Here’s how Velox will interface with the Mail app

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 12, 2013

A few new screenshots were posted on Apex Tweaks’ official site, and one of them shows the way that Velox will interface with the Mail app. This is significant, because this wasn’t available in the preview version that I demoed a few days ago.

The screenshot shows the typical Velox view, with what appear to be scrollable messages with titles and a two line preview of the message. It looks, judging from the screenshot, that a swipe gesture, or a tap of the email, may allow you to reply directly to messages from Velox’s enhanced email folder. Read More

 

How to merge live front facing camera video with your wallpaper

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 9, 2013

If you have an iOS device with a front facing camera, you can use a new jailbreak tweak on Cydia to “merge” the wallpaper image with live video from the device’s front facing camera. Faded Camera Wallpaper is the name of the tweak, and it’s a free download on Cydia’s ModMyi repo. It’s a tweak that will display a faint video feed from the front facing camera, canvased on top of the Home screen wallpaper.

The tweak is exactly as described, and contains no options or settings, which is unfortunate. It might be an effect that you wouldn’t mind using from time to time, but there’s not even an off switch to disable it. As it stands, it’s a usable tweak, but it’s in desperate need of a preference panel to at least toggle it on or off. Without such an option, you have a surefire battery killer on your hands, as it appears that the camera is in action even when not at the Home screen wallpaper.

What do you think?

 

Velox: an upcoming tweak that lets you interact with app icons to check notifications and more

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 8, 2013

Velox is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that I’ve had my eye on for months. I’ve been anticipating the release of this tweak for a very long time, because I think it has the potential to make a huge impact on the jailbreak community.

Rarely does a jailbreak tweak come along that has the capability to change the way that you use your device. A very exclusive number of tweaks belong to that group, and Velox has the potential to crash the party.

Yes, Velox is in the same hemisphere, and it contains, perhaps even more long term potential than Auxo. That’s because it’s a completely different type of tweak that can interact with multiple apps, and features its own API for extended development.

Primarily, Velox is a tweak that allows you to interact with apps on your Home screen in order to check notifications without opening Notification Center. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Velox also features custom “folders” that can be individually tailored for specific apps. Each of these folders can be accessed using a simple swipe up or swipe down gesture on the app icon that you wish to interact with.

What does this mean? It means that if I swipe up on the Settings app, a folder containing settings toggles is revealed. It means that if I swipe down on the Camera app, the camera is revealed in a folder right there on my Home screen. Trust me, reading these words just doesn’t do it justice; you have to see it in action to really appreciate the potential here. Thankfully, I’ve got an exclusive hands-on video to showcase how it works… Read More

 

LivelyIcons: animate icons and help cancer research

By Jeff Benjamin on Feb 18, 2013

There’s a new jailbreak tweak available in Cydia, and it’s not unlike something you’ve probably seen before. The tweak is called LivelyIcons, and it allows you to add opening animations to each app icon on your iPhone’s Home screen.

LivelyIcons features about a dozen different animations that you can enable via a simple list found in the Settings app. An option to increase or decrease the duration of the animation also exists. That may not sound all of that exciting, but the tweak’s functionality plays second fiddle to a greater cause. Check inside for the full scoop. Read More

 

‘Pages+’ adds customizable backgrounds to each Home screen page, boasts Barrel compatibility

By Jeff Benjamin on Jan 31, 2013

Evasi0n, the much anticipated jailbreak tool for iOS 6 compatible devices, will be available in the very near future. With that in mind, many jailbreak developers are updating their tweaks and apps, and even establishing brand new creations to prepare for the new jailbreak.

One such developer is SBCoders, the same team behind such hits as Aero and Dash. SBCoders’ latest creation, the yet to be released Pages+, continues the tradition of solid jailbreak tweaks. Pages+ allows you to customize each page on the iPhone’s Home screen. You can accomplish this by means of custom wallpaper packs, or by its built in page tinting system.

The most exciting thing about Pages+, however, is that it plays nice with Aaron Ash’s Barrel. Barrel, of course, is the jailbreak app that allows you to implement various page transitions on your iPhone. When you mix both creations together, you’re guaranteed to get some wild results. Read More

 

How to create “blank” icons on the Home screen without jailbreaking

By Jeff Benjamin on Jan 18, 2013

The fact that we’ve been unable to jailbreak the iPhone 5 thus far means that it’s difficult to customize the iPhone like we want to, but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally impossible.

As we’ve seen over the past few months, a new category of tweak has emerged — the non-jailbreak tweak. These are tweaks and hacks that one can use to customize their iPhone without a jailbreak. No, it’s not nearly as good as actually having root access to iOS, but it’s a nice holdover until some enterprising group or individual blesses us with a proper iPhone 5 jailbreak.

One of the latest non-jailbreak tweaks that we’ve been able to test out, is one that allows you to place “blank” app icons on the iPhone’s Home screen. This effectively allows you to simulate the ability to rearrange app icons in any preference desired. It’s not perfect, but it may prove to be satisfactory to you until we have a better means of customization. Take a look past the break for our full in-depth video tutorial. Read More

 

‘Fade’ dims your Home screen icons when invoking Notification Center

By Jeff Benjamin on Dec 27, 2012

Fade is an extremely simple jailbreak tweak that forces the Home screen UI elements to fade when Notification Center is invoked. As you slide down Notification Center, elements like the app icons and the dock will progressively fade from view. As you slide the Notification Center pane up, the effect is reversed, and the elements fade back into view.

There are no options to setup or settings to configure, just install it and it starts working. Take a look inside as we demonstrate Fade on video… Read More

 

Homescreen.me lets you share your iOS device setup with the world

By Cody Lee on Jul 20, 2012

The stock Home screen in iOS looks pretty boring. Luckily, jailbreaking can change that. It opens the door to a whole world of customization, including tweaks, icon packages and tons of other theming possibilities.

And if you like customizing your device, and want to share your iPad or iPhone setup with the world, there’s a new service that lets you do that. Homescreen.me finally came out of private beta this week… Read More

 

HomeCourts brings banner shortcuts to jailbroken devices

By Jeff Benjamin on Jul 16, 2012

No, it has nothing to do with having an advantage in a game of basketball. HomeCourts is a jailbreak tweak that lets you access a series of banners on the Home screen that serve as shortcuts. I still don’t quite get the name, but I think it has something to do with shortcuts being on the Home screen? That’s my best guess anyway.

HomeCourts features pairs of configurable shortcuts. There are two shortcuts for making a phone call, two for sending a message, two for launching websites, etc. All of these shortcuts can be assigned and configured in the Settings app. Needless to say, HomeCourts is about as cumbersome as it gets for a jailbreak tweak. Read More

 

Aicon: add multiple layers of special effects to your Home screen

By Jeff Benjamin on Jul 15, 2012

Aicon is a recently released tweak, which allows you to add one or more special effects to your Home screen app icons. There are nearly a dozen effects to choose from, and each effect can be stacked to create a greater variety of customizations.

With effects like Sepia, Glass, Black & White, Invert, Gloom, and Xray, Aicon is a surefire way to create an original look on your iPhone’s Home screen. Take a look at our video walkthrough inside for more details… Read More

 

A simple tweak that prevents Home screen bookmarks from being deleted

By Jeff Benjamin on Jul 10, 2012

How many times have you mistakenly deleted one of your Home screen bookmarks on your iOS device? If that has happened to you in the past, then you may want to check out this new jailbreak tweak called BookLock.

Unfortunately, the developer of BookLock felt that this functionality was worth a $1.00 on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. A dollar for a tweak that features nothing more than a single toggle to prevent Home screen bookmark deletion? Seriously? My advice to you is to just be careful when deleting items on your device… Read More

 

How to add animations to the Lock screen, Home screen, and Notification Center

By Jeff Benjamin on Jul 3, 2012

Are you looking to take Lock screen boot logo animations to the next level? If so, then AnimateAll is a new tweak that’s worthy of your attention.

AnimateAll is a follow-up (an actual outright replacement) to a tweak that we covered in the past called AnimateLockscreen. The prior tweak only allowed you to add boot logo animations to your Lock screen, while AnimateAll goes the extra mile and adds the Home screen and Notification Center into the mix as well. Read More

 

How to regain your iOS device’s stock Home screen layout

By Jeff Benjamin on May 17, 2012

With so many tweaks available that allow you to rearrange your Home screen in various ways, it’s almost inevitable that you end up with a Home screen that looks nothing like the original Home screen that you started with.

Fortunately there’s a really easy way to reset your app icon layout on your Home screen.

A good lot of you are probably already aware that such an option exists, but it’s a nice reminder since recent tweaks like Dashboard X can result in drastically altered Home screens that can be time consuming to rearrange by hand.

Take a look at our video walkthrough for more information… Read More

 

This new tweak gives you a dedicated page for widgets

By Jeff Benjamin on May 14, 2012

HomeSpringPage is a new jailbreak tweak that will allow you to add an empty first page to your Home screen. This is great, because it allows you to have dedicated real estate for adding Dashboard X widgets.

If you’re a Dashboard X user, HomeSpringPage is a natural fit to accomodate your needs for space. Take a look at our full video walkthrough inside for the proof… Read More

 

Dashboard X now available on Cydia

By Sebastien Page on May 9, 2012

Dashboard X, the long awaited jailbreak tweak that allows you to add widgets to your Home screen is now available for download on Cydia, via the ModMyi repo for $1.99.

This tweak allows you to take existing widgets created for Notification Center and position them anywhere on your iPhone or iPad Home screen. On top of that, new widgets are being developed, such as Dashtweet, a Dashboard X widget that allows you to send tweets from anywhere on your Home screen. Read More

 

‘iLettars’ adjusts your iPhone’s animation speed and delay

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 5, 2012

If you’re looking for a tweak that’s practical for every day use, then you might as well move along now. iLettars is anything but practical, and on top of that it’s pretty expensive at $1.59.

On the other hand, for those of you looking to show off some funky animations to your friends, and don’t mind dropping the cost of a cheap drink at Starbucks to do so, feel free to continue… Read More

 

‘UsefulIcons’ goes live on Cydia

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 2, 2012

UsefulIcons — a jailbreak tweak that we previewed last week — has gone live on Cydia.

The tweak adds a bevy of quick app icon shortcuts to your Home screen to control and toggle everything from WiFi to location services, respring, lock your device, and much more.

In all there are a dozen dynamic icons added to your Home screen courtesy of UsefulIcons. It can be had from Cydia’s ModMyi repo for $0.99. Let us know what you think about it if you give it a go.

 

‘Transparency’ will make your app icons invisible

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 2, 2012

Transparency is one of those tweaks that allows you to do all sorts of things with respect to the look of your Home screen app icons. As its name suggests, the primary purpose is to make your icons transparent, or in many cases outright invisible.

Once installed, you’ll receive a new settings panel in the Settings app that allows you to customize your app icons in a very granular way. Take a look at our video walkthrough for the detailed evidence… Read More

 

PodControl: control your Music app from the Home screen

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 2, 2012

Controlling your Music app from the Springboard has been done before by the jailbreak community, but I guess the developer of PodControl felt they needed to put their own spin on the formula.

PodControl is a simple jailbreak tweak that places three buttons on your Home screen. The buttons consist of Next, Play/Pause, and Previous, and they perform just as one would expect.

Take a look inside for our video of PodControl in motion… Read More

 

‘UsefulIcons’ adds quick shortcuts to your Home screen

By Jeff Benjamin on Mar 29, 2012

We’ve seen something like this before, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right?

UsefulIcons is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that promises to add convenient shortcuts to your Home screen.

The various shortcuts cover everything from Voice Control/Siri, to respring and flashlight functionality. It’s safe to say that this tweak will yield a varied amount of shortcuts, and you’ll find at least some of them to be, well, useful… Read More

 
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