iDevice Dictionary

Confused about some of the words used on this site and others in the iPod touch community? Use this as your mini-dictionary.

Accelerometer
A 3-axis device that is implemented into your iPhone or iPod touch to tell which way it is facing.

Baseband
The baseband, only in iPhones, gives the firmware access to its modem chip.

Bricking
'Bricking' you iPod means to mess up you iPod so badly that it has no function, essentially a $300 brick. Some users think this may have happened to their device but this is virtually impossible, bricking only happened in the very first firmwares (1.1.1).

DFU Mode
DFU is Device Firmware Upgrade mode for your iPod. To get your device into DFU follow the directions below:

1. Turn on your iPod. If you can't get it to do anything, just get it as close to "on" as possible.
   
2. Hold the power and home buttons down for 10 seconds.
3. Let go of the power button and keep holding the home button.
4. Your computer will detect your iPod and make a sound. When you hear the sound, you can let go of the home button and restore through iTunes.

Emu/Emulator
An Emulator is a program that simulates the conditions of another device. If you jailbreak, you can get Gameboy, NES, and Playstation 1 (PSX) emulators for your device.

Firmware
Firmware is the operating system of your iPod. To your firmware version, on your iPod go to Settings, General, About, and then Version.

Home Button
The circular button found on the front face of your device.

Jailbreak
Jailbreak is making you iPod Touch available to apps and other upgrades that aren't from Apple. This includes themes, games, music, downloads, and much more.

Power Button
The thin button found at the very top of your device.

Repo/Source
A repo, short for repository, is a website that contains packages that can be downloaded from Cydia. A source is the same thing.

Springboard
Essentially the 'Desktop' of your iPod. This is where your icons are located.

SSH
This allows you to connect to your device from your computer and view all files inside of it. You can use WinScp or Cyberduck to do this.

Unlock
If you unlock your iPhone, you can use it with other carriers besides the ones that Apple would like you to use. This requires a jailbreak.