One of the biggest cons of jailbreaking has always been how difficult it is to restore a jailbroken iPhone’s settings and configuration. If you ever need to restore iOS or upgrade/downgrade to a different iOS version, there is no clear way to easily restore your iPhone’s (both jailbreak and general)Â configuration.
BackBoard is a new jailbreak app that aims to help you save your iPhone’s springboard/home screen configuration. There are other apps, like PkgBackup, that help you back up your jailbreak apps and settings; but BackBoard has some different features that make it appealing…
When you jailbreak an iPhone, iTunes stops backing up your iOS configuration. That means that you don’t have the easy, one-click restore you can use on a non-jailbroken iPhone. If your jailbroken iPhone needs to be restored for whatever reason, and you haven’t taken the proper precautions, you will lose all of your jailbreak apps/mods/tweaks and settings (along with your iPhone’s general configuration, such as, system settings, wallpaper, folders, etc.).
To be clear, BackBoard does not serve as an all-purpose backup utility for your jailbroken iPhone. PkgBackup is still the king of that. BackBoard allows you to easily backup and switch between multiple themes you configure on your iPhone.
BackBoard isn’t for someone who never changes the layout of their iPhone. But, if you’re like me and you are always changing things around (folders, apps, wallpapers, etc.) and adding new mods and interface tweaks, then BackBoard is for you.
The official description of BackBoard says,
“Easily backup your home screen. Ever wished you could set a theme and never have to do it again? Well now you can! With BackBoard, you can easily switch between multiple springboard backups with a tap of your fingertips. Never bother with taking hours to set up the most complex themes.”
BackBoard saves your:
- User settings
- Home screen/springboard layout
- Mobilesubstrate configuration
- Hidden apps
- Wallpapers
- Webclips
- Folders and app layout
When you launch BackBoard, your list of themes to choose from is empty. BackBoard doesn’t come with any default themes; you make themes based on your own iPhone configuration.
BackBoard has five functions: create, install, update and delete. You can create a new theme from your current layout, and install it with one tap. Saved themes can also be updated with your current layout, and you can of course delete saved BackBoard themes.
For example, you could disable your jailbreak mods and tweaks, like SBSettings and WinterBoard, and create a theme called “Default iOS,” or something like that. Now you have a clean, default theme without jailbroken elements you can always easily switch to (That would be a good idea if you ever need to go into an Apple Store to ask something about your iPhone. They don’t like jailbreaking very much.)
Now, you could reenable all of your jailbreak elements just the way you like them. Once all of your folders, app layout, wallpapers, etc. are set the way you like them, add another theme to BackBoard with all of your jailbreak stuff turned back on. You could name it something like “Jailbreak.”
You now have two drastically different springboard configurations to easily switch between, if you ever feel like it.
There are so many possibilities for using BackBoard. You could have your “work” layout for during the day, and your “party” layout for the night life. We do not condone this by any means (don’t want to get on their bad side), but you could have a girlfriend and/or mom-safe configuration and a regular configuration. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to all that.
When you create a new theme in BackBoard, you are taking your iPhone’s configuration and making a complete copy of it (copies are not made of apps, just the configuration and layout). When you install a BackBoard theme, you are swapping the saved copy of your iPhone setup with the current one. Through BackBoard, you have multiple springboards to switch between at will.
Best of all, BackBoard is totally free in the Cydia Store. Download the app and give it a try if you’re interested.
What do you think of BackBoard? Sound useful?