CleverPin lets you use an iPhone passcode only when you need it

iOS 7 (slide to unlock teaser 001)

Italian developer Filippo Bigarella has been working hard to update his jailbreak tweaks with iOS 7 support, highlighted by the release of Springtomize 3 over the weekend. With an update to that flagship tweak out of the way, Bigarella has followed up by pushing out a new version of CleverPin for iOS 7 and later.

You may recall our own Jeff Benjamin reviewing the original version of CleverPin, a security-based extension, nearly three years ago. Take a look at what has changed since then… 

The functionality of CleverPin has largely remained the same over the years, with the main purpose of allowing iPhone users to enable a passcode intelligently. In other words, you can have your passcode automatically disabled when you are connected to a home network, listening to music, charging your battery or so forth. It’s an added convenience to be able to bypass the passcode screen in certain situations, and one that makes this tweak highly recommended.

The best thing about this tweak is that it still maintains the security of your device, while giving you the flexibility of choosing when your passcode needs to be entered or not. For instance, if you feel that the likelihood of someone compromising your iOS device in your home is low, it makes sense to be able to bypass the passcode and go directly to the Home screen. Another scenario: you’re listening to your iPhone while exercising in the gym and don’t want the nuisance of a passcode to interfere.

CleverPin Lock Screen

CleverPin has a number of options to configure through the Settings app, including toggle switches for disabling your passcode when connected to networks you select, playing music, charging your battery and Airplane Mode. In terms of networks, the tweak automatically discovers available connections and allows you to enter others manually. As far as I know, this is limited to Wi-Fi networks and not 3G or LTE cellular data connections.

The tweak also has a so-called “time interval detection” feature, which lets you disable the passcode between preset hours of the day. To draw a comparison, think of this as the Do Not Disturb mode of this tweak. If you select 5:00 PM as your starting time and 7:00 PM as your ending time, you won’t be required to enter your passcode during that two hour period. Remember that this will apply to all days, so long as the feature is toggled on.

CleverPin for iOS 7

Another option that can be enabled with a toggle switch is “auto reactivate,” which reenables your device’s passcode after a period of inactivity between one minute and twelve hours. A huge upside is that all of these features can be toggled on without respringing your device, as restarting SpringBoard can be a really tedious task. After all, tweaks should be breaking down barriers instead of creating additional ones.

A list of bug fixes that have been made in the most recent version include: fixed screen dimming issues, fixed manual network adding, Remote Lock compatibility, improved network handling, correct passcode handling and general performance enhancements. The tweak has also gone under an aesthetic makeover to match the design of the iOS 7 user interface. These are all changes that make CleverPin even more worthwhile.

I have been testing CleverPin for the past few hours, and it works without any issues. This high quality is something that I have come to expect from Bigarella’s tweaks over the years, as someone who has been developing for the jailbreaking community since at least 2010. CleverPin, available for $1.99 on the Cydia Store, supports all iPhones, iPads and iPods running iOS 7 or later. It is also backwards compatible all the way to iOS 4.1.

What are your thoughts on CleverPin? Is it worth two dollars?