June 18, 2011 
Hackers have figured out how to add their own custom widgets to Apples new notification center in iOS 5. The first one we’re writing about is called MusicCenter. This shows you what song is currently playing and if you swipe to the side, shows the music controls. It is available in Cydia for free! Developed by @WrightsCS
 Reminders – New App From Apple in iOS 5 |
I’ve always longed for a simple task management app that isn’t over complicated. I’ve also though of developing an app that would remind you of a task based on your location. For example, I could create a reminder that the next time I come a certain restaurant I need to remember to try their Salmon Special, or something like that. With Apple’s new stock app called Reminders, I now have a simple task manager with location based reminders! I am using the location feature the most right now by reminding myself to track my hours at work. When I arrive or leave work, I get a reminder to record my hours for the day.
 TinyWorld – Turn Pictures Into Their Own Little World |
TinyWorld is a simple little app. You just opened it, aim and tap one button and you have a picture of a tiny little world. It works best if the top of the area you are taking a picture of is a consistant color. To line up the picture you can try a few things. Tipping your iPhone left or right will help to make the center more of a circle. Aiming up or down more will make the sky of your tiny world bigger or smaller. It also works great with Instagram because the final image is 1000×1000 pixels which is a square. I uploaded a few of my pictures to Flickr and couldn’t find a group there so I created my own at flickr.com/groups/tinyworld Here’s what it looks like when you have the app open:
 Bubble Ball – Created by an 8th Grader |
This game is pretty simple but still challenging. You start with a ball and some different shapes and use the shapes to get the ball to the flag. Sounds simple, but here’s the catch: The app was developed by a 14 year old in 8th grade. The app is free for iPhone & iPad and has a few more levels that can be purchased for $0.99. What’s even more amazing is that it was once the most downloaded free app in the App Store.
 Opera Mini For iPad |
Opera has released a version of it’s alternate web browser for the iPad. It was originally a big drama to get another browser on Apple’s iOS next to Safari but Apple eventually allowed it. Opera has been available on the iPhone for a while but now works on the iPad too. The app is pretty good over all and has some great features. Opera loads webpages on their servers and then compresses the data to load faster on your device. It’s great when you have a slow connection or you want to save bandwidth on your iPhone or iPad data plan. It also has a password storing system and multiple tab support.
 Alesis iO Dock – iPad Dock With XLRs, Phantom Power, MIDI & More |
This is the ultimate dock for musicians and audiophiles. The Alesis iO Dock has loads of features and connectors. It would go great with Garageband or DJ apps. The dock has pro audio connections like XLR & 1/4″ TRS. So far it’s not quite available yet but should be released very soon. B&HPhoto.com has it listed for $199 and approximate arrival in June 2011. Here is a list of features:
 olloclip – Clip on Fisheye, Wide-Angle & Macro Lens |
Ok, so I’ve found more sweet products on kickstarter.com for the iPhone and the next one I want to cover is a clip on lens called olloclip. It’s a great two in one lens that slides onto your iPhone and gives you fisheye, wide-angle & macro lenses. All you have to do is flip it around to switch between the lenses. Then just unscrew the wide angle lens to use the macro feature for 10x. The fisheye has about 180 Degree field-of-view while the wide-angle has double the normal view. If you support this project for $45 you can get your own. Or, once they are released they will be about $60 each. Check out the video and pics below.
The Oona – Multipurpose iPhone Stand |
This is a sweet little iPhone stand. It’s just a metal piece with three holes that screw to a metal stand, suction cup or standard camera mount. It’s brilliant! Right now it’s listed on kickstarter.com as a startup and has over $75,000 in funding already. You can become a supporter and with a minimum $25 you can become a backer of the project and get your own Oona. We’ve become a backer and will update you when we get ours. Here’s a few examples of how you can use the Oona:
 Lockitron – Unlock Your House Doors With Your iPhone |
I would love to have this iPhone accessory that allows you to unlock your home’s front door from your iPhone. I live in a condo so I have to park in a parking lot and then help my 3 kids into the house while carrying all sorts of things. It would be so nice to just open the door from my phone before I get out of the car. Or of course when friends come over and I don’t want to get up from my xBox game. The device is called Lockitron and costs at least $295. There are different styles of locks so check out their website to see if it will work for you: lockitron.com
 AirServer & Banana TV- Make Your Mac An AirPlay Device |
For just $2.99 you can turn your mac into an AirPlay device. Just install a program called AirServer onto your Mac and then it will show up on your iPhone or iPad as an option to stream video, pictures and audio to. If you were looking to buy an Apple TV just for this feature, you can now do it with existing equipment. Check out the video below.
 Puller for Byline – Pull to Sync |
For those of you who don’t know… I have a love hate relationship with the Byline application. Love because it is my favorite RSS reader application. Hate because, in my information craved state, I check the application FAR TOO OFTEN throughout the day! If it were not bad enough… I now have a hack that adds one of my favorite gestures to the application… “pull to refresh.” If you have been around AiS long enough, you know that I almost always install all “pull to refresh” hacks. You name it (Safari, Mail…) I most likely have it installed. So, in sticking to my “pull to refresh” hacking trend, I was overjoyed to see that there was a hack in Cydia that added this feature to Byline.
 14 Different iPad Cases for Only $3.75 Each From AT&T |
This is a killer deal. The only reason I can think as to why they are doing this is that they don’t sell 1st Gen iPads anymore so they just need to get rid of these cases. There are 14 different choices including the OtterBox Defender case for only $3.75 each with Free Priority Shipping (2-day). To get the awesome deal you must click the link provide on this Deals Plus page to get the additional 25%. Each case is $5.00 but with the discount they are $3.75. You can either fill up your cart first, or click the discount first. Just don’t forget!
 Friday Night Movie Night – Why you should jailbreak your iPhone According to Saurik |
It’s always kewl to hear from the developer of Cydia and in this video he explains some reasons why you should jailbreak your iPhone. There are many specific reasons but to me the main reason is to have the freedom to do whatever you want to your iPhone. Apple controls the software and jailbreaking it allows you to have the control. Check out the video and also check out our page titled “Why Jailbreak?”
 iGarageSale – Find Garage Sales Near You |
iGarageSale is the perfect companion to any garage saler… expert or novice! I have found it to be a “must have” for scoping out garage sales! It is extremely user friendly and has a ton of great features that make garage saleing a breeze.
One of my favorite features of the application is that it immediately opens to a map of all the garage sales surroundings your current location. Sooooo helpful! I also really like that you can search for specific items you would like to find at a garage sale. So, if you are looking for Legos, you can search for Legos and it will display all the garage sales that have that key word in their description. The garage sales are pulled from craigslist which allows the ability to search the garage sale’s listing for keywords. Very cool. iGarageSale is everything I want in a garage sale application… in an easy-to-use interface. Guess it doesn’t get much better than that.
 BytaFont – Change System Fonts on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch |
There have been jailbreak apps that change fonts before but for the 4.x firmware I am liking an app called BytaFont. It’s free and there are a lot of fonts available with more being added all the time. Some are a little crazy but some are sweet. You can even have different fonts in different areas of your device. Here’s a list of all the areas:
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