Something that's been intriguing me while playing with the iPhone simulator is that it seems to be running the same system software as the real iPhone. With some digging through files and copying from my iPod touch, I was able to hack some apps onto the simulator. Almost none of them actually function, and some don't even open, but it's just simple proof of concept. There's probably some system files hidden deep that need to be copied over for the apps to work.
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iPhone Simulator Hacked!
- Thread starter thesdx
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I believe you're on to something here, I'm excited to see the results of this. And amazed at the short amount of time, considering its so hard to get a copy of the SDK since being announced. 
I finally got mine to start downloading, only to be crippled by slow download speeds capped by my college. Current download status:
I finally got mine to start downloading, only to be crippled by slow download speeds capped by my college. Current download status:Attachments
yeah, it would be much easier going from 386 to ARM. ARM instructions tend to do a lot more per instruction than the 386 core.
This is very encouraging to those of us interested in using the iPhone simulator to develop learning materials. This will be a huge leap forward for us when the simulator actually looks and behaves identically to the iPhone / iPod touch.
Please keep up the good work.
Please keep up the good work.
Not being a coder, I'm unable to argue with the technicalities but isn't the simulator supposed to help developers create applications that run on the real iPhone and iPod touch? If so, this reasoning would seem to preclude that as well.
Perhaps there's an abstraction layer at work here.
It does this, when you compile your project, you select either compile for simulator or for a device-- the same source code can generate either.
rob.
Anyone gotten any further with this?
My main interests in this are getting Mail, and Preferences to look and behave close to the way they do on the actual phone.
Being able to deploy something like this on our help desk workstations to walk users through exchange mail setup without having to buy everyone iphones would be monumentally valuable.
My main interests in this are getting Mail, and Preferences to look and behave close to the way they do on the actual phone.
Being able to deploy something like this on our help desk workstations to walk users through exchange mail setup without having to buy everyone iphones would be monumentally valuable.
Register as a developer at http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/
The iPhone SDK is about a 1.2gb download. As a toy, it's only fun for about 15 minutes, but if you have a project in mind (and a working knowledge of programming), the tools are powerful.
Good luck.
What's wrong with a written set of instructions? to set up my Exchange account on the phone I had to enter all of 4 bits of information, which wasn't exactly rocket science.
Also, by holding Home and then pressing the sleep button, you get screenshots put into your camera roll.
Thats how I wrote a quick guide for iPhone and Exchange
Thats how I wrote a quick guide for iPhone and Exchange
Visualizing the iPhone / iPod touch
The challenge is to find ways and means with which to visualize the iPhone / iPod touch interface in action so as to support training, support and clear communication about how these devices look and behave while in use. If Apple were a bit more savvy about viral marketing, Apple would provide a way to do this.
True, the 2.0 software introduced a fine static screen shot capability but this is not sufficient. Although you might be able to illustrate a gesture such as "pinch" using a series of static screen shots, it wouldn't be as clear and compelling as a brief video clip.
There are at least four approaches to this challenge: Using the iPod Simulator, Using a hardware Mod such as what Apple uses in the keynote addresses at high level conferences such as WWDC, using a video camera in over-the-shoulder mode and, finally, developing Screen Sharing software that enables remote access to the iPhone / iPod touch UI so that it can be captured.
Video Camera. This is currently the most accessible method. Although Apple does this in typically impressive fashion, most of us do not have the resources and, thus, cannot hope to come close to the quality that Apple has achieved with this option. A quick tour of You Tube videos featuring the iPhone and iPod touch will confirm this conclusion pretty conclusively.
The iPhone Simulator. As has been pointed out here, this might be workable for applications that you have the source code for. In other words, using the iPod Simulator in conjunction with video screen capture software (Screen Flow or Snapz Pro) could be very useful in documenting and supporting specific applications.
However, recording the interaction between your application and any of Apple's iPhone apps would not be feasible either because they do not exist on the Simulator or, like mobile Safari on the Simulator, they do not work exactly as they should (mobile Safari on iPhone Sim doesn't handle video as its real world counterpart does). Illustrating how Apple apps such as Mail, Calendar and Maps work is impossible on the iPhone Sim because they are not present. Only Apple can correct this and they don't seem inclined to do so. Perhaps Apple is concerned that enhancing the verisimilitude of the iPhone Simulator would cannibalize sales.
Hardware Mod. If what we see at these high level conferences is not some clever slight-of-hand, it would seem that there is a possibility of adding hardware that projects the entire iPhone / iPod user interface. If that projection could then be displayed on the desktop and captured with Snapz Pro or Screen Flow, we would have a very usable solution. Apple might provide a special dock connector and other hardware to accomplish this but it probably wouldn't be cheap. An expensive hardware solution would be purchased and used by far fewer people than a free or inexpensive software solution.
Screen Sharing Software. There are many living examples that on can cite to illustrate this approach. The most obvious is Leopard Screen Sharing. This is built-in to MacOS X 10.5 so presumably could be readily implemented in the iPhone OS. Other analogs require installing software with rather low level hooks that might not be permitted by Apple and thus require jailbreaking which will disenfranchise a fair number of people. Things like Timbuktu, VNC (you'd need a VNC server on the iPhone) or even Apple's Remote Desktop. Ted Landau did a nice tutorial on this for desktop machines in 2007 here: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071102122311545
Conclusions/Recommendations: Given that our objective should be to provide the widest possible audience with a way to visually communicate about the iPhone and iPod touch, I tend to favor the Screen Sharing Approach. The Screen Sharing approach might even be more technically and economically viable but that's beyond my ken.
If screen sharing were brought to the iPhone and iPod touch, it would be very helpful if iMovie could be given the ability record all or a part of the screen -- something on the level of Grab so as not to compete directly with high end solutions such as Screen Flow, Snapz Pro and (maybe some day soon) Camtasia for the Mac.
This would help all iPhone and iPod touch users with a way to visually articulate their experiences with these devices. They could share what they have learned, ask questions, instruct others and pose all sorts of questions and challenges. It would provide community building materials in great quantity and quality.
That, I think, would be a good thing.
The challenge is to find ways and means with which to visualize the iPhone / iPod touch interface in action so as to support training, support and clear communication about how these devices look and behave while in use. If Apple were a bit more savvy about viral marketing, Apple would provide a way to do this.
True, the 2.0 software introduced a fine static screen shot capability but this is not sufficient. Although you might be able to illustrate a gesture such as "pinch" using a series of static screen shots, it wouldn't be as clear and compelling as a brief video clip.
There are at least four approaches to this challenge: Using the iPod Simulator, Using a hardware Mod such as what Apple uses in the keynote addresses at high level conferences such as WWDC, using a video camera in over-the-shoulder mode and, finally, developing Screen Sharing software that enables remote access to the iPhone / iPod touch UI so that it can be captured.
Video Camera. This is currently the most accessible method. Although Apple does this in typically impressive fashion, most of us do not have the resources and, thus, cannot hope to come close to the quality that Apple has achieved with this option. A quick tour of You Tube videos featuring the iPhone and iPod touch will confirm this conclusion pretty conclusively.
The iPhone Simulator. As has been pointed out here, this might be workable for applications that you have the source code for. In other words, using the iPod Simulator in conjunction with video screen capture software (Screen Flow or Snapz Pro) could be very useful in documenting and supporting specific applications.
However, recording the interaction between your application and any of Apple's iPhone apps would not be feasible either because they do not exist on the Simulator or, like mobile Safari on the Simulator, they do not work exactly as they should (mobile Safari on iPhone Sim doesn't handle video as its real world counterpart does). Illustrating how Apple apps such as Mail, Calendar and Maps work is impossible on the iPhone Sim because they are not present. Only Apple can correct this and they don't seem inclined to do so. Perhaps Apple is concerned that enhancing the verisimilitude of the iPhone Simulator would cannibalize sales.
Hardware Mod. If what we see at these high level conferences is not some clever slight-of-hand, it would seem that there is a possibility of adding hardware that projects the entire iPhone / iPod user interface. If that projection could then be displayed on the desktop and captured with Snapz Pro or Screen Flow, we would have a very usable solution. Apple might provide a special dock connector and other hardware to accomplish this but it probably wouldn't be cheap. An expensive hardware solution would be purchased and used by far fewer people than a free or inexpensive software solution.
Screen Sharing Software. There are many living examples that on can cite to illustrate this approach. The most obvious is Leopard Screen Sharing. This is built-in to MacOS X 10.5 so presumably could be readily implemented in the iPhone OS. Other analogs require installing software with rather low level hooks that might not be permitted by Apple and thus require jailbreaking which will disenfranchise a fair number of people. Things like Timbuktu, VNC (you'd need a VNC server on the iPhone) or even Apple's Remote Desktop. Ted Landau did a nice tutorial on this for desktop machines in 2007 here: http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071102122311545
Conclusions/Recommendations: Given that our objective should be to provide the widest possible audience with a way to visually communicate about the iPhone and iPod touch, I tend to favor the Screen Sharing Approach. The Screen Sharing approach might even be more technically and economically viable but that's beyond my ken.
If screen sharing were brought to the iPhone and iPod touch, it would be very helpful if iMovie could be given the ability record all or a part of the screen -- something on the level of Grab so as not to compete directly with high end solutions such as Screen Flow, Snapz Pro and (maybe some day soon) Camtasia for the Mac.
This would help all iPhone and iPod touch users with a way to visually articulate their experiences with these devices. They could share what they have learned, ask questions, instruct others and pose all sorts of questions and challenges. It would provide community building materials in great quantity and quality.
That, I think, would be a good thing.
The help desk at my company supports a large number of other companies, so they're dealing with multiple setups. Also, the only people who bought iPhones were executives who shouldn't have one, and don't have the patience for someone reading off a script.
"Click the home button, now click settings, now click email. You should see X" makes for a much friendlier experience, and I can train analysts on the actual technology instead of from a book. Besides, if it actually WORKED, you could verify settings and rule out any connection errors based on ATT 3G or client 802.11 wireless issues.
Hey, I agree...it's cake to do for you and I, but we're dealing with mere mortals here.
Word.
Especially with screen sharing and CONTROL being available for Blackberry, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile devices via logmein.com. Logmein has mac workstation control capability, so it's only a matter of time.