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Ebonics

When learning about a new topic, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the new terminology, especially when the topic is technology and hacking. So, before we learn how to “walk the walk”, let’s learn how to “talk the talk”: ( you can find this and so much more, in our eBook – Not Your Average iPhone Book. Give Your iPhone A (jail)Break )

  • SDK – in February 2008, Apple introduced the Software Developer Kit, through wich, they allow everybody to create third party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Ever since, people can create native applications, using Mac-based development tools, sold in Apple’s appstore, and complying with Apple’s restrictions and distribution policies. Prior to February 2008, developing native iPhone applications, required a reverse-engineered development enviorment commonly known as “toolchain”.
  • appstore – Apple’s way of distributing third party applications for the iPhone and iTouch. It can be accessed within iTunes and it has its own native app on the iPhone.
  • app(s) – iPhone and iPod Touch applications are often referred as app (singular) or apps (plural).
  • developer – person or organization concerned with facets of the software development process wider than design and coding, a somewhat broader scope of computer programming or a specialty of project managing including some aspects of software product management. This person may contribute to the overview of the project on the application level rather than component level or individual programming tasks. Software developers are often still guided by lead programmers but also encompass the class of freelance software developers.
  • dev – short name for a developer.
  • firmware - software that runs on your iPhone or iPod Touch. The term of firmware is used to describe each successive version of new software version for the iPhone or iTouch. Firmwares come as .ipsw (iphone software) files, and depending on the device and release version, firmwares have names like iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw. You will often find people referring at firmwares as FW.
  • custom firmware – is a firmware update that you modify (currently) with PwnageTool, in order to update, jailbreak and preserve the baseband of your device. Preserving the baseband can/will help with unlocking your iPhone. You will often find people referring at custom firmware as CFW.
  • baseband – This is the device in the iPhone that manages all the functions which require an antenna. The baseband processor has its own RAM and firmware in NOR flash, separate from the ARM core resources. The baseband is a resource to the OS. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are managed by the main CPU, although the baseband stores their MAC addresses in its NVRAM.
  • Bootloader – In general, this is the code which is run prior to the main firmware, it is responsible for loading the main FW and, in some cases, performs signature checking. Both the baseband and the main iPhone OS have bootloaders, and these are entirely different. PwnageTool allows control over the main OS bootloader, while BootNeuter allows control over the Baseband Bootloader.
  • Baseband Bootloader – The Baseband Bootloader is the code which runs before the baseband FW, it is responsible for signature checking and updating the baseband.
  • iBoot – This is Apple’s stage 2 Bootloader for all of the iDevices. It runs what is known as Recovery Mode. It has an interactive interface which can be used over USB or serial.
  • EDGE – stands for Enhanced Data rates For GSM Evolution and basically is a data transmission protocol capable of speeds of maximum 230 kbps.
  • HSDPA – in contrast with the first generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G and 3Gs uses HSDPA which stands for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, the fastest current data standard used with GSM networks and it is comparable with a slow DSL connection.
  • GSM–stands for Global System for Mobile communications and it’s the technology in widest use around the world, and a standard in Europe. GSM is the technology for providing voice services and it also includes wireless data service.
  • CDMA – stands for Code Division Multiple Access. No matter what people tells you or what videos you might see on YouTube, the iPhone can’t be unlocked for Verizon (which uses CDMA). Right now, the iPhone is a GSM device ONLY.
  • IMEI – stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. IMEI is a number unique to every GSM and WCDMA and iDEN mobile phone, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. Since there’s no easy way to access the battery on the iPhone, you can find your IMEI by calling*#06#(no charge).
  • UDID – stands for Unique Device Identifier. To find your iPhone’s UDID, just plug it into your computer and wait until iTunes recognizes it. Select your phone from the Devices list in iTunes and click the “Summary” tab. To see your UDID, click on the word “serial number” next to the picture of the iPhone. You should see the word “identifier” and an alphanumeric string – this is your UDID.
  • OTB – stands for Out The Box and you (usually) find this term being used by people who just bought an iPhone with the latest firmware that also updates the baseband firmware.
  • jailbreak – This is the process by which full execute and write access is obtained on all the partitions of the iPhone. It is done by patching /etc/fstab to mount the System partition as read-write. This is entirely different from an unlock. Jailbreaking is the first action that must be taken before things like unofficial activation (hacktivation), and unofficial unlocking can be applied. The original jailbreak also included modifying the afc service (used by iTunes to access the filesystem) to give full filesystem access from root. This was later updated to create a new service (afc2) that allows access to the full filesystem. Modern jailbreaks also include patching the kernel to get around code signing and other restrictions.
  • tethered jailbreak – The tethered jailbreak is quite inconvenient since, every time you restart the device, you find yourself with an original iPhone or iPod Touch! Cydia suddenly disappears and with it, all installed applications.
  • activation – Activation is the process by which a new (or newly restored) iPhone can get by the Emergency Call Screen to access the SpringBoard. The code in charge of this resides in Lockdownd, which is always running on the iPhone and monitors the activation status of the device. Lockdown patches (which require a jailbreak) activate your phone and obliviate the need to activate legitimately through iTunes with an official carrier.
  • unlock – This is the process by which the iPhone baseband is modified to accept the SIM card of any GSM carrier. This is entirely different from a jailbreak, though a jailbreak is required for the current unlock to be applied.
  • cracked apps–all the paid applications in the AppStore,stripped down from their protections.You can find them for free as .ipa files.
  • .ipa file – program written for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, typically downloaded from the Apple iTunes AppStore; can be transferred to the iPhone or iPod Touch via iTunes when the device is connected to the computer. .ipa files include games, educational programs, finance and news programs, utilities, and other types of programs; .ipa files can only be played on an iPhone or iPod, not on a computer.
  • PwnageTool – PwnageTool is a jailbreaking tool developed by the iPhone DevTeam and does almost anything jailbreak related. What it allows you to do is to create a custom firmware file, running unsigned code. What this means for you is that it will allow you to restore your iPhone and iPod Touch to a pre-jailbroken (pre-unlocked and pre-activated for you iPhone users) firmware file. Current version of PwnageTool can create custom firmwares for iPhone 2G/3G/3Gs and iPod Touch 1G/2G and it is available only for Mac users. Previous jailbreaking tools developed by the iPhone DevTeam (Mac and Windows): redsn0w and quickpwn. For windows only: winpwn.
  • Blackra1n–jailbreaking tool for Mac and Windows released by hacker George Hotz aka GeoHot.Fastest way to jailbreak (20 – 30 seconds) your iPhone 2G/3G/3Gs and iPod Touch 1G/2G/3G , but not the most convenient. It is quite buggy and also you can perform only a tethered jailbreak of the iPod Touch 3G. Previous tools from GeoHot : purplera1n and purplesn0w (similar to ultrasn0w). Also GeoHot is the first person to unlock the original iPhone.
  • ultrasn0w – tool for unlocking your iPhone, developed by the iPhone DevTeam.
  • blacksn0w – tool for unlocking the latest iPhone baseband. Developed by GeoHot, blacksn0w is available in the latest version of Blackra1n.
  • Cydia – similar to the appstore, Cydia allows you to install third party apps such as: games, networking applications, productivity applications etc. It also allows you to change the look of your iPhone. You can select from a variety of themes to change your icons, wallpapers, dock and status bar, dialer keypad, chat bubbles etc. It displays free and commercial apps, and all the apps are available through repositories.
  • Icy – basically, Icy is Cydia with no ads which makes it load/run faster.
  • RockYourPhone – similar to Cydia and Icy, the only difference is that it only displays commercial third party apps and almost nobody uses it.
  • repository – way of distributing apps through Cydia/Icy. For example: once a dev makes a repo (short for repository) he/she can host apps in it and distribute the link of the repo to others so they can install your apps via Cydia/Icy.
  • Winterboard – previously known as SummerBoard, you will use it in order to apply different themes and visual tweaks to your iPhone or iPod Touch.
  • Springboard – Your iPhone/iPod Touch home screen where you see all of the applications and start them up. You may also pan around different pages of applications if you have enough.
  • DFU Mode – sending your iPhone/iPod into recovery mode. DFU mode makes your iPhone/iPod’s screen black while you are still connected to iTunes and iTunes will prompt you with a message about finding a device in recovery mode. This is usually used when restoring an iPhone/iPod with a custom firmware created with PwnageTool. DFU stands for Device Firmware Upgrade.
  • Recovery Mode – when in recovery mode, you’ll see the iTunes logo on your iPhone/iPod screen and the USB cable, telling you to connect your device to iTunes.
  • iRecovery–iRecovery is a libusb-based command line utility for Mac OSX,Linux and Windows.It is able to talk to the iBoot/iBSS in Apple’s iPhone/iPod touch via USB. It’s completely open-source, the source- code is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3. It currently connects to 0×1281 (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, iPod Touch 2G: Recovery Mode/iBSS), 0×1227 (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod touch: WTF Mode; iPod Touch 2G: DFU Mode).
  • iTouch – short for iPod Touch.
  • iDevices – short for iPhone AND iPod Touch.
  • SSH–Secure Shell or SSH is anetwork protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices.
  • SWOD – stands for Spinning Wheel of Death. Your iPhone/iPod shows the “spinning wheel” and you cannot go back to springboard. The only fix is to force reboot by holding the Power and Home button at the same time.
  • ALSD – tands for Apple Logo Screen of Death. Basically you are stuck at the Apple logo when your boot your iPhone/iPod. This usually happens when a third party app failed to install correctly. The only fix is to SSH into your device and edit some .string files.
  • Brick/Bricked iPhone – exactly the same as ALSD.