Free Android Apps from Blackmarket Alpha

For those of you looking for a way to fill the void left by the downfall of Applanet, fear not.  Blackmarket Alpha is looking to fill the gap.  While not as elegant in design as Applanet, it is proving to be much more reliable...that is to say it works, which is more than Applanet can say.  Click on the link to get the file straight to your phone...

Click Here for Blackmarket Alpha

The app is simple enough to use.  When you run it the first time you will see tabs for "Applications," "Games," and "Installed."  The first two take you to more categories in their respective areas.  The apps are all listed alphabetically so the search tools are a little limited.  There is the option to also search for a particular app by name which is useful.

As always, remember that the point of these types of apps are to try BEFORE YOU BUY!  Always do whatever you can to support app developers by buying apps you like.  Let app makers make a living at it so we can sit back and enjoy more app goodness.

Free iOS Apps With Installous

One of the first questions anyone asks after jailbreaking is "Where da free apps at?!" Granted, some people may ask the same question in a more grammatically correct manner.

Once you are jailbroken, the process of being able to install free apps is fairly painless. First off, we have to address the issue of why someone would do this. The purpose of this hack is to be able to download apps for free to try out before you buy (emphasis being on "BEFORE YOU BUY"). If you find an app that you like, you should always, always, ALWAYS download the paid app from the App Store to support the app makers.

Step 1: Begin by going into Cydia (which you should have once you jailbreak your iOS device).

Step 2: Once inside Cydia, click on Sources on the bottom row of buttons

Step 3: This screen shows the app repositories you currently have.  (A repository is basically a big bank full of apps.)  We want to add a new repository so click on the Edit button on the top right corner.  On the next screen click on the Add button on the top right corner.



Step 4: Now we are going to tell the program where to find the new repository.  Type the following into the search box, exactly as it appears so that your search box has only this text: http://cydia.hackulo.us

Once you have done that click on Add Source.



You'll see this next screen as everything is installed.



Step 5: Now your list of app repositories will have a new option...Hackulous.  Click on it.



Step 6: Once inside the Hackullous app, click on the Install button on the top right corner.



Step 7: Click Confirm on the next screen to finalize the installation



Step 8: Once the installation is complete, you will see the Installous icon on your screen.  Just tap this to launch your new Installous app store.



Once you're inside Installous, you can see the categories of apps listed on the left.  There is also a Search button on the top bar to search for specific apps.



Installous is run and maintained by regular people that are working hard to bring you a great and easy way to try apps before you buy.  As a result of the grass roots basis of the program, it can be frequently out of service due to high traffic.  Always be patient when using things like this and understand that people are working hard to bring you this.  If you want to help out, you can always make a donation to those dedicated few bringing you these great services.  Just go to http://hackulo.us/ for more details on the app and to donate.

If you get this to work drop a comment below and let us know what device and version you ran it on.  And remember... if you find an app you like, spend a few bucks to buy the real version from the App Store.  Keep app makers cranking out quality apps.

JailBreakMe.com

The worlds easiest and most elegant jail break tool is back.  Comex has released the much anticipated JailBreakMe.com update recently and so far there are a lot of happy Apple fanboys around the world.  The biggest feature of this update was the inclusion of the iPad 2, which up until this point was un-jailbreakable (yup, that's totally a word).  Now even the owners of Apple's latest and greatest tablet can partake in the Cydia goodness.

So how does it work?  On your iOS device's browser, just go to JailBreakMe.com.  From there you will see a screen that has a single button.  Click it and you are jail broken.  It literally could not be any simpler or cleaner than that.  So far reports are that this will work on all current iOS devices but that probably won't be the case for long as Apple usually makes it a point to crash the Jail Break party whenever it can.

And remember, jailbreaking will void your warranty but it is NOT ILLEGAL! And if you ever want to go back, you can just undo the whole processs by using iTunes to revert back and fully wiping your device. Just remember to back everything up before you do.

If the jailbreak worked for you, drop a comment below and tell us what device you did it on.

Applanet Still Down

UPDATE: We have added a link to another app similar to Applanet but with better availability called BlackMarket Alpha.  Check it out here...

If you are reading this post then you are probably well aware that Applanet has been down for some time now. It's still unknown exactly when the service will be up and running but rumor has it that it's down in preparation for a new and improved version that has been slated to be released for some time now.

In the meantime, we are reviewing a few other options for online app repsitories and will post an article with some of our favorites soon. Sit tight and keep checking back frequently.

Video Footage into iPad 2 for iMovie

One of the points Steve Jobs made sure he emphasized during the iPad 2 unveil was that it was now powerful enough to be a portable video editing tool.  He rolled out the new iMovie made specifically for the iPad and demonstrated how you would edit footage you shot with the iPad 2's built in camera.

However, that's where the problems begin.  Unfortunately, the camera on the iPad 2 really isn't very good, not to mention that fact that you would probably look rather ridiculous walking around on vacation with a 10 inch tablet in front of your face.  So how do we get footage we shot elsewhere (either on our cell phones or dedicated still or video cameras) into the iPad to edit on iMovie.

If you just transfer footage in, you will be able to see the footage in your photos folder, but you won't be able to access it in iMovie.  The reason for this is that iMovie is very particular about the type of encoding the videos have to be in to be recognized.  Photos, for the most part, will be ok to be transferred in, but video must be transformed into a format that iMovie and the iPad 2 like.

After much research, a user on the Apple forums seems to have discovered the secret.  Forum member Zwiller5 has found a program that will do the conversion as well as the correct settings to make your video footage and your iPad 2 live in harmony.  You can see his original settings at this following link...

Apple Forums: Settings for Video for iMovie on iPad 2

(You'll have to scroll down a little to find his post.)

The program he suggests using is a PC application called Aleesoft Free iPad Video Converter (the name sounds pretty self explanatory).  He also includes all of the settings.  The application itself is relatively user friendly so you should be able to enter the information without too much hassle.  I tried it myself and have converted footage shot on my Nexus S as well as footage shot on my Panasonic point and shoot that does 720p video.  Both times the footage came out very well and the editing in iMovie was a breeze.

I'm going to keep looking for a more suitable program for the Mac that can do the same thing, but in the meantime we can now start transferring footage over to the iPad and let out the Scorsese in all of us.

Getting Video Into Your Android

So by now you're a DVD ripping wizard. You've got some movies on your computer in the MP4 format and you're ready to get those into your Android device. The last (and arguably easiest) step is transferring the video files. There are several ways to do this so we'll start with the basics.

First off, we're going to do this by simply manually dragging the video file into our phones memory card or built in memory (depending on your phone). First off, we'll plug our phone into the computer using a USB cable (usually a microUSB cable for Android phones). Depending on how your phone is setup, it may automatically show up as a new external drive on your computer. We'll assume it didn't. Pull the down your drop down status bar and you should see an option saying "Select to Copy Files to This Device" (or something like that). On the next screen press the "Connect USB Storage" button and give the device a moment to mount the memory card.

Now, on your computer your memory card will show up as an external storage drive. On the PC use Windows Explorer to find your memory card, and on the Mac use Finder. On the memory card I like to have a folder called "Videos" that I use to hold all my movies. Create this folder on your memory card and then just click and drag the video file from wherever it is on your computer into this folder. Depending on the size of the file, it could take a few minutes to complete the transfer.



Now you can open your gallery and go to the video folder and your movie should be there, ready to be played. You can also download other apps on the market to use as your video players. I like the DoubleTwist player. You can download it from the market for free and it's great because it does a great job of remembering where you stopped watching the movie and continues from there next time you start watching.

If you had any kind of errors in this process, drop a note in the comments and let me know what device you were trying this with. In the next article we're going to look at doing the same thing using Double Twist. Stay tuned...

More DVD Ripping Goodness

Ok, let's say you weren't a big fan of the VLC approach.  Now we're going to talk about another free program for your computer that can convert DVD's into formats that can be transferred to your mobile device.

Handbrake is an open source, free program that is downloadable for your Mac or PC.  It's a very powerful program that can rip DVD's as well as convert video files from one format to another.  For example, let's say you already have a video file that is an AVI file but you want to put that into your mobile device.  You'd have to convert that to an MP4 video file, which is what most portable devices like.  When it comes to ripping DVD's, Handbrake can rip a lot of formats, but not all of them.  DVD's are all encoded a little differently in their copy protection style, so you're going to have more success with some programs versus others.

Now we'll get started and first download Handbrake.  Follow the link below to go to Handbrakes site and download the version for your computer...

Click Here to Download Handbrake

Once you've gone through the installation process, go ahead and pop a DVD into your computer and then open Handbrake (actually, you can do that in either order).  The program is virtually identical for Mac or PC, but for the sake of this demonstration we're looking at the Mac version.



Sometimes when you first open the program, it will prompt you for the Source (where is the video or DVD you want to convert).  If it doesn't, you will get a the main window of the program.  Click on the Source icon on the upper left corner.  If you're ripping a DVD, select the DVD drive and hit open.  If you're converting a video file into a different format, find that video file on your computer and click open.

The program will say "Scanning Source" for a few moments and then a screen like this will pop up.  Now we're going to adjust the settings depending on the device you're going to be watching the movie on in the end.  On the right side of the program is a slide out menu that shows some device presets.  If you don't see that, click on the Toggle Presets Icon on the top right of the program.  If you're converting to an Apple device, just pick that device from the menu and you're basically set.  For Android, you want to select the Normal profile under the Regular group.

Next, back on the program's main interface, go to the box labeled File and enter where you want the finished video to appear.  You can even have it just save to the desktop so you can find it easier.

Beyond that, I recommend leaving most of the settings alone.  If you want the video file to be a certain size (maybe a little smaller to conserve space) you can click on the Video tab near the center of the program, then check the Target Size box under Quality.  Now enter the size you want the finished video to be and Handbrake will adjust the video settings to get as close as possible to that size.  Naturally, the smaller the file size, the lower the quality of the audio and video.

Once you're happy with the settings, go to the top of the screen and click on the Start icon and let it do it's thing.  Handbrake is much faster than VLC, so depending on your computers speed you could have a DVD ripped in as little as 15 minutes or less.

If you are planning on converting multiple files that you have saved on your computer, you can click on the Add to Queue button at the top of the program.  This adds your video to a list that will do all at once.  Then just keep adding sources like you did before and hit Add to Queue for each one.  Once you're ready, press Start and it will do them all, one at a time.

Drop a comment below if this worked for you and how the video quality was once you were done.  We'll have another post coming up soon on how to get those video files onto your mobile device.

Another Way To Root

OK, so let's say you tried the Z4Root method of rooting your Android phone but for whatever reason it didn't work.  No worries...we have another way.

It's another app called VISIONary+ and this one is not (at the time of this writing) available from the Android Market.  Follow this link from your phone to go to the downoad...

Click Here to Download

Once you have it downloaded, go through the standard steps and install it.  Before you run the app, though, go into your phones settings by hitting the Menu button while on the Home Screen.  Select Settings and then Applications.  Click on Development and make sure USB Debugging is checked.  VISIONary+ won't work if USB Debugging is not checked on.



Now you can launch VISIONary+ and you will see a screen with several options.  Like Z4Root, we have the options to run this in temproot or permanent root.  With this app, to be on the safe side, we're first just going to run a temp root.  If you prefer, you can check the first check box (Temproot on boot) so that the program will automatically run the temproot everytime you turn the phone on.  Don't worry about selecting "Run Visionary.sh after root," as that is just a way to run a script after you have rooted.  Since we're not doing any scripting, we won't worry about that.  Leave the rest of the settings alone and hit the Temproot Now button.  You should now see the Visionary logo for a few seconds and you will just let the app do it's thing.

Once it's done you should be able to find the Superuser App in your App drawer.  Now you are temporarily rooted (meaning that you're rooted until you reboot your device).  If that went well, you can now run a Permanent Root by running Visionary again and pressing the Permanent Root button.


If at anytime you don't want your device to be rooted, there is the Unroot button at the bottom of the screen as a way out.

Hopefully this works for you and if it does, drop a comment below and let me know what phone you performed the root on.  If it didn't work, let me know and we'll figure out if there are different settings for your particular phone or version of Android.  Happy Rooting!

Increase Your Droid's Speed

Note: This is for Rooted phones only

These days phones are coming with faster and more powerful processors, many of them in the 1Ghz range and some phones are even packing powerful dual core chips.  What most people don't know is that phone of yours is actually not running at full speed.  Most manufacturers lower the speed of the phone in order to conserver battery power or to make sure that the chips don't burn out prematurely or overheat.  Fear not...for those speed freaks out there there is a way to increase your phones CPU speed.  You can also set your phone to lower the cpu speed when you're not using it to save battery life.

Start off by downloading SetCPU from the Android Market.  You can also search for it on Applanet if you have already downloaded that from our previous post.  When you run the program the first time you will get the usual Superuser permission screen.  Just press Allow and you're in.


The main screen shows 2 sliders, one labeled Max and one labeled Min.  Just as the names imply, one sets your phones Maximum speed and the other sets your phones Minimum speed.  What this means is that if you're phones not doing anything, it will be running at the slower speed and conserving battery.  When you start running applications or doing anything on it, it'll kick it up to the Max speed.  If you're more interested in conserving battery power, you can lower both these sliders.  If you want the most speed you can get, set them both to the highest setting, but just be aware that it's going to kill your battery life.  Also, I've found that if you lower the speed too much (below 300Mhz) your phone becomes so slow it's pretty much unusable.  The settings in the picture are what I typically run my phone at.  You can also select an option from the drop down menu and further customize the settings as the names describe.

For those wanting to get a little more advanced, you can also set certain rules for your phone from the Profiles tab.  For example, you can tell it that if it's on the charger just always keep both at Max since you're not worried about battery life.  Or, if your battery falls below a certain percentage lower the speed to conserve your CPU.

To set this up, just click over to the Profiles tab and then press Add Profile.  On the next screen, select the parameter you want to adjust.  Once you have that parameter set, you can will see it on the list with a checkbox.  Just check or uncheck the box if you want your phone to run that setting.  If this seems over your head for now, don't worry about.  It's just another layer to the program that you can play with as you get more comfortable with it.

There are several versions of these types of programs out there but this is the one that I have always had a lot of success with.  A friend recently showed me another program inspired by this with a more simple interface.  Once I've had a chance to test that out I'll post a review of that one as well for people that may feel a little overwhelmed with SetCPU.

On a final note, you will hear people talking about "Overclocking" their devices.  This means that you can run your 1Ghz phone at 1.2Ghz or even 1.3Ghz.  This involves flashing custom ROMS and custom kernals onto your phone.  At this point that's a little advanced for us but if enough people are interested I will start discussing those topics in future entries.

Rip DVD's To Your Computer

At some point, you're going to want to put movies onto your mobile device, whether it's an iPod, iPad, iPhone or Android device.  With screens becoming higher and higher resolution, they're just begging to be made into your own personal movie theater.  The question is how does one start with a DVD and end up with a file on your portable device?  There are a few steps involved here so we're going to start off with the first phase...getting the movie from your DVD onto your computer.

For this lesson, I'm going to be teaching you how to use VLC to rip the DVD's.  VLC is a media player application for Mac and PC that is completely free.  It's a very robust program that can play just about any file you can think of.  There are other programs out there that can probably rip movies a little faster or with one or two fewer steps, but I'm starting with VLC since it's available for multiple computer systems and most importantly...it's free!  We love free things!

Download VLC onto your computer from here.... VideoLan.org

Open the file and go through the appropriate steps as it prompts you to install the program on either your Mac or PC.  For the sake of this demonstration I'm going to be doing this on the Mac version but it should be essentially the same as PC.  If you have any questions as you follow along on the PC version, drop a comment below and I'll walk you through it.

Now you have VLC installed on your computer.  Go ahead and put a DVD into your computers disk drive.  Open the VLC program and click on the File Menu, then select Open Disc.

Now we're going to change a few quick settings.  Make sure the DVD check box is selected, and below that check the box that says "No DVD Menus" (we're just ripping the movie, not the menus).  For Device Name, that should be your DVD drive.  If it doesn't fill in automatically, you'll have to click the drop down menu and select the drive you want.  In the box marked "Title" make sure that you put "0" (the number zero, not the letter o).

Now below all of that, click the box that says Streaming/Saving.  This will enable the button on the right labeled "Settings."  Click on that.

Now we have some more settings to adjust.  The first line says "Display Screen Locally" and has a check box.  If you select that box, you can watch the movie play as it is ripping it.  Generally, this program is very slow and takes just about as long as it would take to watch the movie, but leaving this unchecked will make it just slightly faster.

In the file box, type in the location and file name you want the video saved under.  I usually make a folder in my Documents folder called Converted Movies and save all of them there, but you can put it wherever you like.  Just remember where you put it so you can find it later.

Next, for Encapsulation Method we're going to select MPEG 4 from the drop down menu.  This is the file most commonly read by most mobile devices.  Below that, under Transcoding Options, set it up as I have in the picture.  Video should be mp4v and Audio should be mp4a.  The Bitrates have to do with the amount of data in the video file.  The higher the Bitrate, the bigger the file and the higher quality the image and sound.  I find that 1024 is a good compromise of picture quality and file size.  Feel free to experiment with different settings if you like.



And that's it.  Click OK then Click Open on the next screen and you should see the VLC player start playing the DVD.  It will look like the DVD is just playing but it's actually ripping the movie.  It will take just about as long to rip it as it would to just play the movie, so now would be a good time to go grab a bite to eat, take a nap, or better yet...tell all your friends about how cool HackMondo is!  (Shameless plug...sorry)

Like I said, there are faster programs out there but most of them would require you to part with your hard earned dineros and that's something we're trying to avoid.  In the next part of this series, we're going to start looking at transferring this new video file onto your mobile device using programs like iTunes, DoubleTwist and even just doing it manually!  I know...we're getting crazy!

More Free Apps!

Since everybody loves free apps, here's another way to get some free Android goodness into your phone.

There's a website called 4Shared.com that is a general online file repository, which is a fancy way for saying a place where people can upload files online and leave them for others to download.  It consists of all kinds of files, but we'll be focusing on the Android apps.

From your phone's web browser, go to 4Shared.com.  You will be presented with a basic search bar.  Here you're going to type the name of the file you're looking for, but you have to be very particular about how you type it.  Android apps all end with the extension ".apk" so you have to type the filename followed by the ".apk" extension.  For example, if you were going to look for Z4Root you would type z4root.apk (don't worry about capitalization).

Sometimes you still won't get a hit on the file which means you'll have to try some different variations on the filename.  Typically, this means putting an underscore ( _ ) in between some of the words in the title.  So for example, if angrybirds.apk didn't come up, I would try angry_birds.apk.  Since 4Shared.com is just a big warehouse of apps, it can't really interpret what you're looking for as well as if you were searching in the Android Market.  This just means you have to have a little creativity in trying out file names.  Of course, if nothing is working, it could also simply mean that that file has not been uploaded to the site.

When you find a file you're looking for, you may find a whole list of files that have been uploaded.  Usually they will have a number near the name indicating the version of the app.  Typically, it would be beneficial to download whichever one appears to be the latest app.  Just keep in mind that if you download the file and it doesn't seem to work right, you may be better off uninstalling it and going back and downloading an older version.  Sometimes different versions were originally intended for different models of phones or different versions of Android.  Also, when selecting a particular file, you an also see the number of times it's been downloaded.  I've found that the versions with the higher number of downloads are usually a safer bet.



After you click on the file you're looking for, the next screen will show a message saying "Your Download will be ready in 20 seconds" and have a count down timer.  Sometimes that countdown can be up to 320 seconds.  They only do this to slow you down so that you will buy a paid membership to the site and be able to download without waiting.  Once that countdown ends, a link will appear.  Click on it and your download should begin.

One of the benefits to using  a site like 4Shared.com is that you can find apps that aren't in the Android Market.  For example, Z4root is not (at the time of this article) on the Android Market so the only place you will find is in file sharing sites such as this.

As is the case anytime you're installing apps that did not come from the Android market, make sure you have some kind of spyware and malware security installed on your phone because you never know what you're really getting.

I'm Rooted...Now What?

OK, so hopefully you may be rooted by now.  If not, no worries...we'll have more ways to root coming soon.

The first question people ask are what apps are good to get once you have your phone rooted.  That's hard to answer because it just depends on what you want to do with your phone.  I'm going to mention a few apps here that are popular and good to start off with.  You can also go to the Android Market and just do a search for Root and you'll find listings of apps that require root access.  Let's start with one of the most popular apps...

Wi-Fi Tether (Click to Download): One of the first things people want to do with their rooted is phone is to add the capability to turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot without having to pay your wireless carrier a monthly fee.  The best way is with the free Wi-Fi Tether app.  There are other apps on the market that will do the same thing, but for a free app I haven't found many that do it better.  Notice: Tethering uses a lot of data so make sure you have an Unlimited Data plan or you could get hit with some major overage charges from your wireless carrier!



Once you've downloaded the app from that link I just provided, go through the regular install.  You will get prompted for Superuser permissions the first time you run it.  Just press Allow and you're good to go.  What you'll see right off the bat is a giant Wi-Fi icon that says press to tether.  Press it and you're tethering...it's that easy.

However, I do recommend you adjust a couple settings first.  From the main screen in the Wi-Fi Tether app, press the menu button, and then press settings.  At the top of the list is the Enable Wifi Encryption checkbox.  Make sure this is checked otherwise anyone can jump onto your wifi and slow you down.  Then go down and press Change Passphrase.  Pick a new passphrase (password) that will be required everytime someone wants to log onto this particular wifi hotspot.  The other option you may or may not want to change is the Change SSID option.  This just allows you to change the name that appears as the hotspot.  By default it's AndroidTether but you can change it if you want something custom.

I would generally leave the rest of the settings alone unless you know what you're doing.  Occasionally this program can be a little "buggy" and require you to  try to connect a few times before it works.  That's normal, just be patient.

If this worked for you, please leave a comment below and tell me what phone you tried it on.  If it didn't work, let me know in the comments and we'll see if we can't get you all figured out.  Happy Tethering!

Let's Get Rooting

Before we begin learning how to actually root an Android phone, it's important to remember that all phones are different and because of that, some of these methods may work for you and some may not. Some phones are easier to root and others are a pain. I'm going to try to share several different ways so hopefully one of them will work for you.

The first we are going to look at is a very simple method using a program called Z4Root. The interface is extremely simple and straightforward and it usually has a pretty high success rate for most phones.

At the time of this post, Z4Root was not available on the Android Market so I'm providing a direct link for the download...

Click here ---> Z4Root

Before you hit the link, make sure you have your unknown sources box checked to allow non-android market apps to be installed.  (For help, see this post about setting up to allow Unknown Sources)

Now you have the file downloaded and installed. When you launch the app for the first time you will see 2 buttons...Temp Root and Permanent Root. Temp root will root your phone until you turn it off and turn it back on again, at which time the root will be wiped out. Permanent root will keep it rooted regardless of turning your phone on or off. Don't be scared of this, though, because even if you do permanent root you will then have a very easy way to unroot later if you want (we will cover that later).

So now you'll press Permanent Root and you will see a spinning wheel and some text at the bottom of the screen telling you what it's doing. If all goes well, your phone will probably be like this for a few minutes and then it will reboot by itself.

Now we're going to check to see if the root worked. Pull up your App Drawer and scroll down until you should see something called Superuser. This is an app that basically acts as a guardian protecting your phone from giving up root access to programs that you don't want to have that access. It's a security feature and its a good thing it's there.


From now, all your regular apps will run completely the same as they did before. The first time you run a new program that does ask for permission to access your root folder, a box will pop up from the Superuser app asking if you want to allow it. There will also be a check box that will remember your selection so you only have to do this the first time. Just click Allow and you're good to go.

Now let's say you want to remove the root for whatever reason. Just launch Z4Root again and now you see an Unroot button. Press it, let your phone do it's thing similar to when you rooted it, and that's it. You're unrooted. Easy, huh?

There you go...You're rooted and now ready to run all kinds of cool apps. If this didn't work for you, don't worry. I'm going to have more posts in the future with other methods of rooting and hopefully one of them will do the trick. If this did work for you, please leave a comment below mentioning that it worked and what kind of phone you did this on.

Secure Your Droid

Once you get out there and start downloading apps like a madman (or madwoman) you're going to be opening yourself up for potential attacks from hackers.  It's possible that some of the apps you download could be malware that can do bad things to your phone, especially if you're downloading from somewhere other than the official Android Market.

There are several ways to secure your device but my favorite has always been Lookout Mobile Defender.  This app will run in the background on your device and will scan every new app you install and tell you if it's safe.  It can also do sweeps of your phone to search for anything that shouldn't be there as well as help you locate your phone if you lose it.  Another great feature is doing regular backups in case your phone's memory gets wiped so you won't lose anything.  The best part is that the app is free if you only want to scan your apps and want the missing device location service.  For others features they will charge you a small amount so it's up to you if you want the full monty or not.

Click the link below from your phones browser to download it directly from the Android market...

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.lookout

There are plenty of other security apps on the market (like Norton Antivirus) but I've always had great success with Lookout.  If you have any other apps to recommend for security, drop a comment below.

Free Android Apps!!

UPDATE: Due to Applanet being down for an extended period of time, we have added a link to another app similar to Applanet but with better availability called BlackMarket Alpha.  Check it out here...

Yes, you read that right.  We are now going to get into the meat and potatoes of the seedy underside of the Android app world...free apps!

There are several ways of getting free apps, so we're going to start with one of the more complete ways.  An app called Applanet.

Before we can get into that, we have to get our phone ready.  From the home screen, press the menu button and then select Options.

On the next menu, select Applications.  Here, you should see an option that says Unknown Sources.  Make sure this is checked.  By default, your Android phone is setup to only allow you to download apps from the Android Market.  They do this to make sure someone doesn't try to install malicious apps that may damage your phone.

Now you're ready to download Applanet and start downloading free apps.  There are several ways to do this.  First off, you can visit the applanet website...

http://www.applanet.net

There you will have several options of downloading the file either to your computer or straight to your phone if you're visiting from your phones web browser.

Or, if you are like me and you're just too lazy to go to another site...just hit the link below from your phone's browser  and you should start a download of the file.

http://applanet.net/app.apk

You should see a download start on your phone.  Once the download is complete, select the file and you should be prompted to install it, similar to any other app from the market.  Go through the regular steps, install the file and you're ready to go.

You will immediately notice that Applanet is designed to look and behave just like the Android Market.  There are categories and listings of free and paid apps.  Find the apps you want, hit download, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Why would someone download free apps?  This is intended to be used to test drive apps.  If you find an app you like, we STRONGLY recommend taking the time to buy the regular app on the market to help support the developers.  They work hard to get the apps to you and without our support, who would be left to make apps?

Drop a comment below if this did or did not work for you.  Applanet is a little finicky and often times their network is down, leaving you with just a blank screen when you launch it.  Have patience with it and feel free to visit their site for more detailed info and technical help.

What is rooting?

So what is rooting?

When you buy a cell phone (in this case an Android phone), that phone has passed through a long list of hands before it gets to you. First Google makes the Android operating system (like windows on a pc) and then they give that to the phone manufacturers (like Motorola or HTC). Those companies then install that on one of their shiny new phones but they also add their own little tweaks and changes to Android (like HTC Sense or Motorola Blur). They do this to add different features or to give it something that will differentiate it from the competition.

Next those phones reach the hands of the wireless carriers. These carriers will then also make changes to your phone to make it better suited to work on their network and to better control how you use the phone. For example, just about every modern Android phone has the ability to turn itself into a WiFi hotspot to get your laptop or other devices in the Internet using your phones data connection. However, the phone companies will block that feature so that then you have to pay a fee to them to use it. This usually appears as a monthly fee, typically in the $15 and up range.

So how does this relate to rooting? Rooting is simply the process involved in unlocking features and access to your phone that would normally be blocked. Once your android phone is rooted, you can then begin installing apps that will be able to change the settings on your phone that would normally be blocked, like adjusting how fast your phone works or being able to turn it into a wifi hotspot without paying your wireless carrier a fee.

The act of rooting your phone is in no way illegal, however it may violate your terms of service with your wireless carrier or phone manufacturer so check the fine print before proceeding. As with any modification you do to your phone, there is always the risk of permanently rendering it unusable, or "bricking" it.

If you have any questions about what rooting actually is, please leave a comment below.

Welcome

To put it very simply, this site is designed for people with little to no tech savvy who want to get a little more out of their shiny electronic toys. We're going to go over terms like hacking, rooting, and jailbreaking and what they all mean and if they are right for you. Or maybe you've already rooted your android phone and now you want to know what to do with. We'll post articles about the best apps for rooted, jail broken and even unmodified phones and tech.

Primarily this site will run off of user requests for information. If you have a question just post a comment and we'll do our best to answer.

As a disclaimer, virtually all of the information found here is from articles around the web and whenever possible I will put links to those sites and to the original authors. The main goal of HackMondo is to take all that information and convert it to non-techno babble for everyone to understand. Please check with your own wireless carrier or device manufacturer to find out if any of the things we talk about here will void your warranty or violate your terms of service. Proceed at your own risk.