As per usual, I was checking out toucharcade.com to see what new games were looking good, and came across an interesting one entitled “Poppi”. Here is their take on it:

http://toucharcade.com/2009/07/16/poppi-a-melodic-matching-game/

All too often, I am seeing new games come out for the iPhone that solely use the accelerometer, which is cool and all, but there is only so much you can do with that before it gets repetitive or silly, and besides, playing an accelerometer game on the bus SUCKS. Other games lately have been coming out with a control pad on the screen that obscures the playing area, and I also find it hard to hold the iPhone and also use the controls as well. I’m not a big fan of racing games, or sports games, or one of the BILLIONS of number brain games available, so I was glad to see this little gem.

Basically, it’s a physics game (my favourite genre), and the point is to match up the falling pieces together to clear them out. You get three lives, and should one of the falling pieces hit the bottom of the screen, or you hit one of the various obstacles (such as a bomb or a spiky thing) you lose a life. It’s a very simple game, and personally I found it quite fun.

Here’s a link to the YouTube video in the review if you want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd6PSeVITTw

So, here I was, checking out toucharcade.com as I sometimes do when I want to see what new games are available for the iPhone, and I came across this little gem called “Saucelifter“:

http://toucharcade.com/2009/04/16/saucelifter-hovers-into-the-app-store/

Basically, it is a variation of the classic game “Choplifter“, which back in the day was one of my favourite games. The vector graphics in Saucelifter are simplistic, yet very detailed, which is why I love games that use vector graphic engines (“Out Of This World” and “Flashback” are other games that come to mind). The controls take a bit of getting used to, and it certainly isn’t a game to be played while on the bus or any other moving vehicle due to the use of the accelerometer to control your spaceship, but overall it is quickly becoming one of my favourite games on the iPhone.

Here’s a link to the YouTube video of the gameplay if you want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se9gSyqBYCs

For those of you who have the iPhone, and have been irritated that you cannot play music or manage it’s contents within another iTunes, the following link may be of use to you:

http://blog.npike.net/2008/08/22/hacking-your-itunes-to-enable-managementplayback-of-your-iphone-music-on-multiple-computers/

If you’re on a Mac, I used a hex editor called “HexEdit” to modify the hex in “iTunes Library”. You can get it here:

http://hexedit.sourceforge.net/

Why Apple decided to lock down the iPhone to only one install of iTunes, I have no idea, as I could always manage my music on all my other iPods with whatever iTunes I desired. Ah well. Don’t have to worry about that anymore!

Disclaimer: This process worked for me, and it may work for you, but it may screw up your saved SMS messages and your ability to receive future ones. Follow the process below at your own risk, as I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong. Keep in mind: I don’t care if I lose all my SMS messages… I’d just prefer NOT to.

For the last week or so, my iPhone (3G and running v2.1) has had an issue where it states that I have one unread SMS message. The problem is, I don’t have an unread SMS message, or at least, the iPhone isn’t kind enough to display it for me to read and be done with it. As it turns out, I’m not the only one who has experienced this issue, and there isn’t a way to reset the unread SMS message count without buying some non-Apple software (pfft!) or having a jailbroken iPhone so you can go in and clean up the mess yourself.

Thankfully, I have the latter (I really should post about why I jailbroke my iPhone, but I’ll do that later).

As long as you know how to SSH into your iPhone, you’re all set. Oh, and far be it for me to state the obvious, but you’ll also want to ensure that the only unread SMS message(s) on your iPhone are the ones that you cannot read at all (yeah… “duh”). Anyway, here’s how I fixed mine up:

IMPORTANT: I recommend you DO NOT copy-n-paste my examples below. My site uses smart quotes (” “), which are fancy versions of actual quotes, and they don’t translate well when pasting them into Terminal.

First, log into your iPhone via Terminal. Once connected, change the directory to where the SMS database is:

iPhone:~ root# cd /private/var/mobile/Library/SMS/

Next, play it safe, and make a copy of your SMS database:

iPhone:/private/var/mobile/Library/SMS root# cp sms.db sms.db.old

Now, to update the SMS database, you’ll be using “sqlite3″, and specifying the database you wish to update:

iPhone:/private/var/mobile/Library/SMS root# sqlite3 sms.db
SQLite version 3.5.9
Enter “.help” for instructions
sqlite>

We’ll want to find out which message group (one of your contacts) is listed as still having an unread SMS message:

sqlite> select * from msg_group where unread_count = “1″;
1|0|951|1

sqlite returns some useful info. The first number returned before the pipe (“|”) is the “rowid”, which is the message group ID that has the unread SMS message. The second number is the message type, and the third number is the newest message ID within that message group; both of which we’ll leave alone. The last number is the unread message count. We want to set this to zero:

sqlite> update msg_group set unread_count = “0″ where rowid = “1″;

Once done, quit sqlite (note the “.” in “.quit”):

sqlite> .quit

Then, exit out of your SSH connection to your iPhone:

iPhone:/private/var/mobile/Library/SMS root# exit

You’ll want to reboot your iPhone after all this, and once it boots back up, your SMS icon should be clear.

Update (2008-10-07): With my unread SMS message issue above, this was due to the annoying SMS message notification stating that that particular contact has left you a voicemail. After doing the above, I realised that I wasn’t getting any more of those from that contact. Not that I care too much, but I envisioned a time when that table could get rather large, so I looked into a way of deleting the SMS message. It’s a pain in the ass, and who knows if this will screw things up for me down the road, but so far, it looks okay. Here is what I did:

SSH into your iPhone again, go to the directory where “sms.db” is located, and start up “sqlite”. Check to see what messages are flagged as “0″:

sqlite> select * from message where flags = “0″;
716|+14165551212|1223389704|Voicemail   2 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0

Now, there is an annoyance with sqlite where you have certain “triggers”. These are where actions are performed upon the data based upon other actions; conditions if you will (at least, from my rudimentary understanding of it). To delete an SMS message, we need to temporarily delete the “delete_message” trigger. I recommend making your terminal window as large as possible, and typing:

sqlite> .schema message

This will spit out all the triggers for the message table. Copy this one:

CREATE TRIGGER delete_message AFTER DELETE ON message WHEN NOT read(old.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) – 1 WHERE ROWID = old.group_id; END;

Now, from the above “select” query, the message causing me grief was “716″. This is the “rowid” of the message. With that in mind, we need to drop the trigger preventing us from manually deleting a message, delete the message, and then add back the trigger… as Apple obviously had it there for a reason, and I don’t want to mess around with things more than I have to:

sqlite> drop trigger delete_message;

Trigger is gone. Now delete the message:

sqlite> delete from message where rowid = “716″;

And now add back the trigger:

sqlite> CREATE TRIGGER delete_message AFTER DELETE ON message WHEN NOT read(old.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = old.group_id) – 1 WHERE ROWID = old.group_id; END;

Just because I like to make sure, check to see if the trigger was added back in the list:

sqlite> .schema message

If all is well, verify that the SMS message is indeed gone:

sqlite> select * from message where flags = “0″;

…and there you have it. Future voicemail SMS notifications for my affected contact seem to work, and I have resumed my ability to recieve this annoyance. Isn’t that great?  

Update (2008-10-29): So, this happened to me again, and I decided that deleting data probably isn’t the best way to handle this. Hopefully, those who have followed my directions either still have a backup of their original database, or if you simply log SSH into your iPhone again and open up your “sms.db” via “sqlite3″ again, you should have a history of your previous commands by hitting the up arrow a few times.

Anyway, I opted to throw the old data back into the database. But, to do this, certain “triggers” prevent the “update” command. Gotta love it. A little refresher:

First, log into your iPhone via Terminal. Once connected, change the directory to where the SMS database is:

iPhone:~ root# cd /private/var/mobile/Library/SMS/

Next, play it safe, and make another copy of your SMS database:

iPhone:/private/var/mobile/Library/SMS root# cp sms.db sms.db.backup-20081029

Now, open the SMS database using “sqlite3″ again:

iPhone:/private/var/mobile/Library/SMS root# sqlite3 sms.db
SQLite version 3.5.9
Enter “.help” for instructions
sqlite>

Get a list of the schema for the “message” table:

sqlite> .schema message

You’ll get an output similar to this (I’ll just post the first parts):

sqlite> .schema message
CREATE TRIGGER delete_message AFTER DELETE ON message …
CREATE TRIGGER delete_newest_message AFTER DELETE ON message …
CREATE TRIGGER insert_newest_message AFTER INSERT ON message …
CREATE TRIGGER insert_unread_message AFTER INSERT ON message …
CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_read AFTER UPDATE ON message …
CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_unread AFTER UPDATE ON message …

As you can see, certain triggers prevent the use of certain actions within Sqlite3. For example, the “insert_newest_message” and “insert_unread_message” messages will affect the “insert” command, and the “mark_message_read” and “mark_message_unread” triggers affect the “update” command. With this in mind, to perform these actions, we need to temporarily delete those triggers. Here is a quick rundown of what I did. Before doing ANY of this, make sure you have output the “schema” for the “message” table and use that as your reference for copying back the triggers.

First, I checked to see what row had a “flags” of “0″:

sqlite> select * from message where flags = “0″;
961|+14165551212|1225234358|Voicemail   1 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0

Great. It’s the same number. Big surprise there. Now, I want to add back the original txt msg that I probably shouldn’t have deleted. To do so, I have to temporarily delete the triggers that will prevent me from using the “insert” command:

sqlite> drop trigger insert_newest_message;
sqlite> drop trigger insert_unread_message;

Now that that’s done, let’s insert the old data:

sqlite> insert into message values (‘716′,’+14165551212′,’1223389704′,’Voicemail   2 New’,'0′,’1′,”,’1′,’0′,’38′,’0′,’0′);

…and now, add back the triggers, as they are kinda needed:

sqlite> CREATE TRIGGER insert_newest_message AFTER INSERT ON message WHEN new.ROWID >= IFNULL((SELECT MAX(ROWID) FROM message WHERE message.group_id = new.group_id), 0) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET newest_message = new.ROWID WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END;

sqlite> CREATE TRIGGER insert_unread_message AFTER INSERT ON message WHEN NOT read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END;

I like checking that all was successful:

sqlite> select * from message where flags = “0″;
716|+14165551212|1223389704|Voicemail   2 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0
961|+14165551212|1225234358|Voicemail   1 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0

Now, let’s temporarily drop the triggers that are preventing us from using the “update” command:

sqlite> drop trigger mark_message_read;
sqlite> drop trigger mark_message_unread;

Now, with that done, I also wanted to see all the “Voicemail” messages I had as a comparison. These are the messages that screw up for me:

sqlite> select * from message where text like “Voicemail%”;
716|+14165551212|1223389704|Voicemail   2 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0
961|+14165551212|1225234358|Voicemail   1 New|0|1||1|0|38|0|0
1052|+14035551212|1224391073|Voicemail   1 New|2|1||30|0|38|0|0

So, I have one “Voicemail” message that isn’t messed up. I’ll use that as my template. The “flags” value was set to “2″ (right after the text of the message). So, I’ll update the others to “2″:

sqlite> update message set flags = “2″ where flags = “0″;

…and check if it worked:

sqlite> select * from message where text like “Voicemail%”;
716|+14165551212|1223389704|Voicemail   2 New|2|1||1|0|38|0|0
961|+14165551212|1225234358|Voicemail   1 New|2|1||1|0|38|0|0
1052|+14035551212|1224391073|Voicemail   1 New|2|1||30|0|38|0|0

Looks good, so let’s add back the triggers:

sqlite> CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_read AFTER UPDATE ON message WHEN NOT read(old.flags) AND read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) – 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END;

sqlite> CREATE TRIGGER mark_message_unread AFTER UPDATE ON message WHEN read(old.flags) AND NOT read(new.flags) BEGIN UPDATE msg_group SET unread_count = (SELECT unread_count FROM msg_group WHERE ROWID = new.group_id) + 1 WHERE ROWID = new.group_id; END;

Lastly, we should update the “unread_count” value in the “msg_group” table, as that is what displays the number on the SMS icon in the iPhone interface. I like seeing the existing values before changing anything:

sqlite> select * from msg_group where unread_count = “1″;
1|0|1175|1

So, just like last time, set the “unread_count” to “0″, and we know the “rowid” is “1″ (the first number in the output):

sqlite> update msg_group set unread_count = “0″ where rowid = “1″;

We’re done. Time to quit:

sqlite> .quit

You may need to reboot your iPhone before you see any of the changes.

Since I got the iPhone, I’ve been keeping an eye on the iTunes Store and checking out all the latest apps that have been released. Some of them are good, and some of them make you wonder why someone took the time to put them together, or how Apple even approved it’s release. Still, the App Store is pretty new, so I’m sure we’ll see a revamp of the interface and perhaps even a revamp of what they’re allow to be sold. I mean, come on… we need some standards here.

And speaking of “standards”, Shazam has up’d the bar as to what could be considered the most useful and coolest iPhone app currently available. Initially, I saw this and didn’t pay much attention to it; I thought it was another music player or streamer, but Jon advised me to take a closer look, and I’m glad I did!

Picture this: You’re at a pub and the music in the background is a song you’ve heard a few times and have been dying to know what the title is, or who sings it, so you can go buy it (or download it, if that’s your thing), but no one knows anything about the song. Even the bartender says “It’s just on random”. Worse yet, you can barely make out the lyrics, and even if you could, it would be futile to remember them as you just ordered a pitcher, which will wipe away any memory of the night.

Problem solved.

Take out the iPhone, open up Shazam, and press “Tag Now”. As long as the music is loud enough for you to hear clearly (doesn’t have to be blasting), Shazam should be able to pick it up. It’ll record 12 seconds (by default) of the music you’re listening to, upload it to their servers for analysis, and then spit back the info you’re looking for: track name, artist, album… it’ll even show you the cover art of the CD, and give you a few links to the song or album via the iTunes Store so you can purchase it right there. HOW NEAT IS THAT?!

After using it for the last few days, I’ve only managed to trip it up a few times, but in those instances, it was with some pretty obscure music (stuff from Japan; the country, not the band), or any sort of electronica or raggae. Other than that, it has been bang on. So frikkin’ cool.

I have no idea how Shazam is able to pull this off, but it has astounded me time and time again. It is quite possibly going to be one of the most useful apps on the iPhone for me, other than checking my email, surfing the ‘net, checking out Facebook, or keeping tabs with my calendar. Apparently, this app is only free on the iPhone, while other cellphone users have to pay for each lookup. Suckers!  

iTunes Store – http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284993459

Shazam website – http://www.shazam.com/music/portal