Send messages for free!

I have been playing with a couple of iPhone to iPhone messaging programs that use push notification for new message notification ( i.e. the app does NOT have to be open in order to receive a new message notification ).

Push! and WhatsApp ( 99 cents each ) both work in a similar fashion : they send messages between iPhones only and the messaging is free. No pesky SMS fees for international texting ( I have friends in the US and it's nice to now be able to regularly send them free messages from Canada ).

Push! and WhatsApp differ in a few ways ( I'm sure that there are more ). Push! requires you to use a unique id : WhatsApp uses your iPhone cellular number to provide a unique "id". Ping! allows you to link a contact in your Contacts database with a Ping! user : WhatsApp pulls other WhatsApp users from your Contact database and displays then for potential contacting. WhatsApp allows you to send pictures and videos with your messages : Ping! allows you to send pictures but it costs you an additonal 99 cents.

In the end, both do what I most care about : they allow me to send messages to my friends in the US for free ... how can that be bad?

One thing to note regarding push notification. Some iPhones that have been jailbroken and hactivated ( activated without the original provider SIM ) may not have push notification working. I have found that push also does not work if you have baseband and firmware mismatch ( i.e. baseband for 3.0.x firmware running on 3.1.2 firmware, as when you peform a Pwnage Tool upgrade from 3.0.x to 3.1.2 ). There are some fixes but the best one that will always work ( or so I strongly believe ) comes from pushfix.info - it costs a bit but is worth the cost if you want push notification to work. I will be talking more about this solution in a future post.

SpringBoard icons ... don't move!

Have you ever forgotten to turn off your iPhone, then carried it around only to discover that your SpringBoard icons are scattered all over the place ... your carefully though out icon placement ruined!

Fortunately there is a Cydia application that solves your problem. SpringLocker is a free app that you can invoke from SB Settings or Settings and toggle on and off the ability to move your SpringBoard icons.



It's a simple application but, for me anyway, an invaluable utility. You should get it.