How To: ROM Flashing 101; Loading A ROM To Your Phone Can Be Fun

Often times, we get our brand new smartphones but we don’t like all the bloatware that comes along with them. Perhaps we just don’t like the look of the UI and would rather have the stock Android experience. Sure you could just buy a Nexus, but maybe you like the device that you have for it’s features. The great thing about Android, is that you can easily load on a new custom version of the OS, by way of flashing a custom ROM to your device. I know what some of you might be thinking. “What’s a ROM?” Quite simply put, a ROM is a custom version of the Android OS, or otherwise aftermarket Android firmware that has been customized by someone in the development community. There can be many reasons for deciding to flash a custom ROM to your device. If not for the sweet custom experience with added features and cool tweaks made by the developer, at the very least for the fact that it can often times provide you with a stock android experience should you be looking for one. In this little how-to, we’re going to walk you through some easy steps on flashing a custom ROM to your device, so if you decide to take the plunge, you’ll know where to start. This guide is aimed at helping you complete the custom ROM process as easily and safely as possible, so make sure to go through the entire guide before you start.

Unlocking The bootloader/Flashing A Custom Recovery

Many Android devices come with locked bootloaders, so before moving forward the very first thing you’re going to have to do in most cases is unlock it. After this step is done you’ll need to make sure you flash a custom recovery. Although you don’t need to “Root” your device before you flash a custom ROM to it, (some ROMs even provide root access upon flashing them) it will certainly make the whole experience easier and then some. Since there are so many different Android phones out there, unlocking the Bootloader, rooting, and flashing the custom recovery is pretty much different for all of them. To make sure that you’re doing things correctly you’ll want to head over to the XDA Developers website and find some useful information about your specific device, and get the correct steps for your particular phone. Some are a little easier than others, and have specific tools to help walk you through the process or even do most of the work for you so long as you have the provided files. I’m speaking more generally for the Samsung devices which can usually use the popular program called Odin to do these processes, and Nexus devices which have the very hand Nexus Root Toolkitprovided by the savvy WugFresh, a dev found on XDA. Past these two, the process to unlock the bootloader and get the custom recovery on your phone is pretty vast, so we can’t really go into specifics. We can however recommend a couple custom recovery’s for you, as they are the most popular and provide some of the best features. When ready to find the custom recovery tailored to your phone model, you’ll want to find either TWRP(Team Win Recovery Project), or ClockworkMod Recovery, both of which can be searched for via Google or also found on XDA.

Backing Up Your System And Important Data

Next, before we move onto ROMs and anything else, you’ll want to make sure to create a backup of the system image, this way if the whole entire process takes a turn for the worst you’ll have a backup of the OS in a safe state before the issues arose. Since you now have the custom recovery, you’ll be able to boot into it and flash the safe backup image should things go wrong. Also, just to be clear, this backup process does not have anything to do with backing up any of the data you had on your device prior to unlocking the bootloader, rooting, and flashing the recovery. Unlocking the bootloader WILL wipe your device, so make sure to do a backup of anything important that you don’t want to lose. (I.E. photos, music, notes, apps, etc.) Moving on, to achieve the backup of your system, referred to as a “Nandroid Backup”, you’ll have to boot into recovery mode, which is usually accomplished by pressing a series of hardware buttons simultaneously. The exact set of buttons you need to press to enter recovery is different from device to device, so be sure to make note of which buttons you need to press to get there. It should go without saying, but your device also needs to be “off” for you to boot into recovery using the hardware keys. Once you’re in recovery mode, navigate to the backup section and proceed to commence the process. The backup of the system image can take quite some time, so use this little bit of free time to collect your thoughts, think about your favorite movie, or even make a sandwich while you wait. When it’s all over, you’ll feel rewarded for having gotten this far without breaking something, and you’ll no longer be hungry! As unlocking the bootloader will usually wipe your device, and since that’s the first step to this guide, backing up your app, and app data isn’t really necessary at this point in time, but at some point in the future should you be switching custom ROMs, you can use an app like Titanium Backup to do all the app+data backups you need so you don’t lose a thing. Titanium Backup doe’s require root access, so make sure you’re rooted before you attempt to use it.

Finding, Downloading, And Flashing Your Custom ROM

Now the fun part, it’s time to download and flash your custom ROM of choice. The ROM community has come quite a long way since the early days of Cyanogenmod, (which was really the only custom firmware when it first released) and there are now many different custom ROMs available for your choosing. Some devices have many more ROM options than others, but the most popular ROMs usually have a build for just about anything. Once again, XDA is a great place to look if you want to find out what’s available for your device and often provides you with the downloadable files you’ll need to complete the ROM flashing process, ROM included. Some of the most popular ROMs available currently are of course, CyanogenMod, and also the Pacman ROM, AOKP, and Paranoid Android, just name a few. Many of these ROMs offer lots of custom UI tweaks and features that the stock version of Android nor the manufacturer version have out of box, and there is a flavor to suit just about every taste. Whether you want something completely minimal with a few minor additions, or you want complete customization with all kinds of new features, you can more than likely find something that you’ll love.

CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android are a couple of our favorites if you want a place to start. Once you find the ROM you like, make sure to download and eventually place it in the main directory of your internal SD card so you can get to it when you’re ready to flash. The downloaded ROM file will be in the form of a .ZIP, and this is what you want so don’t worry about unzipping it before you begin. Once you have the file in the correct place, (you can do this a couple ways. Either by connecting your phone to your computer and navigating to your phones storage drive, or by using a file manager app directly on the phone if you have downloaded the ROM .ZIP file using your phone’s browser. If you’re using a file manager, ES File manager, and Astro are a couple excellent choices) it’s time to boot back into recovery mode so you can begin the steps to flash the custom ROM.

Once in recovery mode there are few things you’ll want to do before you actually flash the ROM. First, it’s a good idea to wipe the dalvik cache(although not usually required), and then move on to completing the step “Wipe data/factory reset”. If you’re using the latest ClockworkMod Recovery, wiping the dalvik cache option will be located under “advanced settings”. Navigate to advanced by using your phone’s volume keys, then hit the power button to execute. Under advanced, wipe dalvik should be the fourth option down. Navigate to it and hit the power button to execute. When that’s all done,(which should only take like 10 seconds or less) get back to the main menu by navigating to the “go back” option and hit the power button. Once on the main menu, the “wipe data/factory reset” option should be the third option down. Navigate to it and hit the power button to execute. There’s no going back from here, so hopefully you made all the backups you needed. The wipe process usually only takes a minute or so.

Once the wipe has completed, the next step is to navigate to “install .zip from SD card” and hit the power button. Next, you’ll want to navigate to “choose .zip from SD card” and hit the power button again. If you stored the ROM in the correct directory, (the main directory of your internal SD card) you should be able to scroll and find the package file name of the ROM. Navigate to it, then hit the power button to begin the install. The install process will probably take at least a few minutes, and once it’s done you can navigate back to the main menu of the recovery and hit reboot. The first time you reboot your device after flashing a custom ROM, the boot process usually takes a little longer than normal, and sometimes several minutes, so don’t be alarmed. This is normal. If starts to bootloop, something in the process went wrong, (usually forgetting to wipe data is a commonly missed step)This can also be specified in the ROM information when you go to download the ROM file. Once all booted up, you’re almost done, theres just a couple more steps.

Flashing The Gapps Package For Play Store Access And Google Related Apps

Flashing a custom ROM can give you all sorts of fun new tweaks and UI features, but ROMs don’t come with the play store or google apps installed. This is why you have to flash the Gapps package file. This is a fairly simple process, especially since you’ve come this far. All you have to do is find and download the correct Gapps package file for your Android version and flash it the same way you flashed the ROM. You can find the correct Gapps package many places on the web, but the simplest way to this is one of two ways. Find the right file via XDA, or you can download and install an app called Gapps manager to help identify and locate the correct file of Gapps to download, (you can find and download Gapps manager here)Once you have the right file, place in the main directory of your internal SD card just like you did the with the ROM, and reboot into recovery mode to flash it. When flashing the Gapps package file, you do not have to wipe your data. Just navigate to install zip from sd card, then to choose zip from sd card like before and flash. Once that’s done, reboot your device and you’re good to go. That’s it! Now you can start playing with your new ROM and customizing everything to your liking. We hope this helped you understand the process on how to flash a custom ROM if you weren’t already aware of how to do so, and maybe even spark your interest in flashing ROMs in the future. As always, you assume full responsibility for doing any of the above processes to and we nor the devs are liable should anything happen to your device. That being said, if you follow all the instructions to the letter, you should be perfectly fine. Happy Flashing!

Source http://goo.gl/PFnf3t

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How To Install Android 4.4.2 CM11 ROM On Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (N8020)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (N8020) users can now upgrade to Android 4.4.2 KitKat via a custom CM11 ROM released by XDA member Simon94. This guide will walk you through the installation process.

As always, DroidReport assumes no liability for the firmware installation. Proceed with caution.

Before Getting Started

Do not use this guide for any device other than the Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8020 model). Flashing this ROM onto any other device will most probably result in a bricked phone.

You must have your Galaxy Note 10.1 rooted, with a recovery utility like ClockworkMod installed. As always, you want to backup your device and charge it to at least 80 percent.

Finally, enable USB Debugging mode by navigating to Settings -> Developer Options.

Updating Galaxy Note 10.1 to Android KitKat 4.4.2 via CM11 ROM

1) Download the Android 4.4.2 KitKat CM11 ROM, as well as the Google Apps package, which can be found here and here.

2) Using your USB cable, connect your Galaxy Note 10.1 to your computer.

3) Copy CM11 custom ROM and the Google Apps package to the root folder of your handset’s SD card. Do not extract either.

4) Boot your phone into Recovery mode by pressing the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons simultaneously until you see a Galaxy Note 10.1 logo, then release all three to enter recovery mode.

5) Perform a factory reset by selecting “Wipe data/Factory reset.”

6) In CWM recovery, navigate to “Format system” in the Mounts and Storage submenu, and then press “Yes.” Next, navigate to the Advanced submenu and select “Wipe Dalvik Cache.” Select “Yes” when prompted.

7) Navigate to “Install Zip from SD card” and select the ROM downloaded earlier. After the ROM is installed, repeat this step to install Google Apps.

8) After the installation is complete, press “Go back” and then select “Reboot system now” to restart your phone. This may take some time.

9) After restarting, your Galaxy Note 10.1 will officially be running Android 4.4.2 KitKat CM11 ROM. Kudos. 

Source http://goo.gl/WoF1Yv

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How To Flash A ROM To Your Android Phone

The version of Android that comes with your phone — whether its vanilla Android or something like Samsung’s TouchWiz — can sometimes leave a lot to be desired. Here’s how to install a new version of Android on your device for an even better Android experience.

What’s a ROM?

One of the best things about the openness of the Android platform is that if you’re unhappy with the stock OS, you can install one of many modified versions of Android (called ROMs) on your device. A new ROM can bring you the latest version of Android before your manufacturer does, or it can replace your manufacturer-modded version of Android with a clean, stock version. Or, it can take your existing version and just beef it up with awesome new features — it’s up to you.

If you’re familiar with Linux, it’s sort of similar to installing a different Linux distribution. Each version of the OS has a specific goal in mind, and as such differs quite a bit from the others. Which one you choose is dependent on your priorities and how you use the device. You’ll need to unlock your bootloader and flash a custom recovery (more info on that here), but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too difficult.

There are a lot of different ROMs out there, and if you’re looking for a place to start, check out our list of the five most popular. You can also check out this amazing chart which compares a lot of ROMs feature-by-feature, which is a great way to find the right one for you. Even if you have a Nexus phone with pure stock Android, ROMs are a great way to add new features and conveniences to Android.

Note: We originally wrote this guide in 2010, but things have changed quite a bit, so we figured it’s time to revisit the process. Many of you Android vets already know how to do this, but hopefully newcomers will find this guide valuable — and maybe even you veterans will learn a thing or two. Let’s begin!

Step 1: Unlock Your Bootloader and Flash a Custom Recovery

First, let’s clear up some confusion: Contrary to popular belief, you do not actually need to root your phone to flash a ROM — you just need to unlock your bootloader and flash a custom recovery. However, this process usually goes hand-in-hand with rooting — and most custom ROMs come with root access — so what you think of as “rooting your phone” is probably what you’re going to have to do first.

Unfortunately, we can’t go through this step in detail here, because it’s different for every phone! So, I highly recommend checking out our everything root guide to learn a bit more about what’s involved, what all the different terms mean, and what to watch out for. Then, search around sites like XDA Developers for instructions on how to unlock the bootloader of your specific phone, which recovery you should use (usually TWRP or ClockworkMod), and how to flash it.

I also recommend rooting your phone during step one, since it will make the backup process in step 2 easier — and save you some hassle along the way. A lot of methods and one-click apps will root your phone anyways, so it might be included in the process. Again, this can vary from phone to phone. (If the instructions require you to flash SuperSU.zip, you can refer to step three of this guide for info on how to do that — ironically, it’s just like flashing a ROM).

When you’re done, return here and continue to step two for the rest of the ROMming process.

Step 2: Make a Backup of Your System, Apps and Data

Now that you’ve got a custom recovery on your phone, the first thing you should do — before you evermake a big change to your system — is back it up. First, we’ll make a Nandroid backup, which is basically a image of your current system. That way, if something goes wrong, you can restore your phone to exactly the way it was before you started tweaking. This will save you a lot of hassle if something goes wonky (which, let’s be honest, can happen often). To do this:

1. Reboot your phone and enter recovery mode. This is a bit different on every phone, but usually involves some permutation of pressing the power and volume buttons at the same time.
2. Head to the “Backup” or “Nandroid” section of your recovery mode. The default settings should be fine. If given the option, give your backup a name that helps you remember what it is (like “Pre-CyanogenMod Backup 01-17-14″). Confirm your backup and let it run.
3. Wait for the backup to finish. This may take a while.

When you’re done, I also recommend performing a second type of backup: your apps and settings. When you flash a new ROM, you’ll often have to wipe all the data on your phone (more on this later). That means you’ll need to reinstall all your apps, get them set up the way you like, and so on. Instead of going through this whole process every time, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by backing up your apps and their settings with Titanium Backup.

This is different from a Nandroid backup because it just backs up the apps themselves, which you can then restore on any ROM you want. Nandroid backups take your entire system as it is, ROM included.

Note that you’ll need to be rooted to use Titanium Backup (which is why I recommend you root in step one). To perform a backup in Titanium:

1. Open Titanium Backup and grant it root permissions if it asks for them. If it experiences any problems with root, it will tell you right now.
2. Tap the “Batch” button in the upper right-hand corner (the one that looks like a little checkbox). Scroll down to the “Backup” section and find “Backup All User Apps.” Tap the “Run” button. This will back up any apps you’ve downloaded from the Play Store, and their data. (You can try backing up your system data as well, but I find this usually doesn’t work very well).
3. Wait for it to finish. If you like, you can also sync these to Dropbox as described here, but you don’t have to for this process.

This may seem like a lot of unnecessary backups, but trust me: it’s going to save you a lot of time in the long run. Now if something goes wrong, you have a nandroid backup to fall back on and don’t have to start from scratch. And, when your ROM flashes successfully, you don’t have to start re-downloading and setting up all your apps yourself because you can restore them with Titanium.

Step 3: Download and Flash the ROM of Your Choice

Now comes the fun part: flashing your ROM. First, obviously, you need to find the ROM you want. Again,this chart is a good place to start, as is our list of the five most popular. You may also want to poke around sites like the XDA Developers forums to see what’s available for your particular phone.

When you’ve found a ROM you want to try, download it and save it to your phone. It should come in the form of a fairly large ZIP file, so you’ll probably want to be on Wi-Fi to download it. You can either download it directly from your phone, or download it on your computer and transfer it over via USB.

To flash your ROM:

1. Reboot your phone into Recovery mode, just like we did back when we made our Nandroid backup.
2. Head to the “Install” or “Install ZIP from SD Card” section of your recovery.
3. Navigate to the ZIP file you downloaded earlier, and select it from the list to flash it.
4. Wait for the process to complete; it may take a few minutes.
5. Depending on your situation (see below), you may also need to wipe your data and/or cache. In TWRP, you’ll find this under the “Wipe” section, and in ClockworkMod, you’ll need to either choose the “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” option or the “Wipe Cache Partition” option. When you’re done, you’re free to reboot into your new ROM.

So, when should you wipe your data and cache? Here are a few general guidelines:

• If you’re flashing a ROM different than the one you’re currently running, you should wipe data and cache. Essentially, this performs a factory reset on your phone, and you will lose all your data.
• If you’re flashing a new version of a ROM you’re already running, we recommend wiping your data and cache — but you should be able to get away with just wiping the cache, meaning you get to keep all your apps and settings.

Remember, if you backed everything up with Titanium, then doing a factory reset isn’t all that bad, since you can just restore most of it. Keep in mind that even if you’re just upgrading your existing ROM, factory resets can be helpful. If you only wipe your cache, note that a few apps may run into issues, but reinstalling them or wiping that app’s data usually fixes the problem.

When you reboot, you should be in your shiny new ROM, ready to play! But what? There’s no Play Store? Read on for the last step of the process…

Step 4: Download and Flash Google Apps

Because Google’s apps are not open source, custom ROMs can’t bundle Google’s apps — like Gmail, Hangouts, or the Play Store — with their ROMs. That means you’ll need to download and flash them separately. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do: just head to this page on RootzWiki to find out which ZIP file you need, download it to your phone, and flash it just like you did the ROM in step three. Gapps Manager is also a great app that’ll help you find the right package if you’re stuck, and you can download the APK from XDA Developers.

Once you’ve flashed the latest Google Apps package, you should be all set! You’ll have a new ROM with lots of settings to play with, the Play Store to download new apps, and — if you made a backup with Titanium — you can now head into Titanium Backup and restore all your apps and their settings. Enjoy!

Source http://goo.gl/Ab0Fjk

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How to Swear on Android (And Disable Blocking Offensive Words)

Last week we shared some details regarding how to add words to the dictionary on your Android device, which spawned a few questions from readers, one which many of you have dealt with in the past. Swearing and using curse words. If you want to swear, go ahead, but Android has a few settings that may automatically wash your mouth out with soap.

Over the past couple of years Google’s really improved the voice-to-text features on Android. Google Now allows for instant Google searches through your voice, and many users even reply to emails and text messages all by voice. As a result, you’ve probably tried to call a friend an @$$hole while joking around, only to find out Google blocks offensive words. Not to mention the keyboard never suggests a curse word when you’re typing along. This is autocorrect done right.

If you curse like a sailor, as I sometimes do in frustration (like watching my football team lose) you’ve probably tried to text a friend only to get “these ducking refs are awful” in a text message. This is all a part of Google’s plan. The keyboard by default won’t suggest or even type swear words, so many users add them to the device dictionary, and if you’re using your voice that you’ll end up with S*** or f****** instead of the actual word.

Then, it blocks words Google deems offensive, so you’ll get regular words that won’t show up as well. Wired has a list of words Google blocks, and it’s quite odd to see some that are included and excluded. For example, almost all illegal drugs won’t appear, but Marijuana comes out just fine. So, with all this being said, here’s how to swear on Android by disabling all these fences Google has in place.

INSTRUCTIONS:

There’s a few different steps here, they disable a setting in different areas, and you’ll want to do both. Google Search (Google Now) handles the voice controls, while the regular phone settings menu handles the rest. You’ll want to disable the “block offensive words” while talking with speech-to-text as you see in the image above, and you’ll want to let the keyboard allow the words as well.

You’ll head into settings by finding the gear-shaped icon in the notification pulldown bar for settings, or in the application tray, or hit menu on your device and head into system settings. Then proceed to the following area below.

Settings > Language & input > Google keyboard settings (or keyboard of choice)

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Once you’re here you’ll scroll down to the text correction area of the menu and uncheck “Block offense words” and that’s it. You’ll now be able to text with swear words, and the dictionary may even suggest them from time to time. However, the biggest issue is that dreaded “s***” you see when using your voice to reply to text messages or emails, so here’s how to fix that.

Read: How to Add a Password to the Google Play Store

In able to swear with your voice, and have Android type it correctly, you’ll need to disable the same setting as we detailed above, but in the voice aspect of the settings menu. As a result you can do this a few ways, but if you’re already in the same menu as above, it’s dead simple.

Settings > Language & input > Google voice typing (not in keyboard, but below it) and tap the settings icon on the right.

This takes you right into the Google Search (Google Now) voice typing settings menu and there’s only a few options, once which is the same “Block offensive words” and you’ll want to uncheck this again. Users can also head into Google Now, hit settings at the bottom right, then select “voice” from the options, and uncheck the same box in this category.

Alternatively you can also enable “Personalized recognition” which will help Google’s voice-to-text engine be more accurate in the future. Whether you have an accent, lisp, or just talk with a southern twang.

That’s it, and now your Android smartphone or tablet will understand your potty mouth, and will go ahead and share those naughty words with the world, instead of filtering out your personality.

Source http://goo.gl/im4toF

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How to Jailbreak Your iOS 7 Device the Easy Way

If you want to break the chains and shackles of Apple’s forced ecosystem you need to jailbreak your device. I previously covered how to jailbreak iOS 6 devices with Evasi0n, and the team is back with a utility for iOS 7. This is an untethered jailbreak – meaning you don’t need to plug in your device to boot it. This will install the Cydia app store and allow you to make changes to your device that Apple doesn’t allow natively.

Note: For this article I’m jailbreaking an iPad Mini with Retina running iOS 7.0.4 and a PC running Windows 8.1. But the process is nearly identical on Mac OS X with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 7.

Disclaimer: Jailbreaking your device might not work correctly and make your device unstable. By jailbreaking you take responsibility if something goes wrong. Personally I’ve jailbroken several iOS devices including Apple TV. I’ve also used other Jailbreak solutions like Greenp0ison and have never had any problems. But again, you do this at your own risk.

Before the Jailbreak

Before starting the process, make sure to back up your device. Back up your photos, settings, and important documents using iCloud backup or locally on your computer using iTunes.

To back up to iCloud go to Settings > iCloud > Back Up Now.

You can also use iTunes to back up your device. You can send it to either iCloud or your local computer. To make sure you’re backup is secure, you might want to use both methods. In fact, if you want to be ultra-secure, follow our guide on backing up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to Dropbox.

Tip: If you encrypt the local backup, iTunes will store you passwords which will eliminate having to sign-in to every app again – in case you need to restore it.

One more thing you’ll want to do before starting the jailbreak process is disable your passcode. According to the Evasi0n site, it will prevent features from not working properly.

To disable it go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock and turn it off there.

Time to Jailbreak iOS 7

Now for the fun part, actually jailbreaking your device. Download Evasi0n7 for Windows or Mac to a convenient location on your computer.

It comes in a zip file and after you download it, just extract the contents. There are two files, the evasi0n7 executable and Read Me text file.

Make sure you device is plugged in to your computer and run the evasion executable.

Your device will be detected, then just hit the Jailbreak button.

Now it’s as simple as following the on screen instructions. The process will take several minutes and you device will reboot a few times. In my experience it took around 45 minutes total.

To make sure things go smoothly, don’t touch your iPad or iPhone while the jailbreak process is happening. In fact, you might just want to walk away and catch up on other work you’ve neglected because you’re always on the computer!

About halfway through the process you’ll be prompted to hit the Evasi0n 7 icon that will appear on your home screen.

Here’s a look at what it looks like. You might actually see the icon earlier in the jailbreak, but don’t hit it! Wait until you get the onscreen instruction above. After hitting the icon the process is almost finished. Your device will reboot a couple of more times and you’ll be done.

When everything is complete, you’ll see the Evasi0n 7 icon is no longer visible, but the Cydia app has been installed.

Now you’re ready to start tweaking your device with apps and features that only Cydia offers. Have fun!

Here’s a list of some jailbreak tweaks we’ve covered with iOS 6+ that you should be able to replicate on iOS 7. This will give you an idea of some of the cool things you can do with a jailbroken iOS 7 device.

Source http://goo.gl/6sL0kS

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How To Get iOS 7 Parallax Effect On iOS 6 [Cydia Tweak]

In iOS 7, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced a brand new effect to the table, known as parallax effect, which makes the home screen appear in 3D. With this effect, the background slightly moves to the position of your device. However, some people like this parallax effect while some don’t, and that’s why there’s a way todisable this parallax effect on iOS 7.

Now let’s say you’re using iOS 6, and you want that parallax effect. How would you do that? That’s exactly where a Cydia tweak will help, provided you’ve jailbroken your iOS 6 device.

iOS tweak requires jailbreak

When it comes to iPhone or iOS device in general, Apple is known to restrict users from installing any apps outside of the App Store. And that’s where exactly the process of jailbreak helps such users to free their devices from the chains of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Once jailbroken, users can install any number of tweaks and apps outside the App Store.

This tweak is known by the name DeepEnd, which is for iOS 6 users who want the parallax effect on their homescreens. Note that you don’t need to install this tweak if you’re on iOS 7, as the effect already comes bundled with the OS.

You need to have an iPhone 4 or newer or an iPod Touch 4G or newer to install this tweak, as it requires a gyroscope to bring you the parallax effect. Of course, the iPhone 4 supports iOS 7, but there are still many people out there who’re running iOS 6 and don’t want to update (and they have their own reasons to do so).

For those who can’t find DeepEnd by searching on Cydia, they need to add a new repo to Cydia which is “http://rpetri.ch/repo.” To do this, launch Cydia and tap on Manage. Navigate to Sources > Edit > Add and then type the above repo web address. Once you’ve added the repo, you’ll then be able to find DeepEnd.

Once installed, you’ll be able to configure three settings: zoom, pinch and roll by moving the sliders. Now this is something that even the native parallax effect doesn’t offer.

So go ahead and try out this new tweak and give your old iOS 6 a new parallax effect (provided you don’t plan to update to iOS 7).

Source http://goo.gl/IE1SF5

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How to change iOS 7 App Store to UK on iPhone, iPad

Are you stuck on the US App Store, or is your iOS device convinced that you're in or from the wrong country? Are you getting app and music prices in dollars or euros, or are geographical restrictions preventing you from accessing content that should be available in the UK? In this simple tutorial for iOS 7 we show how to switch the App Store on your iPhone oriPad so that it knows you are in the UK, and you can buy UK apps, music, TV series and movies. (Updated for iOS 7, 21 Jan 2014)

Here's a problem that will be familiar to many Macworld readers: your iPhone or iPad thinks that you are in the US or another country. Nothing wrong with that, of course (hello to our US cousins). But because of this geographical kerfuffle you can't purchase UK-specific apps or media. More importantly, without a US-registered credit card you may not be able to buy anything. At all. And that means your iPhone or iPad is hobbled.

The problem is simple: Apple thinks your personal Apple ID is based somewhere other than the country in which you reside. Fortunately the solution is equally simple: just change the details of your Apple ID account.

In this feature we show you how to change the App Store on your iPhone or iPad to UK. We'll show you how to change the location of your Apple ID to see UK apps at UK prices. See also: iOS 7 tips.

Change App Store to UK: getting started

First hit the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad's home screen. It's the one that looks like the inside of a clock - a grey box with cogs inside it. Now select the entry for 'iTunes & App Store'.

The first thing you'll see at the top of the screen is your Apple ID. Tap that. Now a pop-up dialog box appears. Choose 'View Apple ID', and enter your password.

Change App Store to UK: Account Settings

After you've signed in successfully you'll see the account settings screen. Choose the 'Country/Region' option, and simply select the location with which you want your ID to be associated. You'll need to be able to pay for things in the country you have chosen.

But hey, you're in the UK and you want your iPhone (or iPad) to recognise that, so all is good.

An interesting side note: if you've got account credit, as in the above screenshot (as a result of not spending all of the balance from a gift card, for example), Apple won't let you switch country. But in that case, of course, you wouldn't need to switch country.

Visit our iPhone spotlight for more iPhone tips. See also: How to buy Apple Gift Card codes - and how to avoid scams

Change App Store to UK: iOS 6

We've switched to the UK App Store in iOS 7 above, but the process is virtually identical in iOS 6. Here's what it looks like in iOS 6:

Source http://goo.gl/FnxkR3

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