Earlier this month, Sparrow released its gorgeous email client for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Sparrow’s mobile app features a simple Facebook-like design that is light and responsive, with support for iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and other IMAP services. Unfortunately, the app does not support POP accounts or push notifications, which are both big drawbacks for a number of users. A new jailbreak tweak called “SparrowPush” enables push notifications using IMAP idle, however, making Sparrow’s app a viable replacement for the stock mail client. SparrowPush is available now for free in the Cydia app store.

[Via TheVerge]

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Within hours of the new iPad’s release, iPhone hacker MuscleNerd had already managed to jailbreak the tablet. The hacker took to Twitter to announce his discovery, however he notes that it is “just a first step” and there is “still lots of work to do” with no estimated time frame for a public release available at this time. MuscleNerd uploaded two screenshots to confirm his claims, one displaying root access and the other showing the Cydia app store.

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Last week it was discovered that a number of popular iPhone apps were invading users’ privacy and uploading entire address books to external servers. The data uploaded included full names, phone numbers and email addresses, and the offending apps never asked for permission to transfer this sensitive data. A group of researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the International Security Systems Lab began a study last year to discover how and where iPhone apps were transmitting data, reports Forbes. The team found that one in five free apps in Apple’s App Store was uploading private data to external servers, and apps from Cydia, an app store for jailbroken iPhones, would leak private data less frequently than Apple-approved apps. Read on for more.

The study showed that 21% of apps tested from the App Store uploaded a user’s Unique Device Identifier, 4% uploaded the device’s location and 0.5% uploaded the user’s contact list. Just 4% of apps downloaded through Cydia uploaded a user’s UDID and one app — MobileSpy, which was specifically designed for espionage — out of the 500 tested leaked location and contact data. A table from the study showing how frequently authorized App Store and unauthorized Cydia apps leak private information follows below.

[Via Forbes]

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Apple introduced iOS 5 and its new widget system just last week during WWDC, and a day later it was jailbroken. Now, Cydia developers have taken iOS 5 a step further by providing new third-party applications that allow users to tweak the Notification Center with new widgets. iOS 5 currently only offers widgets for viewing the weather or a stock ticker, but one app — UISettings — will allow users to quickly toggle their network and phone controls, too. Similarly, a widget called MusicCenter is being developed that enables users to view the current audio track they’re listening to. We can’t wait to see what other developers have in store. Hit the jump for an image of UISettings.

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Jailbroken iOS users will soon have a new option for browsing and installing unsanctioned apps on their devices. A group of iPhone developers known as the Infini Dev Team is currently preparing to release a Web-based alternative to the popular Cydia app store, which will allow users to browse and install applications from within the Safari browser. Dubbed “lima,” the new app store will compete directly with Cydia — and with Apple’s App Store, of course — and it will provide both free and paid applications. It will also be repository-based, and will feature an integrated back up and restoring system to simplify the reinstallation process when users update their iOS software or switch phones. Hit the break for a video of lima in action.

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If you picked yourself up a second generation AppleTV, or plan to, it looks like you’ll be able to get your jailbreak on; assuming you’re into that sort of thing. Dev-team member MuscleNerd has posted a one-minute YouTube video showing Apple’s little black-box running a jailbroken firmware. Complimenting that, the dev-team has also managed to decrypt the AppleTV’s encryption keys. Hit the jump to see the video and hit the read link to check out the keys.

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We just got off the phone with our buddy Sean Kovacs, aka the Google Voice king of iOS, and he filled us in on the latest with his app and the development and submission process. If you aren’t aware, (please stop reading this site) Apple removed all Google Voice-related applications over a year ago when it decided that the apps “duplicated” functionality on the phone (phone app). People have been debating the real issue behind Apple’s move since then, but with the recently updated and reasonably straight forward developer guidelines now published, Sean Kovacs is deciding to try his hand again. Hit the jump for our conversation.

After reading through the guidelines and making sure there were nothing he’d be violating, he decided to try to appeal to Apple’s new appeal board. Sean filled out the form and that initiated a new review of the app. Since there have been many server-side changes on Google’s end since the app was last available, the app crashed at start up and prompted Apple to email back saying the application wasn’t functional. But, if Sean resubmitted it, Apple would look it over and review it again.

Sean told us he feels pretty confident about resubmitting a newer, more feature-packed, OS 4 compatible Google Voice app. Before, all emails went unanswered, but now Apple is communicating with Sean regularly. If you’re a Cydia user, there’s a good chance the app will be left in the repository, though new updates will probably cease. Also, since the app was deleted and app names can’t be used twice, it should hit the App Store (if it gets approved) as GV Mobile +. There will also be a “free day” around a week after the hopeful release that will allow previous customers to download the app again for free; there won’t be an update to the older one.

Sean has been nice enough to send us builds every now and then over the past couple months in ad-hoc mode for our iPhone, but we’re definitely glad that Apple is not the only one on the right path with their new guidelines and some transparency, but great developers like Sean will be able to share their software publicly again.

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If you have an older model iPhone, and are envious of the HDR photographic-prowess of the iPhone 4, there is still hope; albeit hope with a fairly long list of prerequisites. iPhone tinkerer Will Strafach has tweeted that he: “Made a Cydia tweak to allow HDR photos on 4.1 for the iPhone 3G and 3G[s].” So, when that rumored iOS 4.1 jailbreak is released you can take your jailbroken, iPhone 3G or 3GS and get the HDR goodies. There are a lot of “ifs” and “whens” in there… but it’s better than nothing.

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Comex, the developer of the jailbreakme.com 2.0 website, has released the source code for the PDF exploit found in un-patched versions of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system. The code has been called “impressive” and “dangerous” by some security analysts. The exploit has the ability to install malicious code on a users iOS device by simply visiting a webpage crafted to run the code. If you do not plan on jailbreaking your iOS device, we recommend updating to iOS 4.0.2 to remove the vulnerability. If you are already jailbroken, we suggest installing the “PDF Fix” patch from Cydia.

[Via Macworld]

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Although it only made its debut yesterday, the iPhone 3GS jailbreakin’ purplera1n has already been updated and now stands at version RC2. Changes include support for Windows 7 and 64-bit rigs, enhanced payload execution, kernal patches, correction of terminal errors and more. Support for Winterboard is still notably absent from purplera1n but every indication is that this is on the way along with OS X compatibility. For those who are running RC1 and want to update to RC2, getting it up and running is as simple as installing the new build on top of RC1. Once again, those who are running the OS 3.1 need not apply.

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Deciding that waiting around for the Dev-Team to release its iPhone 3GS jailbreak solution is for chumps, original iPhone unlocker Geohot has released his own jailbreaking method, with the help of chronic dev and a few others, that he has dubbed purplera1n. Best. Name. Ever. As it stands, purplera1n only supports Windows rigs (Windows 7 and 64-bit excluded) but OS X support is on the way. Hit the read link to grab a copy of purplera1n and get all the instructions you’ll need to get your Cydia fix on. And happy jailbreaking!

P.S. We’ve heard that ultrasn0w works, but it is a bit flaky for the time being.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Well lookie what we have here, iPod Touch owners. As exciting as the upcoming 3.0 OS is, and as much as we know you can’t wait to pay for it while iPhone users get it for free, we all know that most of the desirable capabilities brought about by 3.0 are already available — if you jailbreak. We’ve been waiting for quite some time and just a a short while ago, the Dev Team dropped the bomb. Redsn0w… Beta… Is ready. Oh and the best part? Windows, Linux and OS X are all covered with this first beta release. Ok, we’ll shut up now and let you get to it. As always, let us know how it goes in the comments section.

[Via Dev-Team Blog]

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Cupertino will be none too happy to hear the news but Cydia creator Jay Freeman is looking to turn Cydia into an all-out application store. Cydia, for those unaware, is one of two hubs iPhone and iPod Touch owners use to obtain unauthorized apps on jailbroken handsets. Think of it as a cross between the App Store and the Linux repository system. Currently, the overwhelming majority of apps that can be obtained via Cydia are free but there are some paid options. Payments mechanisms used however, are at the discretion of the developer. Freeman is looking to change all that by implementing a centralized payment system and offering developers an equal or better revenue split in comparison to Apple’s App Store. With a lawyer in tow, Freeman appears to welcome a response from Apple though when real money gets involved you can bank on the fact that Apple will begin to take jailbreaking much, MUCH more seriously. Beyond any legal action the company will inevitably take, expect anti-jailbreaking measures from Apple’s software developers to kick into overdrive. Forget all that though — the most important question of course, is what will Freeman name his new shop? Let’s see… Store, World and Market are all taken; Our vote is for App Shack.

[Via Giz]

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It’s rather sad that Bluetooth file transferring coming to a modern smartphone by way of a third party application is something that warrants coverage, but that’s what you get when the smartphone you’re talking about is the iPhone. Its lack of ability to conduct Bluetooth file transfers is just one of the many things we wish were not left off of the original iPhone and when we saw that it wasn’t coming to firmware 2.0+ we were quite surprised. Thankfully it looks like Bluetooth file transfer is almost a reality for iPhone users everywhere. No, the application is not made nor endorsed by Apple and it certainly won’t find its way to the App Store, but if you have a jailbroken iPhone you can grab iBluetooth as soon as it is released into iSpazio repository on Cydia. Hit the jump for a video.

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