In less than 24 hours, Tim Cook and company are going to take the stage at WWDC to show off their latest mobile operating system: iOS 6. We know that Maps and other default applications are expected to get makeovers in the new software, but we haven’t heard much about other changes.
It’s no secret that iOS engineers have used the jailbreak community for “inspiration” in the past — we counted a number of instances of this in last year’s iOS 5 update. So we started thinking, if it were up to us, what 10 jailbreak tweaks would we like to see them implement in iOS 6?
And this is what we came up with…
note: tweaks are not listed in any particular order
IntelliscreenX
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwx9PUX_tz8[/tube]
It shouldn’t be difficult to see why we would want Apple to implement an IntelliscreenX-like feature into iOS. The utility allows users to really take advantage of their device’s Notification Center with things like quick-access Settings toggles and the ability to scan Facebook accounts, Twitter timelines, RSS feeds and Mail messages without ever having to leave the drop-down menu. Read more.
BiteSMS
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fDfPo8MXjc[/tube]
BiteSMS is essentially a replacement for the stock Messages app. And while it contains a number of elements we’d like to see in iOS, including in-conversation contact photos and customizable signatures, what we’re really interesting in is the quick compose/reply feature. This would allow users to start new, and reply to, text messages without ever having to leave the Lock screen. Read more.
Zephyr
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wz6Tk36Pjw[/tube]
Zephyr is an intuitive tweak that enables iPad-like touch gestures on the iPhone. These gestures allow you to reveal the multitasking bar, or swipe between applications, without needing to touch the Home button. Simply swipe up from the bottom of the iPhone’s screen to reveal the fast switch bar, or left/right from either side of the screen to move between applications. Read more.
CardSwitcher
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-HWdMl4nDA[/tube]
CardSwitcher pays tribute to the popular multitasking method of the late WebOS. When activated, it shows miniature card-like views of all of your recently-opened applications, enabling you to switch between them, or close them, with a single swipe. Apple introduced its current solution for multitasking just a few years ago, and some folks think the feature already needs revamping. Read more.
SwipeSafari
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeOjyrrW1Ug[/tube]
One could argue that the entire Mobile Safari app needs a fresh coat of paint. And if we had to pick a tweak for Apple to pull inspiration from for the rebuild, it’d probably be SwipeSafari. For those of you who haven’t tried the package, SwipeSafari brings OS X Lion-style multitouch gestures to the browser. Use it to swipe forward/back in your browsing history, or to swipe between open tabs. Read more.
SwipeSelection
[tube]6h2yrBK7MAY[/tube]
As it currently sits, on-the-fly text editing in iOS is terrible. It can take a number of attempts to get the on-screen cursor where you want it, and highlighting/text selection is equally difficult. That’s where SwipeSelection comes in. The tweak allows you to move the cursor, and control text selection, by swiping from right to left across the keyboard. It’s extremely intuitive. Read more.
SwipeBack
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEiOJ724Bo4[/tube]
Unlike smartphones from other platforms, there’s no physical back button on the iPhone. While this is great for aesthetics, it means that users must rely on developers to provide efficient ways to navigate backwards in their apps. But Apple could change that. With a feature like SwipeBack, users could simply swipe from left to right to navigate back to an application’s previous screen. Read more.
AssistantExtensions
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t_MXTcJlVM[/tube]
There are a number of Siri-flavored tweaks available to jailbreakers, but we chose AssistantExtensions as the one we’d like to see Apple implement in iOS 6 for one reason: third party developer support. Anyone with knowledge in Objective-C can create their own extensions for the utility, and we think that a similar addition to Siri itself would have an enormous impact on the feature. Read more.
Dashboard X
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhEFSDDqRMc[/tube]
iOS users have been clamoring for OS widgets for a few years now. Apple introduced Notification Center widgets last year in iOS 5, but only for a few stock applications. So this year, we’d like to see them implement something like Dashboard X into iOS 6. This would not only open up the widget API to third-party developers, but also allow users to place them on their Home screens. Read more.
Quasar
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA3h-IVYbrg[/tube]
Quasar, for those unfamiliar with it, is a jailbreak tweak for the iPad that allows you to view and access multiple applications, in multiple windows. Users can resize the windows, rotate them for portrait or landscape mode, and rearrange them about the screen. If Apple wants to entice more folks to ditch their laptops for an iPad, implementing a feature like this would certainly help. Read more.
NCSettings
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa2Vo2SqGbY[/tube]
Yes we know, this makes 11. But by popular demand, we’ve added NCSettings to our list. The utility installs shortcuts to all of your most used Settings toggles into your device’s Notification Center, enabling you to perform tasks that normally require multiple steps — like turning Bluetooth on and off and adjusting screen brightness — with a single tap. We honestly can’t believe Apple hasn’t done this already. Read more.
So, that’s our list of the top 10 jailbreak tweaks we’d like to see Apple “borrow” from for future iOS features. What tweaks would you like to see added to iOS?