We recently showed you how to enable home screen wallpapers on the iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd generation (running iOS 4), which is technically not supported by Apple.

Apple has stated that the main reason why these two devices are left out of the home screen wallpaper group is because of an issue with icon animations when closing and opening applications when using a wallpaper. We can confirm that there is some type of distortion of animations when closing and opening applications on these two devices when using a wallpaper. However, we have found a solution that allows you to use Apple's way of home screen wallpapers, without any distortion.

We do recommend this tutorial over the previous one as it does not require third-party applications to be running. Here's how to get it done:

NOTE: This tutorial is specifically for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd generation users! You must have a jailbroken device for this tutorial to work. Before you begin this tutorial, make sure that you have a wallpaper already enabled on your home screen. For how to first enable home screen wallpapers on your device (before doing this tutorial), read this tutorial.

NOTE: It’s All Tech is not responsible for any damage or data loss to your device.

Step 1: Download and install OpenSSH from Cydia (search for it)

Step 2: Restart your device

Step 3: On your computer, launch your favorite FTP application. On Mac, it is good to use CyberDuck and on Windows, a good one is FileZilla.

Step 4: After you launch the FTP application, create a new connection with the following settings:

  • SFTP as the file transfer type
  • The server should be the IP Address from your device (ON YOUR DEVICE: Go into the Settings app>Tap Wi-Fi>Find your wireless network and click the blue arrow next to it. Then, find the IP Address (first item) and make note of it)
  • The port number should remain the default
  • The username is root
  • The password is alpine

Step 5: In the FTP client on your computer, navigate to: System>Library>CoreServices>SpringBoard.app. From there, find the following files:

  • WallpaperIconDockShadow.png
  • WallpaperIconDockShadowT.png
  • WallpaperIconShadow.png
  • WallpaperIconShadowT.png

Step 6: Drag these files to your desktop and delete them in your FTP client (so they are no longer in the folder)

Step 7: Restart your iPhone 3G or iPod touch 2nd generation. Open any application - notice any lag? Close any application - notice any lag? You shouldn't

Notes:

  • Those files that you removed from your device do not have any visual purpose and is the cause of the distortion.
  • The files you removed from your device should not be deleted from your computer. Always keep a backup so you can add them back if needed.
  • If you are having issues following this tutorial or have run into some troubles, just post a comment and we'll help you out!