Are you itching for a lightweight quick reply solution, and feel that existing tweaks don’t work for you? What about being able to quickly reply to WhatsApp, Kik, and iMessage messages from the same quick reply interface. If you answered yes to one or both questions, then you may want to check out Hermes, a brand new $0.99 quick reply solution for jailbreakers.
After installing Hermes, you’ll find a a dedicated preference panel for the tweak in the stock Settings app. Inside of its preferences, you’ll find three toggles, which correspond to its three supported messaging apps—iMessage, Kik, and WhatsApp. Each toggle can be enabled independently, or if you’re a user of more than one of the apps, you can enable multiple toggles.
After you enable the toggles that correspond to the apps you’d like to use with Hermes, you’ll need to respring using the respring shortcut at the bottom of the tweak’s preferences. After respringing, the tweak begins to work with no further configuration requirements.
I should mention that I’m not a Kik or a WhatsApp user, but I was able to test out Hermes’ quick reply using iMessage. Once you receive an incoming iMessage banner notification, tap the reply button on the banner, and a simple quick reply interface box will appear on screen. The quick reply box contains the name of the app, user, and a portion of the incoming message. A text box is there to allow you to type in a reply, or you can choose to cancel the reply if you decide against sending a message.
Hermes’ quick reply works the same across each app that it supports, making for a unified quick reply experience that’s lightweight and no-nonsense. Of course, the tweak’s strongpoints can also be deemed as a negative depending on how you look at it. Hermes’ contains zero customization options, so if you’re looking for a custom experience you’ll need to look elsewhere. In fact, even some basic features are missing, such as the ability to reply from the Lock screen or Notification Center using the Hermes interface. Initiating replies in those instances simply loaded up the full Messages app.
Judging from its Cydia description, Hermes holds itself in high regard due to its simplicity and minimalism. That may work for some, but others will certainly have a problem with the tweak’s lack of even the most basic of options, such as replying from the Lock screen.
Hermes is available now on Cydia’s BigBoss repo for $0.99. What do you think about it?