Freeteor - Native iPhone app for WebTexts

vinnycoyne

Hi all, I've spent the past few weeks getting to grips with the iPhone (unofficial) dev tools and I've put together a little app called Freeteor.

It works the same way as the other free text apps, in that it connects to your MyMeteor account through WiFi (or EDGE) and sends webtexts through the website.

I ported over the back end of the code from JSMS, so big thanks to those guys for making that project open source (if you're unhappy about this project, I'll pull the plug on it). I've credited in the app, hope I haven't missed anyone else who may have been involved!

The app doesn't liase directly with the iPhone's address book (unfortunately I don't have the time/patience to figure it out right now), so you'll have to export your contacts into a VCard file and SSH that onto your iPhone.

All instructions, downloads, source, etc are available here:

http://code.google.com/p/freeteor/

I hope to improve the app whenever I have some spare time (not often), so feel free to email me (freeteor at gmail) or leave comments in this thread.

(Please note this is an early release and my first iPhone app, so be gentle )

vinnycoyne

Managed to get an Installer.app repo set up this evening after a bit of messing:

http://www.vinnycoyne.com/iPhone/repo/repo.xml (note the capital 'P')

Add as a source in Installer and do a refresh. There should be a new category called WebTexts, that's where you'll find the app.

Version 0.5 is also on the way, with a couple of small bugfixes. :pac:

fbradyirl

Hey there.

Best of luck with this app. I might see if I can give you some help with this project in a couple of months time when I get an iPhone.

From the JSMS Team

vinnycoyne

Cheers, any help will be much appreciated, especially if I decide to add similar features to what JSMS already has (i.e. message counter, support for O2 & Vodafone, etc).

fbradyirl

great i will be in touch. by the way, out of interest, how did you convert our java message sending code to work with the iphone? what process did you use to do this? did you use some tool to convert it to cocao?

vinnycoyne

I didn't use a conversion tool, I basically just took a look at how you were doing it and figured out how to do it in Cocoa. There's a great Cocoa website http://www.cocoadev.com/ if you're looking to get into Mac development.

By the way, I've made some progress with the message counter and added a few more bells and whistles which I should be able to release as v0.6 soon.

vinnycoyne

I had a spot of trouble with the the old repo, so the new v0.6 can be downloaded here:

http://myrepospace.com/repo/lackofcolour

Remove the old repo in Installer and add this new one.

Freeteor will be available for download in the "lackofcolour - mRs" category.

I will be using this new URL for all future updates.

vinnycoyne

I've received quite a few requests for O2 support, so I finally got around to adding it in v0.7.

If you already have http://myrepospace.com/repo/lackofcolour in your Installer.app sources list, you should see the update.

The app can also be downloaded from: http://code.google.com/p/freeteor/

Freeteor now supports the following for both Meteor & O2:

- Multi part messaging for messages greater than 160 chars.
- Auto CC - send a copy of every message to yourself.
- Ability to check no of remaining messages.
- Customisable contact list.
- Sent message history.

I will also look into adding Vodafone support in a future update.

fbradyirl

Nice work! Hope you don't mind me posting about Freeteor on the JSMS blog.

vinnycoyne

fbradyirl wrote: »

Nice work! Hope you don't mind me posting about Freeteor on the JSMS blog.

No problem at all! Much appreciated, cheers!

spidermonkey

this is brilliant! I've been using jsms ony mac for months and it wprks a treat! I have an iphone, I'm not jailbroken though, are there anylong term plans for this to be a legit app? I'D gladly pay a few euro for this!!
And I'm a designer too if ye want a hand with the visual side of things.
All the best,
Shane

spidermonkey

I see on the google code page that you will be making it available through the app store and for free too! Thank you!!! Looking forward to it

vinnycoyne

cheers!

yeah i have a functioning version for o2 and Meteor ready to go to the App Store. i'm holding it back until i can test it out on my own iPhone just to make sure (it works fine in the simulator).

i'll also be adding in vodafone support, but i'm having a bit of trouble with my account at the moment, so that might take a while...

anyway, you can follow my progress with the app here.

chrislad

Excellent. Would save me having to get a text add on for my iPhone contract. Good on ya!

vinnycoyne

Cool

Whether Apple will allow the app into the AppStore is still debatable, but I think it's worth a shot...

Failing that, it will still be available for jailbroken iPhones.

spidermonkey

thats brilliant, like chrislad said, it would save on the purchacing of a text add-on. itd be briliant if it eventually used the iphone contact list!

well done lackofcolour!

vinnycoyne

Thanks! Yep the AppStore/2.0 version will definitely have full contact list integration. I'll also be renaming the app to EirText to make it more generic (as Freeteor started off Meteor specific).

Samsung

Ho do i get this onto my phone using WinSCP?
I have all the files downloaded but i dont know how WinSCP.
Thanks

vinnycoyne

Samsung wrote: »

Ho do i get this onto my phone using WinSCP?
I have all the files downloaded but i dont know how WinSCP.
Thanks

I am assuming that you have a Jailbroken iPhone?


The easiest way to install is to use Installer and add http://myrepospace.com/repo/lackofcolour to your Sources.



alternatively, if you don't have Installer....

First you need to unzip the .zip file so that you have a Freeteor.app file on your PC.

Next, on your iPhone, go into Settings -> General -> Network -> Wi-Fi and click the blue arrow icon next to the WiFi network you are connected to.

Take note of your IP Address.

In WinSCP, enter your IP Address into the Host Name field.
Username: root
Password: alpine (or dottie)

Click Yes if a box pops up.

You'll need to navigate to the /Applications folder.

Copy across the Freeteor.app into this folder.

Next, right-click on Freeteor.app and make sure that there is a tick in the boxes next to the R and X for Owner, Group and Others. Tick the box next to "Set group, owner and permissions recursively" and click OK.

Restart your iPhone and the app's icon should be sitting on your screen.

Samsung

No im not jailbroken yet becuse i am running 2.0
Can i still run this?

vinnycoyne

No, but I'm working on a version for firmware 2.0 that I hope to release through the App Store. I'll update here when that happens.

Basq

Excellent work lackofcolour.. this was something I had planned to release but due to downgrading to Tiger, writing native apps for the iPhone wasn't possible due to my version of XCode (etc.)

Haven't installed but will give it a shot later.

Samsung

Cool thanks

vinnycoyne

If you have a pwned / jailbroken firmware 2.0 iPhone, I now have an early version of Eirtext available - see this post for more info.

Please note that support is for Meteor & O2 only.

You'll need to have OpenSSH installed (from Cydia) to get the app onto your iPhone. I have no idea if it will work on your phone, but I have it running nicely on mine here

Basq

lackofcolour,

Worked perfectly on my jailbroken first-gen iPhone on 2.0.

Absolutely top-notch work.. thanks!

vinnycoyne

basquille wrote: »

lackofcolour,

Worked perfectly on my jailbroken first-gen iPhone on 2.0.

Absolutely top-notch work.. thanks!

Thanks basquille, that's great to hear!

randombar

Hey Basq, any instructions on how to do this?

Lads how do I open that nice GUI development stuff that I saw on the apple open day?

vinnycoyne

GaryCocs wrote: »

Hey Basq, any instructions on how to do this?

Lads how do I open that nice GUI development stuff that I saw on the apple open day?

First you'll need to install OpenSSH. If you jailbroke your iPhone using Pwnage, you should have Cydia on your phone already. Use that to install OpenSSH.

If you're using Windows use WinSCP, use CyberDuck for Mac:

Next, on your iPhone, go into Settings -> Wi-Fi and click the blue arrow icon next to the WiFi network you are connected to.

Take note of your IP Address.

In WinSCP, enter your IP Address into the Host Name field.
In CyberDuck click File and Open Connection... Select SFTP and enter your iPhone IP address in the Server field.

Username: root
Password: alpine

Click Yes or Allow if a box pops up.

You'll need to navigate to the /Applications folder and copy the EirText.app into that folder. Then restart your iPhone.


If you go to http://developer.apple.com/iphone you can download the iPhone SDK & Xcode tools, which allow you to develop apps for the iPhone. It is Mac only at the moment.

randombar

nice one for that, I've down loaded de massive file sdk but stupidly don't know how to start de app?

EDIT: xcode app, ahh yes silly me!

vinnycoyne

Glad you got it working. Have fun!

su_dios

This is a great idea and great app. Love everything about it but I have a few questions and comments.

How does the vcard thing work for contacts? Also if I type a number in using the '123' option is there a way of adding a contact from the app? Like recent numbers or something.

I have entered my meteor number and my 4 digit pincode(original/current) but I'm not sure its logging in for me. It says my message count is unavailable and I have tried sending some test messages to myself but none delivered. Any ideas?

This is a brilliant app though! Fair play