Reviews by The Church of Apple

Tag: jailbreak

  • BTC Mouse and Trackpad Review

    The BTC Mouse and Trackpad is a paid jailbreak utility that allows you to pair your iOS device with your bluetooth mouse, trackpad and keyboard. That’s right, I did just say mouse and keyboard. With this product, your iOS device will have a cursor, just like on your computer (of course this is why it is a jailbreak tweak, Apple would never approve of this). The BTC Mouse and Trackpad tweak is available on the Cydia store for $4.99. Let’s see if it’s right for you.

    Form

    There is not much to say about the form of this product. This product is an all software product. The settings tab in the Settings app of your iOS device for the BTC Mouse and Trackpad is easy to use and navigate. The cursor used in the tweak looks like a Mac cursor, rather than a Windows cursor. Of course, since iOS products are Apple products and Macs are Apple products, that makes sense. However, I do appreciate them deciding to use a Mac cursor. This comes in handy for something later on down the road. As for the form of the hardware, since it can run any bluetooth keyboard, mouse/trackpad, the hardware is only as good as what you own. Let’s take a look at the functionality of this tweak, which has a bit more to talk about then the form of he product.

    Function

    The ability to add a cursor on an iPad screen has been an interesting thought of mine that I had before I knew that the product existed on the market. After having tried it, I am not sure if I see the functionality in using it. First off, if you want to seriously use a trackpad and keyboard with an iPad, those are additional things you will need to carry around. Some already carry around a keyboard, which I think is bulky enough to carry around, but a trackpad/mouse adds on to that. In addition, if you wanted to use it a lot like that, you would need to probably buy an additional trackpad/mouse and keyboard, because the ones you have for your computer currently are either USB driven or you want dedicated to the computer and it would be a pain disconnecting the devices from your computer, connecting them to your iOS device then disconnecting them from the iOS device and then connect them again to the computer, every time you want to switch from a computer and back. Therefore, if you wanted to avoid this big burden, you would need to spend extra money to buy a keyboard and mouse/trackpad. I have never been a fan of using a bluetooth keyboard on an iPad because of the lack of portability. Even keyboard cases are not good because of the thickness they require. Lack of portability is certainly a practicality issue.  In addition, a cursor on iOS works similar to a cursor on Windows 8, it doesn’t work. They just don’t go together, iOS is made for fingers not a mouse, using this tweak is a verification of that. Another issue I have is that the cursor does seem to lag a bit. On top of that, the mouse only provides basic functions. It can not rotate objects, it can not move objects, it can not act like a cursor on the computer in most ways. It just doesn’t make it worth it for me.

    However, the product isn’t all bad either. If you want to make a cheap man’s portable computer, this is definitely a way to do it. It is portable enough, nothing like a laptop and it requires more real estate in your backpack but it is doable. A theme that I have reviewed for the iPad, the OS X Pad theme, is a perfect companion for this device as the cursor the tweak provides is a Mac cursor. In addition, there are bluetooth cases that make the iPad look like a MacBook, which even further the Mac look. However, even then, it still isn’t the same as a computer. The iPad isn’t made to have a cursor, it’s OS just doesn’t work well with a cursor. The product itself isn’t necessarily flawed, the settings that comes with it is easy to work with and you have the option of using any bluetooth device you choose. The concept, however, is flawed and that’s because the cursor is not meant to be on the iPad.

    Conclusion

    Pros

    -Mac Cursor

    -Easy to use settings

    -Poor man’s laptop (with limited functionality), works well with some jailbreak themes

    Cons

    -Transport of too many things makes the concept lack portability

    -Concept of a cursor just doesn’t work on an iPad

    -Cursor lags and only provides minor functions

    -Lack of functionality in the whole experience

    Ways to Improve

    Honestly, I believe this product should be scraped. The product just doesn’t work. It’s not that the product wasn’t executed well, it’s just the idea wasn’t. The idea of putting a cursor on an iPad is as appealing as putting a cursor on Windows 8, it isn’t. The only way to improve from here for the company is to go into other jailbreak utilities.

    This product is not entirely a failure in my eyes. They did the best they could with it and I applaud their efforts. However, I think the company should consider moving on to a different idea. I give this product 2 and a half stars for a good try on a bad idea.

    Thanks for reading,

    Joe

     

  • OS X Pad iPad Theme Review

    We at The Church of Apple love Apple but even we have gotten a little tired of Apple’s restrictions, at least I have anyway. That is why I have jailbroken my devices. No, not to pirate apps or music but to be able to more with our devices in our everyday use. You can use different settings and tweaks and employ many themes. There are some OK themes, there are good themes and there are some that are fantastic and fantastic is what we have here. This theme, called OS X Pad, is available through the Theme Outlet (source: http://fnetdesigns.com/cydia/repo/) for $3.50 via PayPal. To me, this is the only Mac OS X theme worth the time. So, if you are a Mac user, or want a taste of the Mac OS on the iPad, then I will tell you why this theme is the only Mac theme to buy, perhaps the only theme to buy.

    Form

    The one thing that struck me about this theme was it’s ease of use and it’s beauty. First off, the theme comes with a slide to unlock screen that looks almost like a start-up screen on a Mac. Just a warm welcome to your new theme. Right after you leave the home screen, the first thing you’ll notice is the articulately detailed wallpaper, the same one that is used on the Mac. You can also change the wallpaper in the settings. As your eyes look down, you’ll see a dock that looks exactly like the one on the Mac. In the top left-hand corner you’ll see the Apple logo on a light gray bar and see the words “Finder”, “File”, “Edit”, “View” “Go”, “Window” and “Help”. Yup, you guessed it, this theme has a full fledged Finder Bar, just like the Mac. It even has the name of the user (you will set this up in the very beginning of receiving this theme) on the top right along with bluetooth, wifi, volume, date and time and the magnifying glass. You will see the overall “Mac-ness” of this theme. It absolutely is incredible. Going inside the theme, you will find that the Finder button on top left will prompt a window that looks almost exact to the Finder window on the Mac. In it you will find folders that you can store apps in (just like Mac Finder) and a feature called quick links that allow you to go to that application that it says. There is an Applications folder that has all your applications in it and the other folders you have to add the apps themselves but is awesome once you do. Every app icon is enwrapped in a blue border and an tiny Apple logo on the bottom right. Also, the Finder window is draggable just like the window on a Mac. Also, when the Finder window is open, the Finder icon on the dock has a blue dot under it, signifying it’s open, just like a Mac. Moving on to the dock, you have exact Mac icons, such as Finder and Safari icons. When there are notifications for a particular app, it will show the same red dot with a white number in it. Moving on to the settings app, when you click on the Settings icon, it will pop up with a prompt box very similar to the one you get when you double click the settings application on the Mac. You are greeted with a series of options, including iPad settings and Theme Settings, clicking on iPad settings will bring up the Settings app but clicking on the Theme settings will bring up a window that looks very similar to the settings app on the Mac. Going up to the Finder Bar, you will find that it acts just as the Finder Bar on the Mac would. It looks and feels like a Mac Finder Bar and is just awesome. The design of this theme is very articulate and very complex, the best I have ever seen.

    Function

    One thing that this theme does that almost every other theme I’ve ever used can not, is preserve the functionality of the iPad. A lot of themes take away from the functionality of the iPad while quite the contrary, I think this theme adds to the functionality of the iPad.

    Now as we look at the function of the theme we will start where we left off in the Form section. In the finder bar, under the Apple menu, you have the option to restart, shut down, and log out (and yes these functions will actually do what they say but you have to download a tweak from Cydia called MultiBoot). In addition, from within the Apple menu, you can select “About this iPad” (instead of About this Mac) and will open a window telling you the basics of the iPad. Also, Software Update will open a Settings screen that will allow you to update the theme right from the theme, without having to leave it, which is really nice and adds to the functionality of the theme. There is also a button to open the App Store and a button to open System Preferences which will open Theme Settings.

    Now, the Finder menu has the ability to give you an “About Finder” window, Edit Finder Folders, which I will discuss in a minute, and Finderbar Preferences which allow you to customize the Finderbar as to whether you want it translucent, if you want a 24 hour clock, and if you want to use the Weather in the clock.

    The Edit menu allows you to go into desktop edit mode, which is the mode required in order to customize where apps/folders go, it allows you to change your wallpaper and it pulls up SB Settings. The “Go” menu will allow you to open The Theme Outlet, Cydia, Messages, Safari, Music, Videos and Contacts.

    The Help menu pulls down “OS X Pad Help” which, if opened, will give you information about how to use the theme and another with an option to contact the developer for support.

    Going to the right, you will see your username. Clicking on that will pull up the Accounts Settings window and from there you can change the Username. Also, clicking the Bluetooth button will evoke settings. The date and time button will prompt a pull down that will tell you the date and time and also give you the weather if you should so desire. One cool feature of the theme is that you can click on the magnifying glass on the top right and will pull up all of your applications. Unfortunately at this time, it does not have Launchpad but it will have it once the developer updates the theme. Once he does so, I will update this review to show so.

    Wow, that was a lot to take in. As you can see the FinderBar does many things and retains some of the same functionalities as the Mac FinderBar.

    Now, on to the Finder itself. As I mentioned earlier, the Finder menu is very clean and nice. On the left, there is a drop down menu called Places that lists seven folders. Applications being one them has all of your applications in one folder. The other six are completely customizable as to the names of the folders to the apps in it. All you have to do to add apps in is click on Customize from within the Finder window and then click on an empty space and fill it with an app. It’s that simple.

    Going on to the Desktop Edit Mode, you have the option of putting 7 customizable folders which can each store 80 apps. That is more than plenty enough space to put apps into folders. Unfortunately, folders you make in Finder cannot be transferred over to folders on the desktop, which is a pain but may be a new feature in the future. You can also put up to 30 apps on the desktop (note that 6 of these 30 are folder spaces, so that would be 24 apps in addition to 6 folders).

    In the settings you can see that the theme is very customizable. First, you are able to customize your OS X Pad with 70+ wallpapers that are wallpapers that Apple uses (including the stock Mountain Lion Space wallpaper). As for the Finder Bar, as I mentioned earlier, you are able to make it translucent, you can make the clock 24 hours and you can make it show the weather in the clock’s drop down menu. As for the dock, you can customize it with 10 icons. You can choose from some of the stock icons or even add your own custom icons. In addition to being able to add your own icons, you can make the customize the dock style from 25 different colors. As aforementioned, you can change the name of the folder in Finder. Here is where you can do that. Software Update is a feature that allows you to update the theme in-theme, just enter your PayPal email address and you are set. As for accounts, you can change the name of the User, the Username or whether or not you want the username displayed on the finderbar.

    Conclusion

    Pros

    -Fully working Finderbar
    -Finder and Settings work like on the Mac
    -Very customizable, in some cases, more customizable than the Mac itself! (Dock style)
    -Folders and apps on the desktop
    -Help menu and it’s contact of the developer is Apple-style customer service
    -The most detailed theme I have ever used
    -It is my new operating system
    -Theme is worth a lot more than the cost, I feel like the developer could fairly charge $10-$15 maybe $20 for this theme

    Cons

    Despite all the pros of this theme, there are a few peculiarities

    -No Launch Pad (granted, there is one coming, once it comes, I’ll take this con off)
    -Can not take folder made in Finder and transfer the work you did to the desktop
    -No Dashboard, other Mac themes have this (probably coming, we’ll see what 2.1 brings)

    As I mentioned earlier, this theme has become my primary OS. I only boot into iOS now to download an app or Cydia tweak or what not. It truly is Mac OS X on your iPad and I do not believe that any theme can match this theme, even non-Mac themes and there are a few reasons. But I won’t tell you those reasons. Instead, buy the theme and you WILL find those reasons on your own. It is for the reason that the theme delivers in form and function that it earns a easy 5 star rating. Great Job Fnet Designs, I look forward to update 2.1 and I hope to remove. the few cons listed above.

    Thanks for reading,

    Joe