How to Use Cydia: A Walkthrough
If you have used Installer.app in the past, Cydia should look somewhat familiar and be fairly straightforward to use.Here’s a basic walkthrough to help you navigate through and get the most out of Cydia.To get all Cydia and jailbreak updates as they happen, including the latest on jailbreakme.com and how to unlock your iPhone, download the AppAdvice iPhone/iPad app !NOTE: This only works on jailbroken phones, to jailbreak all you have to do is visit http://jailbreakme.com on your iDevice and slide!1. Click the spiffy new Cydia icon on your SpringboardYou’ll see loading while it updates the sources and loads the welcome screen.
2. Upgrade CydiaFrom here if you haven’t run Cydia in a while, or this is your first time running, you may get a notice about ‘Essential upgrades’. These are upgrades to the Cydia application itself that may be required for installing new packages and apps:
- Press Upgrade Essential
- Press Confirm to begin the download and install
- Wait for Complete and press Close Window
- Press the home key, and then re-open Cydia to continue
- Press Changes
- Press Upgrade All (#) [top right of screen]
- Press Confirm to begin download and installation
(red 1) on the changes option has been removed.NOTE: Changes also contains applications that have recently been added or changed, this is a good place to go to find new applications on a regular basis.4. Installing New ApplicationsLet’s install something new. I love Pac-Man, and it just so happens that the developer of Mac-Man, a great Pac-Man clone, is available on Cydia under the games category.To install an application:
- Press Install [on the bottom]
- Browse through categories to Games
- Press Macman
- Press Install on top right
- Press Confirm to begin the download and installation
- Press Close Window
- Open Cydia again
- Press Manage
- Scroll and find Macman
- Press Macman
- Press Modify [top right of the screen]
- Press Remove (you could reinstall if you were having issues with the application, like it wouldn’t start)
- Press Confirm to begin removing the app
- Once you see Complete, press home and the Macman icon should be gone
- Press Search
- Type part of the application name or description in the search box at top
MiM lets you customize the carrier name on the top left of the phone. You’ll notice in the screenshots above mine has my screenname “w1kedZ.”NES
NES is a fully functional Nintendo emulator. It loads ROM files that can be found in various places on the internet. It’s great for showing off or if you really love games like Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda.BossPrefs
BossPrefs is a great app by BigBoss that lets you easily turn on and off different features of the iPhone. Currently, the version for the 2.0 software is only really useful for turning on and off SSH if you have installed the OpenSSH package from Cydia. It also contains Poof which will allow you to hide/show icons on the homescreen; a useful feature if you are like me and don’t want the original Stocks Icon on your Springboard because you never use it.