It turns out the Spirit and JailbreakMe jailbreaks disable the iPhone’s code signing check, whereas older jailbreaks such as redsn0w (even the newest releases of it) and blackra1n do not disable this check.

Combine that with the fact that the latest version of Longitude is a “fat binary” – meaning that the app itself contains two versions: one for older processors, and one optimized for the processors in the iPhone 4 and iPad.  What we didn’t know when we released 1.6 is that fat binaries can’t be signed the same way as non-fat binaries.  We’ve since learned and corrected the issue, hence the release of 1.6.1.

For those of you who don’t know, code signing is something the iPhone does as part of its security architecture.  After a binary (the app) is compiled, what’s known as a checksum is generated using some crazy math operations, and then that checksum is signed and stored as part of the binary.  You might be asking yourself, “what’s the point?”.  There are two reasons to sign applications:  First, to make sure they’re from a legitimate source.  In the iPhone’s case, it’s to ensure only apps that are approved by Apple can run on the phone.  Of course, we see how well that worked..  Secondly, though, it’s to ensure that the application remains unmodified.  If even a single byte is changed, the app’s signature is no longer valid.  This is good to ensure that applications aren’t tampered with, so you can’t, for example, install an app that’s intent is to log into some third party service but instead sends your login information to a malicious hacker.  In other words: code signing is good.

Longitude 2.0 will be a free upgrade for users who purchased Longitude since the release of iOS 4 (June 21, 2010), and a $0.99 upgrade for all other existing users.

Version 1.6 fixes iOS4 compatibility, plus fixes an old bug where the iPhone would power on to perform an update even if completely powered off.

• offline reading
• bookmarking
• search
• remember last position

Until then, thanks for your patience and your feedback!

First, support for the iPad.  FindMePhone extracts the necessary data from MobileMe to display it in a friendly, familiar interface on the iPhone, and the data MobileMe provides for the iPad was a bit different – something the app didn’t expect, so we had to adapt.

Secondly, and certainly more importantly, it solves the problem of being told that you’re not connected to the internet when trying to sign in, despite the fact that you very clearly are.  Apple changed something on their end that resulted in the iPhone not trusting one of their security certificates, so the app refused to sign in.  Though we’re not exactly sure what or why they changed it, we’ve managed to work around it.

Unfortunately, we jumped the gun on the release of 1.0.1 and since all worked well in the simulator, we used the same build commands we’ve always used in the past and pushed an update out, expecting everyone’s issues to be resolved.  As it turned out, it was quite the opposite: FindMePhone 1.0.1 crashes as soon as its launched!

After a day and a half of changing a thousand settings, trial and error, and tons of frustration, we eventually discovered that something had changed in the new iPhone OS 4.0 SDK that was preventing any app we compiled for the jailbroken platform from running on the actual device.  After removing the 4.0 SDK and re-installing the 3.2 SDK, all was well.  We psuedo-signed the app just as we did before, but this time, it worked exactly as expected.

As of the time of this writing, FindMePhone 1.0.2 has been submitted to ModMyi (thanks to them for hosting for us!) and Rock Your Phone, so it should be available in Cydia and Rock within the next 24 or so hours.

Thank you all for your patience through this rocky series of events!

FindMePhone is the only way to use MobileMe’s Find My iPhone feature directly from the iPhone. Keep track of your kids, keep tabs on your employees, or use a friend’s iPhone to find out where you lost yours!

Locating an iPhone using FindMePhone requires that the iPhone you wish to locate is linked to an active MobileMe subscription with Find My iPhone enabled.

FindMePhone communicates directly with MobileMe. Your credentials are transmitted securely, and never sent to our or any third party servers.

Unfortunately, Apple would not approve this for the App Store due to the fact that it accesses MobileMe in ways that they do not support. Thus, this app is only available on jailbroken phones at this time.

FindMePhone is currently available on Cydia and Rock Your Phone for $1.99.

We are pleased to announce the release of Longitude 1.5.1. This new version contains many new features and bug fixes:

* International support (sorry about the last version!)
* Improved battery life and memory footprint
* Fixed memory leak
* SBSettings toggle
* Update Now button
* Last update result
* Additional update intervals
* Latitude no longer displays “Your location is set manually”
* About screen updated & scrolls
* New support section with FAQs
* Support request with built-in diagnostics for quick troubleshooting
* No more dependency on the iGoogle page

This version is available NOW on Rock Your Phone! All expired trials have been reset, so those of you who experienced issues with the first one should be able to try it again and will hopefully be pleased with the result!

In celebration of the new year, Longitude is ON SALE for $0.99 until midnight of 1/3/2010 EST.

Longitude will be available on Cydia within 24 hours, and the same sale applies. Any purchases made from Rock Your Phone now will automatically work for Cydia at any point in the future.

If you encounter any issues with the new version, please note that there is a new “request support” feature built into that will include a diagnostic report so that any issues you experience may be quickly and easily resolved.

Thank you for your support, and we wish you the very best in this new year!

Related Links:

• Official Product Page
• Rock Your Phone Product Page
• Modmyi.com Featured Article

Longitude is an automatic background updater for Google Latitude, keeping Latitude up-to-date with your location without any work on your part.  Just install the app, configure it once, and you’re set!

This is the first and only product on iPhone to accomplish this.  Unfortunately, due to Apple’s restrictions, this product is only available on jailbroken phones.

Longitude is currently available from the Rock Store for $1.99.  Coming to Cydia soon.

Related Links:

• Official Product Page
• Rock Your Phone Product Page
• Modmyi.com Featured Article