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 Introduction to iFuntastic™
Terminology

iFuntastic version 4.8.0 and later supports the iPod touch as well.
For simplicity, I will talk about the 'phone' - this will mean the iPhone or the iPod touch, unless either one is specifically excluded, or something clearly does not apply (e.g. dialing on the iPod touch.)
  • Unlocking and Activating
    refers to the process of changing the phone for use with any carrier (any SIM card,) or using the phone without carrier.
    This is severely frowned upon by the powers that be (if not illegal.)
    iFuntastic DOES NOT do any unlocking or activating.

  • Unshackling (= Jailbreaking)
    refers to the process of making all of the phone's file system accessible for reading and writing. Once that is done, you can copy files to the phone and change the files that are already on there. A phone that is not jailbroken is shackled.

  • Hackers
    any number of people taking the phone apart and scrutinizing its software to develop workarounds to built-in restrictions and limitations. The best known group is probably the iPhone Dev Team. Thanks to their efforts, there are low-level tools and guides to unshackle (and unlock) the iPhone. These tools and guides are complicated and technical - iFuntastic strives to simplify their use and make them accessible to mere mortals.

    Many more people figure out tricks and discover hidden settings for one purpose or another. If it seems useful, I try to incorporate it into iFuntastic - again, trying to make it as painless and easy to use as possible.

  • Hardware, Firmware and Software
    'Hardware' is the physical phone itself. 'Firmware' are instructions to talk to the phone's electronics on a very basic level. 'Software' is the operating system (OS X) and applications that communicate through the firmware with the hardware.

  • Upgrading and Restoring
    iTunes is the offical way to change files and features on the phone.
    When Apple fixes bugs or adds new functionality (or tries to thwart hackers) they release new firmware (and software.) You use iTunes to upgrade the phone - ideally only the new changes are put onto the phone and everything else stays as it is. However, when things go wrong, you can also restore the phone: it's like reformatting your hard disk; (almost) everything is wiped clean and the phone is returned to its original state.

    Installing new firmware often breaks the hacker tools (and iFuntastic,) since they rely on very specific characteristics of the 'hacked' firmware.

  • Recovery Mode
    is a special mode of the phone that is used to make changes to its firmware and software. It's the equivalent of 'working under the hood.' It is symbolized by the yellow warning triangle (firmware 1.0.2) or the newer 'iTunes and Cable' symbol.
    The usual way out of recovery mode is a 'restore' in iTunes.

  • WiFi and EDGE
    iPhone and iPod feature wireless access to the internet. The iPhone can (of course) also use the carrier network to access the internet. If your Mac has an airport card, you can set up your own 'hotspot' so the iPhone or iPod can have high speed access to the internet through your computer. (The reverse - using your phone as a modem to give your computer access to the internet - is called 'tethering' and is another one of those frowned-upon activities.)

  • SSH
    Using software called SSH you can access the iPhone or iPod through a wireless connection. iFuntastic, however, uses the good old USB cable, which sets it apart from many other 3rd party tools that require WiFi to work on the phone. On the other hand, it means you need your phone to be connected to your computer.

Overview

iFuntastic strives to be your one-stop application to customize your phone's look and functionality.
My emphasis is on sound and graphics - the user interface.
However, since you can't do very much (but some!) to a shackled phone, a necessary evil has been the unshackling.
iFuntastic provides several ways to unshackle the phone as well as utility functions to restart the phone, download firmware files etc.
A wizard guides you step by step through this unfortunately very lengthy and error prone procedure.

iFuntastic can work with firmware version 1.0.2, 1.1.1 and 1.1.2, although my focus is now mainly on 1.1.2.

iFuntastic provides many functions for free:

The File Manager (a rudimentary Finder for the phone) lets you add, delete, backup, restore, replace, inspect and edit files.
You can copy files to and from disk. PNG (graphics) and PLIST (property list) files have a special format - iFuntastic converts them on the way to disk. Drag 3rd party applications into a file manager window, and they will be installed and made executable.
Inspect and edit .html, .txt, .strings and .plist files, view and replace graphics files (.jpg, .THM, .png,) play sound files (.caf, .aif, .mp3, .m4a, some .m4r.)

On a shackled phone you can copy your own files to and from the phone (and not much else - but see below for the thrilling exception.)

iFuntastic provides additional features for a fee:

Many of the features make tasks that you can already accomplish in the file manager (or with other 3rd party tools) fun and easy to use.
For this convenience (and the significant amount of work I have put in,) these features are for sale.

Please note that features are tied to a single phone - think of them as accessories for that phone.
  • the price of most features is US $5 for unlimited use
  • the bSE Feature Pack for US $25 covers all present and future features for as long as I work on iFuntastic
  • check out everything without restriction with the One Day Trial for US $1.50
  • I try to provide support via email as best I can - as time permits, and at my discretion
  • if it doesn't work or does not meet your needs, you can request a refund
Would you just get to the point, already?     OK, OK...

Ringtones (iPhone Only; but the Sound Editor is useful for system sounds on the iPod as well)
Welcome to ringtone Nirvana!

Fill your ringtone treasure chest with .mp3, .wav, .aif or .m4a sound files by dragging them into iFuntastic. You can drag from disk or from iTunes (or from the thememyphone website.) Use the Sound Editor to pick a 15 to 60 second portion of a sound, then set the start and end points, add optional fade in and/or fade out, adjust the volume, and finally save it. Then update the iPhone, and there you have it!
Cool fact: works on shackled phones!

On unshackled phones you can also add ringtones to the Standard list (MeCCA patch,) and change the default ringtone and 'ring and vibrate' settings from within iFuntastic.

Unshackle Phones Running Firmware 1.0.2, 1.1.1 and 1.1.2

Crack the phone open to apply all the customizations. It's tedious, lengthy and error prone (more so on PowerPC,) but it can be done!
And the results are very rewarding. A wizard will guide you step by step. Log files are kept and can be mailed to me for extra support. Additional functions let you restart the phone and exit recovery mode.

As part of unshackling, Installer - a very cool 3rd party application - will be put on your phone, allowing you to easily install hundreds of additional 3rd party applications, tools and customizations.
Note: if your phone is already jailbroken with other tools, then you don't need to do so with iFuntastic.
However, write access (via afc2) must have been established.

Home Screen Editing
  • rearrange the order of applications on your home screen
  • add wallpaper (background image) to the home screen
  • change icons and names of any application
  • show or hide applications; use text only, icons only, or small icons
  • choose between the standard dock image (gray metal) the new dock (reflecting) and your own dock image or remove the dock image altogether
  • you can have multiple pages of applications that you can slide horizontally -
    put a background image on each page or one big image (panorama) across all 4 pages!
  • add sets of changes to the Switcher application and switch home screen layouts on the fly.
    You can password protect the Switcher, if you desire, so you can have your kids play with one set of applications and keep them from the others!
Custom Email Signatures (iPhone Only)

Easily add web addresses and images to your email signature.

Carrier Logos (on the iPod this applies to the 'iPod' text on top of the home screen)

Substitute your own carrier logo image or enter any (short) piece of text.

Screenshots

Take a screenshot of anything the phone displays.
Great tool if you write about the phone or want to document your own software.

System Sounds

Use the Sound Editor (see Ringtones) to prepare sounds, then replace any sound the phone (or iPod) makes!
This is a function of the File Manager, so it's not (yet!) as user friendly as it could be...

Native Applications

'Native' means they run directly on the phone rather than through Safari.
Simply drag them into the File Manager, or get and install them with Installer which is put on the phone during unshackling (see above.)


Check out these pages as well (slightly outdated, but better illustrated:)

What can iFuntastic do for me?
Feature description from version 4.7.1
or
Return to the download page...

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Last updated December 29 2007