iphone

Seriously. It even does realtime updates.

iTunes hates me:

A couple of weeks ago, iTunes decided to stop talking to my iPhone. For some reason, iTunes on my computer decided that my phone wasn't authorized to use my iTunes Store account.

My phone thought it was legit... Everything continued to work on that end. My computer thought it was cool. But somewhere in the connection between the phone and computer, iTunes decided that it would be best to wipe my phone. Which it continued to offer to do every time I tried to sync.

No me gusta.

So I'm taking drastic measures:

Since iTunes is being lame, it won't let me back anything up. Luckily, my friend rsync never fails me.

In short:

1. Use rsync to back everything up.
2. Let iTunes do its wipey/restorey thing.
3. Recover the stuff I care about via reverse rsync.
4. ...
5. Profit!

Because I always forget how to do things:

Here's how to use rsync to back up your iPhone... This process requires a "liberated" phone, with OpenSSH installed (and turned on). But that whole process is beyond the scope of this post.

To rsync all the important stuff off your phone, make sure your phone is on, SSH is running, and everything is connected to the same network. Then open Terminal, change to an appropriate directory, and type this:

rsync -avz --stats --progress --exclude "private/var/mobile/Media/iTunes_Control/Music" root@YOUR_PHONE_NAME.local:/ ./backup

Of course, you've gotta replace YOUR_PHONE_NAME with the actual name of your phone...

It will ask for your phone's root password. If you haven't changed it, this is probably "alpine". Also, shame on you.

I love my phone. But it sucks to use it while lying down, because no matter how I turn it, it tries to stay right-side-up. But I've figured out a coping mechanism. So here's how to use your iPhone while lying down in bed:

1. Lay down on your side.
2. Turn the iPhone on it's side, so it's actually usable.
3. Open Safari, or any other app that can't stay right-side-up.
4. Wait for the interface to turn all sideways and worthless.
5. Turn it so that the iPhone is completely upside-down. Most apps, Safari included, won't know what to do… so they'll freak out and stay in landscape mode.
6. Now the landscape mode is usable!

I love playing games on my phone when I have a minute or two of downtime. Because I live in the city, this downtime is usually on the subway. I'm constantly searching for better games. And the ideal subway app is an elusive beast.

Here are a few things I've noticed that will make or break a subway game:

• Start fast. No splash screen, no notices to click through. If you think you need a progress meter you're doing it wrong. Just start already.
• Quit even faster. I love your game, honest. But I have other things to do.
• Don't hijack the sound. Let me play my music in the background. Your lame synth background tracks are fine, but let me listen to my real music.
• Don't require sound effects. Feel free to use it, but don't make it mandatory. I don't always have headphones, so there's a good chance I'll miss your killer sound effects. Make sure your gameplay doesn't depend on them.
• Don't expect more than a couple minutes of my time. Make your game easy to put down and pick up again later.
• Always save state when quitting. Don't make me ask. Don't warn me that I'll lose my game. Just save it for later. Thanks.
• Pause liberally, pause automatically. If an incoming message alert pops up, pause. If I pull up the iTunes controller to skip a song, pause. If I lock the screen, pause.
• If possible, let me play the game with one hand. I usually have to grab a pole with the other.

That's about it. Don't expect too much of my time, don't waste any of the time you get, and you'll be set. So go make me a better subway app. :)

You should keep an eye on the iPhone app reviews over at Tech.nopho.be. We're starting to get a decent collection of cool apps, and there are a ton more coming in the next few weeks.

My favorites: Trism and Appigo's ToDo

iTunes' iPhone backup is absolutely horrid. i've just about decided to completely replace it with rsync, so i figured i'd give it one last go. it's been 2 hours since i plugged my phone in and iTunes auto-synced. it's been over a week since my last rsync backup. how do they compare?

time

iTunes backup—crashed after 1.5 hours. resulted in corrupted backup, will not be able to restore from it.

rsync—5 minutes, 32 seconds.

connection

iTunes backup—plug in via dock connector/usb.

rsync—wi-fi.

speed

iTunes backup—USB 2.0 theoretical maximum: 480 Mbits/second. actual speed: approx 2.3 Mbits/sec.

rsync—actual transfer speed: 440 Mbits/sec.

data transferred

iTunes backup— ~16 Gb

rsync— ~155 Mb

data availability

iTunes backup—stored in a single compressed image. not available.

rsync—stored in a standard folder on my data drive. very available.

revision availability

iTunes backup—last backup. available only as a complete reimage, assuming the last backup didn't crash. if last backup crashed (about 66% probability, in my experience), not available at all. ever.

rsync—thanks to the magic of Time Machine, every single sync is backed up. every change. every revision. these backups can be restored piecemeal, as needed.

ease of restoration

iTunes backup—plug in phone. hope iTunes has a valid backup image. curse.

rsync—run the reverse rsync command, go about your merry way. can restore a single app or folder, or the entire iPhone.

triggers

iTunes backup—plug phone into computer, manual sync.

rsync—cron jobs, folder actions, bluetooth proximity, IP address availability, manual sync.

approx wait after plugging phone into computer before i can do anything with my phone other than looking a pretty "syncing" screen

iTunes backup—1.5 hours

rsync—0 seconds

final score

verdict?

wow.

i was chatting with my boss at Portero, and he found it amusing that the iPod app has such a prominent place on my iPhone. he said he'd rather have easy access to his calendar than his music. it's interesting to see how everyone arranges their apps to suit their own preferences. after playing with my phone a while, these are the apps that have made the cut and the ordering that works for me. i plan to write more on the apps later, so check back!

what does your phone look like?

the home screen

these are my go-to apps. they're generally grouped by row. notable players include transportation and task management apps.

more iPhone screenshots after the jump.