One of the takeaway features that shipped with the new Safari 14 update for macOS this month is the ability to configure a custom background for the Start Page. It’s a commonsense feature that I think Apple should have offered from the start, but perhaps even more peculiar is the fact that Apple still hasn’t enabled such a feature for the mobile Safari web browser on iPhone or iPad.
If you’re jailbroken, then the good news is you won’t need to wait for Apple to pry their heads out of their <expletive> to deliver a solution. A free jailbreak tweak named SafariWallpaper by iOS developer Litten brings this much-requested feature to pwned iOS 13 devices.
As depicted in the screenshot examples above and below, SafariWallpaper looks just as good on the iPhone and iPad as it does on the Mac. The image you choose, sourced from your handset’s Photo Library, appears as the web browser’s background while shortcuts to your favorite websites display over the top of it.
Once installed, SafariWallpaper adds a dedicated preference pane to the Settings app where users can configure a variety of options:
Here, you can:
- Toggle SafariWallpaper on or off on demand
- Choose the wallpaper image you want to use for Safari
- Enable using your SpringBoard wallpaper instead of selecting a custom one
- Enable or disable dark/light-mode specific wallpaper selections
- Choose a wallpaper image to use when light mode is enabled
- Choose a wallpaper image to use when dark mode is enabled
- Respring to save your settings
- Reset all settings to their defaults
Not only is the tweak thought out rather well, but we really like the fact that there are individualized settings in the case of dark mode and light mode. This makes the Safari web browser look better in different scenarios, especially if you take advantage of iOS’ dynamic dark and light mode switching.
Those interested in trying SafariWallpaper can download the tweak for free from the Packix repository via any package manager of your choosing. SafariWallpaper supports jailbroken iOS 12 and 13 devices.
Do you plan to customize your mobile handset’s Safari background with SafariWallpaper? Tell us why or why not in the comments section below.