Anthony Bouchard

Anthony Bouchard joined the iDownloadBlog.com team in 2016 after originally covering Apple and iPhone jailbreak news at ModMyi.com. As an experienced editor, he brings more than 15 years’ worth of jailbreaking knowledge to our in-depth guides, opinion pieces, and news articles. His passion for device customization and user choice sparks his strong push to empower readers with the tools they need to explore and enjoy the freedom that comes with jailbreaking. Anthony blogs about not only jailbreaking, but also Apple software & accessories, drones & photography, and Nintendo gaming systems. Anthony honed his advanced technical knowledge over the years with hands-on projects ranging from gaming PC builds to engine repair mechanics. His never-ending hunger for knowledge is why you’ll always find him tinkering – tearing things apart and putting them back together to understand what makes them tick.

Substitute updated to v2.0.9 with additional minor bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 26, 2021

Substitute, the tweak injection method used on the unc0ver jailbreak, and sometimes even the checkra1n jailbreak depending on personal preference, received yet another update on Friday, this time bringing the package up to version 2.0.9.

The latest update comes just one day after Sam Bingner published Substitute v2.0.8 with preliminary support and speed improvements for unc0ver on iOS & iPadOS 14. Substitute v2.0.9 isn’t quite as substantial of an update as the previous version, but it’s still recommended for all current users.

Substitute updated to v2.0.8 with preliminary support for unc0ver on iOS 14

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 26, 2021

The news officially broke early Thursday morning that unc0ver would receive an update with support for iOS & iPadOS 14.0-14.3 by way of a custom kernel exploit based on the recently released cicuta_verosa exploit by @ModernPwner.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to unc0ver users that the jailbreak’s primary tweak injection method — Substitute — received a preliminary update this week to version 2.0.8.

Astolfo lets jailbreakers apply custom backgrounds to Siri in iOS 14

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 26, 2021

I really like what Apple has done with the Siri interface in iOS & iPadOS 14 — especially when compared with iOS & iPadOS 13 and earlier. The new interface doesn’t take up as much space and has a more aesthetically pleasing interaction button, but in Apple’s typical fashion, even the new interface lacks user-driven customization.

Those looking to do more with the Siri interface are likely to give the nod of approval to a free jailbreak tweak called Astolfo, which was recently updated with iOS & iPadOS 14 in mind by iOS developer Litten. As some may remember, the tweak was originally worked on by Nepeta.

Pwn20wnd hints at unc0ver for iOS 14 with support for the latest A14 devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 25, 2021

It was only a couple of weeks ago that @ModernPwner released the cicuta_verosa kernel exploit for iOS & iPadOS 14.0-14.3. But as we noted in a follow-up piece, teams of use were limited to CoolStar for the upcoming Odyssey14 jailbreak and to GPL-compliant projects, which the unc0ver jailbreak is not.

While unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd has been particularly silent over the past several months, he broke that silence early Thursday morning upon sharing a series of Tweets that contained some particularly notable teasers about the state of an iOS & iPadOS 14-compatible jailbreak for all devices.

Cylinder Reborn: Barrel-inspired Home Screen paging animations for pwned iOS 13 & 14 devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 15, 2021

When I first got into jailbreaking more than a decade ago, one of the first jailbreak tweaks to pique my interest was one called Barrel. It could animate the Home Screen’s app icons in unique ways with every swipe between Home Screen pages.

Barrel is no longer actively maintained, which is why the Cylinder tweak launched back in 2014. Today, we’re excited to share news of the release of Cylinder Reborn by iOS developers Ryan Nair and Reed Weichler — the latest iteration of the tweak designed for iOS & iPadOS 13 and 14.

Keep prying eyes away from your missed notifications with LeaveMeOff Pro

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 23, 2021

It’s not uncommon for nosy onlookers to peer at your phone screen from over your shoulder as you enjoy a text message-based conversation with one of your friends or loved ones. Albeit creepy, such is life.

Apple’s iOS mobile operating system takes this fact into account, offering a handy feature in the Messages app’s notification settings that can hide message contents from your Lock Screen’s notification banners under various circumstances. But if that’s still not enough privacy for you, then a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed LeaveMeOff Pro by iOS developer Plat-Ykor could be worth checking out.

TinyWidget14 puts the Lock Screen’s Now Playing widget on a diet

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 23, 2021

Most iPhone users are familiar with the Now Playing widget. It’s the thing that pops on your Lock Screen whenever you have any type of media playing in the background.

While it’s useful for granular playback controls, the Now Playing widget certainly takes up a lot of vertical screen real estate on the Lock Screen, which severely limits available space for missed notification banners. Fortunately, a new and free jailbreak tweak dubbed TinyWidget14 by iOS developer P2KDev puts the Now Playing widget on a diet.

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: DoABarrelWall, Meredith, & more…

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 21, 2021

Thanks to all the exciting tidbits of jailbreak-centric news recently, from the teasers of a working jailbreak on iOS 14 to the release of a kernel-level exploit called cicuta_verosa for iOS 14.3 and below, it seems almost as if the jailbreak community is having an epiphany.

In this roundup, we’ll go over all the latest jailbreak tweak releases and jailbreak-centric news from this past week, ranging from Monday, February 15th to Sunday, February 22nd. As usual, we’ll kick everything off by talking about our favorite releases first before finally moving on to an outline of everything else afterward.

Project Manticore: Another iOS 14.0-14.3-based jailbreak in the works?

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 19, 2021

A lot has been happening in the jailbreak community with regard to iOS & iPadOS 14 in just the past couple of weeks. Not only have we witnessed jailbreak teasers on iOS 14.0 and 14.3 devices, but a new kernel exploit for iOS & iPadOS 14.0-14.3 called cicuta_virosa recently dropped. This means that a public jailbreak release supporting all devices on the aforementioned firmware versions could be just around the corner.

Given everything that appears to be going on, it seemed like a good time to turn the spotlight toward a rather interesting development known as project Manticore. At face value, it appears to be an upcoming jailbreak tool based on the new cicuta_virosa kernel exploit for iOS & iPadOS 14.0-14.3.

Pattern_F_ teases “Pre-Jailbreak” for iOS 14.0-14.3 as CoolStar takes interest

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 19, 2021

Earlier in the month, security researcher @pattern_F_ from the Ant Security Lab Tweeted a demo video of what appeared to be a successful jailbreak attempt on an iPhone 11 running iOS 14.0. It was later revealed that the exploit used would potentially work on iOS & iPadOS firmware versions up to and including 14.3.

While it was unclear whether @pattern_F_ would release the aforementioned work to the general public, the news was quickly drowned out by the subsequent release of the cicuta_virosa kernel exploit for iOS & iPadOS 12.0-14.3 by @ModernPwner.

PoomSmart releases hack to get iOS 14.5 emojis on all jailbroken versions of iOS 14

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 26, 2021

Apple is currently testing iOS & iPadOS 14.5 with its developer base, and should be releasing it to the general public sometime within the next several weeks assuming all the beta testing stages go smoothly.

The upcoming software update will introduce a bevy of novel features, including more than 217 new Emojis that will help users express themselves in text.

Fresh UI concept reimagines the iPhone’s Settings app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 16, 2021

iOS is a far cry from being an ugly mobile operating system, but there’s certainly a bit of wiggle room for Apple to improve on it. Unfortunately, first party redesigns from Apple can be few and far in between.

Amid those circumstances, it’s not uncommon for third parties to develop concepts for jailbreak tweaks or themes that make an interface more aesthetically pleasing than it comes out of the box.