Quantcast Instantly Hide & Unhide iPhone Applications - iPhone Alley Forums

Instantly Hide & Unhide iPhone Applications
Reply
Michael Johnston
This is my fricken site, durrrr
 
Michael Johnston's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Rockford, IL
Posts: 2,697
Thanks: 11
Thanked 45 Times in 40 Posts
Send a message via AIM to Michael Johnston
Instantly Hide & Unhide iPhone Applications -    #1


This tip is only intended for those who jailbroke their iPhone. This does not apply to unhacked iPhones. If you've been an iPhone owner for any significant amount of time you have likely had friends or family ask to grope your shiny new toy. While most of us don't necessarily mind letting others play with the iPod, YouTube, or Safari, allowing them access to Mail and your Text Messages is another story. Luckily almost any item on the home screen can be hidden with a simple double tap. Read on for the how-to.

The ability to hide and unhide applications was likely created specifically for Steve Jobs to present the iPod touch, but it has made its way into the latest software update. This handy little feature was found by a TUAW reader and recently mentioned on the blog.

So how is it done? The feature, as you might have guessed, isn't enabled by default. To enable it, you need to have a jailbroken iPhone with some means of accessing the filesystem so you can edit com.apple.springboard.plist. Specifically:


  • Navigate to "/var/root/Library/Preferences/" and open up "com.apple.springboard.plist" in a plain text editor.
  • In the text editor, look for "<key>SBEnableALS</key><true/>". Below it, add these two lines:
    <key>SBEnableAppReveal</key>
    <true/>

  • Save that and restart your iPhone. When you get back to the home screen, Safari, YouTube, and The iTunes Store will be hidden. To unhide them, double tap their respective spaces.
  • To enable hiding of other applications, add the following to the Info.plist file contained within the .app folder:

    <key>SBIsRevealable</key>
    <true/>

  • To disable hiding, change the "true" variable to "false". It should end up looking like:

    <key>SBIsRevealable</key>
    <false/>





The disadvantages? For one, every time SpringBoard is restarted, the apps become hidden again. This means that you'll have to unhide apps every time you restart or install new applications. They do stay unhidden when you put the iPhone to sleep, though. Also, some apps, such as the iPod, are "special" and won't work with this trick. You may also notice a slight bit of lag when you first tap a revealable app because it's waiting for the second tap, but it shouldn't hurt anything. Bottom line: it's not for everyone, but it's handy for those who'd use it.

Now, the next time someone asks to see your iPhone, you won't need to worry about them changing your settings, calling Aunt Betty, or reading your emails.

Enjoy!
__________________

About my iPhone:
iPhone & Color: White 32GB iPhone 3GS
iPhone Version: Whatever the latest is because I'm crazy like that.
Computer & OS: 15" Unibody MacBook Pro + OS X Leopard 10.5



AIM: iPhoneAlley
twitter: MichaelJohnston
Michael Johnston is online now   Reply With Quote
Kai
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Hiding Ipod and videos -    #2
You can hide the special ipod and video icons too, it's just that videos and the music player are the same app. you need to put the SBIsRevealable key at around the same place in the info plist as where the names 'ipod' ('music' for the touch) and 'video' display names are. put the SBIsRevealable in the same places as the UIRoleDisplayName key.
  Reply With Quote
Scott1234
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Use this to achieve the standard 13 icon springboard -    #3
You can use this to set a standard 13 icon springboard. The method below also lets you set the springboard settings without having to convert the plist to a text file when on windows.
http://mxweas.com/blog/2008/01/stand...r-clear-icons/
  Reply With Quote
Scott1234
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
  #4
On a freshly jailbroken iPhone those plist's are binaries, so you must use apple's plist editor or convert them to text.
  Reply With Quote
*staysblazed
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Hiding Incoming text and missed calls -    #5
I just bought my iphone. I cannont allow the number to show everytime someone text messages me, aslo when I have a missed call. I need this privacy. Please if anyone can help me. I dont mind if it says txt but it cannot show the number, not even the area code. My treo allowed me to be discreet, so I am used to living this way. Please contact me directly.. Staysblazed@aol.com
I will even offfer money for your assistance. thank you
  Reply With Quote
enimal
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
traduction please -    #6
traduction in french please
  Reply With Quote
Kevin Dunahee
iPhone 3G Winner
 
Kevin Dunahee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Metropolis
Posts: 507
Thanks: 6
Thanked 19 Times in 18 Posts
Send a message via AIM to Kevin Dunahee
  #7
I'm guessing that means translate to French.

I happen to have a babelfish here with me that should do the trick. I don't understand French but I'm positive it isn't grammatically correct. Not to mention the command lines are almost guaranteed to be wrong, but good luck friend!


Si vous avez été un propriétaire d'iPhone pour tout nombre de heures significatif vous avez probablement eu des amis ou le famille demander ?* chercher votre nouveau brillant jouent. Tandis que la plupart d'entre nous ne s'occupe pas nécessairement de laisser d'autres jouer avec l'iPod, le YouTube, ou le safari, leur permettre l'accès au courrier et ?* vos message textuels est une autre histoire. Heureusement presque n'importe quel article sur l'écran ?* la maison peut être caché avec un double robinet simple. Lu dessus pour comment-?*.

La capacité de se cacher et des applications d'unhide ont été probablement créées spécifiquement pour que Steve Jobs présente le contact d'iPod, mais il a transformé sa manière en dernière actualisation de logiciel. Ce petit dispositif maniable a été trouvé par un lecteur de TUAW et récemment mentionné sur le blog.

Ainsi comment est-il fait ? Le dispositif, car vous pourriez avoir deviné, n'est pas permis par défaut. Pour le permettre, vous devez avoir un iPhone de jailbroken avec quelques moyens d'accéder au système de fichiers ainsi vous pouvez éditer com.apple.springboard.plist. Spécifiquement :


* Dirigez ?* « /var/root/Library/Preferences/ » et ouvrez « com.apple.springboard.plist » dans un éditeur de texte plat.
* Dans l'éditeur de texte, recherchez « SBEnableALS ». Au-dessous de lui, ajoutez ces deux lignes :

SBEnableAppReveal



* Sauf qu'et remettez en marche votre iPhone. Quand vous revenez ?* l'écran ?* la maison, le safari, le YouTube, et le magasin d'iTunes seront cachés. À l'unhide ils, double robinet leurs espaces respectifs.
* Pour permettre la dissimulation d'autres applications, ajoutez le suivant au dossier d'Info.plist contenu dans le dossier de .app :


SBIsRevealable



* Pour désactiver la dissimulation, changez la variable « vraie » en « faux ». Elle devrait finir ressembler vers le haut ?* :


SBIsRevealable







Les inconvénients ? Pour un, chaque fois que le tremplin est remis en marche, les apps deviennent cachés encore. Ceci signifie que vous devez des apps d'unhide chaque fois vous relancement ou installer de nouvelles applications. Elles restent unhidden quand vous mettez l'iPhone pour dormir, cependant. En outre, quelques apps, tels que l'iPod, sont « special » et ne fonctionneront pas avec ce tour. Vous pouvez également noter un léger peu de retard quand vous tapez d'abord un $$etAPP revealable parce qu'il attend le deuxième robinet, mais il ne devrait blesser rien. Résultat : il n'est pas pour chacun, mais il est maniable pour ceux qui l'emploierait.

Maintenant, la prochaine fois que quelqu'un demande ?* voir votre iPhone, vous n'aurez pas besoin de s'inquiéter de eux changeant vos arrangements, appelle tante Betty, ou lisant vos email.

Appréciez !
Kevin Dunahee is offline   Reply With Quote
violet
Forum Lurker
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
  #8
that's great
violet is offline   Reply With Quote
Dr.Lee
Forum Lurker
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
  #9
Wow that's such a nice review. Thanks a lot
Dr.Lee is offline   Reply With Quote
DJH
Forum Lurker
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Startup -    #10
Thanks for all those tips, worked out quite well.
But they appear at startup and disapear when I double tap them. In an ideal world, I would like them to be hidden at startup.
BTW: I am running 2.2.1 (5H11)
And my com.apple.springboard.plist lives in /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences
DJH is offline   Reply With Quote
midnightshow22
Forum Lurker
 
midnightshow22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 7
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
  #11
A really helpful tip, Thank you!
midnightshow22 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:13 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.