One of the hottest topics within the S60 Community, both here at Symbian-Guru and in other communities around the web is that of signed and unsigned applications. If you’re an S60 user, chances are, you’ve come across some great application, designed by a great independent developer, only to be frustrated to discover that the application is only available unsigned. There are two ways to these applications – either ‘hack’ your phone to remove the ‘signed’ restriction, or get a certificate for your phone and sign the application yourself.
We won’t cover the ‘hacking’ procedures here on the front page, though we have a section of our Forum specifically for this type of conversation. We don’t recommend you go this route, nor do we offer any type of support, should you mess up your phone. However, you’re free to discuss it on the Forum, and there are several members there who have been helping out.
Our recommendation is that you simply get a certificate for your phone, and sign each application individually. This will maintain the security that Symbian Signed allows, while still allowing you to make the ultimate decision about what gets installed on your phone. It is important that you know and trust the source of any application that you install to your phone.
OPDA.cn is regarded as one of the best places to get a certificate for your phone, and they have recently revamped their site to make it easier for English-speaking Symbian fans to navigate. You can now click here to get to OPDA’s English section, where you can easily request a certificate and then view your available certificates for download. Even better, they’ve also added the ability for you to upload an application to their servers and have it signed for your phone, and then re-download the signed version. All files are maintained on their server for you, so that you can re-download them later with ease. Here’s a visual of how this works:
To request your certificates, you’ll need to register for an account here. Once that’s done, you’ll need to click the big ‘Apply Cer’ button to submit your certificate request, using the form seen below. The fields are clearly labeled, which is nice. You can also add a custom nickname to each certificate, which makes it easier to keep track of multiple phones.
Once you have submitted the request, you can click here to view your available certificates, as well as to get the status of your pending requests, as seen below. You can see that I have received 4 certificates, and have one pending. Unfortunately, there is no notification options for when your certificate is ready, so you will need to check back every few hours.
Then, to use your .cer and .key files to sign applications, you can use SignSis, which offers an easy graphical interface, seen below:
Please note: Since the certificate is tied to your IMEI, you’ll need a new one anytime you get a new phone.
OPDA.cn has also added an English section to their forum, so that you can get involved in the community easily.
We’ll begin periodically covering unsigned applications here on Symbian-Guru.com from the various independent developers in the S60 Community. We invite you to bookmark this walkthrough to help you sign your applications. One of our favorite independent developers is TongRen, whose apps, such as FlipSilent and ShakeSMS, you can find here.
If you don’t wish to sign applications, you can still download and install any application from the Symbian-Guru Store, without having to bother with signing it first. Please assume that any application mentioned on Symbian-Guru.com is signed, unless otherwise specified. It’s entirely possible to use your S60-powered smartphone to its full potential, with lots of applications, without having to sign anything. However, we think it’s important to support the independent developers, as well as the ‘big guys’, and Symbian Signed has not made it easy for these independent folks to get their stuff signed.
8-11-09 – Post was updated to reflect OPDA’s new English-language site.
Keep getting this reply when I try to register over at http://cer.opda.cn/en/
BBS return：该用户名已经被注册，请返回重新填写。
Any ideas on how I can get it to work or is there an known issue?
Tried on Firefox3, IE6 and my N97 standard Web Browser.
OK Managed to login and desciphered what the message meant.
Now my problem is when I try to “Apply Cer” I get the message “The phone number is wrong！”
What do I need to do?
FYI
该用户名已经被注册，请返回重新填写。
=
This user already registered, please return fills.
@mbrett use 13887654123 as mobile number. source: http://www.opda.com.cn/viewthread.php?action=printable&tid=236027
Thanks pgudge.
Worked first time.
Thread mentioned that the number needed to be 11-digits, but it seems to be more than that. Must need to be a specific nationality ie starting with 13…. or something.
is it safe to give out my IMEI?
i am worried.
Thanks!
where do i upload the application so they can sign it for me
I sign my application on this site: http://www.noubis.com/sign-app-phone.php
and it works it’s great
its good to have it!
These instructions are written by geeks for geeks, when will you write instructions that anyone can follow?
When I try and install the sis file to my unlocked E71 I get the error message “corrupt file”
The “SignSis” application is as dodgy as hell – steer clear
Personally, given that I own a Mac and don't have a PC to use SignSis on it, I use an app on my phone called Free Signer, it's free, it's signed itself and it's dead easy to use. Once you have your certificate .cer and .key files ready from opda, follow this tutorial written by our good friend Vaibhav on The Symbian Blog: http://thesymbianblog.com/2009/07/04/how-to-sig... . He goes through the step by step guide to use Free Signer and once you get the hang of it, it'll be easy as pie.
Works fine for me. Just received the key and cert and I just signed the vHome 3.02 using SignSIS.
Bthw, I realy like the app.
Thanx a lot “khouryrt”, u r great.
Works fine for me. Just received the key and cert and I just signed the vHome 3.02 using SignSIS.
Bthw, I realy like the app.
Thanx a lot “khouryrt”, u r great.
Hi,
Quite useful of an information i must say.
I have been a symbian user for a long time now and still love to do the same. Its only Nokia which i alwayz loved but recently shifted to OMNIA HD coz of sheer briliance it carries and it packs Symbian too. But i face a proonblem here as many of applications which used to run on my Nokia n97 does not work on OMNIA HD. Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me with a solution for the same. it will be a great help for me.
Waiting to hear from you soon
Hi,
I have been following your website and blog and really appreciate the time and effort you put to give us information and reviews about many useful devises, apps and other stuff. I have been a symbian user for a long time now and still love to do the same. Its only Nokia(currently e72) which ii have been using for 8 long years now as the primary phone but recently shifted to OMNIA HD because of the sheer brilliance it carries and it packs Symbian too. But i face a problem here as many of applications which used to run on my Nokia n97 does not work on OMNIA HD. Plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me with a solution for the same. it will be a great help for me.
Plzzzzzz help me with the same.
Waiting to hear from you soon.
Thanks for this mate. Flawless instructions and works like a charm. Thanks again!!!
yeah it's a hell all those signing procedures… and I also own a Mac.
Btw, SISSigner (Windows app) is apparently working with Crossover!
Apparently because it starts, I can go to settings, etc. but I don't have my cert/key yet, so I haven't ran until there but it seems to work.
Open Signed Offline can only be used if you have purchased a Publisher ID from TCT for $200
DO NOT upload a csr file if you do not have a Publisher ID from TCT because it will not create the certificate for you
so how can i do to have my certificate without pay???
Thanks a lot. Very benificial. However I signed it online on that website and downloaded the signed copy of the .sis file. I dont need to use another software such as SignSis or Freesigner
regards
How about signing apps without additional software? http://www.elias-lange.de/how-to-sign-install-u...
Worked on my e52! Free i-sms works now! Thanks a lot!
It's saying the user name has been registered, please choose another one.
it says certificate error
what website is that please?
how long is it supposed to take to get a certificate? been waiting over a week, still says “applying”
I was able to get one for my E72 in an hour. It took me 1 day to get one for my E75. I’m not sure there’s any specified amount of time, but 5 days does seem a bit excessive. You may want to resubmit it.