Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you Accept
X
Apple WWDC: What We ExpectBest Mattress DealsAssessing Viral Sleep HacksNetflix Password SharingMeal Subscription vs. TakeoutBest Solar CompaniesVerizon 5G Home InternetBest Credit Cards
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Homebrew Apps Anyone?

About my experience trying to get some homebrew apps.

Catherine Gouge
2 min read
Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
This advertising widget is powered by Navi and contains advertisements that Navi may be paid for in different ways. You will not be charged for engaging with this advertisement. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, this advertising widget does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information in the featured advertisements is up to date, each advertiser featured in this widget is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its offer details. It is possible that your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms in this advertising widget and the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser which will be presented to you prior to making a purchase. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.
About my experience trying to get some homebrew apps.

As my fellow test-drive bloggers have noted, the "official" apps for the Pre are still a bit limited. I do love Pandora--that has distracted me for a good while--but let's face it: It's time for more and it's getting harder to wait. I knew this would be the case for a while, and I have been waiting--patiently. Until yesterday.

apps.forwebos.com
Yesterday, I came across a homebrew app that made me attempt the process of using Virtual Box and installing the SDK: the active homescreen. It looks oh, so, cool, and folks who have used it seem pretty excited about it. The screenshot here doesn't tell the whole story, so click on the credit url if you want to know more.

As anyone who has read my prior posts knows at this point, I am a Mac user, so installing homebrew apps is a bit more involved (there is an ipk for Windows users circulating) and requires new levels of techie geekishness for this user. However, the kind and generous uber geeks over at Pre Central have generated instructions for noobs like myself and provide a wide range of support for the process via the Pre Central forums. Sweet!

Unfortunately, I've been stalled out at installing the SDK for about a day now. I get an error message that the SDK will only install on OS 10.5 (and I have 10.4), but replies I received on the forum thread I started with this question suggested that it should work. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the version of Virtual Box for the Mac (just to make sure I had the correct version) and all of the other usual get-out-and-back-in-and-see-if-it-works-now fixes I can think of.

So, the good news is...the homebrew apps list is growing (and yes, there is a fart app). The bad news for me is that my day job got in the way of my figuring this out today, but tomorrow is a new day. I will do it then. And will report back to let you know how it goes.