Skype
released their much-awaited VOiP iPhone App late last night on the App Store.

Unfortunately, users who have jailbroken their iPhone and installed jailbreak apps have observed that Skype's iPhone app is very unstable and crashing very frequently.

If you're one of them then there is a solution to fix the crashing problem.

We had mentioned in our earlier post that the reason for the crashing issue was due to a jailbreak package called "Mobile Substrate" which is used by number of jailbreak apps such as such as Winterboard, Clippy, Lockdown, Five Icon Dock etc. At that time, we had advised (thanks to tip from Kavian, one of our readers) that uninstalling the package would solve the problem which wasn't the ideal solution.

However, the good news is that developer of Mobile Substrate, Jay Freeman (aka Saurik) has released an updated version of Mobile Substrate which fixes the problem (temporarily). He is still working on a long term fix but as a workaround; he has disabled all Mobile Substrate based hacks while Skype's iPhone app is running. This means that you cannot use VOiPover3G (to make calls using the Skype app over a cellular network as many had hoped) or Backgrounder (which would allow you to run Skype app in the background to overcome limitation of iPhone's SDK).

If Skype's iPhone app is crashing on your jailbroken iPhone then update Mobile Substrate (to v0.9.2803-1 or higher) via Cydia. If you had uninstalled it based on our earlier suggestion then it is safe to reinstall the latest version of Mobile Substrate.

I used Skype's iPhone app after re-installing the latest version of Mobile Substrate didn't observe any crashes. It was very stable.

The other interesting thing is that folks at 9to5Mac have found that you can make VOiP calls over a data network using Skype's iPhone app on an iPhone running firmware 3.0 beta which works over only Wi-Fi Networks with iPhone firmware 2.2.1 or lower. I guess it's a glitch rather than the feature of iPhone firmware 3.0 as it's something carriers wouldn't be too happy about. It's also reported that the app is quite unstable on firmware 3.0 in case you have thoughts of upgrading to firmware 3.0 beta just for this.

Thanks Tim, Smashcz for the tip!

Please let us know if the tip helped in resolving the crashing issue. We would also love to hear your thoughts on Skype's iPhone app.

Update 1:

Skype for iPhone is not available on the App Store in Canada. As per CBC News:

Skype's public relations representative said this is because of patent-licence restrictions but would not elaborate
except to specify that it is a patent issue related to Skype, not Apple.

Update 2:

mbhullar, one of our readers, has commented that using the following tip, you can make calls using Skye's iPhone app over a data network with firmware 2.x.x:

• Launch jailbreak app – IntelliScreen (it's available for a 10-day trial period, after which you need to purchase a license for $9.99).
  
• Tap on the Performance Option from the .
• Turn on "App Launch Boost".
• And also turn it on for VOiPover3G (you will see it only if you have installed it).

Thanks mbhullar for the tip!

Update 3:

The latest version of VOiPover3G is available on Cydia which allows you to make call using Skype's iPhone app over data network. You don't need the IntelliScreen workaround mentioned above. Thanks for the tip Clayton.

Update 4 (April 5, 2009):

If you are still facing crashing issues while using Skype on your jailbroken iPhone and have IntelliScreen installed, try to uninstall it via Cydia to check if it helps. As Oliver, one of our readers has pointed out in the comments below, the crashing stops after uninstalling Intelliscreen.

In case, you are still facing issues, you might want to checkout the comments section as our readers have provided useful tips.

Disclaimer: iPhone Hacks is an affiliate of Skype.