A few days ago, I heard through the grape vine that SwirlyMMS was going to be releasing a significant update to their application. Well, it seems that this is indeed true. SwirlyMMS 2.1 is in the works (actually it’s in the beta testing faze). The update will include some cool new features:

1) Compatible with iPhoneOS 3.0
2) MMSes can now be “categorized” into folders and subfolders. The folders and subfolders are customizable and messages can be moved between folders.
3) Support for 3GP videos on iPhoneOS 3.0.
5) A completely new message browser.
4) The GUI has been optimized leaving it faster and more alert.

It will cost $6.00 to upgrade (from SwirlyMMS 1.x) or $12.00 to purchase the app. There will be no cost to upgrade if you already have SwirlMMS 2.0.x.

They also have plans for a SwirlyMMS 2.2 which will allow SwirlyMMS users to send messages for free to other SwirlyMMS users! The messages will be sent over the SwirlyNet for no additional cost…yep, free. So, that is something to look forward to!

There is no exact ETA on when we will see SwirlyMMS 2.1 in Cydia but, I’m guessing it wont be too long…I know there are a lot of you waiting! The update will be released via the Ste Packaging source.

The update to biteSMS now allows you to the app as your default SMS app…very cool. Another cool new feature of the update is when you have a missed/unread text and you open biteSMS, it will open directly to the conversation with the missed text. Below is the full change log and screenshots.

biteSMS 2.0-1 Change Log:
    • Ability to make biteSMS the default SMS application (configured via biteSMS settings page, defaults to OFF).This controls the following characteristics:
        – If ON, when clicking to Reply to an incoming SMS alert, you’ll be taken into biteSMS instead of the Apple SMS application.
        – If ON, the badge that denotes how many SMS’s are unread will be shown against the biteSMS icon instead of the Apple SMS icon.
        – ON or OFF, incoming SMS messages containing biteSMS credits are handled in a more user friendly fashion.
    • Fixed the issue, whereby if an error was displayed during the sending of an SMS, then it would exit back to the Home screen.

    • Improved matching of incoming SMS numbers against Contacts.
    • For an unread SMS, upon starting biteSMS you will be taken directly to this SMS conversation (just like the Apple SMS app).

It seems that biteSMS has been ported to firmware 2.0. The app has most of the features that the previous version had. However, below is a list of a few features that are still being worked on.

- The “Default App” functionality is not yet implemented (it’s being coded as we speak)
- Adding a contact from the address book does not slide away the keyboard (it should, it’s a bug and is being fixed)

Other than that, the app looks and functions the same as normal. Also, if you upgraded iPhones and you still have credits from your previous iPhone, you should be able to get those no problem. If you are looking for a way to send cheap text messages…this just might be the app for you. You can get the app via Cydia, through the BigBoss source.

The update to version 1.19 of bitSMS makes a few updates to the application. It adds Danish and Spanish to the list of compatible languages. It is also said to improve the performance when rendering screens and scrolling. You are also able to switch between biteSMS and the stock SMS application. However, I could not get this feature to work! Let me know in the comments if it worked for you. You can get biteSMS through the Ste Packaging source.