Jeff Benjamin

Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+.

SubtleLock lends a subdued look to the iPhone’s Lock screen

Looking for a Lock screen a bit on the unassuming side of things? Then try out this new jailbreak tweak entitled SubtleLock. This is a tweak that makes both the 'slide to unlock' and the clock section on your Lock screen a bit smaller.

The developer of SubtleLock says that his tweak reclaims almost 100 pixels from the Lock screen, lending more room to wallpaper and notifications. Take a look at our video walkthrough of SubtleLock inside.

How to jailbreak iOS 6.1.2 with evasi0n 1.4

Evasion 1.4 was just released with support for the recently released iOS 6.1.2, and we've got the details on how to use it to jailbreak your iDevice of choice. Although iOS 6.1.2 doesn't bring any new features to the table, there is a bug fix that makes the upgrade worth it.

Take a look inside as we show you how to jailbreak iOS 6.1.2 with evasi0n 1.4. This tutorial is for the Mac, but the same principal applies across all computing platforms.

TypingPrivacy prevents iMessage users from seeing when you type

Whenever you begin composing a new iMessage, your recipient can see that you're typing. That's because an ellipsis appears in their Messages app to let them know so. The purpose of this is to let people know that you're responding to them, that you haven't left them hanging. It makes the party on the other end of the message wait in expectation of your response.

While most people don't have a problem with this and actually enjoy the feature, some find it to be an intrusion of privacy. You could, obviously, just disable iMessage, and the issue would be settled. But that means the inconvenience of incurring possible SMS fees, and the inability to send messages via Wi-Fi, and on iOS devices which aren't iPhones.

As a response to this possible breach of privacy, a jailbreak developer has created a tweak to eliminate the 'now typing' ellipsis. The tweak is called TypingPrivacy, and it's available right now on Cydia's BigBoss repo.

How to grab Auxo nightly beta builds

A3tweaks, the team behind Auxo, has put together a beta repo which will host nightly builds of its popular tweak for paying customers. That means that if you purchased Auxo, you can simply add this beta repo to your Cydia sources, and enjoy the latest features before the general public.

In fact, there's already a new beta build available for download right now. Take a look past the break to learn how you can easily access the bleeding edge upgrades.

Zephyr updated again, resurrects keyboard options and adds more features

We love it when developers really take the time to listen to their user-base. That's exactly what Grant Paul (a.k.a. Chpwn) did after receiving feedback about his latest update to Zephyr.

Apparently, more than a few people were unhappy about the tweak's new keyboard features. So much so, that Paul received over 200 some-odd emails and tweets expressing dislike over the changes. His response? Push out another update a few hours after the previous update, fully addressing the concerns.

AssistantLove receives an iOS 6 update

One of my favorite jailbreak tweaks, AssistantLove, just received an update for iOS 6 compatibility. AssistantLove was featured in our top jailbreak tweaks of 2012 list, and would have been added to my "perfect iPhone" feature, if it had iOS 6 compatibility at the time.

If you're a Spotify user like I am, then you will really appreciate what AssistantLove brings to the table. Along with allowing you to integrate GPS apps with Siri, and launch apps using shortcut names, AssistantLove meshes Siri with Spotify. This means that you pretty much search for any song or artist you can think of using your voice.

LivelyIcons: animate icons and help cancer research

There's a new jailbreak tweak available in Cydia, and it's not unlike something you've probably seen before. The tweak is called LivelyIcons, and it allows you to add opening animations to each app icon on your iPhone's Home screen.

LivelyIcons features about a dozen different animations that you can enable via a simple list found in the Settings app. An option to increase or decrease the duration of the animation also exists. That may not sound all of that exciting, but the tweak's functionality plays second fiddle to a greater cause. Check inside for the full scoop.

Hands-on with Kamera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIyfdVTepVU

Last week we brought you some information on Kamera — a recently released jailbreak tweak available for free on Cydia's ModMyi repo. Well, we just got a chance to try it out on...ahem, camera, so we thought we'd bring you a video walkthrough.

As you probably remember, Kamera is a Notification Center widget that enables you to go directly to the front-facing or rear-facing mode via the Camera app. Recently an option was added to Kamera to allow you to use a long tap and hold to go straight to video mode. I've found it to be a decent tweak, although many other options exist out there to quickly invoke the Camera.

If you're browsing from an iDevice, you can download Kamera from Cydia using this direct link. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

Zephyr updated to implement new Screen Area option

A new update to Zephyr just appeared on Cydia, and it contains at least one new feature. If you were attuned to Twitter about a week ago, you may have noticed a somewhat intense conversation between @_Yllier_ and Zephyr developer, @Chpwn.

Basically, the conversation began when Yllier created a hack for Zephyr, which makes it possible to limit the screen area where a "swipe from left to right gesture" is valid. He created the hack with the intention of making it easier to use apps like Gmail, and Facebook, which both rely on the swipe gestures that can interfere with Zephyr.

To make a long story short, Chpwn wasn't pleased that the hack was released due to issues it could cause with future updates, support, etc., and he asked Yllier to remove it. Yllier did eventually remove it, but not before he received a nod from Chpwn agreeing to include the useful feature in a future version of Zephyr. And that, folks, is where we are now.

MuteIcon: know when your iPhone’s mute switch is enabled

MuteIcon is a jailbreak tweak that adds an icon to your status bar when your iPhone is placed into silent mode. The purpose of this is to let you know visually when your iPhone's mute switch is enabled.

The tweak contains a few settings within the Settings panel for adjusting its properties, but overall, it's an extremely simple affair. Notice our brief overview inside.

‘HighlightGeneral’ is a bit goofy, but I kind of like it

If you read our post that shows how to create the perfect jailbroken iPhone, then it's pretty obvious that I have a ton of jailbroken apps and tweaks running on my iPhone. Sometimes, that can cause things to become a little foggy as far as the Settings app is concerned. Eventually, it'll be filled to the brim with preference panels for all of the stuff you've installed from Cydia.

As a result, that can often make it a little difficult to quickly locate key sections within the Settings app. The General section is arguably the most popular portion of the Settings app. HighlightGeneral is a jailbreak tweak that makes this section stand out by changing its text label color from black to blue.

Is it a bit silly? Yes. Is it useful? That's highly debatable. But I will say that I kind of like it.

How to enable still captures while shooting video on the iPod touch 5th generation

If you own both an iPhone 5 and an iPod touch 5th generation, you might find it strange that you can capture still photos while shooting video on the iPhone 5, but not on the iPod touch. Regardless as to why Apple made such a decision, it doesn't really matter if you're jailbroken. That's because a new jailbreak tweak recently appeared on Cydia enabling the function.

Still Capture Enabler is the tweak that allows your iPod touch 5th generation the ability to take still capture photos in the midst of a video shoot. Does it work as you would expect? Have a look at our video walkthrough inside for all of the pertinent details.