Could someone please explain Cydia to a newbie

[thermal]

Hi everyone,

I purchased my first ever iPhone today - a 3G. It has iOS4, is unlocked (originally AT&T, now with Telus in Canada), and has a program called 'Cydia' on it. I've googled it but the description doesn't quite make sense to this newbie.

If someone could explain (in layman's terms) the basics about Cydia, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you kindly.

 

[gngan]

Hi everyone,

I purchased my first ever iPhone today - a 3G. It has iOS4, is unlocked (originally AT&T, now with Telus in Canada), and has a program called 'Cydia' on it. I've googled it but the description doesn't quite make sense to this newbie.

If someone could explain (in layman's terms) the basics about Cydia, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you kindly.

You sure you google it? Try harder next time.

Purpose

Cydia's primary intention is to provide jailbroken iPhone users with software and operating system tweaks unavailable on the official iPhone App Store, most often due to technical restrictions, but also as a result of a rejection from the App Store. It works as a repository aggregator to avoid dependence on a single host and comes with a few trusted "community sources." Most stable packages are available on these repositories; however, additional ones can be easily added. This enables the iPhone development scene to stay as open as possible; anyone with a server can set up, host, manage, and update his or her own repository and share it with the community. Most of the community sources will accept package submissions, as this helps packages to gain more exposure than if it was hosted on a separate repository.

Cydia is not required to install APT packages; however, it is greatly encouraged as it provides a much easier way to find, install, and manage packages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydia_(application)

Layman term: Cydie = App store. It has apps that Apple doesn't want/allow. Some is paid app and some is free.

 

[labman]

wow you got a bad google! take it back I type on word cydia i get a ton of stuff. and if you type cydia in youtube see a ton of videos as well how to get it installed. apps etc.

 

[dhlizard]

wow you got a bad google! take it back I type on word cydia i get a ton of stuff. and if you type cydia in youtube see a ton of videos as well how to get it installed. apps etc.

I learned a long time ago, anyone who claims they used Google but couldn't find an answer is just making excuses for wanting to be spoonfed.

 

[thermal]

Layman term: Cydie = App store. It has apps that Apple doesn't want/allow. Some is paid app and some is free.

Thank you - that's what I was looking for.