I've been enamored with my iPhone since standing in line for it back on June 29th. It's the only thing I've ever waited in line for (not even concert tickets or an Xbox360) and so far I've been thrilled with it — it's the single coolest item I've ever owned.

Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't dive into hacking and customizing it the minute various 3rd-party options became available, and now with Nullriver Software's excellent AppTapp/Installer.app (currently an unsupported beta for OS X and XP/Vista), there's no reason why anyone shouldn't start playing (well, other than the possibility of somehow ruining your iPhone and maybe voiding the warranty in the process — standard disclaimers apply from this point on; you have been warned).

Tutorials in this series

If you already have the required software installed (see below), you can jump directly to each article as it becomes available (this list may expand as more options become available):

• DockSwap (make your dock look like the iPod Touch)


• SummerBoard (including themes and SpringBoard options)


• Ringtones (like the one in the TV ads) - coming soon


• Cool Applications & Launchers - coming soon

What you'll need

To play along at home, you'll need a few things before we begin:

• AppTapp/Installer.app (available for OS X and XP/Vista)


• Community Sources (via Installer.app)


• OpenSSH (via Installer.app)


• BSD Subsystem (via Installer.app)


• A desktop application capable of SFTP connections (e.g. Transmit for OS X, or CuteFTP for Windows)

Each tutorial will also list any other software needed to complete the steps, but you'll need the items above no matter what.

Do you like to "do it yourself"?

I'm not really describing anything groundbreaking in these how-to's, so if you want to just dive in and learn everything there is to know, the iPhoneAtlas list of native applications is a great place to start.

Add your suggestions

As always, if you have any tips, tricks or links that will add to the experience, post a comment on the appropriate tutorial (or this entry if it's more general info).