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+.

PwnageTool, RedSn0w, cinject, and UltraSn0w tools updated for 5.1.1 untether capability

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 4, 2012

The iPhone Dev Team has been mighty busy as of late, updating their popular jailbreak tools with 5.1.1 Untether compatibly using the Rocky Racoon 5.1.1 Untether. The updates include PwnageTool 5.1.1, Redsn0w 0.9.12b1, cinject 0.5.4, and UltraSn0w 1.2.7.

If you've already jailbroken your device, and everything is working fine, they suggest, as do we, that you stick with your current jailbreak. If, on the other hand, you've experienced problems with tools like Absinthe, then you may welcome the addition of these updated tools from the iPhone Dev Team. Keep in mind that the underlying jailbreak is the same across all tools; they all utilize the Rocky Racoon untether where appropriate; the only difference is the way the exploit is injected.

Take a look inside for notes from the iPhone Dev Team, as well as download locations for the new tools.

How to enable Lock screen wallpaper even when your device is charging

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 3, 2012

ChargingBackground is a tweak that lends the ability to view wallpaper on the Lock screen even while your iOS device is charging. For some reason Apple throws up a black background whenever the device is charging, eliminating your wallpaper. ChargingBackground allows you to reclaim your device's background while it's plugged into a power source.

I'm pretty sure this tweak isn't the first on the block to do this, but sadly, the original tweak's name escapes me at the moment. Nonetheless, ChargingBackground is free, and it works. Check out our video demonstration inside...

This tweak lets you lock your device by swiping to the Spotlight page

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 3, 2012

SpotLock is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to lock your iPhone simply by swiping over to the place where Spotlight search normally resides. Granted, this tweak will totally eliminate the ability to use Spotlight search, but I believe the popular consensus is that many of you don't use Spotlight to begin with.

Of course, a quick press of the sleep button at the top of your iPhone is the quickest way to secure your iPhone from a software perspective, but SpotLock is an interesting way to break the monotony and switch things up a bit...

Jukebox now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 3, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auCwQQpr-Mw[/tube]

Jukebox — the Dashboard X and Notification Center compatible music widget — is now available for download on Cydia. As you no doubt saw in our walkthrough, Jukebox is an awesome music widget that can be used to directly manipulate your Music app from the convenience of your Home screen.

One of my complaints with Jukebox was that it currently only supports the stock Music app, but the good news is that support for 3rd party music apps like Pandora and Spotify is in the works. Check out our full coverage of the tweak, and be sure to head over to Cydia's BigBoss repo where it can be had for $0.99.

How to make iPad banner notifications span the full width of the screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 3, 2012

Would you like to make your iPad's banner notifications span the entire width of the iPad's screen? Now you can, courtesy of a new jailbreak tweak entitled NCPad.

NCPad features no options or settings to configure, simply install it, and it begins working immediately. It won't expand the entire Notification Center width as its name might suggest, but it will increase the width of banner notifications, which in turn allows you to read more of the contents of the notification.

aTV Flash (black) receives another awesome update

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 2, 2012

The folks over at FireCore just can't stop releasing awesome updates to their Apple TV 2 jailbreak software. The latest update to aTV Flash (black) — version 1.6 — headlines with a new integrated subtitle download feature. This feature allows you to identify and download subtitles directly from the Apple TV, instead of going on a separate manhunt on your computer to find the files.

Along with the new subtitle feature comes support for playing DRM enabled iTunes content directly from the Apple TV. You will still need to use a username and password to authenticate, but at least now we have an option.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as changes go. Aside from plenty of additional new features, there's also a host of bug fixes to keep your jailbroken Apple TV 2 running as smoothly as possible. Take a look inside for the full change log...

Here is video of the Chronic Dev Team announcing Absinthe 2.0

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 2, 2012

If you weren't able to make it to Amsterdam for the Hack in the Box Security Conference last month, don't worry, you're not alone. The conference made headlines in the jailbreak community for being the platform for which the Chronic Dev Team would use to officially announce the release of the Absinthe 2.0 untethered jailbreak tool. Thankfully, our friends over at Redmond Pie were able to snag some awesome footage of the announcement.

If you've always wanted to put faces and voices behind some of the most influential folks in the jailbreak community, here is your opportunity to do so. Check inside for the series of videos...

NoCameraGrabber eliminates Lock screen camera shortcuts

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 2, 2012

I've never been particularly fond of the new Lock screen camera "grabber" feature on iOS 5.1 and above, and frankly, I never find myself using it. In fact, I never used the camera shortcut that appeared with a double press of the Home button on firmware below iOS 5.1. Call me crazy, but I'm just not a big fan of using the camera directly from the Lock screen.

NoCameraGrabber is a jailbreak tweak designed with people like me in mind. It completely removed the camera grabber feature from your iPhone's Lock screen, and it doesn't even bring up the camera button with a double press of the Home button. NoCameraGrabber is a great way to completely eliminate camera shortcut functionality from the Lock screen. Take a look at our video preview for more info...

How to change your app icon labels from white to black, no WinterBoard required

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 2, 2012

Some jailbreak tweaks are immediately labeled as being worthless, and Black Icon Labels is one such tweak. I understand that there are a few users out there who will find this tweak handy, but most will probably claim otherwise.

Black Icon Labels changes the color of your app icon labels from white to black, and nothing more. If there's one good thing that I can tell you about this tweak, it is that it doesn't require WinterBoard to make the change. If you have a light colored wallpaper set on your iPhone's Home screen, then Black Icon Labels might be something you want to check for...

NoDictation removes dictation while keeping Siri enabled

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 1, 2012

Do you rarely use dictation on your iPhone? Would you prefer if there was a way to completely get rid of the dictation button without totally getting rid of Siri? Well, if you're jailbroken, now you can.

Introducing: NoDictation — a simple jailbreak tweak that removes the dictation button on the iPhone keyboard once installed. The nice thing about NoDictation is that you can disable dictation on your iPhone, without having to totally disable Siri.

Take a look at our video walkthrough of NoDictation for more information on how it operates...

An easy way to seamlessly play Safari videos in the background

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 1, 2012

Web Background Video Playback is a relatively new tweak by iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith. The aim of the tweak is to allow video content to continue playing in Safari while it is running in the background. This is especially helpful when you're listening to video content, and seeing the video isn't necessary; for example, when watching a music video, podcast, etc.

This tweak is also handy in the cases where you wish to send a quick tweet or text message, but don't want to completely interrupt the video playback. I've noticed that it even plays nice with video that's streaming to a television via AirPlay.

Take a look at our video demonstration of Web Background Video Playback for more details...

This jailbreak tweak allows you to have a more engaging Siri conversation

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 31, 2012

Are your Siri conversations feeling a bit like a dead end? Are you looking for a more conversational personal assistant? If that's the case, then PersistentAssistant is a jailbreak tweak you need to investigate. PersistentAssistant forces Siri to continuously listen for new queries until your close the Siri window, making for a more engaging conversation.

PersistentAssistant is especially useful if you're in a situation where you can't use your hands to continuously re-invoke Siri — for example, when driving. Check out our video walkthrough inside to see how it works...