AlbumArt on AppSwitcher does exactly what the title says – adds album art to your app switcher. I personally like having this functionality because I have a tendency to forget what songs come from what albums. This way I don’t have to jump into my iPod app, I can simply bring up my app switcher and look without having to stop what I’m doing.

Once installed from Cydia there’s nothing to configure or set up, it should just work. It’s available for free and requires iOS 5.0 or higher.

Free – Cydia Search Link

The Apple Store is looking to help you out with any last minute holiday shopping by offering free next day delivery on a huge range of products. Some of the items covered are the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple TV and some Mac models. Unfortunately the iPhone 4S is not included.

In order to qualify for free next day shipping, you must have your order completed by today, December 21, and not request any custom configurations or engraving; it’s now too late for that!

Not sure what to get? Check out our 2011 holiday gift guides for loads of ideas.

Source: Apple Store

The guys at BlackSmithGames have announced that their AppventCalendar will be returning for 2011. If you go to AppventCalendar.com everyday in December, you will be able to pick up a free game, and a free app. Thats 2 free downloads a day!

Something new for 2011 — an iPhone app, meaning that you don’t even have to visit the website to download your gift. You can check the app, and download the free gift, directly on your iPhone.

Don’t forget, like any advent calendar, if you miss a day you can’t go back and get it later!

• AppventCalendar website
• iTunes Link

Some news from Let’s Talk iPhone event today will please a lot of people don’t need the latest, greatest devices out there. Rather then removing the iPhone 3GS from their device line up, you’ll now be able to pick one up for free with carrier agreements and the oft rumored, and now freshly announced iPhone 4 8GB will be going for $99. At the new price point for the Apple iPhone 4 8GB, we’re not envisioning Apple having any trouble moving those devices the iPhone 3GS may be a harder sell but fact is — it remains a competitive device for the market.

Note: iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 will be available on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon in the US. iPhone 3GS will reman AT&T only as there’s no CDMA version. (Sorry, free-sters!)

Just two months after hitting the US in an invite-only beta, Spotify is now open to to the public and is offering users 6 months worth of unlimited streaming under the free account.

Stream millions of tracks from thousands of albums and artists to your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Take your existing Spotify playlists with you on the go – listen to them during your commute, in the gym or on a flight. With ‘Offline mode’ you can listen even when no connection is available. Wirelessly sync your local files to your phone to merge your catalogue with ours, no cables required! Download and get started directly from your mobile.

• Instant access to over 15 million tracks
• Stream online
• Listen offline – no mobile connection needed
• Share music with your friends
• Star your favourite tracks
• Wirelessly sync your own MP3s to your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad
• Create and sync playlists
• Send the tracks you listen to direct to Last.fm & Facebook

Spotify is on a role right now, as just yesterday they partnered up with Facebook to allow free streaming on the social network from user profiles at no cost.

I’ve been in the invite-only beta since it launched in the US and have been loving it, although I can’t see myself spending the money for a premium account just yet given my loyalty to iTunes and iCloud. Spotify is still one of the best online streaming music providers out there, however, so give it a try and let us know how you like the service!

Spotify is available for Free for iPhone and requires a free Spotify account. There are also premium and unlimited accounts available starting at $4.99 per month.

[App Store Link] [Spotify]

Great news if you are a big talker and have an iPhone on the AT&T network. AT&T has started sending out text messages offering you 1000 free rollover minutes. All you have to do is reply with the word “Yes” and the extra minutes will be added to your account.

Sounds too good to be true. To get your minutes added just make sure your reply to the text message before the closing date of September 7. Also if you don’t receive the text message, try sending a text saying “Yes” to 11113020, you may be lucky and get a response confirming your in!

Thanks Cody for the tip!

On a Mac and wondering how to get free ringtones for your iPhone? We all know you can purchase or create ringtones in iTunes but… they can be limited in functionality or selection. Luckily GarageBand, which is part of the the iLife suite, has the ability to create ringtones built right in.

The process isn’t too difficult and you can fine tune them however you like; including fade ins, fade outs, splicing sections together, and more.

After you choose the song you want to use, you’ll need to drag it into GarageBand. For iLife 11 users, you’ll need to do these steps first. If you’re using an older version of iLife, you can simply skip to the next section.

iLife 11 users, do this first

If you want to use a song that was purchased from iTunes (a .m4r file), GarageBand is picky about you dragging those in as of iLife 11, so you’ll need to change the format from .m4r to .mp3 before dragging it in.

1. Drag the file from iTunes you’d like to use for your ringtone to your desktop.
2. Change the extension from .m4r to .mp3
3. Finder will prompt you asking if you’re sure you want to change it. Click use .mp3
4. Now move on to the next section.

Making a ringtone

1. Drag your song into GarageBand, you should see something similar to above (if GarageBand opened a virtual keyboard, just x it out). I also go to the counter and change it to time instead of measures (located on the bottom). That’s up to you. It’s just personal preference.

2. Now expand the view by clicking the tiny scissor icon in the bottom left hand corner of GarageBand (it’s the third icon from the left in most versions of GarageBand.

3. The expanded view should look like the screen above. This view allows you to highlight and cut sections out as well as finer tune your selection.

4. Now comes the Apple loop part, next to your play/pause/forward controls to the right, you should see the button above. Click it and you will now see a yellow bar that you can adjust appear above your song in the top section of GarageBand.

5. Simply slide this bar back and forth to select the portion of the song you’d like to make a ringtone out of. You can increase and decrease the length by dragging it at the beginning or end as well. Just make sure it’s under 30 seconds total.

Those are all the steps to create your ringtone, the video also explains a few more options as far as fading in and out as well as cutting and splicing so be sure to check that out as well.

Import your ringtone into iTunes

Now all that’s left to do is to send the ringtone to iTunes.

1. At the top of GarageBand click Share.
2. Next select Send ringtone to iTunes
3. iTunes should pop open and import your ringtone automatically.
4. Now just sync your iPhone and the new ringtone and you’re done!

That’s all there is to it! You can create as many ringtones as you want this way without paying any additional money. If you run into issues, check out our TiPb forums for more help and suggestions!

[Daily Tips](http://www.imore.com/tips] range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

AT&T has been offering iPhone 3GS 8GB at $49 lately but Bell and Telus in Canada now have it on sale for $0 for a limited time. Sure it comes with a typically ridiculous 3-year contract, sure you can get the much better iPhone 4 on sale on the same networks for $159, sure you can get an unlocked iPhone 3GS straight from Apple for $549, but if you absolutely, positively have to have an iPhone for FREE (with contract!) get on over to Bell or Telus before the sale ends.

Anyone think iPhone 3GS at $0 is compelling? Want it on your network?

[Bell and Telus]

If you still haven’t purchased an iPad for yourself or a loved on for this holiday season Best Buy is making it a little bit more enticing by offering iPad buyers a free Mi-Fi from your choice of AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. Of course you will have to sign up for a 2 year commitment for the data to use with the Mi-Fi from either of the three companies but if you wanted data anyways why not get the free Mi-Fi to start it off with!

If you remember Verizon has been selling the iPad + Mi-Fi bundle since October and the 16GB iPad with Mi-Fi starts at $629.99 from them. From Best Buy you will get the same package for $499. No matter what retailer you go through for a bundle like this having a data contract is standard so with the holiday season it seems like a great idea to hit up Best Buy for your bundle and save yourself $130 which you could then use on iPad accessories over at the TiPb Accessory Store! [Cheap plug!]

If you end up getting this bundle let us know how it works out for you in our comments section.

[ 9To5 Mac ]

Apple has launched its 12 days of Christmas promotion in the UK, an iTunes offer where Apple gives away a different free download each day. The download can be a song, music video, app, book, TV episode or even a complete film.

The promotion starts on December 26^th and runs for 12 days. Each free gift will only be available for 24 hours. Apple also has a dedicated 12 days of Christmas app, compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, that is available today so you won’t miss any of the give aways that start on the 26th.

No news on availability in other countries yet but we are sure it will be coming soon!

[iTunes Link]

BGR has received word from a tipster that Best Buy will be offering Apple’s iPhone 3GS to customers for free. This particular offer will only be valid tomorrow, December 10th, and is available to customers who are looking to start new lines, additional lines, or use their qualified upgrades.

So if you are in the market to fetch yourself a free iPhone you might as well take a ride to your local Best Buy retailer tomorrow and pick one up.

[BGR]

Facebook still hasn’t bothered to release a version of their app for iPad, so it’s good news that third-party app, Friendly for Facebook, has just gone free.

Friendly for Facebook is now ad supported, but users have the ability to dismiss ads that pop up at the bottom of the screen (and they’re few and far between to begin with). I’ve been using their paid version for a while now, and I really enjoy the features available in Friendly for Facebook that simply aren’t available on the Facebook website. Uploading photos, for example, is a feature I use quite a bit that wouldn’t be available without Friendly for Facebook.

You can also grab the $.99 version without ads if you’d like. If you’re using Friendly for Facebook, let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

[Free - iTunes]

It’s cool that Apple is willing to give us  free bumpers and cases, but their system may be a little “flawed” to say the least.  After the announcement went up, I immediately downloaded the bumper app and typed in my iTunes password, it brought me to the selection screen. (By the way, is anyone else only seeing black bumpers? Where’s all the colors?!?)  Seeing only black was available, I went ahead and got a black.  My order processed no problem. Unless you count the ridiculous 3-5 week shipping window.

Here’s where the problems begin.  We have 2 iPhone 4s in our house, both linked to the same iTunes account, which I’d assume isn’t that uncommon for couples and spouses who obviously share joint bank accounts.  Well,using the other iPhone 4, we downloaded the app, launched, typed iTunes password, and it told me I already had an order placed.  D’oh!

I called Apple to ask them what was going on and their solution was for me to just make another iTunes account for the other iPhone.  To me, that’s not a solution, that just creates more of a hassle for me.  It’s something I shouldn’t have to do to begin with.  What would have been wrong with a process where you just enter your iPhone 4 serial number in order to redeem? Then users could do this online or from their phones.  That would have been pretty fool proof in my opinion.  Doing it by iTunes account is just a bad idea in general.

Anyone else having this issue? Or is their system just wigging out?  Apple didn’t seem to have any idea what was going on.  I’m still expecting an e-mail back from a rep at Apple as to whether or not they can just process my second order for me.  I’ll update if I hear anything further.

Update: Apparently you don’t have to log in with an iTunes ID, it can be an Apple ID too. It does appear they are checking the serials as well. (Obviously to prevent people from logging into multiple iTunes accounts or Apple IDs on the same device to get more than one free case).  I’m still curious as to why or if they’re checking iTunes accounts as well, as there really is no need if they’re going off serial.

Update 2: It looks as if a lot of users are saying their orders went through just fine with the same iTunes/AppleID – perhaps it was a glitch that got worked out or a bug? Who knows, but be sure to let us know if you have issues as well.  Mine eventually went through ok but we did have to use a different AppleID for the second phone.

If you’ve bought [App X] for the iPhone and the developer makes [App X] for the iPad, should you get the iPad version for free?

We’ve seen developers like Instapaper‘s Marco Arment specifically making “universal binaries” so users who bought the $4.99 Pro version can download an iPhone update, install it on their iPad, and get an iPad-specific user interface (UI) as well. (Think of it as two similar apps in one handy download).

We’ve also seen leaked screenshots have shown “HD” or “for iPad” versions of many popular iPhone apps and games that are being released as separate, all new downloads. In many cases these HD apps offer substantial differences brought about by the bigger screen real-estate and beefier processing power of the iPad and will carry their own price tag and perhaps be more expensive than the iPhone versions due to the greater effort put into them (more pixels, more functionality).

Some users no doubt feel entitled to free iPad versions if they already bought the iPhone version while some developers likewise feel entitled to get paid for the work they put into making different versions for a different device.

Can we find some existing parallels? If you bought a Super Mario game for the Nintendo DS, you don’t get Super Mario for the Wii for free. Likewise PSP and PS3 games. Of course, the differences between dedicated mobile gaming devices and their console cousins are far greater than between an iPhone and an iPad.

If you bought a Mac app like iMovie you could install it on both your MacBook laptop and your iMac. Likewise for Windows. Of course, the differences between Mac OS X or Windows running on a laptop or desktop are negligible compared to the iPhone and iPad (there’s no separate version of iMovie for MacBook vs. iMac, or Microsoft Word for netbook vs. tower).

Again, the iPad falls in between.

Apple announced at launch that most iPhone apps will “just work” on the iPad, either 1:1 or pixel-doubled to fill the screen. So, developers who want an easy out can just point to that as the “free” iPad version of their existing iPhone apps. We haven’t heard great things about pixel-doubling’s looks, however, but free is free, right?

What about developers who invest time and money into offering something better? For the most part, however, we agree with TUAW’s Erica Sadun who suggested that apps with a similar user experience between the iPhone and the iPad could be good candidates for the universal binary approach (i.e. free but tweaked for the end user). Apps that are significantly re-designed and re-engineered from the iPhone to the iPad, however, could be good candidates for the separate HD app strategy.

As to whether or not developers should offer discounts to existing iPhone users for iPad apps, that one’s easy for now — despite hints and rumors, Apple still has no “upgrade” or “discount” option available to developers. Even if a developer wanted to, they can’t offer anything but a single, consistent, full price for everyone. (See the Tweetie 2.0 controversy).

We’re one week away from iPad launch day, so things can still change, but until and unless they do, tell you what you think — should iPad apps be free for existing users? And if people won’t pay more for better, what incentive do developers have to make more and better apps?

AppAdvice has followed up their $9.99 bestseller sneak-peak with more screenshots they claim come from the pre-release iPad iBooks and iBookstore, this time indicating Apple is including that massive Project Gutenberg library of free eBook content right in the app.

We mentioned Project Gutenberg last week and it’s 30,000 ePub-format, iBooks friendly public domain titles and figured Apple would just let you drag them into iTunes and move them on over to iBooks. This, however, would mean they’re already linked and ready to download.

Whether or not the full catalog is there, or just some subset of popular or editorial choices is unknown, and indeed everything is subject to change before the iPad ships on April 3, but we’re hoping this is true and stays put.

It would be the iBooks answer to iTunes’ free podcast and iTunes U, and the App Store’s free apps section. And t’would be glorious.

e-Book reader Classics [iTunes link, which like Delicious Library saw its UI copied by Apple's new iPad iBooks app, has decided to go free in celebratory protest. Gorgeous app, great public-domain content, so check it out.

iBomber [iTunes link] is also free, though we’re not sure for how long. Georgia recommends it though, so give it a try.

And to celebrate the 2,000,000 download mark one of the top games of 2009, Battle Bears, [iTunes Link] is now FREE for today only in the App Store!

Check out the video of Battle Bears in action after the break!

[Via Touch Arcade]

TiPb loves to give back to our readers with our give aways, so why not give away my personal favorite Twitter app in all of the Apple App Store, Twitbit!

Our good friends over at High Order Bit have been generous enough to share 10 FREE copies of their Twitbit application to give you! If you want in on the action, all you have to do is visit this thread in our iPhone forums and leave a single post telling High Order Bit what feature you would like to see added to the already feature filled Twitbit!

Contest starts now and ends Wednesday, January 27th at 12pm PT. And remember, promo codes require a US iTunes App Store account (Apple’s rule, not ours!) Good luck!

If you been searching for some holiday music for your iPhone or iPod, iTunes has you covered with the iTunes Holiday Sampler by various artists. Oh, and not only is it free for one week, it’s an iTunes LP so you get all the goods including lyrics, images and artwork, and so on.

The good news is you will get a total of twenty tracks from artists like Weezer, David Archuleta, Toby Keith, Sarah McLachlan, etc… Now for the bad news, sadly if you are like Rene and outside of the U.S., this is not available to you. Don’t shoot us, we’re just the messenger.

UPDATE: Now available in the UK as well! [iTunes link]

UPDATE 2: In Canada, finally, but with only 7 songs. Bah humbug! [iTunes link]

To those of you who can download this, enjoy your free holiday music!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

For those of you who are not familiar with our Apps for Less posts, they are a great way for us to point out a few good iPhone (and iPod touch) applications available in the App Store that are currently on sale, or ones that have come down permanently to a price that we feel are worth mentioning to our readers.

For those of you looking for some freebies, today happens to be your lucky day. You can now download all 16 applications that developer Chilli X has released to date for free. This deal ends by the end of today so act fast. You are bound to find a few of the 16 apps that you may be interested in. To see a complete list of what is available simply search for “Chilli X” within iTunes or directly from within the App Store on your iPhone.

If you see any other great weekend deals, let us know in the comments, or send them our way any time for inclusion in a future Apps for Less!

And we thought $99 rumors at Walmart sounded cheap! According to Apple Insider, if you live in Japan and don’t mind signing a 2-year deal with official carrier SoftBank, you can take home an 8GB iPhone 3G for FREE!

No matter the exchange rate, zero is zero, so if you’ve been holding out for an iPhone of your very own, is this finally enough the sway you? And most importantly, what Emoji will you use to express your free iPhone feelings?

(For our non-Japanese readers think AT&T, Rogers, or any other carrier will match this deal any time soon..?

Hudson, maker of a ton of different iPhone games, is offering a limited time free download for three of their most popular games! We already told you about Aqua Forest, but now Catch the Egg and Neo Same Game have also been price dropped to the low, low price of FREE. Act fast and download now because the free trial offer is supposed to end on Oct 12th, which is only a couple hours away!

Here are the iTunes Store Links:

Aqua Forest (formerly $7.99)

Catch The Egg (formerly $3.99)

Neo Same Game (formerly $3.99)

What are you doing here still? Go download for free! Don’t say TiPb doesn’t love you!

Via

With the economic crunch harshening everyone’s mellow, we here at TiPb are all about saving money for our faithful readers! Every week we will bring to your attention a few apps from Apple’s Official App Store that are on sale or have dropped in price. Now keep in mind we have not tested all of these apps so we can not vouch on the quality of them all, but what we can promise you is we will weed out the poorly rated apps and only present to you the better ones.

The first app worth mentioning is Aqua Forest – Powered By Octaveengine Casual, has dropped in price to $0.00 from $7.99. This one is for a limited time only so go grab it!

A great game worth checking out, Enigmo, has just dropped $3 in price to $1.99. Definitely a app worth a look.

For the racing fans out there, Moto Chaser, is at a price that can not be beat at $.99 down from $4.99. GTS World Racing is now $2.99, down $5. Not too shabby. And both were recently featured in our App vs. App TiPb GRAND PRIX, so check out the reviews there!

iTip is nice to have handy while out to dinner, and it’s now FREE, not a bad price no?

We will keep an eye out for for more price drops worth mentioning and if we missed one, please let us know!

Pocket Express aggregates topical and commonly browsed information and presents it to you in and integrated and user-friendly iPhone interface. If you’ve got a regular jones on for fast and frequent News, Sports, Weather, Entertainment, Travel Information, and more. Check out the demo vid and if it interests you, head on over to the iPhone App Store.

Oh, yeah: It’s FREE!

Current iPhone user on UK’s O2 network eager to get your hands on the hot new iPhone 3G, yeah? Ready to act fast, are you? Willing to sign up for O2′s premium £45 or £75 per month plans, eh? If so — and for a limited time only — you could qualify for a free iPhone 3G 8GB or 16GB respectively. Cracking deal, innit?

Bargain hunters looking for the £35 plan will have to fork over £99 or £159 for their handsets, as will any newcomers to the platform. Doesn’t seem cricket, does it?

Chins up, though, unlike AT&T in the States, O2 will be offering Pay & Go options, though no details have been provided yet.

Take a right little look at the read link for more on O2′s iPhone 3G rates and plans…

Read Via

Let’s do some catching up. First, iPhone users had free AT&T Wi-Fi at their hotspots. Then we lost it. Then it popped back up. Then it disappeared. And now we’re going to get it…eventually? If and when they do decide to officially give free Wi-Fi to iPhone users (June, perhaps?), I will be the first to commend them.

Now Boingo, in a newsletter to customers, goes and announces free Wi-Fi for iPhone users, albeit with an asterisk. That asterisk being: watch a 15 second advertisement for 15 minutes of free wi-fi in selected airports. Boingo is also encroaching on AT&T territory by offering Wi-Fi services at Starbucks locations. This piece of news isn’t as cheery for iPhone users because well, we have to pay.

Since there are around a gazillion Starbucks around the country, I’m sure Boingo Wi-Fi and AT&T Wi-Fi would work just fine. But would AT&T work out a roaming-esque deal with Boingo to provide free Wi-Fi for their iPhone customers at Boingo-specific locations?

Now THAT would be customer service (since it is AT&T, I guess we can rule that out).