Iphone 4 Customization?

[prism]

Finally getting ready to jump ship from T-Mobile and my BB Curve 8900 (faithful old beast!) to Verizon...Like other posters on here, I'm debating between getting an Iphone 4 next month and waiting for a new droid phone.

I'm not looking to do anything that will void my warranty on any choose I pick (jailbreaking, rooting, etc). That being said, I would like at least a modicum of customization. From what I've seen and read, it looks like you need to jailbreak an iphone to change icon appearance and backgrounds...is this right? That just seems insane...if this is the case, I'm much more tempted to even get an outdated (Galaxy S, Incredible, Droid 2, etc) droid phone. I've always known that Apple likes to have alot of control over their products, but to not even let people change their backgrounds is nuts.

P.S. Any more news on when the HTC Thunderbolt is coming out? And is there any real difference between it and HTC's previous droid phones besides supporting LTE?

 

[boomhower]

You can change the wallpaper now. This is something I am curious about as well. Thinking of making the change from Android.

 

[kaerflog]

You're paranoid about jailbreakin.
All you do is hit the reset on the phone and it revert back to factory setting.

 

[pm]

You can change the wallpaper and the "lock screen" background without jailbreaking, and you can move icons around, create "folders" and rearrange the "bar" at the bottom of the screen. Beyond that, you need to jailbreak. You can make an iPhone look like it's yours, but it will still look like an iPhone.

With jailbreaking, you can get pretty much control over everything and can change icons, text and completely change the look and feel of the lock screen and the "desktop". If you jailbreak you can make an iPhone look so different that people will say "what type of phone is that"?

As kaerflog says, you can undo a jailbreak just by reinstalling the software.

The risks of jailbreaking mostly revolve around slightly decreased battery life and possible stability issues (you might need to reboot the phone occassionally, and apps may crash more often).

 

[prism]

You can change the wallpaper and the "lock screen" background without jailbreaking, and you can move icons around, create "folders" and rearrange the "bar" at the bottom of the screen. Beyond that, you need to jailbreak. You can make an iPhone look like it's yours, but it will still look like an iPhone.

With jailbreaking, you can get pretty much control over everything and can change icons, text and completely change the look and feel of the lock screen and the "desktop". If you jailbreak you can make an iPhone look so different that people will say "what type of phone is that"?

As kaerflog says, you can undo a jailbreak just by reinstalling the software.

The risks of jailbreaking mostly revolve around slightly decreased battery life and possible stability issues (you might need to reboot the phone occassionally, and apps may crash more often).

Won't it still void the warranty even if you reset everything to stock? Or is there no way to tell that it was jailbroken in the first place?

 

[TheStu]

Won't it still void the warranty even if you reset everything to stock? Or is there no way to tell that it was jailbroken in the first place?

There is no way to tell. Jailbreaking is a software change only.

 

[Patranus]

There is no way to tell. Jailbreaking is a software change only.

Nothing more than "rooting" that Android users have to do to get the additional features they claim to love.

 

[zerocool84]

Nothing more than "rooting" that Android users have to do to get the additional features they claim to love.

FYI, same for Apple as it's been for years, jailbreak to get basic features.

 

[foghorn67]

Nothing more than "rooting" that Android users have to do to get the additional features they claim to love.

Are you so immersed in Android hate that you need to add shit like this? Honestly. I would think Google's 767 jet blast rolled your grandma's car and killed her.

 

[Patranus]

FYI, same for Apple as it's been for years, jailbreak to get basic features.

I agree with your statement.

This thread is about iPhone customization (or lack there of) and I was simply stating that to get the customization on the iPhone competition it also requires an extra step. Realizing this is important to making a purchasing decision.

Are you so immersed in Android hate that you need to add shit like this? Honestly. I would think Google's 767 jet blast rolled your grandma's car and killed her.

It has nothing to do with hate. There was concern about jailbreaking. This concern may have lead the OP to buy a competitors phone. Android has this myth that it is open and therefor anyone can do anything they want with it out of the box. I was simply pointing out that no matter which phone the OP buys, to get the level of customization that many people want there are extra steps involved.

 

[TheStu]

FYI, same for Apple as it's been for years, jailbreak to get basic features.

Just to make sure we are on the same page, what do you list as basic features?

 

[foghorn67]

I agree with your statement.

This thread is about iPhone customization (or lack there of) and I was simply stating that to get the customization on the iPhone competition it also requires an extra step. Realizing this is important to making a purchasing decision.




It has nothing to do with hate. There was concern about jailbreaking. This concern may have lead the OP to buy a competitors phone. Android has this myth that it is open and therefor anyone can do anything they want with it out of the box. I was simply pointing out that no matter which phone the OP buys, to get the level of customization that many people want there are extra steps involved.

-You didn't word it that way.
-Myth? You can pretty much do what you want to dev phones and most other Android devices.

 

[zerocool84]

Just to make sure we are on the same page, what do you list as basic features?

Well that was far in the past for things like cut and paste, multi-task, change more than just wall-paper, etc. I was just stating that Android and Apple both do that for features that your phone can't do out of the box.

 

[TheStu]

Well that was far in the past for things like cut and paste, multi-task, change more than just wall-paper, etc. I was just stating that Android and Apple both do that for features that your phone can't do out of the box.

I couldn't quite decypher your tenses, if you were speaking of past problems or present ones.

 

[sivart]

I first saw this thread and immediately thought...oxymoron

• deafening silence
• jumbo shrimp
• iPhone customization
• wise fool
• generous miser
• reality TV
• Exact estimate

...etc.

 

[Raduque]

I first saw this thread and immediately thought...oxymoron

• deafening silence
• jumbo shrimp
• iPhone customization
• wise fool
• generous miser
• reality TV
• Exact estimate

...etc.

Yep, there IS no iPhone customization. Save setting the wallpaper or changing an icon (if you jailbreak), you're basically stuck with the same boring grid of icons that EVERY OTHER iPhone IN THE WORLD ALWAYS DISPLAYS.

Edit: Small example of customization available on android:
http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-10-16.png

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-11-21.png <- hamster is a Live Wallpaper, he runs in the wheel to power the clock

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-12-24.png <-current

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home1216.png

None of what I've shown here requires rooting. Android customization is limited only by your imagination.

 

[judasmachine]

Yep, there IS no iPhone customization. Save setting the wallpaper or changing an icon (if you jailbreak), you're basically stuck with the same boring grid of icons that EVERY OTHER iPhone IN THE WORLD ALWAYS DISPLAYS.

Edit: Small example of customization available on android:
http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-10-16.png

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-11-21.png <- hamster is a Live Wallpaper, he runs in the wheel to power the clock

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-12-24.png <-current

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home1216.png

None of what I've shown here requires rooting. Android customization is limited only by your imagination.

Yup, out of the box you can do all that, and most of it with free apps.

 

[bucwylde23]

Yep, there IS no iPhone customization. Save setting the wallpaper or changing an icon (if you jailbreak), you're basically stuck with the same boring grid of icons that EVERY OTHER iPhone IN THE WORLD ALWAYS DISPLAYS.

Edit: Small example of customization available on android:
http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-10-16.png

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-11-21.png <- hamster is a Live Wallpaper, he runs in the wheel to power the clock

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home-12-24.png <-current

http://raduque.com/images/android_screenshots/Vibrant/home1216.png

None of what I've shown here requires rooting. Android customization is limited only by your imagination.

Nice, I need to look into how to customize the screens like that. I use launcher pro but other than that my homescreens are pretty boring in comparison.

 

[QueBert]

Yep, there IS no iPhone customization. Save setting the wallpaper or changing an icon (if you jailbreak), you're basically stuck with the same boring grid of icons that EVERY OTHER iPhone IN THE WORLD ALWAYS DISPLAYS.

You basically HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

http://www.freemobilecontents.com/free-iphone-themes/10-free-favorite-inav-themes.html I ran this on my iPhone, and oddly enough a few people I knew with Android phones wanted their Droid to look like this. I'm not saying Android isn't able to do the same. But to say you can't customize the iPhone is grossly inaccurate. It's laughable when people speak about shit they know nothing about. In fact with the exception of widgets I can do more with an iPhone UI than I can on my Droid 1 - fact

 

[Raduque]

You basically HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

http://www.freemobilecontents.com/free-iphone-themes/10-free-favorite-inav-themes.html I ran this on my iPhone, and oddly enough a few people I knew with Android phones wanted their Droid to look like this. I'm not saying Android isn't able to do the same. But to say you can't customize the iPhone is grossly inaccurate. It's laughable when people speak about shit they know nothing about. In fact with the exception of widgets I can do more with an iPhone UI than I can on my Droid 1 - fact

I've never heard of that before. But, let me get this straight - you need to Jailbreak to be able to install these themes, correct?

Everything in those screenshots I posted can be done entirely without root - and there's tons more that can be done without root on Android. People on XDA have mimicked (and improved on, imo) the Windows 7 Phone interface, and done amazing things with the customization built-in to the platform.

iOS has no customization built into it.

Besides, those "themes" you linked to? Those fall into the category of "changing icons".

 

[purbeast0]

dp

 

[purbeast0]

man it is amazing how many Android fanboys are butthurt over the announcement of the verizon iphone. it really seems to be bothering them and making them have to defend their phones to a new extreme. not just in this thread ,but in many of the android/ios threads on here. it never seems to be the other way around though.

i'm fairly new to the phone/gadget forum so maybe it's always been this way though heh.

 

[bucwylde23]

man it is amazing how many Android fanboys are butthurt over the announcement of the verizon iphone. it really seems to be bothering them and making them have to defend their phones to a new extreme. not just in this thread ,but in many of the android/ios threads on here. it never seems to be the other way around though.

i'm fairly new to the phone/gadget forum so maybe it's always been this way though heh.

It's always been this way.. I don't post a lot but read it all and it usually gets bad in every thread whether it's about iOS or android.

 

[QueBert]

I've never heard of that before. But, let me get this straight - you need to Jailbreak to be able to install these themes, correct?

Everything in those screenshots I posted can be done entirely without root - and there's tons more that can be done without root on Android. People on XDA have mimicked (and improved on, imo) the Windows 7 Phone interface, and done amazing things with the customization built-in to the platform.

iOS has no customization built into it.

Besides, those "themes" you linked to? Those fall into the category of "changing icons".

Yes and it looks like "EVERY OTHER IPHONE IN THE WORLD" right? Just admit you don't know what you're talking about. Who cares if I had to JB to accomplish it? I rooted my Droid to make it do what I wanted. And guess what? even after that I still couldn't. I couldn't mimic my iNav theme, being limited to 5 home screens sucks big times IMHO, but hay that's just me. And as for the W7 mimicked shit, uhhh no. It has square icons but that's where the similarities end. Desktop Visualizer isn't that powerful, all it's doing is replacing icons.

 

[Glitchny]

Yes and it looks like "EVERY OTHER IPHONE IN THE WORLD" right? Just admit you don't know what you're talking about. Who cares if I had to JB to accomplish it? I rooted my Droid to make it do what I wanted. And guess what? even after that I still couldn't. I couldn't mimic my iNav theme, being limited to 5 home screens sucks big times IMHO, but hay that's just me. And as for the W7 mimicked shit, uhhh no. It has square icons but that's where the similarities end. Desktop Visualizer isn't that powerful, all it's doing is replacing icons.

Well considering the OP didn't want to jailbreak his iPhone I'd say that it is important to the context of this thread. Examples of customization in Android without rooting were given, and in response you raged out with an app for the iPhone that requires JB?

Also there are many ui themes and customizations that offer additional home screens beyond 5.

Are there any good examples of iPhone customization without JB? Maybe you could post some to help the OP out.