Lucas Newman, veteran native iPhone application developer, has released a Software Development Kit (SDK) of sorts for mid- to high-level iPhone developers to create their own Installer.app-compatible iPhone apps. Apple has not yet released an official iPhone SDK as of yet, so this release is something of an underground movement, but it’s a step in the right direction. You can grab the unofficial iPhone SDK from the creator of the “Lights Off” game (available for download through Installer.app, naturally)

The Installer.app SDK includes an instructional PDF (that shows you how to download and install the development toolchain), an Xcode template, and some sample iPhone applications.

So, you mid- to high-level iPhone developer, go forth and create more natively installable iPhone applications! We thank you in advance.

[Via: iPhone Atlas]

We know, it’s something that was inevitable but not something we like to talk, or think, about. Apple’s Greg Joswiak mentioned that while Apple does not support native iPhone applications, it will not go out of its way to break the third-party application from functinoing on the iPhone.

Great news, right? Well, Greg Joswiak also said that future software “updates will most likely break” the third-party native iPhone applications that we have all come to love. So unfortunate, but, like we said, it was inevitable.

Live it up and enjoy those third-party native iPhone applications while you still can! Get Installer.app installed already!

[Via: GearLog]

Do you love installing all the latest native iPhone applications with your iPhone Installer from Nullriver - Installer.app? Do you hate having to decide which applications to nix in order to keep all those application icons visible on your iPhone homescreen at all times?

Well, no more! The Dock 2.0 application launcher that’s now available through your Installer.app will give you instant access to all your native third-party iPhone applications from within any application. The launcher works by placing a little “sunburst” that resides in the bottom-right- corner of your iPhone’s screen. A simple tap-and-drag of the icon will bring up all application icons currently installed on your iPhone - including the factory default apps.

Check out the video to see how it works, and then get yourself over to your Installer.app and download the darn thing!

By now we all know how great Installer.app is. It puts all the best third-party natively installed application in the palm of your hand - literally. With Nullriver’s iPhone Installer, you can automate the process of downloading third-party application packages and installing them on your iPhone (provided you’ve already installed the Installer.app application)

However, the one problem with Installer.app is that it’s another finicky step that iPhone software developers must hurdle in order to get their awesome application to work through the Installer.app’s interface. That problem has now been solved by Nicholas “Drudge” Penree and Shaun “Ste” Erickson. The duo is offering free unlimited packaging services for the iPhone developer community. They’ll be taking the hassle out of packaging any iPhone application for the Installer.app interface, as well as hosting the file on their server. Of course, donations will be gladly accepted - and we actually encourage it.

First, we’d like to thank all you iPhone developers out there - you’re doing a great service to all us iPhone owners! Second, head on over to Drudge’s or Ste’s sites for more deets on the free packaging service.

We know, we know. It can be a harrowing thought - hacking your iPhone with your Mac’s Terminal commands and what not. All these amazing third-party native applications have been developed for the iPhone and there’ no easy way to get them installed. Until now.

Nullriver has released their iPhone Installer application that makes getting all those third-party goodies onto your iPhone easier than, say, popping a pimple (and less painful). Ok, the pimple reference was a bit crude, but you get the point. Getting the iPhone Installer onto your iPhone will require a couple lines of Terminal commands, but it’s easy to do and totally worth it.

Once the iPhone Installer application is installed on your iPhone, a new application icon will show up on your homescreen. The “Installer” application is your new best friend. The above picture shows you what the interface looks like - it’s basically a list of applications (games, development, utilities, productivity, etc.) that the iPhone Installer will automatically download and install onto your iPhone. Easy as pie.

Now all the third-party applications that you’ve been dying to try are at your beck and call. No more fussing around with Terminal, you just fire up the iPhone Installer, pick the latest application to try, and click “install.” The Installer.app will download the necessary data over WiFi or EDGE and do it’s thing - all while you sit back and relax.

Download the iPhone Installer and follow these simple instructions:

Unzip the iPhone Installer onto your Desktop
Fire up Terminal (in Finder: Applications>Utilities>Terminal)
Type this in “cd /Users/your_user_name/Desktop/iPhoneInstaller/” (without quotes) - this changes your working directory to that of your iPhone Installer
Run the install by typing “./get_installer.sh”
Follow on-screen instructions
Hold “Home” and “Sleep” buttons until you see the “Connecting to iTunes” icon - let go at this point
Everything is now setup

Now, start up your iPhone and hit the “Installer” icon on your homescreen. You’ll notice a lack of installable applications in your, that’s ok, we’ll fix that right quick. Find the “Community Resources” package and click it. Install the package and voila! You have a more apps than you know what to do with.

Everything from this point on is pretty self-explanatory, so go and play around. You’ll be pleased!

Nullriver iPhone Installer

No, it’s not actually that kind of Apache, but the picture is pretty cool. iPhone hackers are going at it full steam. While some hackers are concentrating their efforts on subverting the iPhone’s security measures, some are working for the good of all iPhone owners. Namely, NerveGas and his posse at #iphone-shell have managed to open up the iPhone to run as a web server - with the ability to run Apache and Python apps, locally (no web-aps here, folks). Gizmodo reports that the hack was accomplished using NightWatch’s toolchain, “include a working Apache installation, Pytho and “a growing binary kit including routing tools, vim, curl and much more.”

The techno-requirements to pull this off seem pretty high, so if you’ve got the bits, give it a whirl. Or, you can just wait for a more consumer-oriented version that’s likely to follow.

This bodes well for third-party applications on the iPhone - we’re sure to see a future filled with all manner of open source apps, regardless of what Steve Jobs might say.

And, as far as unlocking the iPhone radio for use on non-AT&T networks, hackers are closing in on the specific piece of code that controls the unlock status of the iPhone’s radio:

We have confirmation of the existence of some attempt counter for the unlock: with no unlock attempts +XLOCK returns: “PN”,1,0,”PU”,5,0,”PP”,5,0,”PC”,5,0,”PS”,5,0 with unlock attempts +XLOCK returns: “PN”,3,0,”PU”,5,0,”PP”,5,0,”PC”,5,0,”PS”,5,0

The unlock handler dies if the first number is >1 but we’re still not sure of its exact meaning and how it is set due to some odd behaviour we observed.

Currently the semantic is believed to be:

0=Unknown, 1=Default/Locked, 2=Unknown, 3=Unknown (has to do with attempts), 4=Lockable, 5=Unlocked

We’re hoping to see a successfully unlocked iPhone in the near future. Stay tuned!

[Via: Gizmodo]

Apple’s path to third-party applications on the iPhone will funnel developers to Web 2.0 optimized web-apps. So as to keep the iPhone on lockdown (for as long as possible) and not have to release a developer SDK, Apple is promoting the development of web-based applications that are optimized for the WebKit-based Safari browser. The company has created a development portal for the Apple iPhone.

Apple wants “Developers [to] create Web 2.0 applications that look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and provide seamless integration with iPhone applications and services including making a phone call, sending an email, and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using web standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.”

The development guidelines are grouped as follows:
• Understanding User-iPhone Interaction
• Use Standards and Tried-and True Design Practices
• Integrate with Phone, Mail and MAps
• Optimize for Page Readability
• Ensure a Great Audio and Video Experience
• Know What Safari Supports on iPhone
• Connect With Web Developers

We’ve already mentioned some web-apps that enables chat functionality to the iPhone, but we really can’t wait to see what a full blown development push will bring!

With all the Apple iPhone launch hubbub, we totally missed this one. It looks like we can count on at least one third-party application being made available for the iPhone - from Visto. The company will be providing corporate email functionality for the iPhone. The Visto Mobile service software is obviously third-party and will be made available in Q3 of 2007 with a 60-day free trial.

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