for developers). Couple things that could be done, for instance: killing apps that are known to consume batter life, or maybe turning off the screen when needed in an intelligent way.
But, as you may picture now, it's so much work that I doubt any good app will come along and I don't really know of any that do. Also, from a developer point of view, it'd be way too much time spent researching, testing and doing this for too little result, because this is already one of Apple's primary worries.
Here are few better things to do for prolonging battery life, from Apple's own list:

Turn off push notifications / Fetch new data less frequently / Turn off push mail
Turn off Wi-Fi / Turn off Bluetooth
Use Airplane Mode in low- or no-coverage areas
Adjust brightness
Turn off EQ
Use iPhone Regularly (go through at least one charge cycle per month)

As for Apple Store apps, no way in hell. The app itself won't improve battery at all. At least not "automagically". It could work only as an insturctive reminder, at most.

ive generally had worse battery life after jailbreaking an iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS.

#Ryan true. and that's due to installing too many more apps and none of them are made for optimizing battery life.

You're wrong. There is no such application.

@mspasov which app you mean?

There are no jailbreak applications, that could tweak the system for better battery management or so. Even on the Mac platform you can only monitor but not manage or control the battery and charging mechanism.

@mspasov Ok. Then, who's wrong on what: me on agreeing with that or you on properly reading what is written? And nobody (but you and Evan) ever said about managing or controlling the battery itself. But thanks for calling my attention to this old post. I've edited it and now it's hopefully better to read.

Yes - if it's the thing that gets you to change your behavior. Whether you call it snake oil, a placebo or social engineering, changing your perception or spurring you to action is powerful and can shape your world.
No - without you doing something different, using more energy to "monitor" the battery obviously leaves less energy for the rest of the things you normally have running.

Long time no see, crazy mike... Thank god I wasn't nominated moderator back then. I really wouldn't have the time to do it. Meanwhile, you seem to be doing great! :)


text:
Silence calls from everyone but a defined set of numbers?
If I'm on-call, I only want to be woken by important calls or text messages.  How can I set up an iPhone to ring during certain hours only for calls or texts from a certain set of numbers?
If it can't be done using vanilla iPhone apps, is there a 3rd party app that could do it?

You could make a silent ringtone your default, and then assign other custom ringtones to each of that certain set of numbers.
See Apple's Purchasing and creating ringtones FAQ for a start.

I thought about doing this as an interim solution, though remembering to change it back when I can be disturbed is not something I do reliably :/

2016
This has changed significantly recently - posting this with iOS 10, but I think was available from 9, maybe 8
Settings > Do Not Disturb
You can set a defined daily schedule
This can also be toggled from the lockscreen, on an ad-hoc basis
Settings > Do Not Disturb > Allow Calls From >
You can choose by many criteria, Everyone, No-One, Favourites... or any specific group from Contacts

If you jailbreak, of course there's an app for that, several in fact. Search for "blacklist".


text:
How do I restart my iPhone and why should I?
Often people talk about restarting an iPhone in the same way you restart a computer.
How do you do this, what buttons do you press?
Also how/why is this different to just turning off the iPhone using top button and then turning it back on?

I do not see the point of restarting the iPhone regularly. In my expereince it works normally and it is not slowing down or anything.
The top button is putting the device in sleep mode.

You can restart the iPhone by holding the power button and home button for about 5 seconds (until you see the apple logo pop onto the screen). You may have to do this if the phone freezes, or otherwise becomes unresponsive.
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/assistant/phone/#section_2

To perform a "hard" reset, you keep holding the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons until it reboots itself.  You do not slide the red power off toggle switch

Holding down the power and home button for about 5 seconds will perform a hard reset. Restarting your iDevice frees up used RAM. Low RAM is the main reason apps crash, which is why it's suggested to restart your iDevice every once in a while.

Pressing the top ("Lock") button locks the phone and turns off the display. That is useful for saving power and for security.
Turning the phone off can be accomplished by holding down the Lock button until the red arrow button displays saying "slide to power off". Turning off the phone in this manner will allow any running processes / services to shut down gracefully. This is akin to shutting down your Mac. Shutting down your iOS device every few days will free up leaked memory and may help it to work better or faster. I shut my phone off nearly every night, then plug it into the wall charger which turns it back on automatically.
Holding down the power and home buttons until the device restarts itself is called a "hard reset" and is akin to pressing and holding the power button on a Mac. Restarting in this manner does not give running processes a chance to shut down gracefully and may in fact result in lost data. This technique should be a last resort, not a daily practice because of its potential ill effects.

this is spot on. holding home/sleep wake is like yanking the power cord out of a running computer - last ditch effort. far better to power cycle the normal way, by holding the sleep button and sliding to power off.


text:
Can I prevent my (jailbroken) iPhone from retrieving mail between certain hours?
I have a jailbroken iPhone which is set up to retrieve mail every 30 minutes.
Is there a way I can prevent this from happening at 3am when I'm trying to sleep?

I'm looking for something similar as well. Some apps, like Boxcar for twitter updates etc allow you to set a "quiet time" when you don't get notifications, but I haven't found anything similar for Mail (or notifications in general).

+1 for a good question! Some Android phones sense when they're lying face-down and automatically go into total-silent-mode which is different from when they're lying face-up. Why-oh-why is this missing in iOS? The phone would need to check its position only when it wants to sound an alert.

For the record, what I've ended up doing is just preventing an alert from sounding when mail is retrieved. i.e. turning off Settings->Sounds->New Mail.

It does not look like there is that level of configuration granularity on iOS for the iPhone out of the box (non-jailbroken).
One of the common jailbroken apps; 'SBSettings' also don't seem to have a specific setting option for scheduling push times...
One option might be, if you don't want to be disturbed at all is to switch to "Airplane Mode" before you go to sleep. But note this will prevent receiving calls and text messages also.
Or simply turn off "fetch data" (or set it to "manually") before you go to sleep.
Steps:
Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data > Push = Off | Fetch = "Manually"

It may also be worth turning notifications off while you're at it, but that doesn't do much about the mail settings.

+1 for airplane mode. This turns off the cell phone reception too, so it should prevent calls and text messages too!


text:
What's the best way to sell my iPhone 3G in the UK?
The same as this question ( http://gadgets.stackexchange.com/questions/9/what-do-i-need-to-do-to-sell-my-iphone-3gs ) except with the UK in mind.
I have a 16GB iPhone 3G and have recently upgraded (we don't need to argue if it's an upgrade :p) to the iPhone 4. What's the recommended way to sell it in the UK? It has one small crack on the back near the vibration switch so it probably doesn't count as near new (depending on your definition of near).

The lowest hassle way is probably via one of these "phone recycling" sites.  eg:

Mazuma Mobile (offering £172 or £189.20 in Argos
vouchers currently)
Envirophone (offering £160 currently)
FoneBank (offering £161 currently)

It might not be the best deal on offer, but it's easy.  I sold an old (though much cheaper) handset via Mazuma recently with no problems.

O2 will also take it back: http://www.o2recycle.co.uk/

I sold mine on eBay and it was quite a hassle. Before I managed the final sale the iPhone was won twice by bogus bidders.
And not only do you have to pay eBay fees (listing + 10% of final sale price)  but you'll probably have to pay paypal fees as well. After these fees I made about £190. Caveat venditor.
If you can get similar from one of the recyclers then I'd recommend. I've used both Mazuma and Envirofone before with no issues.

AV Forums has a well established buying and selling forum. You'll get a far better price than a recycling site would offer.


text:
Can I create a new contact from an unknown MMS number?
I am looking for a way of creating a new contact using an unknown number that sent me an MMS. The new number is not detailed in the message itself. Is this possible? Currently I'm having to write the number down on paper so an alternative would be useful.
I'm using an iPhone 3GS with iOS4 installed.

You can add contacts from text messages by scrolling to the top of the conversation and tapping "Add to Contacts."

This answered it perfectly. Thanks, I hadn't spotted this.


text:
What is that circle that replaces the WIFI icon on my iPhone 2G sometimes?
It's probably the phone's way of showing me there is no WIFI connection. Is that it? Probably not since that would probably be a "no icon" thing.
Anyway, couldn't find it in the user's manual so here you go... question asked.
Thx

The circle indicates that you're on the cellular GPRS data network. The fact that it's visible also means that you don't have a wifi connection:

3G/3GS/4’s show a “E” instead of that, to indicate that they are on “E”dge network.

@Martin: those newer models also show the circle if they are on plain GPRS without EDGE.


text:
Can I have my iPhone navigate through my car's stereo?
Is there an iPhone navigation/GPS app that will announce the turn-by-turn directions through a car's stereo via bluetooth?
I already have my iPhone synced with my car via bluetooth for calls, so I'm wondering if any of the navigation apps can also take advantage of the connection?
I'd rather not have to buy a separate iPhone car kit or a FM transmitter.

Can your car accept the iPhone's music audio as an input to the stereo? On my care (Acura TL), the bluetooth profile lets me play iPod music through the stereo when the phone is paired. As a result of that, ALL of the phone's audio plays back through the stereo... including text alerts and any apps that play back voice sounds (navigation, etc).
It's probably too simple an answer, but it's worth checking to see if you can pair up using the audio profile for music -- in which case you'd get the phone's other audio as well.

I think Navigon works over A2DP with music; its on sale at the moment too. It used to - I changed cars and my new one has built in nav but no A2DP so can't test it anymore

Turns out my car does NOT support A2DP.  Too bad.


text:
How can I upload HD video from iPhone 4 directly to web?
How can I upload HD video from iPhone 4 directly to web?

I see you had ask it on webapps, but it is probably more appropriate on this site. http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/3486/is-there-a-way-to-upload-higher-resolution-videos-to-youtube-or-any-video-sharin

Pixelpipe
From https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/3486/is-there-a-way-to-upload-higher-resolution-videos-to-youtube-or-any-video-sharin

This free app allows iPhone 4 users to
directly upload their 720P videos to
YouTube, as well as Flickr, Facebook,
MobileMe, Viddler, Posterous and a
whole slew of other video sharing
sites. The app evens works via email
and FTP. The only caveat is that the
videos cannot be over 200 MB in size.

Regarding with how to use it, check out this post:
http://islandinthenet.com/2010/07/06/pixelpipe-upload-720p-hd-video-from-iphone-4-to-youtube/
I recommend that post, it gives some great information on the app and how it is used.
For example:

A “pipe” is the
connector between the PixelPipe app
and one or more destination sites
where you want your content to be
uploaded. For example, I set up pipes
for flickr, picasa, and Dropbox and
many others.
I setup some of my pipes as default
routes. This means that any media I
select to upload will automatically go
to these default pipes.
For each pipe
I created, PixelPipe created a routing
tag. The routing tag explicitly tells
PixelPipe where to upload the content
overriding any default routes. If you
want your content routed to different
photo sets you can create a routing
pipe and tag for each one.

Also, given this:

since other developers are sure to create a similar product now that they know it is possible to upload 720p videos.

If you don't like the PixelPipe app, it shouldn't be too long before another solution pops up :)
According to this page, an app called SmugMug is also 720p uploading enabled, however I couldn't find much in reference to that on their site.
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/01/want-to-upload-720p-from-iphone-4-try-pixelpipe/

The Flickr app will allow you to do this.

There are many apps that do this. I like the following for ease of use and design. I'll rank them in the order of the quality of the final video (and coincidentally overall usability)

iMovie - very slick, great editing, many upload options like YouTube, Vimeo and others
Posterous - very powerful blogging tool for free.
Vimeo - free but not [yet] as slick as iMovie

One last mention is a live streaming app called Ustream Live Broadcaster - I don't really use it but it's unlike the rest in that it's more of a broadcast tool than for pushing something you captured to the web once the video is complete.


text:
Where can I get a case that is also a battery for the iPhone 4?
I have seen ones for previous versions of the iPhone - is there one for the new iPhone though?

Not yet, but I found a couple that are soon to be released:

iPhone 4 Fuel Max
EXOGEAR iPhone Battery Case

I've been very pleased with my mophie "juice pack" for my first-generation iPhone and the "juice pack air" for my 3GS.  I recommend waiting for mophie to ship a battery case for the iPhone 4.  You probably won't have to wait very long—I'm sure they're eager to tap the already large and fast-growing market of iPhone 4 owners.


text:
How do I jailbreak my iPhone 4?
I'm looking to go rogue. Where do I jailbreak my iPhone 4.

I'm going to close this for re-work or perhaps re-asking with more specific details so someone can determine if a jailbreak will work for their iPhone 4 on iOS 4 or iOS 5. This question has served it's purpose near the time of iOS 4.0 release, but has grown stale and misleading as currently stated.

Open up Safari on your iPhone 4 and go to jailbreakme.com.
Sit tight for couple minutes and your iPhone is jailbroken. You'll see that Cydia app is installed.
It uses PDF security flaw on mobile Safari. It will be patched soon, so jailbreak now while it's available. It's by far the easiest way to jailbreak your iPhone.
It jailbreaks iOS 4.0.1 which is the latest at the moment.
Edit (8/11/2010): Apple has just releases iOS 4.0.2 to fix the PDF exploit that jailbreakme.com uses. Jailbreakme.com should still work for iOS 4.0.1 and below.
Edit (8/13/2010): PDF Patch is available for download in Cydia. Search for "PDF Patch." You can jailbreak 4.0.1 and then just patch PDF bug instead of upgrading to 4.0.2 and wait for jailbreak to be available.

EDIT: Disregard this, it's no longer true. There are jailbreaks - http://jailbreak.me works before 4.0.2, and (apparently) redsn0w works with 4.0.2 on 2G and 3G.
AFAIK, there is no released jailbreak for the iphone4 just yet. The iPhone Dev Team is working on it though; they have a jailbreak but haven't released it yet.
I'm sure they will release it when they think it's ready.

The conventional wisdom is that it'll be released once iOS 4.1 is released (since it's been seeded to developers). No sense releasing it and giving Apple a chance to plug any holes any faster than necessary.

This answer should be deleted/ignored, as it is no longer true.

You can always check out http://jailbrea.kr


text:
Does the mail app in iPhones still use POP for Gmail? Or is it updated to use IMAP?
Does the mail app in iPhones still use POP for Gmail? Or is it updated to use IMAP?

If you pick the Gmail option when setting up your account, it will use IMAP. However, if you set it up as descibed here, it uses ActiveSync. Doing it this way gives you push notification as well as contact and calendar sync.

Holy crap that is awesome.

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to work with Google Apps accounts for a hosted domain. At least, I haven't been able to find a set of settings that will work for my email account. It verifies the account information successfully but when I go into Mail it says it can't connect.

@DougC, this works for Google Apps with hosted domains too. I'm using that with great success. Open a new question here, add all possible details, and let's see if we can get you aboard ActiveSync!

The "Gmail" option for iPhone mail configuration has always used IMAP. I would, however, recommend configuring it as an Exchange account, especially now that iOS officially supports multiple Exchange accounts (previously the domain of jailbreakers only). Doing so will push emails, contacts, and calendars directly to the phone, though you won't be able to sync Notes like you can when using the "Gmail" option.


text:
Are there any car holsters for the iPhone 4 like the one that came with my first Android phone?
I'm looking for a holder like the one that I got with my first Android phone. It must hold the phone in landscape.

This is a shopping question and, as such, is off-topic.

Shopping questions are off-topic unless they are for a very specific question. However, I do think that this question is a little too broad, so I will vote to close it.

I'm not familiar with the Android dock you refer to (was it for the G1?), but the dock I personally use is a Belkin TuneBase:

(source: belkin.com)
As you can see, it can hold an iPhone landscape (though it will also pivot into the vertical position), powers/charges the phone, connects to your stereo either through a 3.5" headphone cable or an FM transmitter, and has a button that acts like the in-wire headphone button on the Apple iPhone headphones so I can play/pause music, go forward and back, and answer calls without needing to touch the device.
My only complaints are that the dock connector is only used for charging the device (I have to plug in my headphone jack manually) and that the audio quality on the other end of a speakerphone call isn't that great.


text:
Is there a backquote on the iPhone keyboard?
Is there a backquote (backtick `) on the iPhone keyboard, and if so, where is it?
When I'm writing a post on a site in the SE family (especially SO), I want to use the backquote for inline code blocks. Under the single quote key, I've found two curly/angled quotes, but those (’ and ‘) don't seem to do the trick...

Another name for the character is grave accent.

The backtick/backquote was added to the iOS keyboard in 4.1. You need to switch to the numbers keypad and then press & hold apostrophe to access it. Once the variations show up - slide your finger without removing it from the screen. Remove your finger when it's over the correct ` key.

iOS unnecessarily over complicate simple things.

Wow, having to do this 6 times when needing to put something in a markdown code block

It seems like you have to resort to a hack to use the character:

Go to an email address field (e.g. open up Mail and compose a new message).
Go to the symbols keyboard (3rd one).
Type the ` character located on the top left.
Copy and paste the character wherever you want.

Ouch. Especially in the iPhone world where opening up Mail means closing whatever app I'm in, which may or may not save its state... I'm pretty sure this answer is correct though.

This is far from the best solution - see the other answer that you simply hold the normal apostrophe until the menu of many variations of the character pops up and select the backtick by sliding your finger and releasing when it's over the ` character on iOS.

@bmike, I suppose this answer is the only one for iphones before 4?

go into settings > general > keyboards > text replacement and add it with a phrase into your phone copying the backtick symbol to your clipboard and pasting in the shortcut.
ie: i put for phrase:  "' (quotation symbol apostrophe)
and shortcut: ```(3 backticks)
because in the english language thats not a thing that would really be typed in conjunction.

Does the answer from 2011 not work for you?


text:
Is it possible to connect my iPhone 3G via Bluetooth to both OS on my MacBook?
I'm trying to connect my iPhone 3G to my MacBook via Bluetooth to use the iPhone Tethering.
When I connect the iPhone to the OS X everything works fine. Since I often also use Windows 7 on the Boot Camp partition I'd like to connect from Windows 7 to the iPhone as well.
This works, but in this case I always have to remove and reconnect it when booting back to OS X and vice versa.
Is it possible to setup the Bluetooth connection and have it working in both operating systems on the same MacBook?

The bluetooth connection is maintained by the OS (Windows or Mac OS X) so as soon as you restart, the connection is lost and you have to re-establish it.

Thanks for your answer. I'm aware that I have to re-establish the connection. My problem is if I'm cross booting, the iPhone is not recognized by OSX or Win7.


text:
Transferring an old iPhone after I upgrade?
I'm about to upgrade from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 4, and I'm not sure what will happen to my old device once my phone number is transferred.
Specifically, I want to give the old device to my girlfriend, who is on a AT&T non-smartphone. What will I have to do to move her to the iPhone 3G? Will she need to sign up for an iPhone specific data plan if I put the sim card in there? WIll it work like any old phone if I just put the simcard in there?
In short, I'm not sure what will happen, and what I need to do.

I just did this myself - I upgraded to an iPhone 4 and gave my sister my iPhone 3G. I put her AT&T SIM inside and she was instantly able to send & receive calls and texts. Since she doesn't want to pay for data (yet), she used the new iOS 4 network setting to turn off cellular data. I have heard that AT&T scans their network and automatically adds data plans to 'smartphones', but so far this hasn't been the case.
If she does want to use data, have her call up AT&T and let them know about the phone switch on the plan and they can sign her up for the iPhone data plan - it's $15/month for 200MB and $25/month for 2GB. You may be able to do this yourself online - I haven't tried - but contacting AT&T is quick and relatively painless and is guaranteed to work.
One other thing - if her SIM is ancient (pre-3G), then you may need to get a new one that supports 3G from an AT&T retailer or call AT&T and they can ship you a new one. They may charge a nominal fee (~$10) for this service.

Also want to add that if you have an existing AT&T sim with no data plan and you put it in a smart phone like an iPhone or Android phone AT&T will require you get a data plan and will add one for you (they act as if it's a favor).


text:
How can I recalibrate the touchscreen on my iPhone?
When I tap on the bottom of my iPhone's screen it actually acts as if I tapped in another section higher up. It may be a calibration problem. How can I recalibrate the touchscreen?

The iPhone's capacitive touch screen doesn't have the concept of calibration.
To fix the problem you're experiencing, I suggest trying each of the following options:

Hard reset of the phone by holding the Home and Sleep buttons for 10 seconds.
"Reset All Settings" from Settings → General → Reset.
"Erase All Content and Settings" from Settings → General → Reset.
If your phone is still under warranty or covered by AppleCare, bring it to Apple and they will repair or replace it for you.
If not covered, then there are guides for replacing the front panel (first-gen iPhone), which contains the digitizer.

If you have a protective case where the edge of the case is raised above the glass face of the phone, it may be ever-so-slightly pushing your touch points more towards the middle of the phone. This alters where the phone is expecting you to touch, and can cause the issues you are describing.

I just recently had this problem. After some panic, and consideration of replacing my digitizer, I calmed down and looked at my phone carefully.
Keep in mind that an iphone works on capacitance, with the glass plate being an insulating layer just on top of the sensing array.
On inspecting my phone, I discovered that the bottom right corner  of the glass face(to the right of the home button holding the phone in portrait orientation)had become flush with the top of the chrome strip which runs so elegantly around my 3g. It's not supposed to be flush. The glass top on a 3g/gs should be slightly higher.
I powered down and removed my sim card, removed the screws at the bottom and re positioned the face properly.
Good news? I returned to proper working order. Bad news? it doesn't last. Most likely I will have to replace the digitizer.


text:
Tethering app code for iOS
Many of you know there was a Flashlight app with a hidden feature that enabled tethering, that snuck into the App Store this week. It was removed very quickly, about 10 minutes before I found out so I wasn't able to snag it up. I have a developer account so I was thinking if I could get the code to a tethering app I could install it on my phone myself.
Are there any open source tethering apps out there?

Found the answer myself.
http://wiki.github.com/tcurdt/iProxy/
w00t!


text:
What are the pros and cons of IMAP/CalDAV vs. Exchange for GMail and Google Calendar for iOS 4?
I am trying to decide if it is better to use the IMAP/CalDav option for accessing my GMail/Google Calendar on my iPhone vs. Using the exchange connection. Anybody got pros and cons of the different options?
What I know so far is this:

I have to use exchange for syncing contacts, so I will have exchange setup for that no matter what.
The IMAP/CalDav option doesn't have push
The Exchange option seems to be buggier than IMAP/CalDav

Any other thoughts?

Exchange (Google Sync) for GMail lacks some features that you are probably used to--search and cloud drafts. The "known limitations" are listed here: http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139635.
My experience with CalDAV in iCal are that multiple calendars on a single account are a bit squirrely to work with—you won't be able to get each calendar listed by itself under the primary google account heading. The calendars end up in a set of subfolders, depending on how you end up configuring it. That said, I don't know how the same thing would look on the iPhone.
What I do and recommend would be to continue using IMAP for GMail access--there's nothing wrong with it and you don't gain anything by moving to exchange. I do use Google Sync for contacts and calendars since it's the closest I can get to the functionality of MobileMe for free, and I'm very happy with it. For desktop access (aside from the webapp) I like BusyMac (post hyperlink limit reached; Google it) Software's products: one is an iCal superset clone and another is a sync utility that makes your Google Calendars show up in iCal just like MobileMe would.

I use Exchange (Google Sync) for Mail, Contacts, and Calendar.  The  Mail app is fine for reading, but it does lack the ability to permanently delete messages, etc (known limitations).  For organizing, I jump over to Safari and use the excellent mobile version of GMail.


text:
How does the iPhone handle connection priority?
Suppose I'm in the range of a wifi network and I check my email on my iPhone.
Will it try to use the wifi network first and only if that fails attempt to connect to 3G? Or will it always use 3G (with the charges that carries) regardless of other mediums?
Is it automatic? Do I have to manually disable 3G connection if I want it to use wifi?

The iPhone will always try to connect to the wifi if it is in range. If it already knows how to connect it will do so automatically. If it does not know it will notify you that there are wifi networks available.
But to come back to the situation you described:
If it is already connected to the wifi it will use that for all data even if it is also connected to a 3G network.

Wifi is always preferred over radio (3G/EDGE/GPRS) so if you want to force cellular data, you have to turn off wifi or un-join whatever networks are in range and/or disable auto-join. There is no failover, so if you get connected to a wifi that has no route to the Internet, the phone won't figure that out and use the cell data. You have to manually get off that wifi before the data will flow over the cellular network..
I often turn off WiFi when I know 3G is faster than certain busy times at coffee shops or when my home ISP is overloaded.
When traveling I've heard anecdotes that even with a wifi connection, some data was billable over cell connection as a roaming charge but can't say if that is still true or was a bug or was user error. Use the switch to disable data roaming if you want to be totally sure only wifi is used.

Also, in iOS 4 you can disable wireless 3G/Edge data use altogether in settings, including on your home network.  If you want to force WiFi while not travelling (e.g. to manage a quota), you can do it.


text:
Can I "Forget this Network" when the wifi network is not in range?
I have an iPod Touch that I upgraded to iOS 4 (but this an issue that also existed in iOS 3.1). When I travel, and I join a WiFi networks (e.g. hotel, etc), I don't always remember to forget the network before I leave.
iPod touch: Wi-Fi Information and Settings tells you to "Forget this Network" if you can choose it from the list of Wi-Fi Networks.  However, when the network is not in range, you cannot select it to forget it.
Is there either a way I am not seeing in iOS to do this, or a third party application I can download?  Does the fact I have extra WiFi networks in the list affect the performance of my device when it is trying to join known networks?
Update: I now have doubts a third party app exsits based on that Apple Drops Wi-Fi Sniffers from iPhone App Store reports "sniffers were dropped because they use a private framework, hooks in the operating system that are not documented nor allowed for third-party developers to use."

I have this problem now, because my company requires I change my password every year. The problem is that once I change my password, as soon as the iPad is in range of the network, it tries to connect with the old password. If I don't forget the password fast enough, my account is blocked because of failed attempts to connect with a bad password.

Seems like no way to do this at the moment. Workaround:

The only solution seems to be to rename a spare access point to the SSID of the network you want to forget, connect to it with the iPhone, and choose the option to forget the network. This kludge seems like a lot of work and something that an average user probably doesn’t know how or want to do

via http://www.novainfosecportal.com/2010/07/08/forget-this-network-pretty-please/

As user83905 pointed out, syncing your iPod and Mac with iCloud Keychain will enable you to manage both devices' remembered networks from either one. This means you can simply delete it from your Mac and the change will sync to your iPod.
If you do not have a Mac available to sync with, however, you can still forget unwanted networks by going to Settings > General > Reset and tapping Reset Network Settings. You'll need to add the networks you use again, but it will clear everything out so you can start fresh.

IF you have a Mac:
Sync your iOS device and Mac with the same iCloud Apple keychain. The wifi information will sync via iCloud to the Mac's keychain. You can then edit the keychain on the Mac, and delete the unwanted networks.

You shouldn't worry too much as it only stores the settings (minimal storage impact), should you find a Wifi network with the same SSID, it may show up and ask you for the wap/wep passkey.

This article by Troy Hunt suggests there is a security risk to leaving unsecured networks in the list.

There are also security risks of your iDevice disclosing the details of networks which it has previously connected to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiiI_oZ7y64

Connecting to a wifi network, secure or not, is showing your location to the network owner.  When that network owner is your grandmother, NBD. If it's a large corporation, it's an issue.  Some corporations run big wifi networks - the obvious example is comcast, which publishes xfinitywifi from everyone's cable modem.

I have this problem when I'm on a tram. I once joined a network that was from a D-Link router, and the config hadn't been changed so that the network name was still the default - "D-LINK". Now,whenever I'm using my iPhone on public transport and we pass a similarly configured D-Link modem (there are several on my route) a pop up appears asking me for a password. It's actually kind of annoying - it interrupts me about twice per trip, every day.
I need to be faster getting into settings before we travel out of range of the networks.

You can reset your network settings and it will forget all networks

How? (more chars, as the website requires it; ignore)

@DavidBalažic Take a look at the answer by Timothy Mueller-Harder.

You can now open Keychain access on the Mac, and search for the wifi by name. It will give 2 results: One on the iCloud, and one from the System keychain. The Mac side can delete the iCloud only key, which leaves the system key copy on the Mac. The deletion will propagate to the iPhone in 10 minutes.


text:
Why my iPhone switches from wi-fi to 3g each time screen blocks and does it take any data during? (or how to check it)
I am using iPhone 3gs 16gb with OS 4.0.1 and each time screen blocks it is switching from wi-fi to 3g. It comes back automatically to wi-fi each time I unblock the screen.
Can I prevent it somehow? I want it to stay connected to wi-fi all the time.
How can I check how much datas it is downloading during?

That is a feature to preserve battery life. If your iPhone is jailbroken, you can install Insomnia from Cydia to keep WiFi active while the screen locks.
If you want to check your data usage, you can go to Settings >> General >> Usage. There, you can check under "Cellular Network Data" for how much data you have used. You can reset that, then lock your screen for some time, come back and check what has changed.
Hope this helps!

My phone is not jailbroken :). I followed your answer and checked usage - I left phone with locked screen for a night, at the morning still no data was used - so seems it downloads nothing by itself! Thanks :)

No prob. Glad to help!


text:
How can I get Apple Remote working with the BT Home Hub?
I've got both an iPhone 3GS and an iPod Touch 2G which used to both be able to control my computers iTunes library using the Apple Remote app. However since I've started using a BT Home Hub 2 (A & B) the Remote app has not worked.
I've tried everything to get it going from un-installing iTunes and Bonjour and re-installing, to checking both the software and hardware firewalls. Even with all firewalls off there is no connection.
Has anyone else found a solution to this problem?

May seem like a silly question, but did you changed SSID names when you switched to the new router? If so, make sure you connect both iDevices to the new network's name and reconfigure the Remote app.
Hope this helps!
Thomas
Edit: Are you able to connect to a website from your devices on the new network? And do you still have the old router broadcasting? I ask because maybe your devices are still connected to the old network, but your PC is on the new one. If you haven't already, try going to Settings >> Wi-Fi, and verifying that the network you're connected to is the same that your PC is on. If so, and it's still not working, reset your network settings and see if that helps

The Remote app has been reset and will not even make the initial connection.

With an older home hub and a pc with vista and iTunes, my only solution was to connect a second vintage wireless router, connect via that, set up the association and then remove the vintage router. It then continued to work when connected via the home hub. I could never establish a connection via the home hub.

Unfourtunatly I don't have a working legacy router.


text:
Why is my jailbroken iPhone not booting?
I have an iPhone 3GS with firmware version 3.1.3 running on tethered jailbreak (blackra1n). Yesterday the wifi didn't work so naturally I:

reset network settings (as I did once or twice before).
got the recovery mode screen (as expected).
Connected it to my laptop.
ran blackra1n.

and then, instead of booting like it normally does, my iPhone just rebooted itself and went back to recovery mode. I tried doing this several times with no luck. Has this happened to anyone? Any solutions?
Thanks.
Edit: This is pretty urgent, as currently I don't have a cell phone, so I would appreciate even half-ideas if you have any and don't have time for a full answer.
Update: I have restored my iPhone, but now I am stuck on activation, and can't seem to solve it. Tried using redsn0w, but it's stuck on "Waiting for reboot" after the second upload. Any ideas?
Update 2: Got redsn0w to complete the process, but after it finishes, it just goes back to the iTunes/emergency call screen...
Update 3: I was able to perform restore to 3.1.3, but now I just get the apple logo and it doesn't do anything... It seems problems are just piling on...

Have you recently downgraded from a previous OS?

I've had this happen once before. Is your phone in an "endless loop" of reboots? If so, my solution was to put the phone in DFU mode and restore it and just try the jailbreak over again. Sometimes things get loopy and it just doesn't work correctly. Give it another shot.
How to Put an iPhone Into DFU Mode

@snicker Won't the restore insall iOS4? Also, what about my data?

@amir: You can download older versions of iOS, and if you press shift (or option on mac) and the restore button you can select a different IPSW. You can use google to find older IPSWs, like 3.1.3

@snicker: He has a 3GS. If he doesn't have his SHSH on file with Cydia, he can't restore to 3.1.3.

@Amir If you use iOS4 you can still jailbreak as of today ( http://jailbreakme.com )

@Macha thanks! this worked for me. If you post this as an answer I'll accept.

@Amir: Posted .

I had a similar issue with my 3G and was never able to get out of recovery mode, even with DFU mode.  Luckily since I used blackra1n I still had the stock apple splash screen, and I was able to take it into the Apple Store where they exchanged it for a new one no questions asked.  If you still don't  have any luck getting it out of recovery mode, the Apple Store is definitely worth a shot.

Try restoring using iOS4, and jailbreaking that using Jailbreak Me.
If you do not have the SHSH blob on file with Cydia, you will be unable to restore to 3.1.3 though I am unsure what the failure condition for that is.

download 4.2.1 .ipsw from ipswdownloader.com.
open iTunes, it shows that your iPhone is in recovery mode.
press shift on your keyboard and click restore.
select the .ipsw file downloaded.
select Restore the phone will be restored and then you can re-jailbreak it.


text:
What jabber clients are there for iPhone?
My girlfriend just got an iPhone, and we are wondering what are the available (and recommended) applications to chat using jabber.

Can someone add the 'jabber' tag to this?

@Gnoupi your wish etc. etc.

There are a couple of apps, each one with their own unique features. If you're using the new iOS 4 on a multitasking-compatible iPhone (3Gs and 4), there's IM+ Lite, which provides multitasking support so that you can stay connected even when you're not running the app.

Trillian for iPhone is a multi-protocol IM client that supports Jabber among many others.  It's $5, but it's solid, good looking, and supports push notifications of IM messages.  The push notifications are nice because you'll still receive messages if you're in another app or the phone is in standby mode.

I've used Meebo (iPhone only) and Beejive (seperate binaries for iPhone and iPad, link goes to iPhone). Both links go to iTunes. I own, use, and love Beejive, though I was quite miffed that I had to repurchase it for the iPad, and that they don't sync account data.
Beejive backgrounds, but it does not contain the connection on your device. You can close Beejive and kill it, and your connections will continue to run. This is because Beejive's servers maintain the connection for a specified period of time. (Specified in Settings.app -> Beejive section.) You will be notified by push or e-mail (configurable!) when you have a new message, if Beejive is not running. If Beejive is running, you'll get a "local notification". A notification generated by the app itself with the message content.
Some other clients run the connection FROM the device itself, and disconnect when the app is closed.
This is a security consideration you have to make when choosing an IM client for iOS.

I also use Beejive, it's a solid client for the various popular protocols and I'm not sure you can get much better than it.

Meebo's app also connects to their server, which maintain connections to the IM servers.

I'm pretty sure Meebo has always done that, so I was quite clearly crazy when I originally wrote this. Thanks :).

Meebo is shutting down on 2012-07-11.

yep, I got the e-mail as well.

A couple of friends of mine use monal, they say it is decent for a free app...

Since I can't put a comment yet, I will use "answer" posibility to comment given answers :)
First of all, Gnoupi forgot to mention an important detail - we are searching for a jabber client for iPhone which we could use to connect with friends who are using other clients on pc.
I tried Trillian, it does look nice, indeed, but seems it gives possibility to contact only people with Trillian accounts?
Tried Monal too, but it keeps hanging on "logging in", so can't even see if this is this what we search for :)
IM+ Lite - I just read a description and indeed, this one seems to match our needs the best, I will give it a try!

Any proper Jabber client should work, since it implements the protocol. One not very well known fact is that Google Talk is a Jabber implementation, so you can add Talk accounts to your Jabber ID, even if it's not hosted by Google.

Monal IM
Works well with open Jabber servers. Even connecting using SSL.


text:
Is my iPhone cheating me with data usage? How can I check it?
I reset my data usage on my iPhone after asking this question, so at 28th of July. Since then I was using my phone all the time, watching YouTube, talking on Skype (both voice and text), downloading games from the App Store, using Facebook (including uploading videos and photos) and finally sending emails with attachments (photos, each photo around 1MB).
After 6 days of using my phone intensively, I checked data usage. It shows... 411KB sent and 2,3MB received.
I know it is not right - but how can I check real usage?

Were you on wifi? I think the usage only tracks 3G. If you are looking for your 3G only data, try ATT's account app. It will tell you exactly what your data usage is according to your ATT account.

That app is called MyWireless. It's very useful.

Unfortunatel MyWireless is only available on the US iTunes Store .. makes sense though, since it is (or seems to be) an AT&T specific app.

@th3dude Yes, indeed, sometimes I was on 3G, sometimes I was on wifi, if the usage tracks only 3G then it is even better - easier to know how much I used from my limit :-)
@lexu That explains why I couldn't find it in AppStore/Itunes :) Thanks! :)


text:
Is it possible to stream an RTSP feed to an iPhone?
A co-worker of mine wants to stream an RTSP streaming video feed to his iphone so he can tap into his child's daycare center here and there. Any ideas on how to do this?

I'm reasonably experienced with RTSP. From the POV of my iPad, VLC displays our (live) streams perfectly... and for free.
I hate bouncing my iOS users to the "Get VLC to view this content" deal, but it's my least objectionable alternative, for now.

IP Vision is an expensive app. There are several free apps that will stream RTSP on iPhone. I use Aceplayer, but it doesn't seem to be very stable. It may not be the app - I haven't had time to thoroughly test it yet.
There are at least dozen more, so search the app store for RTSP and try out what works for you.

This can be be accomplished with the app IP Vision from the AppStore.

Streamie is an app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. It also works with Apple Silicon Macs. It’s free to use with one camera. RTSP streaming is its core feature.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/streamie/id1420209171
https://streamie.co

follow this link this will help you :- https://github.com/teocci/RTSP-Client-iOS

Welcome to Ask Different! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.


text:
Why is the top button on my iPhone 3Gs not working consistently?
My iPhone 3Gs got slightly damp (not wet) from being in my pocket in a rain storm.  Since then, the top button (power on/off) is not working consistently.  By that, I mean that sometimes when I hold the button down, the screen goes black as expected.  Other times, nothing happens, and I have to press it multiple times to get the iPhone to respond.  My iPhone 3G had the same type of issue that began after being exposed to salt-spray air at the beach.
I couldn't find any real information about the problem online using obvious search terms (iPhone 3Gs top button problems, iPhone top button problems, iPhone power button problems, etc).
Any ideas for easy solutions?  The phone's a year old (just out of warranty, not that water damage would be covered anyway), and I was hoping it'd last at least another few months.  I'm capable of basic repairs, but my skill with a soldering iron is limited, at best.

I'm afraid you've busted your iPhone. There's no easy solution.
That power button is known to be a weak spot, and submitting the phone to excess humidity (or direct moisture) is never a good idea, even if you weren't planning to be in that storm.
From your description it sounds like the switch is slowly corroding. It will not get better, only worse over time. I'd suggest to have the phone serviced as long as it's otherwise still in good condition, or give up and replace it sooner than planned.
You could also try to repair it yourself by opening it up and cleaning that switch, but it might not even be possible, and worse: you risk breaking your phone. Have it serviced instead.

If you feel brave, you can replace the part yourself. I recently followed this procedure to replace the headphone jack, which is actually part of the same circuitry as the power switch. It took a couple of hours and was a bit nerve-wracking, but all reasonably straight-forward.
Unfortunately my headphone jack is still broken :-( but the rest of the phone is fine.


text:
Can I sync an iPhone to multiple computers without erasing all the applications?
I have followed advice from this website to sync my iPhone on multiple computers, but it is determined to erase my applications. I have about 50 apps on my iPhone.
If you try to untick "Sync Applications" on the Apps tab iTunes says "Are you sure you do not want to sync applications? All existing applications and their data on the iPhone will be removed."
However if I don't tick sync apps (bearing in mind my laptop is new) my computer tries to remove all the apps, because it doesn't "own" any applications.
Is there any way I can sync without deleting all my apps?

Why are you syncing to multiple computers? You might try to find some other way to accomplish your goals, without fighting with iTunes all the time.

I haven't tried myself but this looks like a solution at same time as it's a similar thread: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/2528/sync-itunes-u-on-2-macs-with-an-ipod/2608#2608

It is really annoying, isn't it.
One thing that works reasonably well is for you to right click on your device in iTunes after connecting it (but before syncing it) and select "Transfer my purchases". That will copy your apps to the local copy of iTunes, so if it syncs it won't wipe things out. Not for apps at least. Music and video is a whole other headache.

Perfect JohnFX. "Transfer my purchases" copied all my paid applications & books then all I needed to do was then tick "Manually manage music and Videos" and I could manually copy Music and videos by dragging them into the iPhone. NICE!

Thanks to this I managed to sync apps with two computers - but what about this music headache? Why does Apple insist that I can only sync my music with one library? I just bought some music on my office PC and now can't sync it to my device cos it will erase everything already there. Pain.

Apple is really dumb sometimes

With the iMessage fiasco and the iCloud-sync fiasco and the data fiasco, I'd guess we have to conclude that Apple is more than just "really dumb sometimes".

The easiest way to do this is to copy your old iTunes folder (usually located in Music/iTunes or My Music/iTunes) - depending on which version of which operating system you are sing and replace your new iTunes folder which will be in the same location on your new laptop with the older one.
That usually solves my problems.

I believe this won't work for apps, only for music, you can not copy apps between accounts like that, even for purchased music I am not sure if you are allowed to do this.


text:
How to unlock iPhone after completing the contract without jail breaking?
My iPhone 3G contract was completed a while ago. I have the 3GS now. I would like to give it to someone else who is not on AT&T. I called AT&T and they wouldn't do anything about it. I heard it can be unlocked after jail breaking. Is there an alternative? What happens if I jail break, unlock and then restore? Would it still be unlocked?

AT&T really gives no option even up to today: http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-center/main.jsp?t=solutionTab&solutionId=KB82027

Official iPhone unlocking can be done and is handled by Apple. You need to call your mobile phone operator, ask for the unlock, and they contact Apple (or have a special application, I don't know) where they will send your phone's IMEI.
After a few days, when you sync your iPhone, iTunes will show you a screen telling you your iPhone has been unlocked.

Haven't had a chance to call again. Thanks for the suggestion. As for IMEI, it was visible on the iPhone settings before I called up. It doesn't seem to do anything. Is it some other setting?

Calling the carrier is the right thing to do. They are the ones that are responsible for unlocking the phone.
At least it is that way in Germany.
Perhaps trying again to call AT&T does help. In my experience calling a hotline again if the first operator cannot handle your request to your liking does help. Sometimes one just gets a bad call center agent or the agent had a bad day.

This is an old question, but I'm adding an (AT&T and possibly US specific) answer, as it seems AT&T's policies have changed since the question was first asked. And there are some new answers suggesting paid unlock services that are not necessary.
AT&T's current (April, 2013) policy is that they will unlock iPhones if all the following are true:

AT&T will unlock an iPhone under the following circumstances:

The person requesting the unlock is:

A current AT&T customer, or
A former AT&T customer who can provide
  the phone number or account number for the account.

The iPhone was
  designed for use on the AT&T network.
All contract obligations,
  including any term commitment, associated with the device to be
  unlocked have been fully satisfied.
The iPhone has not been reported
  lost or stolen.

This is covered on AT&T's web page. The current link is http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532

Note: this requires a jailbreak.
There is a tool called ultrasn0w. If you are running a supported baseband (I believe if you are running iOS 6+ up) then it will unlock the phone.

Can you add some more details about where to get Ultrasn0w and which update procedure/software to use with 06.15.00?


text:
Can I change the location of the iTunes iPod Photo Cache folder?
I want to sync photos on my Windows desktop with my iPad but when I set iTunes to Sync Photos from the My Pictures folder, iTunes creates an iPod Photo Cache folder (which is about the size of My Pictures folder which is 6 GB).  Letting iTunes create the folder is not the issue but I am syncing the "My Pictures" folder with my laptop and other computers and I do not want to have the iPod Photo Cache folder to also sync across my other computers.  Is there a way to change the location of where iTunes will put the iPod Photo Cache folder?  I did not see a setting in iTunes for it.

This belongs on SuperUser

@dani this is allowed here because the focus is on the gadget, not the PC. Some gadgets interface with the PC..

Purpose of this folder:

When iTunes synchronizes photos to your iPod, it actually converts and resizes them into 16-bit bitmaps in resolutions appropriate for the iPod. It stores the converted photos in the iPod Photo Cache folder before transferring them to the iPod. This basically allows iTunes to quickly add/remove photos from your iPod without having to reconvert them every time. If you remove a photo album/folder from your iPod (by unchecking the box in iTunes preferences), it will still leave the pictures in the cache in case you want to add them again in the future.

Possible workaround:

Move the iPod Photo Cache folder to the location of your choice, and make an alias (shortcut) to the folder in its new location. Place the alias in the folder where the iPod Photo Cache originally was (usually in the Pictures folder) and make sure the alias is named "iPod Photo Cache". When iTunes looks for the iPod Photo Cache folder in the Pictures folder, it will instead find the alias, directing it to the new location.

You didn't specify the OS of the computer but on Windows that would be a junction point.

Isn't that a symbolic link since Vista? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_symbolic_link

I tried that but it didn't work.  Windows Live Sync still began syncing the contents of the junction point (which I thought was very strange and possibly an issue with Windows Live Sync).

You need a second step to hide it from Live Mesh and also to make sure it doesn't show up in your Pictures view of Windows 7, etc.

Sync your photos, allowing iTunes to create the folder in your Pictures folder as usual
Copy that folder to a location out of the way, I like to use where iTunes keeps the rest of their data (and should put the photo cache IMHO):

C:\Users\User Name\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media
NOTE: You can put it on a share or other drive if you wish, as long as you use a soft link (which we do below)
3.Create the symbolic link. I use MKLINK from the Windows SDK.
Open the CMD window as Administrator and type:
cd C:\Users\User Name\Pictures
MKLINK /D "iPod Photo Cache" "C:\Users\User Name\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\iPod Photo Cache"
Then, you will see the folder appear in your Pictures folder with the familiar "Shortcut" arrow.
4.Right-mouse-click that folder and select "Hide Folder"
When it asks if you want to hide it just for that folder or all folder and files pick only for this folder
TADA! Your iTunes (which knows the name and looks for it in code) will find the file and update the database correctly in it's new location, but any picture / file services (Zune, Windows Explorer, Live Mesh) will not pick up the directory.