Cydia 2.0 vs Installer 4.0
Author: Nic Elder | Posted under: ReviewsTags: cydia 2.0, installer 4.0, jailbreak, rip dev, saurik, system
What is Cydia?
If you’ve just used one of the new Pwnage options and now have a shiny new jailbroken iPhone running the 2.0 software, then you might be asking yourself, “What is Cydia?”
You might also be asking yourself, “Where is Installer?,” but rest assured it is coming soon. Until then, let’s explain Cydia.
Cydia was created by Jay Freeman (saurik), as an alternative to Installer. It took what Installer started and improved on it. It’s open source and gives developers much more flexibility when publishing their apps.
But why is Cydia on your SpringBoard and not Installer?
Well the 2.0 software introduces many changes to the developer’s toolchain, which means that applications written for 1.1.4 and below will not run on 2.0 firmware without being updated and recompiled. At the time PwnageTool was released, Installer itself had not been ported to the 2.0 software, and therefore cannot run on it yet.
Until the developers of Installer (RiP Dev) finish updating the application, it will not run on the new 2.0 iPhone/iPod Touch software. In the meantime, Cydia is your sole method of package installation.
Now you’re probably saying, “But Installer had so many more apps than Cydia.”
The reason there are so few apps (specifically games and customization utilities) in Cydia, is the same reason there is no Installer on the iPhone yet.
These apps haven’t been updated by the individual developers. Cydia will only display apps that can run on your iPhone, and as the individual developers update their apps, they will appear in Cydia as well, so check back frequently.
Apps are being updated on a daily, if not hourly, basis. My favorite app, the NES emulator, is already available. I mean, be honest, the only reason we jailbreak in the first place is to play Super Mario Bros., right?
Installer 4.0 appears to address many of the shortcomings of the original Installer.app, the very issues that sparked saurik to develop Cydia.
Some things the new Installer is said to include, according to RiP Dev, are ‘dependencies’. This means if an app requires another app or package to be installed, it will automatically download the other packages and install them (as long as they are available).
Installer 4.0 will also be fully multi-threaded, so now you can refresh sources, browse packages, and install packages all at the same time; no more waiting for the “refreshing sources” message at the bottom of the screen to go away (sometimes 10 or 15 minutes later).
But the largest improvement that Installer 4.0 will boast is using sqlite database. Previously it used PLIST files which had to be fully downloaded every time sources were refreshed. Some of these files were rather large (700kb to 1mb for larger sources), putting a strain on the webservers hosting the files. Now we just get information added or removed since our last refresh. This will also make searching and startup muchimproved.
Whether your preference is the new Installer 4.0 or Cydia, rest assured they will both play nicely together. Some developers will only package their apps in an Installer repository, and some will only put theirs in Cydia, and of course some will publish to both. No matter what the developer’s preference you will be able to run Cydia, Installer, and AppStore all on your iPhone with no problems.
Do you think that when Installer 4.0 is available, that it will be available for download through Cydia 2.0? I don’t know whether I should wait for Installer and a new Winpwn that installs it or whether I should pwn now, and then download Installer through Cydia (if that’s possible).
Max on July 25th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Hi,4
Where can i found wich app are there in Cydis?
Thanks.
Quiqueal on July 25th, 2008 at 10:28 am
@max: I’m not sure whether the RIP Dev will choose to release installer using a cydia source, it would certainly work to their advantage. Either way if you pwn your phone now, then when installer is released you would only need to create a new custom firmware in winpwn with installer, and restore using itunes (make sure you let a backup complete first).
@Quiqueal: I haven’t found a good list of apps that have been ported to 2.0 yet, but the absolute best place to look is check the ‘Changes’ section within cydia daily. It contains all newly available apps. Currently other than Macman and NES, most of the apps are command line utilites, and there are some wallpaper / dialer packs there.
Nic Elder on July 25th, 2008 at 11:00 am
@Nic: Thanks for your help. I guess I’ll wait until the next firmware update and then pwn after that. Maybe Installer will be available by then and be a part of Winpwn.
Max on July 25th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Or, you could wait until 2.1, or you could wait until 2.2, or you could wait until 6 months from now. There will ALWAYS be something new and updated. Waiting for stability is okay, but waiting for the next new thing will always leave you waiting. Honestly, if you have a full back-up, it’s not really that hard to do the re-pwn.
Rick on July 25th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
ok
por on July 26th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Do you know when the installer 4.0 is coming out?
Jrlandshark on July 27th, 2008 at 6:41 am
how do you install cydia on a 3g iphone using windows vista
is it possible you can show me step by step… would it harm my iphone and would i be able to use everything like a normal iphone??????? thank you
rubmjr on July 27th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
@ rubmjr Check this site out i follow the tutorial and it was easy im running Win Xp.
Winpwn will install Cydia for you, make sure you get the newest the got links for you need there WinPwn 2.0.0.3.
Tobby on July 28th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Installer and Cydia are just apps. The only thing that jailbreaking does is allow your apps to run without having to be signature checked by the kernel. It doesn’t matter which one you have installed first, you will be able to install the other without re-jailbreaking.
@Nic: “it would certainly work to their advantage” - they are not competitors. Installer had some issues, Cydia improved on those. As a developer, just because some other software came out that works better, doesn’t mean that you stop improving yours. In fact, in most cases, it drives you to improve on the improved.
nate on July 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
@nate: I never said they were competitors, though I think that by definition they are. However I mean from a distribution standpoint creating a cydia package is the easiest, quickest way to get the Installer app into users hands.
Nic Elder on July 30th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
@nate: If someone is not familiar w/ the process of SSH/SFTP and manually installing applications then they may have to make a new custom firmware including Installer when it comes out. This is what I meant by “it would certainly work to their advantage”. It would allow novice users to get the app easily.
Nic Elder on July 30th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Well Well nice i have an jailbreak ipod touch firmware 1.1.2 and i love everythin i have sumpref, customize and my games… Cydia i never tryed out cydia but trust me i am going to wait untill Installer 2.0/2.1 comes out i cant wait until it comes out installer is way better…
Jonathan on July 30th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I jailbroke my iphone 3g the day i could jailbreak it. After having the itouch jailbroken it was hard to use the iphone for two weeks un-jailbroken. But yay for winpwn. Way easier then when i first got my itouch and had to downgrade from 1.1.3 to 1.1.1 and work my way up each firmware. Thank God those days are gone. Loading the custom ipsw is such a time saver. First time a jailbroke an itouch it took me a good 3 to 4 hours to figure it out. with winpwn it took me less than 10 minutes. And i redid it again so i could create my own boot and recovery with photoshop.
Yeoyo on July 31st, 2008 at 2:11 am
before on previous 1.1.X versions installer allowed you to install cydia and cydia allowed you to install installer. I would not worry about Cydia not allowing you to install Instaler
Keagan Sundstrom on August 1st, 2008 at 3:04 am
@Jonathan: Just for curiosity’s sake, as well as to help the developer of Cydia improve their product, what about Installer makes it better for you?
Nic Elder on August 1st, 2008 at 9:16 am
Is there any app available to copy/browse files on my iPhone ? I would like to cope docs to my iPhone for referance purposes etc.
Lex Coppoolse on August 2nd, 2008 at 7:28 am
i read that it should be available thru the cydia installer and thru pwnage or winpwn….either way u will end up wid installer….
axlegrinder on August 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am
is there gonna be a way to send songs from your iPod thru email?
ashton benji. on August 3rd, 2008 at 11:22 am
Cydia is improving….still crashes sometimes… (but improving day by day…recently gave option to add resources)… Installer simply rocks…in looks and features
Imran on August 4th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Is the Installer is out yet to be downloaded through the Cydia app? update on this….
rock on August 5th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Is it possible to have both Cydia and installer 4.0 on your screen or springbord and both to operate at the same time?
this is because i had installer on mine and later when my iphone was upgraded i saw cydia and i`m somtimes confused as where to find most of the programms i had using installer.
and how do i get NES and GBA to play games on my iphone?
albert on August 8th, 2008 at 3:38 am
[...] Team’s latest creation WILL include Installer 4.0 beta, escalating the battle we detailed in Cydia 2.0 vs. Installer 4.0. Both Cydia and Installer 4.0 beta will be enabled by default in PwnageTool [...]
PwnageTool 2.0.2 Now Available, Includes Installer 4.0 on August 8th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Installer 4 has no sources or programms… is it normal? Or is something wrong with my installer?
Peete on August 9th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Can you run installer without cydia?
kams on August 11th, 2008 at 9:54 am
@albert: yes you can!
@Peete: here’s some sources for Installer 4.0 - http://www.appleiphoneapps.com/2008/08/installer-40-beta-sources/
@kams: of course, but Installer currently has very few sources available and is in a rough beta version.
Andrew Robinowitz on August 11th, 2008 at 9:57 am
[...] Cydia (an alternative to Installer) Bringing Debian Apt to the iPhone Cydia 2.0 vs Installer 4.0 Conclusion: “Whether your preference is the new Installer 4.0 or Cydia, rest assured they [...]
iPod Touch Jailbreak 2.0.2 Tutorial « rantings of a nerd on September 9th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Hey! I would like to ask. I have Cydia on my 2G 2.0 iPhone, but it seems like there is no IM app available through that (please correct me if Im mistaken), so is it possible (and how) to get Installer as well? Wont there be problem for those 2 to wok together?
Thank you
feraverto on September 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 am
@feraverto: I don’t think there are any IM apps available on Cydia or Installer for 2.0. There are multiple options for IM apps now available in the AppStore so most of the IM developers moved there.
See the reviews for Mobile Chat and Palringo here:
http://www.appleiphoneapps.com/?s=messenger
Nic Elder on September 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 am
I would like to know if there is and application for syncing the Rainlendar Calendar with iPhone.
Bob on October 12th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I’m new to alot of this iPhone stuff, I had a quick question. First of all i have the new iphone 3g, and question was. “Where do I go to jailbreak my iPhone 3g(what website do I go to?). And also where do I go to get the installer 4.0? And I want cydia on my phone as well. I know it’s alot but can somebody give like a step-by-step to do all this. Thank u
bug on October 21st, 2008 at 8:59 pm
@bug: Jailbreaking will install both cydia and installer on the phone. We have a few articles and tutorials about jailbreaking on our site..
Nic Elder on October 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
Where can I install Cydia from? Is it for Jailbreak phones only?
Mintsuze on October 23rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
@Mintsuze: yes, cydia is installed automatically when jailbreaking the phone.
Nic Elder on October 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
no comment
Manoochehr Majd on October 31st, 2008 at 11:01 pm
i’m a newbie
where/How can i download Cydia? download it by the phone or PC?
mira on November 4th, 2008 at 1:31 am