Aperturize brings bokeh adjustment to Portrait photos on unsupported handsets

Amplified by incredible software capabilities, the iPhone has always been an astonishing point-and-shoot camera for on-the-go amateur photographers, but modern iPhones like the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max augment those features with powerful new camera systems that support adjustable bokeh via Portrait photography mode.

Unfortunately, not all dual-lens Apple handsets support adjustable bokeh like the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max; but, iOS developer foxfortmobile has just released a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Aperturize that brings this useful photography feature to what would otherwise be considered “unsupported” handsets.

Dual-lensed iPhones that don’t support adjustable Bokeh include the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, and X, but they’ve likely been excluded by Apple because of marketing and performance reasons. Depending on the firmware you’re running (iOS 11 or iOS 12), Aperturize enables adjustable bokeh in both the Camera and Photos apps.

On iOS 11 handsets, Aperturize only supports the Photos app. With this feature, you can adjust the depth of field (DOF) of any photo taken in Portrait mode directly from the Photos app, like so:

This works on any iOS device, dual-lensed or not, but the photo must have been originally captured by a Portrait-supported handset. That said, any image captured with a supported dual-lens iPhone such as the 7 Plus, 8 Plus, or X, can be edited on the same device post-capture. Moreover, any Portrait image that has been transferred to an unsupported handset via iCloud Photos can also be edited on that unsupported device. The developer tells me that AirDrop flattens Portrait images, which means this trick only works with iCloud Photos.

On iOS 12 handsets, the same rules apply – on the other hand, Aperturize also enables real-time bokeh adjustments on dual-lensed handsets such the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus, and X directly from the Camera app itself while shooting in Portrait mode, like so:

Once installed, Aperturize adds a simple preference pane to the Settings app where you can toggle the tweak on or off on demand:

To help users understand what Aperturize is and how it’s used, the developer includes the following FAQ in the Cydia depiction:

Why do I not see the depth slider when editing a photo?

The slider only appears for original portrait mode photos. Original photos will have a portrait mode toggle button on top.

Why do I not get the real time camera blur slider?

This works only on dual camera devices and it also requires ios 12. When in portrait mode in camera, a f button will appear in top-right. This toggles the depth slider.

What’s the difference between Aperturize and Focos depth slider?

Once you edit a photo with Focos, it loses all its depth metadata and cannot be reverted back. But with Aperturize you can re-adjust the blur as many times as you want and revert easily.

Aperturize seems like a great way to enhance the photography capabilities of any older jailbroken iPhone that you might have at your disposal. If you’re interested in trying the tweak, then you can download it from Cydia’s Packix repository for just $0.99. Aperturize supports all jailbroken iOS 11 and 12 devices, although certain features are limited to iOS 12.

Will you be downloading Aperturize on your newly-jailbroken iOS 12 handset? Let us know in the comments section below.