81 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
layout: post
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title: "iPhoto on Older iDevices"
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subtitle: "Front-Facing camera? Pfft!"
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###iPhoto for iOS
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In the shadow of the new iPad, Apple finally released a version of iPhoto for
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iOS. The problem is it's only for iPhone4, iPad2 and later. I own an iPhone3GS
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and a first generation iPad, and when I try to install it on them, they tell me
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that it requires a front-facing camera.
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The front-facing camera requirement is of course absolute BS. The real
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restriction is the RAM of the device. iPhone 4 and iPad2 has 512 MB of RAM,
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twice as much as the 3GS and the original iPad. I assume that the camera
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restriction is just something that was in the app store already, and that's why
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Apple used it.
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###Common solution
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It didn't take long for someone to find out that the camera restriction could
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be circumvented if you buy the app in iTunes on your computer and then install
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it using Apples own _iPhone Configuration Utility_. This does work, and iPhoto
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runs great and surprisingly smoothly on both the original iPad and the 3GS
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(though with occasional crashes due to lack of memory).
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The problems turn up when you try to sync with iTunes. A dialog box will pop up
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asking you if you want to authorize your device with iTunes (or something to
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the effect). Selecting No will remove iPhoto and all your work. Some people got
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it to work when selecting Yes, but I never did. Instead syncing just stops.
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###My solution (requires jailbreak)
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The key to my solution is the error message
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>This app requires a front facing camera.
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To find out whether the device has a front facing camera or not it looks into
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the property list of _Springboard_-the main interface of iOS. This is located
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at
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/System/Library/CoreServices/Springboard.app/
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and is called either N??AP.plist or K??AP.plist on an iPhone or an iPad
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respectively where ?? is a number that seems to vary with your model. In there
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it looks for a property called _front-facing-camera_ and if it exists and is
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set to true, it decides that your device has a front facing camera.
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There are no further checks, and iPhoto doesn't use the camera at all, so all
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you need to do in order to install it is add this value to your property list.
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I've had no problems synchronizing to iTunes after using this method. iPhoto
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does, however, crash at some occasions. The crashes are few and far between,
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though.
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###A problem
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I have found one problem with this method; the iphone 3GS thinks it has a front
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facing camera. That means there's a button in the camera app that lets you
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switch between the front and back camera. Tapping it will make the camera
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screen freeze. The remedy for this is to toggle video mode, and then you can
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switch back to the back camera.
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###How to do it
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- Jailbreak
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- Install iFile from Cydia
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- in iFile, navigate to _/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/_
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- Find your property list (N??AP.plist or K??AP.plist)
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- Open it with the Property List Viewer
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- Tap Capabilities
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- Tap the + in the bottom right corner
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- type _front-facing-camera_
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- Select Type:Boolean
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- Tap Create
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- Find your new property and activate it
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- tap Done
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- Restart springboard or your device
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You should now be able to install iPhoto through the app store or iTunes.
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###Bonus
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While you're in there, adding the property _screen-mirroring_ and enabling it
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will let you use official 20-pin-to-vga adaptors...
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