figure 1: for Macs
Ever since the iPhone was announced, people have been clamoring to write native applications for it. Sadly, Apple has not yet released the tools necessary to develop those apps. However, if you’ve been following the iPhone news you realize that the iPhone has been “hacked.” What does this mean to you, the nonhacker? Well it means that thanks to the mighty efforts of many dedicated people, you can install applications directly onto your iPhone. The best part, it’s easy. Read on for our full How To on how to hack your iPhone so you can install applications.
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After hours of active use, your iPhone’s screen will become filled with more greasy fingerprints and smudges than the front doors of your local McDonalds. How can you see through all that film? Wipe if off? No, be creative. Express your inner artist. Let your fingers inspire you. Rub your iPhone’s slippery glass surface in delicate strokes, forming shapes and contours. Create images and silhouettes from the deposited facial oil. Where others see a smudgy screen, I see the face of a clown.
Now spray Windex onto a sheet of paper towel, lightly dampened. Then clean your filthy screen, and get back to work. Stop wasting time.
So here I am fiddling with my iPhone, when a rare yet not entirely uncommon problem rears itself.
Every now and again my iPhone’s touchscreen exhibits a rather strange behavior. When I tap to select a specific item in various applications, the touchscreen misidentifies my tap and executes it in a completely different area code. The device can remain in that state for five or more seconds. No matter how many times you tap on a specific item, something else is selected. Example…I tap on very first new email in my inbox to open it, and the very last email is selected instead. Sound familiar to you? Thought so.
Well I think I may have found a solution, or at least the cause. My suspicion is that the iPhone’s accelerometer is to blame, even in applications that do not support landscape mode. I came to that conclusion because my ill registered taps had a predictable pattern, as if the touchscreen thought the device were being held in a different orientation. I ruled out this being a simple calibration issue common to typical touchscreen Smartphones and PDAs, because…were this the case…the item above or below my taps would be selected. These spurious selections are nowhere near the location of my intended taps.
So what is the solution? Once I determined the cause I figured out that when these moments of touchscreen epilepsy afflict my iPhone, I could snap it out of this state by tilting the device forward in a near horizontal spacial orientation, as if it were lying flat on a table. Sure enough, after this change in relative position, everything worked normally.
If this happens to you, simply tilt the device forward, then back again. That should do the trick!
Got it? Good. Now stop bothering me while I’m tapping.
For those who want to dabble in the dark world of iPhone hacking, but are driven off from fear of complexity, Gizmodo has posted a great How To guide that explains how to install third party software on iPhone. The process is so easy you don’t need to be a l33t hAx0R to make it happen.
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A growing number of iPhone users have reported what could be a serious manufacturing flaw affecting some units. After an indeterminate period of use the touchscreen may lose sensitivity in specific locations on the screen. These “dead spots” will be no longer respond to user input. For a device that depends entirely on touch input for manipulation…this isn’t good.
Fortunately Apple is listening, and is now offering repairs for anyone experiencing this problem. Unfortunately the company seems intent on enforcing its $29 rental fee for loaner iPhones, while your device is in the shop. Several readers have reported they managed to negotiate a waiver, but I am not satisfied with this scheme. Negotiation should be unnecessary when the problem is a manufacturing flaw.
If I drop my iPhone and send it in for repairs I am more than willing to pony up $30 for a loaner. After all, I am the cause in this case. I draw the line when it’s the manufacturer to blame. But I digress. So if your iPhone isn’t responding to your touch. Call Apple and schedule a return.
I wish my dating life were this simple. Women never respond to my touch. Whom do I call to fix that?
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Want a great way to create goofy custom photos of friends and family in your address book, trapping their contorted faces inside your iPhone like a prehistoric fly encased in amber every time they call you? Now you can!
Of course the real trick will be convincing your companions to submit their disfigured mugs for your own amusement. Steve Jobs still hasn’t returned my request for his photo. Damn him!
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