One thing that has struck me ever since rejoining the jailbreak ranks is how few apps seem to be coming out in any given day or week, basically how slow the trickle of apps is for the jailbreak arena.
This has been especially noticeable to me over the last couple of weeks, when I’ve noticed very, very few items that were not themes, ringtones, or similar (lockscreen and SBSetting theme elements, other soundboard type items etc.). So today I did a little count on the most recent 100 items showing in the Changes section of Cydia.
Three out of the last 100 items are ‘real apps’, i.e they are not themes or ringtones, or similar. 3 out of 100. And the sad thing is that seems about par for the course lately in Cydia.
Admittedly I am only running with the stock / default set of sources in Cydia – but even so, that gives me Big Boss, Ste Packaging, iSpazio, and ModMyi and most of the biggest players I think.
The small handful of jailbreak apps that I run are stellar enough, and provide me with enough extra non-stock functionality, that I’m still more than happy being jailbroken – but it really is striking to me how few real apps are hitting Cydia of late.
If any of you have suggestions for good new sources or apps to add, please fire away in the comments. Oh, and please bear in mind I’m not a heavy SMS or MMS user, and not a huge fan of push / alerts – so I’m not looking for any utilities that cover those sort of areas. 
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
This is just a quick question. Would you know of any other app other than BlackRa1n that will allow me to jailbreak an Ipod Touch 3g (64GB).
The problem that I seem to be having is that one always has to perform a tethered jailbreak in the evet that the battery of an Ipod 3G runs down or if you power off the device.
I need a proper jailbreak that keep
Sorry, but no I don't know of a jailbreak that meets your criteria – though I think a group called the Chronic Dev Team says they are working on one.
Cydia should absolutely let you filter out the crap like themes and ringtones so that you can see actual applications. I don’t even use the Cydia ‘browse’ function because there is way too much crap to look through, and I rely on blogs like this to inform me as to the good jailbreak apps.
Ha – glad to hear that last part, and hope we're helping you out in that respect.
You can do that. Go to Sections and edit the list. Turning a category off will disable its display in Changes and Browse.
Thanks Dustin, I'll try that!
I've noticed the trickle as well. I wonder if it's because the jailbreak community has already filled the requests for apps that are not in the app store or because apple themselves have filled the requests (in some cases ie. copy and paste).
Aside from hardware, what kind of apps would you want for the iPhone that aren't currently being filled by the app store or the jailbreak community?
I think it is likely a combination of several main reasons – the much, much smaller market, the fact that you cannot easily develop for both App Store and Cydia (as devs risk losing their approved developer status if they develop for the jailbreak arena), plus as you've said there are fewer and fewer 'gaps' to fill. Having said that, I can think of a few areas at least where I'd still like to see new things offered. For instance, a really good backup app – one that lets you grab Camera Roll and some of the things iTunes sync / backup won't get, and that lets you pick and choose exactly what to backup. Profiles is another area I'd like to see more done in. Although there are already a couple pretty good ones, I'd also like to see more app-switching apps, and more springboard add-ons / replacements.
On the repos subject, I'll pass – not a believer in using pirated apps of any kind. And thank you for not posting a link here. That would not be acceptable.
I have the repo for "try before you buy". I've been gravitating towards the Rock app store for just this reason. All their apps are "try before you buy" (or free). I think that's a great setup.
I do follow the repo's website though. They post a lot of helpful things to jailbreakers, like already patched firmwares and tutorials on how to secure the phone and properly jailbreak.
If an app is not breaking AppStore policies, why would the developer publish it on Cydia? There are only 7% of jailbroken iPhones. For end users it's also much complicated when upgrading firmware. So I think that Cydia will remain the repository for great apps like SBSettings, LockInfo, CategoriesSB, Winterboard and so on, but won't be a real competitor of the AppStore.
It was actually around 9% according to Pinch Media's stats last week, but the point is still absolutely valid. I tend to agree with your sum-up.
In my repo's defense, there is an EXTREMELY large demand for ringtones, themes, and lockscreens. If there wasn't, I wouldn't host them. What is needed in Cydia though, is perhaps more user-friendly filters or categories like that of RockApp as it's application only filter is exactly what you need.
My main point is, the more content, the better. We just need a good way to manage the content.
Oh, I understand that – and I'm not averse to themes, ringtones, lockscreens. I don't tend to be looking for them very often, but I've definitely enjoyed lots of themes, and a few ringtones as well. I have no problem at all with those being there, and certainly wouldn't want to imply any dislike for yours or any other repos. I was more just interested in the overall picture in the store.
In my opinion, the reasons for the low number of steady releases to the Jailbreak world have been touched on in these comments. I believe the biggest reason is because there really aren't -that- many things the phone needs that Apple is denying from the AppStore. The majority of those missing 'features' have already been written and everybody already has them. SBSettings, SMS quick-reply type apps, Backgrounder, Theming, etc. Those are the the things that Apple should have provided as built-in, but they didn't so they're all already available. I would say, other than the unfortunately large number of pirates, those few things are the reason people Jailbreak. There aren't many people that Jailbreak just to find some new games, porn apps, or Family Guy video players. People Jailbreak because they need a certain feature and find out it's only available if you Jailbreak. They don't usually Jailbreak just for another AppStore to browse for new apps to play with.
All that rambling out of the way, I agree with you in that there are a few features that would definitely improve the overall iPhone experience. I just think it's rare to find a talented developer that wants to spend the time and effort creating these 'tweaks' for little to no profit considering the low number of Jailbreak users. Yes, 9% is a lot of people and there IS money to be made, but 91% is a much larger number.
Wouldn't argue with any of that
TETHERING! My internet at home has been out for a few days for repairs and tethering has allowed me to surf on my laptop without concerm
That's another very good one – especially while AT&T continues to lag way behind on providing it.
i agree with all of you guys just wish i could develop my own theme
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