ScreenExtender forces legacy apps to stretch to the iPhone 5’s taller screen

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We’ve seen tweaks in the past like FullForce which essentially transform iPhone apps into full screen iPad apps. Since Apple reassured developers that adding official support for the iPhone 5’s screen would be a snap for most apps through Xcode, we didn’t think full screen support for the left behind apps would be much of a stretch for jailbreak developers.

Turns out it wasn’t a stretch. Just two days after the evasi0n jailbreak is released, a new app on Cydia called Screen Extender brings full screen support to users of the iPhone 5 or 5th generation iPod touch

Like FullForce, you can add any apps you want to Screen Extender, though results will vary depending on how each app is made. Some apps will work perfectly, as if they were made for the 4-inch screen, others will fill the black bars with blank space, and a few will just crash when opened. You can disable apps that don’t work in SettingsScreenExtender.

iPhone 4 linuxWinocm, porting linux to an iPhone 4

The developer behind Screen Extender is rms, a busy hacker who is also working on porting Linux to the iPhone as well as a firmware downgrade method for iOS 6. The developer also goes by @winocm on Twitter.

Screen Extender is a free tweak which is available in the BigBoss repo through Cydia. If you have an iPhone 5 or a 5th generation iPod touch, and you hate seeing your favorite apps letterboxed, Screen Extender is a must-have tweak.

Which apps do you find Screen Extender works best with? Let us know in the comments section.

Update: Ryan Petrich released FullForce for iPhone, which seems to be doing a better job. See our FullForce post for more details.