The tab bar is an open overlooked part of the iOS user interface that most users simply take for granted. It’s that bar at the bottom of the screen in many apps that helps you move between different parts of the app.
But one jailbreak tweak developer that hasn’t forgotten about the tab bar is yandevelop, who’s out this week with a new add-on called Fiona that transforms the iOS tab bar into a floating element.
According to the developer, Fiona received its inspiration from FloatyTab, a concept shared four years ago by iOS developer iOSthemem0d that was, on its own, inspired by the Pinterest app’s forward-thinking UI at the time.
Fiona not only causes the tab bar to float separate of the rest of the iOS fixed user interface, but it provides users with a means to customize the aesthetics. For example, you can change the colors, roundness, and even the size of the floating tab bar.
You can even enable a dynamic mode that switches between fixed and floating depending on the circumstances to prevent hindrance to content in the app.
A dedicated preference pane for Fiona can be found in the Settings app post-installation to make adjustments to the aesthetics and the behavior of the floating tab bar:
Here, you can:
- Enable or disable Fiona on demand
- Configure additional apps
- Choose between small, medium, or large width
- Choose between small, medium, or large height
- Choose between low, medium, or high bar offset
- Adjust the corner radius via a slider
- Hide or show tab labels
- Enable or disable custom coloring
- Use the average app icon color
- Choose a custom tint color
- Enable or disable dynamic tab bar
- Apply all settings you’ve set
Currently, Fiona only supports certain apps. The list of supported apps is as follows:
- Apollo
- App Store
- Apple Store
- Books
- Clock
- Files
- GitHub
- Home
- iTunes
- KDE Connect
- Measure
- News
- Phone
- Photos
- Podcasts
- Shortcuts
- TV
- Translate
- TrollStore
- Watch
- X (formerly Twitter)
If an app you use isn’t supported, then consider the fact that it may not have a tab bar. If it does, and you’d like to see it supported, then you should be able to reach out to the developer to get it supported in an update.
According to the /r/jailbreak release post, the tweak is intended to work with both rootful and rootless jailbreaks on iOS 14, 15, and 16. It does not currently support iPadOS.
Any jailbreakers who are interested in giving Fiona a try can currently purchase the tweak for $0.99 from the Havoc repository via their favorite package manager app.
Are you going to be adding Fiona to your pwned handset? Tell us why or why not in the comments section down below.