CUSTOM iPHONE ICON?

Yes, yes, ye old non technologically minded people, there is a extremely easy way to create a custom Apple iPhone or iPod Touch icon for absolutely free. Creating a custom iPhone icon can be useful for anyone who has a website or blog. It looks much more professional to have a nice looking custom icon, so that anyone that saves your site to there iPhone of iPod Touch home screen(s) will be able to instantly have your custom logo on there screen. Ok, so, here we go.

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Domain names are simply an address for your site - sorry to all the more advanced web people out there. Choose a domain name that is easy to remember, easy to type in the address bar, and, obviously, available. Many domain companies charge alot for privacy or other add ons, but, again, my choice has been the following:DOMAIN NAME

#1 Get the right tools

In order to create a custom iPhone icon you will need to have some kind of image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. There are less expensive options out there, but if you want to have a set of tools to really make your creativity soar in the future, I would REALLY recommend getting some sort of Adobe product. Really anything that will allow you to save a .png file after editing it.

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The next thing you will need is a FTP uploading software, or someway to upload to your hosting server. Again, Adobe products such as Adobe Dreamweaver will help you in this process. It's simple.

#2 Create the Icon

First of all open Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or whatever other image editing software your using and create a new file with the the dimensions of 55px x 55px - this is the size of icon that Apple requires for it to be formatted correctly on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Note: Creating a custom icon that is exactly the right size will allow the resolution to be at it's best, and, therefore, look the most clear on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Use the text tool, import an image or both onto the art-board of your editing program to create a cool iPhone icon. Follow these artistic guidlines.

A) Create something that is easy for people to remember

B) Make the colors contrasting so that the icon is easy to visually see.

C) Don't try to be Picasso - simple is best.

The main use for this custom icon is on the Apple iPhone, but keep in mind that it can be used for other online applications like Facebook, Twitter, or other online profiles.

Example of a Custom iPhone Icon

Example of a Custom iPhone Icon
Custom iPhone Icon for an Apartment Locating Company.

Custome iPhone Icon Example

Custome iPhone Icon Example
Specific creative element that make this icon work well

#3 Save and Upload

After creating your custom iPhone icon, all we have to do is save the file as a .PNG. Again, the reason that we save the icon as a PNG file is to make sure that the background remains transparent.

NOTE: JPG files do not have a transparent background like PNG files. JPG files will have a white background.

Make sure the file name is exactly as listed below otherwise your Apple device will not be able to find the image once uploaded:

FILE NAME
apple-touch-icon.png

UPLOAD
Open your FTP client and log on to your server (location where your website is stored). Locate the newly created custom iPhone icon and upload the file to the root directory of your server - this is usually something like public_html/. To break this down in more simple terms - the "root directory" is simply the main folder where all of your website information is stored, including your newly created custom iPhone icon Simple as that.

After you have uploaded your new custom icon to your host storage, you and the rest of the world can use your new icon on there mobile devices home screen.

Custom iPhone Icon Uploading Via FTP

Custom iPhone Icon Uploading Via FTP
Upload your custom icon to the "Root folder"

Wrapping Up

Now every time someone saves your webpage to there iPhone or iPod Touch the newly created custom icon will be saved as the icon on their phone or mp3 player. Cool! Easy! Here are the steps to saving your websites custom icon to your iPhone/iPod home page.

1. Navigate to your website

2. Press the center icon on Safari (i.e., the square with arrow).

3. Select "Add to Home Screen"

Below are the example photographs to help you with saving your icon to your home screen.

Navigate to You Website

Navigate to You Website
Example: www.AustinApartmentAgency.com

Select "Add to Home Screen"

Select "Add to Home Screen"
Example: www.AustinApartmentAgency.com

View & Rename Your Custom iPhone Icon

View & Rename Your Custom iPhone Icon
Example: www.AustinApartmentAgency.com

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Hidden iPhone Apps


There have always been tons of hype around the iPhone & jail breaking to release the limitations of the device. I have had jailbroken phones in the past, but found that most the time the functionality of the iPhone was lost after jail breaking. The phone still worked, but there was a little speed issue now and again. Well, saying that, I have stumbled upon an iPhone App that mentioned ALOT of really cool features and I wanted to share.


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