Bring iPhones gifts to China?

[david_dawei]

I was told they were way more expensive in china (at least the area I was going to), so that was the reason I was asked to bring some.

 

The only issue I see so far is that Cydia (the application used for jailbroken phones to be able to install and run applications) does not seem to work. I am guessing that maybe the internet is blocked for some of the sources.

[NicolaNSam]

I bought a Iphone 3gs in January and unlocked it in China for 100 RMB. They also taught me how to install 91 PC suite which is a chinese program that gives you all the iphone apps for free. It was a BLESSING to have the iphone in China with the maps working in english and chinese and it even showed our current location! I loved it. I could also take photos and email them on the spot and I think my U-tube worked but facebook didn't. I wouldn't buy them unlocked here its way more expensive. You are going to love having the Iphone in China.

[Rob and WeiLing]

I was told they were way more expensive in china (at least the area I was going to), so that was the reason I was asked to bring some.

 

The only issue I see so far is that Cydia (the application used for jailbroken phones to be able to install and run applications) does not seem to work. I am guessing that maybe the internet is blocked for some of the sources.

 

When I was in China, Cydia worked some weeks and didn't work on others. the Rock App (RockYourPhone) seemed to handle it a little better but doesn't always install as consistently as Cydia. If you can find a L2TP VPN to work with, that was how I got my Cydia to work more consistently...

[david_dawei]

At a local computer store the iPhone 3gs with 8GB was selling for 5000 RMB

 

I can get two for that price.

[david_dawei]

When I was in China, Cydia worked some weeks and didn't work on others. the Rock App (RockYourPhone) seemed to handle it a little better but doesn't always install as consistently as Cydia. If you can find a L2TP VPN to work with, that was how I got my Cydia to work more consistently...

 

I need Cydia to work to get the Rock App on

 

Not sure I follow about the VPN. I am guessing you mean to use WiFi to connect to that VPN instead of using the data service?

[NicolaNSam]

They added Cydia and Rock app to my iphone for the 100 rmb and when you join china unicom (I think that's the 3g provided, there is only one) they make you sign up monthly and join for a long time but you can cancel days before you leave and get your deposit back. If you need the edge code they can put that in for you too.

[david_dawei]

seems my friends here don't want to use cydia anyways since it burns up their data service. They are going the route of finding apps in IPA format and then using the iTunes to load to the iphone. I also know how to load apps directly using something like iphonebrowser but that takes more effort to show than just using iTunes.

Edited September 4, 2010 by david_dawei (see edit history)

[danb]

Hello, my head is swimming a bit reading this post and others out on the net. I read a lot of the buzz words but I having bit of a problem putting all them in persective. My sister returned from Japan late last year. She brought her Japanese Softbank Iphone with her. I told her that she should be able to use it her in the states. On the AT&T network. She said "Great" and asked "How?" I thought about it and went .

 

I believe that she just need the Iphone to be unlocked. How can she get that done? She is not looking for the free apps. thru jailbreaking the phone. Does she really need to have it jail broke first then unlocked? Or can she just have it unlocked? Late last year AT&T would not help us. If it is legal now, do they have to help us or at least could they help us if they want? Or is this an Apple issue? Looking at all the info is overwhelming for me because software, files and such thing and I don't usually mix. A trip to China would be easier but it doesn't seem to be in the stars at this moment. Any suggestions?

 

Danb

[Randy W]

Hello, my head is swimming a bit reading this post and others out on the net. I read a lot of the buzz words but I having bit of a problem putting all them in persective. My sister returned from Japan late last year. She brought her Japanese Softbank Iphone with her. I told her that she should be able to use it her in the states. On the AT&T network. She said "Great" and asked "How?" I thought about it and went .

 

I believe that she just need the Iphone to be unlocked. How can she get that done? She is not looking for the free apps. thru jailbreaking the phone. Does she really need to have it jail broke first then unlocked? Or can she just have it unlocked? Late last year AT&T would not help us. If it is legal now, do they have to help us or at least could they help us if they want? Or is this an Apple issue? Looking at all the info is overwhelming for me because software, files and such thing and I don't usually mix. A trip to China would be easier but it doesn't seem to be in the stars at this moment. Any suggestions?

 

Danb

 

She will most likely just need to put a SIM in it, from either AT&T or T-Mobile. Phones in other countries are generally not locked to begin with.

[danb]

She will most likely just need to put a SIM in it, from either AT&T or T-Mobile. Phones in other countries are generally not locked to begin with.

 

Randy,

Unfornately the phone is locked. We tried several different sim cards and none worked. I read the intially that Iphones were not that popular in Japan a few years ago. Last year my nephew bought a discounted Iphone for 200-250 USD range in Japan but he had to sign up for a two year contract. The next month the deal got even better. He bought one for his Mother but now has to pay some type of penalty for getting out of the phone contract early. She decided to return to the US earlier than planned. I hear that their use ( iphones) are taken off in Japan now. They are now very popular.

 

On my last trip to China in December I saw a lot of billboard advertising for the iphones but didn't actually see any in use. I was wondering how the local could afford such an expensive phone if they are not heavy discounted.

 

I am hoping that we can figure out how to get her phone to work in the US. She has some health issues. The iphone is very light, has a soft input key input, easy to view and has a PDA type functions that she is used to. She does not need the applications so much. Perhaps just to check her email.

 

Danb

[Randy W]

 

Randy,

Unfornately the phone is locked. We tried several different sim cards and none worked. I read the intially that Iphones were not that popular in Japan a few years ago. Last year my nephew bought a discounted Iphone for 200-250 USD range in Japan but he had to sign up for a two year contract. The next month the deal got even better. He bought one for his Mother but now has to pay some type of penalty for getting out of the phone contract early. She decided to return to the US earlier than planned. I hear that their use ( iphones) are taken off in Japan now. They are now very popular.

 

On my last trip to China in December I saw a lot of billboard advertising for the iphones but didn't actually see any in use. I was wondering how the local could afford such an expensive phone if they are not heavy discounted.

 

I am hoping that we can figure out how to get her phone to work in the US. She has some health issues. The iphone is very light, has a soft input key input, easy to view and has a PDA type functions that she is used to. She does not need the applications so much. Perhaps just to check her email.

 

Danb

 

The jail breaking is necessary to allow the other apps to run. In your case, the other app would be the unlocking app.

 

I'll bet you could get a free phone from AT&T (but with another 2 year contract) that might be a better fit for her purposes.

[credzba]

Jail break is not illegal, though the name sounds like it. It just allows you to put non-apple approved software on the phone.

 

The application that unlocks your phone is not apple approved, so yes you must jailbreak the phone before it can be unlocked.

 

Unlocking the phone is easy if you have not updated to the 4.x software from apple. If you have updated the phone, then it currently can not be unlocked without reverting to a 3.x software.

 

Reverting to 3.x software is also not difficult.

 

The most important thing I'd suggest is backup everything (contacts, pictures etc.) before you start.

There is a good chance everything will still be fine at the end, but better safe than sorry.

 

 

You can google for the instructions easily, here are two sites.

 

Downgrade your iphone to 3.1.3

 

jailbreak and unlock your iphone

[david_dawei]

I would disagree that reverting to 3.x is not difficult... in most cases you may find it impossible... carefully read the "UPDATE" notes in that link:

 

Update: If you're on 3GS and having trouble with this method, reader Richard notes that for 3GS users: "Apple started signing their restore files requiring iTunes to "Phone home" and get permission to restore. Usually within 24 hours of a new firmware release, Apple stops signing the old versions preventing you from restoring back to an older version. The advice in your article about how to downgrade to 3.1.3 no longer works [for 3GS] because a few days ago Apple stopped signing that firmware." If you're a 3GS user experiencing this problem, check out this forum dedicated to 3GS downgrading.

 

If you upgraded to 4.1 then there is no jailbreak as that version since they killed the jailbreak methods (for now).

 

If your prior to 4.1, then you MUST have the iPHone "shsh" files saved on apples server or Cydia (by a previous jailbreak prior to going to 4.0.x). If you do not have the "shsh" files saved on one of those two servers you CANNOT downgrade.

 

You can get a program called TinyUmbrella which will do a search to see if it can find the "shsh" file on the servers mentioned. This is a great program and has one small and wonderful feature of knocking your iPhone out of Restore mode. I had a could of times when trying to jailbreak when something went wrong and I recalled TinyUmbrella "can knock the phone" out of restore.

 

When these guys talk about trying to jailbreak, they will mention editing the hosts file... two words of caution:

1. Some may find they cannot edit the file since it wants administrator rights to do so... for whatever reason, my hosts file still would not let me edit it enough though I had admin rights. I ended up modifying the files security profile so anyone could edit it.

2. If you use TinyUmbrella, it will comment out any changes you make to the Hosts file... so you have to edit the hosts file again.. or have a backup file already in that directory.

[david_dawei]

Just a repeated word of warning... IMO, you don't want to upgrade to 4.x if your hoping to take full advantage of jailbreaking apps. They are generally not stable on 4.x yet.

 

As an example: One phone I was setting up, jailbroken on 4.x, kept going into SAFE Mode. I had to delete apps one at a time until it started to work. In another case, I researched what could be causing it and they said this particular app is unstable and to use SbSettings/Process to stop it. problem is that SbSettings is activated by sliding across the top of the phone and if your in SAFE Mode, you cannot slide across the top. I connected to the phone using the computer and manually deleted files to stop one app.

 

if you want to enjoy jailbroken iphones to their fullest, stick to 3.1.2 or 3.1.3. The only reason I have seen to go to 3.1.3 is that there is a battery % indicator... that's it... but honestly, I like it so prefer 3.1.3.

 

If jailbreaking 3.1.2, I think it is Ultrasn0w which never really made a jailbreak for it... so you simply select that you have the 3.1.3 firmware (although you really have the 3.1.2 firmware)

[danb]

Thanks for the explanation about the need to Jailbreak before unlocking. My sister took it over to the Apple store and to AT&T yesterday. At both places they tried to be very helpful but in the end no one could get it to work. Last Christmas when she went to the AT&T and the Apple store they were not so helpful and friendly. Perhaps that court ruling untied their hands a little.

 

I didn't get the whole story about her visit from my sister after my interogration about her visit to the store, my questions about what about this and what about that and did you try this and did you try that, etc, etc.? It would have been much simple to have the Iphone unlocked in Japan before she came over here. I wonder if they have to Jailbreak it over ther or do they just have access codes to do the unlocking. Similar to how I got my phones ( Treo and Razor) done here in the USA thru AT&T. I would like to know is there a way to tell if the iphone is unlock without having to insert a different carrier's sim card. Does any one know if there is a setting page or a parameter page in the iphone? Or perhaps in the Ultrasnow, Redsnow, Purplesnow ( sorry I don't know all thoses programs real names) or Cydia program that "announces" that the Iphone is now unlocked. Thanks

 

Danny