gaurav’s rants

so i just got a message on twitter from @mybelovedpiglet telling me about the font PhoneKeyCaps.ttf which is used to render the text on the keyboard. i wasn’t aware of this until now. this immensely simplifies customizing the keyboard font for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. earlier it used to involve creating and modifying loads of images used for the keyboard. and i also got numerous emails about my keyboard themes not working right with WinterBoard on 3.0. i think these problems can be fixed now.

this new discovery gives me reason to prepare and release the next version of FontSwap which will happen later this week.

Screenshot:

please ignore the backspace button for now. i just had to try a quick port and test, so did not really care about it. custom font authors will need to take care of this as this font has different glyphs from the usual system font so just a font rename is not going to work.

cheers.

hi guys.. been a really really long time since my last post, i’m sure many of you thought i’ve abandoned my blog, but i haven’t..
been busy with all sorts of things, last sememster at college being the primary reason for my inactivity..

i’m proud to present to you the latest version of FontSwap, version 1.3.

have incorporated most of the features i thought i would and then some, really glad about the way it has turned out. i hope you guys enjoy using it as much as i enjoyed creating it..

changelog:
1. previews of fonts before install
2. checks metadata prior to installing font so you don’t have to worry about it.
3. checks font package format before install
4. fixes bug that caused crash when device was on wifi but had no internet connection
5. improved metadata detection

the previews are fetched from the fontswap webserver and i’ve tried to maintain as many font previews there as possible, will be adding more from time to time..

IMPORTANT:
as mentioned in previous posts as well, this application doesn’t do anything that can leave your device unusable. there is *absolutely* no need to restore your device if something goes wrong during the use of this application.
to fix any error that you think has been caused by FontSwap, simply connect over SSH to your device and run the the command
“/Applications/FontSwap.app/restore”
without the quotes..
as long as you have SSH and WiFi set to always on (which is a smart thing to do on a jailbroken device) you can recover from most crashes whether or not they’re caused by FontSwap.

Screenshots:

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here’s an icon for the FontSwap app, couldn’t do a proper icon in time for release but here it is now.. will be added with the next update for those who are okay with the current icon..

FontSwap Package format:
1. Package must be a folder with the name FontName.font
FontName is the custom font’s name that you’ve ported. .font at the end is essential.

2. Package must contain all fonts related to the category it belongs to.
Dialer Fonts: PhonepadTwo.ttf
LockClock Fonts: LockClock.ttf
Notes Fonts: MarkerFeltThin.ttf
System Fonts: Helvetica.ttf *and* HelveticaBold.ttf

3. Package must be placed in the correct folder in the packages directory
“/var/mobile/Library/FontSwap/Packages/Dialer Fonts”
“/var/mobile/Library/FontSwap/Packages/LockClock Fonts”
“/var/mobile/Library/FontSwap/Packages/Notes Fonts”
“/var/mobile/Library/FontSwap/Packages/System Fonts”

4. Fonts must be ported with correct metadata intact. Applying fonts with incorrect metadata will cause serious problems like app crashes or SWOD.
here’s how to port fonts http://blog.gauravgiri.com/2008/08/tutorial-port-fonts-to-iphone/
this issue will be resolved in future versions of FontSwap so that fonts with incorrect metadata will not be installed.

5. Package should contain an Info.plist file
this is not utilized in the beta release, but placing this file will help your package to be compatible with future releases of FontSwap
Sample:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Author</key>
<string>Author Name</string>

<key>FontName</key>
<string>Custom Font Name</string>

<key>FontCategory</key>
<string>Category of Font</string>

<key>Description</key>
<string>Brief Description</string>

<key>URL</key>
<string>Author's Blog or Website</string>
</dict>
</plist>

6. Package should contain an image Preview.png with a preview of the custom font.
this too is not utilized in the beta release, but placing this file will help your package to be compatible with future releases of FontSwap.
Image dimensions must be 36px by 260px. It must show the Custom Font name in the font itself. Text size must be 24px. Text color must be black [#000000].

I know these are some strict rules but they will ensure that packages are uniform in appearance and easy on the eyes of the end-users.

FontSwap 1.0b was made available on Cydia earlier today. you’re all welcome to test the software and report bugs or feature requests if any..
the application is accompanied by a starter font pack that is a dependency and should install on it’s own..

i’ve tried installing the app myself and it works alright.. those of you who had problems, please try to reinstall it..

please put all criticism and suggestions in the comments..
you may also consider donating if you find this application useful..

HOW TO ADD MORE FONTS:
read this tutorial

http://blog.gauravgiri.com/2008/12/fontswap-icon-and-package-details/

IMPORTANT:
this application *does not* cause endless reboots. if you think you’re iPhone is rebooting endlessly, it’s most definitely having a SWOD [spinning wheel of death].
if that happens or if your springboard crashes or if applications fail to start then you must restore to iPhone’s stock fonts before trying to restoring the iPhone itself [which will not be required in any case].
for this you must be able to login into the device over SSH. you may not see the SpringBoard, just the endlessly spinning wheel or the boot logo, but if you left WiFi and SSH on, you’re not in trouble and can still connect to the device.

to restore default fonts you need to run this command as root from a terminal over SSH

/Applications/FontSwap.app/restore

PS: if you got the “unmet dependencies” error.. try reinstalling now. i couldn’t see the “FontSwap Starter” package in the available list but it installs along with the app. it’s basically a pack of all the custom fonts i’ve released on this blog to get you started with the app.. more packages can be added to the app and i’ll detail the expected package format shortly. as i haven’t built any security checks in the app yet [for absolute lack of time] i suggest you carry on with the started pack or only add fonts that you trust.

I finally found the time to update my iPhone to the latest fw.. i haven’t yet been able to explore the new features but the device sure runs a lot quicker, though i’m sure that’s because all the apps have been wiped out.. man my iPhone got really slow as i had loads of apps installed, largest being the toolchain and all dev tools.. will try and keep the app count low this time..

as reported by many users the Neo Dialer theme was broken by the upgrade to 2.2
the fix has been sent to Allen of Planet-iPhones and should appear on Cydia soon.
for those who can’t wait..
1. navigate to /Library/Themes/Neo Dialer.theme/Folders/MobilePhone.app
2. remove all files EXCEPT
DefaultDialer.png
dialerkeypad_pressed.png
dialerkeypad.png
3. Respring

this was suggested by suifon in the shoutbox so thanks go out to him/her.

FontSwap is also coming.. soon..

EDIT: whoa.. looks like that didn’t quite fix the problem.. plus it made the theme look bad if you had any other theme on that played with the stock dialer.. two different themes changing few parts made it look bad.. so i fixed it for other images as well..
the update should come up in Cydia shortly..

so here are screenshots from my first iPhone app…
FontSwap:

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hello again.. had a bit of time on my hands so i thought i should make this theme that people requested..
this is the Neo Dialer theme which replaces the default dialer with a NeoTech style dialer and default colors.. package is released as usual in the form of a WinterBoard theme for easy installation..

Download: Neo Dialer for iPhone 2.x.x (1400)
[refer to readme.txt for installation steps]

you might also wanna use this custom font which changes the font of the dialed number to NeoTech, completes the theme.

Download: NeoTech Dialer font for iPhone 2.x.x (1026)
[refer to readme.txt for installation steps]

theme is also available on Cydia

The NeoTech keyboards are now available on Cydia through the BigBoss repository..
this includes Neo Keys, Neo Keys Dark and Neo Keys Dark [WhiteSpace].
BigBoss repo is in community sources so you don’t need to make any changes to Cydia, just let it refresh once.
I thought this will make the themes available to a larger user base and at the same time allow me to provide updates and bugfixes in a more simple and efficient manner.
If you have the keyboards installed you should install again from Cydia.
If you’re using Neo Keys, the one with the default colors, you *must* install from Cydia as a major bug has been fixed. Thanks to Allen from Planet-iPhones for pointing it out.

NOTE: these themes only affect the keyboard on your iPhone.. to have system-wide customization.. you can download the various custom fonts that I’ve posted here..

here’s the Matrix Code font for lock screen clock..

Download: Matrix Code Custom Clock Font iPhone 2.0.x (1397)
[refer to readme.txt for installation steps]

get the full Matrix Code font here
http://www.dafont.com/font.php?file=matrix_code_nfi

here’s the highly requested Myriad system font for iPhone..
i couldn’t find Myriad but i found Myriad Pro.. i hope you like it..

Download: Myriad Pro Custom Font for iPhone 2.0.x (2611)
[refer to readme.txt for installation steps]

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