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+.

PaperLock adds yet another mod to your iPhone’s Home screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 31, 2012

PaperLock, like Unfold, and Unlockize before it, adds another "slide to unlock" modification to your iPhone's Lock screen. PaperLock — as its name not so subtly implies — is a tweak that lends a paper-like "page turning" look to your iPhone, similar to what you see when you turn a page in iBooks.

Out of the box, PaperLock comes with three high quality themes: paper, plastic, and bandage. It should be noted that the graphics where designed by renowned iOS theme designer Surenix; hence, when I say high quality, you can believe it. How does it match up with other Lock screen mods? Check inside for the details.

Sparrow for iPad in the works, compliments of the jailbreak community [updated]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

Push Notifications are one thing, but support for the iPad is a whole 'nother area where Sparrow is lacking for iOS. As of now, the popular 3rd party email client is iPhone-only, making it difficult for users who have both devices to fully commit to using it.

But as usual, a jailbreak developer is making serious headway on bringing native-like iPad support to Sparrow via a handy tweak. SparrowPlus may already be familiar to a lot of you, it's the same tweak that allows you to make Sparrow your iPhone's default mail client, along with Push Notifications.

Now the developer behind SparrowPlus is working on an update to bring improved Sparrow support to the iPad. It's not perfect, but as you'll see from our hands-on video, it certainly shows some promise...

This tweak produces pint-sized banner notifications

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

Are you finding that your iPhone's banner notifications are a bit on the large side? If so, then do we have the perfect jailbreak tweak to fit your needs. SmallBanners is a tweak that performs one function, and does so fairly well — it reduces the size of your iPhone's banner notifications.

Personally I think the stock size of the banner notifications is perfect, but I realize that there are probably a few of you out there that don't. If you fit that description, then head inside and check out our video walkthrough for SmallBanners.

Easily access your favorite websites with RapidLinks

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

RapidLinks is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to quick access a batch of up to five links by means of an Activator action. Each link is configurable via a settings panel in the Settings app. From that same panel you can also configure the Activator action that you would like to associate with the tweak.

Once all of your settings are configured, simply invoke RapidLinks by means of Activator, and a panel will surface from the bottom of the screen yielding the links that you configured. This allows you to access any of your favorite websites from anywhere within seconds. Check out our video walkthrough inside for a demonstration of how it works.

Absinthe version 2.0.4 released with iPad 2,4 support in tow

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 30, 2012

The Chronic Dev Team, as expected, has released an update to the Absinthe jailbreak tool to enable iPad 2,4 untethered jailbreak support for iOS 5.1.1.

The iPad 2,4 is the updated version of the iPad 2 that features a new chipset yielding improved battery life. Due to the rarity of this version of the iPad 2, support was withheld until further testing could be done. Now it's obvious that the testing was completed successfully...

Dater adds timestamps and more to the photos in your camera roll

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 29, 2012

Dater is a recently released jailbreak tweak that adds a few nifty identification features to the photos in your camera roll.

First and foremost are the timestamps. Dater adds timestamps to all of the photos contained within the camera roll, and it will even retroactively add stamps to photos that already exist prior to installing the tweak. Don't worry; the timestamps aren't hardcoded on your photos, so they don't actually appear when you export or print them.

The timestamps are a very nice feature, but not alone worth the $0.99 asking price. Fortunately, there's more to Dater than what initially meets the eye...

The Chronic Dev Team is working hard to bring iPad 2,4 support to Absinthe

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

If you happen to own a newer WiFi only iPad 2,4, you undoubtedly know what it feels like to be left out of the fun. That's because the iPad 2,4 is one of the very few iOS 5.1.1 devices that can't be jailbroken with the new Absinthe 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak tool. Outside of the Apple TV 3, you're among some pretty lonely company.

Fortunately, it looks like all of that is about to change. During the initial release of Absinthe, the team of hackers stated that iPad 2,4 support was coming soon, and it looks like that statement is holding true.

Jukebox adds an awesome music widget to Dashboard X and Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 28, 2012

Jukebox is an upcoming Notification Center widget that also does double duty as a Dashboard X widget. Its purpose is to allow you to control your music from literally anywhere, which is primarily attributed to its flexibility as both a Notification Center widget, while at the same time maintaining a spot on your Home screen.

The initial release of Jukebox will only feature integration with the stock Music app, but the developer is hard at work at making it play nice with 3rd party music apps like Spotify and Pandora. Besides this one obvious shortcoming, Jukebox is shaping up to be a top tier Notification Center widget, and by far the best Dashboard X widget yet...

Blackout changes your status bar to black, looks great with Zephyr

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 28, 2012

Blackout is a simple tweak that replaces the stock silver status bar with a solid black background. It's a change that's purely aesthetic, and it features no options or settings to configure.

Developer, Adam bell, suggests that Blackout looks best when paired with chpwn's Zephyr tweak, and I have to concur. The black status bar blend seamlessly when switching between apps using Zephyr's multitouch gestures. Take a look inside for our full video walkthrough of Blackout.

Rocky Racoon 5.1.1 Untether updated with support for iPhone 4 (GSM) 5.1.1/9B208 build

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 28, 2012

The Rocky Racoon 5.1.1 Untether was just updated to version 1.0-2, and is now available for download in Cydia. This is the package that is installed on iOS devices that utilize the 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak, whether you obtained it via Absinthe, or via the Rocky Racoon installation on a 5.1.1 tethered jailbreak.

This update brings support to the iPhone 4 (GSM) 5.1.1/9B208 build that was recently released by Apple.

Unlockize brings six high quality animations to your iPhone’s Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 28, 2012

Anton Kudin's "fold to unlock" concept didn't stop short at just inspiring one Cydia developer to turn the concept a reality, it inspired two.

Unlockize is the latest jailbreak tweak to harness key aspects from Kudin's concept, but it doesn't just stop there. Unlike the previously released Unfold, Unlockize features five additional lock screen animations, and they're all very unique. Extra animations do come at a cost, however. Is Unlockize worth its $1.99 asking price?

Absinthe 2.0 proves jailbreaking is as popular as ever

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 28, 2012

If you were wondering whether or not people were still wildly interested in jailbreaking, then wonder no more. The Chronic Dev team, the folks behind the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak tool for iOS 5.1.1, have stated via twitter that its tool has been used to jailbreak over a million devices since it was released on Friday morning.

Unsurprisingly, those numbers look to be a tad higher this time around when compared to the release of the original Absinthe tool back in January.

Obviously the comparisons aren't exactly scientific, but I think it's safe to say that jailbreaking has maintained and/or increased its popularity since earlier this year...