I’m often asked what I think is the best iPhone blog. It’s hard to tell because most iPhone blogs have their own specific topic or their own “voice”. While I do not have one favorite blog (except mine, hehe), there are few I read on a regular basis.

The following is my selection of what I think are top iPhone blogs.

1. Mac Rumors
2. Gizmodo
3. Just Another iPhone Blog
4. Simple Reviews
5. Apple Insider
6. The Unofficial Apple Weblog
7. iSmashPhone
8. Apple iPhone School
9. TiPB
10. iPhone Atlas
11. iPhone Alley
12. Mac World
13. iPhone in Canada
14. iPhone Savior
15. iPhone Hacks
16. FSMdotCOM
17. iPhone CTO
18. KRAPPS
19. The App Era
20. Stuff I Make on My iPhone
21. Simon blog
22. iPhone Dev Team
23. iClarified
24. MacNN
25. iPhone Download Blog

What’s your favorite iPhone blog and why?

This guide and tutorial will show you how to unlock iPhone 3.1.3 using UltraSn0w or BlackSn0w, depending on your iPhone baseband.

The first step is to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.3, either with RedSn0w or with PwnageTool. Note that PwnageTool is the preferred method as it helps preserve the baseband.

Now we have 2 options for unlocking, and it all depends on your baseband model:

• If your baseband is still at 04.26.08, then you may use UltraSn0w.
• If your baseband is at 05.11.07, you may use BlackSn0w.
• If your baseband is at 05.12.01, you cannot unlock at this time. No one knows if we’ll ever be able to unlock this baseband.

To find out what your baseband is, go to Settings > General > About > Modem Firmware.

How to unlock iPhone 3.1.3 with UltraSn0w

• Launch Cydia.
• Add the following source to Cydia repo666.ultrasn0w.com (note there is a “0″ in sn0w, not an “o”).
• After installing this source in Cydia, search for “ultraSn0w”.
• Install UltraSn0w and reboot your iPhone.

How to unlock iPhone 3.1.3 with BlackSn0w

• Launch Cydia.
• Add the following source: http://blackra1n.com.
• After installing this source in Cydia, search for “BlackSn0w”.
• Install BlackSn0w and reboot your iPhone.

Your iPhone should now be unlocked. If you have questions or comments on how to unlock iPhone firmware 3.1.3, please leave a comment.

The Dev Team released PwnageTool 3.1.5 just a few hours ago. In this guide and tutorial, I will show you how to use PwnageTool to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3.

Before we get into the details, please make sure you read this article by the Dev Team. It will explain to you what you can and cannot do. It is a very important piece of information that you should not overlook.

If at any point in time you updated your iPhone to firmware 3.1.3, then you also updated your baseband to 05.12.01. If that’s the case, you will be able to jailbreak by downgrading to 3.1.2 first, but you will not be able to unlock.

PwnageTool will jailbreak the following 3.1.3 devices:

• iPhone 2G
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS (old bootrom)
• iPod Touch 1G
• iPod Touch 2G (old bootrom)

If you don’t care about unlocking, RedSn0w is still an easier and quicker way to jailbreak.

Note that this tutorial to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3 with PwnageTool is for Mac and Mac only. There is no Windows version of PwnageTool and they will most likely never be. If you don’t have a Mac, ask around and see if a friend of yours can help you out and create a custom firmware for.

Again, please make sure you read the information given by the Dev Team. It will answer most questions you may have.

How to Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3 with PwnageTool

Step 1: Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. If not, download and install it, then reboot your computer. Now make sure you backup your iPhone by syncing with iTunes, just in case something goes wrong.

Step 2: Download PwnageTool 3.1.5 and your iPhone firmware from our downloads page. Save these 2 files to your desktop.

Step 3: Launch PwnageTool. It should give you a warning message. Click OK.

Step 4: Select “Expert Mode”.

Step 5: Select your device then click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 6: If PwnageTool doesn’t automatically find the correct IPSW file, click “Browse for IPSW” and locate it (it should be on your desktop).

Step 7: You will now have several options. Choose “General” and click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 8: Under “General Settings”, you have the option to activate the phone or not. This is a very important step so please read carefully.

If you have a contract with an official carrier (such as AT&T in the US, or Orange in France, etc…), do not activate.

If you do not have a contract with an official carrier (ie. you want to unlock for another carrier), you have to activate. Then you will have to install UltraSn0w or BlackSn0w from Cydia in order to fully unlock the phone.

You will know you didn’t choose the right option if you don’t have signal after jailbreaking.

You don’t have to, but I suggest increasing the root partition size to somewhere around 700MB, just to be on the safe side. When you’re done, click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 9: You are now taken to the “Bootneuter settings”. All of them should be greyed out. Click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 10: You are now taken to the “Cydia settings”. From here, you may download packages so you don’t have to manually do it later. For example, you may download WinterBoard, which would be installed during the pwnage process. Let’s keep things simple and skip this step which is not necessary. Click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 10: You are now taken to the “Custom packages settings”. Make sure “Cydia” is selected.

Step 11: You are now taken to the”Custom logos settings”. You can choose to add the default logos (see below) or you can add your own logos. If you choose to add your own, make sure the images are not larger than 320 x 480.

Step 12: We’re almost done! You now have to build the custom IPSW. Click “Build” and click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 13: Save your custom IPSW to your desktop.

Step 14: PwnageTool will now start building your custom IPSW. Be patient… It can take up to 15 minutes.

Step 15: PwnageTool will ask you if your iPhone has been pwned before. If you’re not sure, just click NO.

Step 16: If your iPhone was previously jailbroken, you can skip to step 19. If your iPhone wasn’t already jailbroken, follow the following directions. If your iPhone isn’t plugged to your computer yet, plug it. Don’t open iTunes. If iTunes launches automatically, close it. PwnageTool will now deliver the payload.

Step 17: After successfully delivering the payload, PwnageTool will put your iPhone in recovery mode. Click OK.

Step 18: iTunes should pop up saying it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode and that you must restore. Click OK.

Step 19: We are going to restore your iPhone using the custom IPSW you built. In iTunes, hold the “Alt/Option” key and click “Restore” at the same time. DO NOT click “Restore” without holding the “Alt/Option” key! A dialog box will pop up and you’ll be able to choose the custom IPSW file you created that was saved to your desktop.

Step 20: Navigate to the “jailbreak” folder and select the custom IPSW we created.

Step 21: iTunes will now restore your iPhone using the custom firmware which could take a while, so relax. When done, your iPhone will reboot and you will now have a jailbroken iPhone.

That’s it! Your iPhone 3.1.3 should be fully jailbroken, thanks to the good work of the Dev Team and PwnageTool.

In the future, make sure you do not update your iPhone firmware when there is a new one coming out. It will avoid many issues. Besides, these updates are very minor and useless. For what it’s worth, I’m still on iPhone OS 3.0, and happy to be.

If you have any question or comment, please leave a comment.

In case you missed any of this week’s articles, here is a summary of what was posted on the blog within the last few days. As usual, if you like any of these articles, please share them, tweet them, email them or whatever’s clever.

• RedSn0w 0.9 is out
• Installous is dead
• ContactFlow brings coverflow to your contacts
• RedSn0w 0.9.3 jailbreak allows tethering of iPhone 3.1.2
• 499 reasons to buy an iPad
• iPhone OS 3.1.3 is out
• Traveling with an iPhone: my experience in Bali
• Geohot not working on 3.1.3 jailbreak
• My thoughts about the iPad
• Adobe Flash and the iGeneration
• AndroidLock: a better lockscreen to protect your iPhone
• SnowBreeze unlock and jailbreak anyone?
• How to downgrade iPhone 3.1.3 to 3.1.2

As always when a new firmware is being realeased, there is always a few unlucky people who “accidentally” update or restore to the latest firmware, thus losing their jailbreak and unlock.

In this case, you’d usually want to downgrade your iPhone from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 simply by downloading 3.1.2 and SHIFT + Restore in iTunes so that you can choose your own firmware to restore to.

The problem is that Apple recently stopped signing all previous firmware versions making it impossible for you to downgrade.

Fortunately, Saurik has been smart enough to create a system to bypass Apple’s signature and making it possible for you to downgrade from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2. To do so, you will need to have your SHSH on file. To see if it’s on file, launch Cydia and look at the top. Mine says “This device has SHSHs on file for iPhone OS: 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.2″.

If you don’t have this, make sure you look for a link that says “Make my life easier” on Cydia. This will allow you to save your SHSHs.

This being said, downgrading an iPhone 3GS from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 is easier said than done. It’s actually a pretty painful process that I detailed in a tutorial a few month ago. I originally wrote this tutorial to downgrade from iPhone 3.1 to 3.0 but the steps are exactly identical (MuscleNerd confirmed this).

If you’re one of those who need to downgrade your iPhone firmware, then check out my tutorial, or simply wait for the Dev Team to come up with a reliable jailbreak for 3.1.3. Something tells me PwnageTool is not too far ahead of us

The almighty Sn0wBreeze has been recently updated to version 1.4 and although it claims to help jailbreak and unlock iPhone 3.1.3, I recommend to stay away from this tool.

The problem with Sn0wBreeze is that only a very small amount of people actually get it to work. It’s such a small amount that I’ve come to think that it’s the creator himself who leaves comments here and there to make people believe Sn0wBreeze actually works.

In a Sn0wBreeze tutorial I wrote about a week ago, only one commenter got it to actually work, but then he had to face many other issues:

I still get a lot of glitches when installing third party apps as well as the apps from the App Store. Also, I’m getting a lot of problems with Cydia. The Big Boss Repo won’t show up no matter how many times I uninstall and reinstall, still the same problem.

Can Sn0wBreeze jailbreak and unlock iPhone 3.1.3? Maybe. Do I recommend it? No. MuscleNerd goes as far as suggesting to stay away from it.

For those of you daredevils who’d still want to give a shot at jailbreaking and unlocking with Sn0wBreeze, you will first have to download version 1.4 and look at the Sn0wBreeze guide I wrote (steps are exactly the same).

Have you tried Sn0wBreeze? Have you had it to work? Please let us know in the comments.

There are several ways to protect your iPhone by restricting access to it from the lockscreen. You can use the stock feature that allows you to set a password containing 4 numbers. You can use this hack to add an alphanumeric password, or you can use AndroidLock.

AndroidLock is a new application available in Cydia that brings Android’s lockscreen protection to the iPhone. After installing the app, you have to activate it in the Settings.app. To do so, you first have to create a pattern and save it. Then, in order to unlock your iPhone, you have to connect the dots according to the pattern that you previously created.

On the example above, I have to go from bottom left to top right, then top right to top left, then top left to bottom right, in order to unlock the iPhone and gain access to the springboard. Obviously, you don’t see the pattern until you have completed it.

I do think it’s a great alternative to setting an alphanumeric password. However, the downside for me is that I can’t really see the picture of iVan the dog anymore, which is the picture I have on my lockscreen.

As I am traveling quite a bit these days, thus increasing my chances of losing my iPhone, I have set AndroiLock to protect it. I created a simple unlock pattern that doesn’t make it a pain in the butt for me to do, but it makes it very hard for a potential thief to figure out. That won’t protect me from losing or having my iPhone stolen, but at least it won’t be easy to access the data on it.

What do you think? It’s a pretty nice mod, isn’t it?

This is a guest post by Polemicist, a loyal blog reader and commenter. If you’d like to guest post on the iPhone Download Blog, please see the guidelines.

What ever happened to this guy?

Developer Jonah Grant submitted an “Adobe Flash mobile” plug-in for the iPhone and iPod Touch’s Safari browser on Friday, April 24 2009.

Maybe Jonah’s plug-in was only an urban legend but I do recall Adobe saying they were working on a new version of Flash for the iPod and iPhone and now over a year later we get to see the wonders of the iPad still with no Flash support. To top that off the mobile Safari browser doesn’t appear to be able to support HTML 5 so we are again left in limbo with a media rich field of HTML, JPG and maybe a few animated GIF’s.

So why would Apple go out of its way to stop a product that has been around since the early 90’s in one form or another? Flash has become so much a part of the internet that it has been included in Windows CD’s since Windows 98.

Yes OK there have been security risks with Flash and Apple can say that those risks are the reason they do not allow Flash content. They can even block it due to the fact that Flash can execute arbitrary code. But if that is the case then they had better not let QuickTime run on the iPad or iPhone as it allows arbitrary code execution as well. Anyway both Apple and Adobe patch their security holes quite quickly so again not a good enough reason for saying no to Flash.

Apple can say that Flash content doesn’t run quickly enough on iPhones. That might actually be correct and in some cases a Flash enabled iPhone user might have to turn off Flash support so they can bypass for example an intro screen that is freezing their browser (wouldn’t that be inconvenient). The iPad on the other hand could easily cope with massive Flash content so that crosses that off the list of reasons.

Why do they take fast processors then underclock them?

Original & 3G: Samsung 32-bit RISC ARM 1176JZ(F)-S v1.0
620 MHz underclocked to 412 MHz
PowerVR MBX Lite 3D GPU[8]

3GS: Samsung S5PC100 ARM Cortex-A8
833 MHz underclocked to 600 MHz
PowerVR SGX GPU

I wonder if they are going to do the same with the iPad?

All things considered the only logical reason I can see for Apple to ban Flash content is that they might lose money. Because of this attitude from Apple I now want to see the iPad hacked so badly that a version of Snow Leopard can be installed on it.

But I digress. So let’s take a look at the issues here.

On the Official side of the fence we have:

1. Adobe determined to put Flash onto mobile devices.
2. Apple determined to keep Flash off all of its mobile devices.
3. Developers more than capable of porting Flash to Apple mobile devices.
4. Apple not letting Developers put Flash onto the App Store.

On the Jailbreaker side of the fence we have:

1. Dedicated hackers capable of making iPad do whatever they want.
2. Homebrew developers with vast experience in iPhone Software.
3. Adobe apparently porting Flash to other mobile devices

Looks to me like the JB community will win. Once a version of Flash is made that will run on Windows Mobile and Android devices the Homebrew guys I’m sure will take great pleasure in putting it onto iPad and maybe even the iPhone. Adobe would have to make the mobile version of Flash capable of being used on Apple products so they can show it off to Apple. Maybe (if we are lucky) that version might “leak” from Adobe.

I’m sure the JB community will happily pay a dollar or two for the Homebrew developer’s effort to port the mobile Flash to the iGadgets. I for one would donate to that cause. Picture just how annoyed Apple will get if this happens and how smug the looks would be on the Adobe team (at least while Apple wasn’t looking).

Imagine now an iPhone/iPad that can browse Flash based websites and then take that website and run it full screen. Going online and finding a few SWF games, downloading and playing them using an updated version of iFile. Watching a Flash based movie or TV channel right from the palm of your hand.

What a wonderful world that would be. I look forward to this Utopia. If not (like many Mac Fanboys) I will look forward to Windows Mobile 7.

What do you think?

After giving you 17 reasons why the iPad sucks and 499 why you should buy one, I wanted to share with you what I really think about the iPad.

Underwhelming is the word

All throughout Steve Jobs’ presentation of the iPad, I was waiting for the time I would be amazed and excited. Jobs always does a great job at giving me the chills for his products but this time, he failed to.

When the presentation was over, I really felt underwhelmed. I thought to myself: is this it? There had to be something I had missed. Some feature I had overlooked. No, that was really it.

Apple had failed to create excitement.

Netbook > iPad

Steve Jobs made it pretty clear that the iPad aimed at taking over the netbook market. However, I’m not convinced the iPad is better than a netbook at all. To be honest with you, I even felt offended when Steve Jobs called netbooks “cheap laptops”. I am currently traveling with a netbook right now, and there is no way a giant iPod Touch would be half as useful as my netbook is. Really.

If all you do is going to Facebook and check emails, then yes, get an iPad because it will do that just flawlessly for you. However, if you’re looking for a mobile device from which you can actually work (ie. save documents, create documents, extensive typing, video chat, etc…), then I believe a netbook still is your best bet.

I am not Apple’s target market

I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know who the iPad really is for. It is not for me, I know that. I am a computer power user. I need multitasking, I need Flash, I need to be able to save documents to my hard drive. But I might be blinded by how I see the perfect tech gadget, and what I believe is good for me probably is far from what Mom and Pops think is good for them.

If my Mom told me she wanted an iPad, I would gently explain to her that it might not be a good idea for the time being and that she might as well buy a $400 Lenovo netbook because she’ll get much more out of it. The problem is that my Mom will be so excited about owning a device with a fruit on it that she probably won’t listen to me anyways.

The iPad might be targeting these people: those who don’t know enough, thus can be easily influenced by good marketing campaigns.

Do I NEED or do I WANT an iPad?

The reason why I’m so confused about this new device is probably because I haven’t used it yet, but also because Apple hasn’t managed to make it clear why I need an iPad. Apple is usually great at making me NEED things. 3 years ago, I was very happy with my BlackBerry Pearl, then Apple shows up with the iPhone. They made me NEED it, instantly. This has been also true for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

Apple doesn’t make me need an iPad right now. It hasn’t hit the spot yet!

Will I buy an iPad?

Yes, I will buy an iPad. The main reason is that if I’m going to blog about it, I’d better know my stuff. It might also be convenient at night to check Twitter or my emails while watching TV on the couch. I’m a news junkie and I admit that an iPad will be much better to read the news from my RSS reader, which I usually do from my iPhone.

Oh and one more thing, my fiancee is very excited too, for slightly different reasons though. Here is what she said to me: “I think playing Bejeweled on this giant screen is gonna be awesome”. She had a point. I started dreaming about landing giant planes on Flight Control, one of my favorite games, on this big iPad screen. Haha!

The future of the iPad

This is just the beginning. What Apple is giving us today has nothing to do with what they will give us in 3-4 years. They could very well give us all we want right now (more storage, Flash, video camera, etc…), but they have to start somewhere. They have to work on us and create the need for an iPad. This will take time but I am convinced that once Apple really unleashes the power of the iPad, it will be one of the most amazing and useful device ever made.

On the bright side, I know the Dev Team will be working day and night to jailbreak the iPad. Once they find an exploit and can inject their codes in there, the iPad will be on its way to kicking ass.

What’s your point of view?

When GeoHot talks, you listen because you never know what he’s up to. Earlier today he gave some pretty disappointing news on Twitter by basically saying that there was no way to jailbreak the latest iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch models on OS 3.1.3, and that there was not much hope for an untethered jailbreak.

But we all know GeoHot and how he likes to be challenged. I’d bet you that he’s dissecting OS 3.1.3 as we speak and looking for some exploit. That’s what I think anyways.

In the meantime, the Dev Team has been working hard on redsn0w (see tutorial) and has found some workarounds to jailbreak older models.

Do you think GeoHot will show up and save the world again?