The title for this article, that is what is Cydia and how it works? Would have definitely attracted you, no matter whether you are an Apple customer or not. If you are one of those using Apple devices for long, then you might know quite a lot about Cydia. But if you do not have an iOS device or recently bought a gadget from Apple then you must be wondering about this unique term used by Apple users quite frequently. So, here we present to you a detailed history and other information regarding “what is Cydia” and “what is a Cydia app”.
However, this doesn’t mean that this post is particular for those who are new to iOS community, rather the regular users should also follow this post. This is because they usually know about some famous Cydia apps not about the basics of Cydia. So let’s discover together, what ss Cydia and is it really worthy enough to be a part of your iPhone.
What Is Cydia?
Basic Definition Of Cydia
Beginning with the simple definition of the term; Cydia is a third-party, independent app installer application for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Or in other words we can call Cydia an alternative App Store for downloading tons of tweaks & utilities that you’ll need to make the best out of your iOS device. It brings you many applications that can be installed either for free or for a small amount of money.
A Brief History Of Cydia
As far as the history of Cydia is concerned, many people simply think of Jay Freeman a.k.a Saurik, the guy who is the creator of Cydia. Undoubtedly, he was the one behind Cydia but since Cydia is related to jailbreaking, that we would be discussing later, so one of the first people who actually jailbroke his iPhone was George Hotz, a 17-year-old kid who pioneered jailbreaking. And, was the first person to unlock an iPhone in the world!
Two months later he revealed the first jailbreaking method that allowed third-party software that hadn’t been approved by Apple. Following this came Cydia by Saurik with numerous extensions and modifications that were named as Cydia apps.
Why Cydia When App Store Is Already Available?
Now the basic question that would come to your mind would be why Cydia when you already have the fully loaded App Store there to serve you with almost unlimited apps? The simple answer to this question is that Cydia provides you access to those apps that can completely modify the firmware of an iOS device – something you can’t do via the apps on App Store.
Some apps that appear in Cydia are often rejected by Apple for publishing on the App Store, this is because they violate Apple’s terms and conditions for apps or because they compete with Apple’s own apps. Some apps available at Cydia may also allow users to do things through Cydia apps that Apple doesn’t want them to. Fully customization. Android users can’t say much now.
In other words we can say that App Store presents you only those apps that are signed by Apple as they do not interfere with Apple’s firmware. But on the other hand Cydia allows you to fully customize your device.
How To Get Cydia?
The above description of Cydia would have definitely convinced you for having this thing in your phone. So let me tell you the requirements that are to be fulfilled in order to get access to Cydia. Now for those who want to have Cydia in their iDevices we have a good news as well as a bad news. The good one is that in order to have Cydia you need only one thing that is Jailbreak but the bad news is, as new to iDevice you might find Jailbreak a difficult process. But no need to worry, as we will be explaining you what is jailbreak and how can you easily jailbreak your device.
What Is Jailbreak?
In order to install Cydia, jailbreak is must. In layman’s terms jailbreaking can also be dubbed as “hacking into iOS”. Now you must be wondering how can someone hack Apple’s tight fortress. It is possible? Tech geeks actually exploit bugs in the software and through these holes they get the root access. Once getting to the root they can take control of the device fully and can make modifications.
Now let’s explain this in simple words. When you buy an iOS device such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, you are the owner, but technically speaking Apple is still the owner of the device. The device is always in Apple’s jail. Therefore only those apps which are signed by the fruit company work on an iOS device. But when you jailbreak, the device comes out of the boundaries of Apple. You no longer require Apple’s permission to operate an app on your device. This means that we get access to the blocked apps that are found on Cydia store.
Cydia Apps
What Is Cydia App?
Cydia apps are similar to App Store applications that allow you to make modification in the functioning of your device. But as mentioned before, these applications are not authorized by Apple, and therefore jailbreaking is the only possible to get Cydia apps into your phone.
A question might pop up in your mind; Apple doesn’t allow Cydia apps for you iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, then these Cydia tweaks might not be safe for your device. Well, we can’t say that all Cydia apps are 100% safe and legal, as there are many such apps that might affect your device negatively and cause it to get crashed. But a majority of these apps make a positive impact on your iOS device.
Well you might be wondering how to avoid bad Cydia apps? There is a way to avoid such apps, and that is downloading apps through trusted repositories. Thinking what is a repository? Look below.
What Is Cydia Repository?
Cydia is the entire store, which has sub categories in it or small hubs which are called repositories. The developers who make these Cydia apps, store their apps here. Then people visit these repositories for quick and easy access and installation. This means that these small hubs actually organize and present the Cydia apps to the users.
While we are discussing about trusted repositories, let’s name a few. These are many from where you can download different Cydia apps but the most popular repositories are ModMyi repo and BigBoss repo where you can find almost all amazing Cydia tweaks.
Structure Of Cydia
After reading the above details for Cydia, you might have found it something extraordinary for your iDevice and want to have it in your iPhone, iPad or iPod. So if you want Cydia then have a look through its structure first, which will help you to understand how you can use it.
Following is the basic structure of Cydia:
Home - Like all other homepages, Cydia’s home also gives you general details about all that the store offers for the users. The common things that you will find here are sponsored apps, account information, sources FAQ and some important settings.
Search - As name implies here you can search for Cydia apps, by entering their respective names.
Changes - The portion has all the updates about the recently arrived Cydia apps, thus the tab is updated every time you open Cydia.
Sections - These are actually the categories. If you don’t know the exact name of an app but do know the category to which it belongs then you can search for it here.
Manage- This tab allows you to manage your apps. You can remove tweaks, add sources and repositories and have access to all storage from here.
Payment For Cydia Apps
In order to buy an app on the App Store you need to have iTunes Apple ID, whereas on Cydia you can sign in through Facebook or Twitter account and pay using PayPal or Amazon gift cards. This is much quicker and simpler for many people.
Best Cydia Apps To Download
By now you might have a good idea about Cydia, how it functions, what are Cydia apps and where to get them from. Currently there are thousands of Cydia tweaks available in the Cydia store, so it get a big hectic to choose the best ones. Well don’t worry as we have compiled many lists for you.
Following are few lists of some of the best Cydia apps. If you want even more Cydia tweaks you can use the search bar on the top right hand corner of our site and search for some other amazing tweaks.
Top 10 Most Amazing Free Cydia Apps For 2013
Top 10 Best Cydia Apps For iPhone In 2013
Top 10 Cydia Tweaks For iPod Touch In 2013
Top 5 Battery Saving Tweaks For iPhone In 2013
Top 3 Free Cydia Tweaks To Animate Wallpaper On iOS 6+
We hope that we have covered every detail related to Cydia in this post. But if you still find anything unclear then drop a comment below and also let us know whether this was helpful to you or not.
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