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+.

Upcoming version of RedSn0w will allow you to downgrade your iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 8, 2012

Awesome news for those who accidentally updated the firmware for their A5 device (iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad aka iPad 3), possibly resulting in the loss of the precious untethered jailbreak. MuscleNerd has announced that an upcoming update to RedSn0w will allow users to downgrade their firmware.

The only catch is that you have to have your SHSH blobs saved for the firmware that you wish to downgrade to. That means that if you purchased your iPhone 4S with iOS 5.1 pre-installed, there's no way to downgrade to iOS 5.0.1 so that you can enjoy the benefits of pod2g's untethered jailbreak...

Dashtweet: the first dedicated Dashboard X widget

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 8, 2012

Dashboard X — the new upcoming widgeting system for iOS — has its first official widget in the works, and it's based on Twitter.

Dashtweet is the name of the new widget, and it allows you to send tweets from anywhere on your Home screen.

This is likely the first of many official widgets designed specifically with Dashboard X in mind. Check out our video coverage of Dashtweet in action...

A look at TwitkaFly’s new Facebook plugin

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 7, 2012

Earlier today I had the opportunity to spend some time with the new Facebook plugin for TwitkaFly — the popular jailbreak tweak available on Cydia.

TwitkaFly is a tweak that allows you to send Twitter updates from anywhere by means of a user-configurable Activator action. It is also one of the most well supported tweaks that I know of, which speaks volumes for moeseth, its developer.

This new plugin will allow you to update your Facebook status, send a tweet, or do both at the same time. If you'd like to see how it works in action, then by all means take a gander...

GhostSiri: a new concept tweak that allows you to use Siri without its interface

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 7, 2012

Now here's something a little different: GhostSiri — a tweak that will allow you to invoke Siri without being subjected to the Siri UI.

It's currently a concept tweak in the very early stages of development, but I see the potential for something good here.

Take a look at our video walkthrough inside...

Piracy is a huge problem in the jailbreak community and here is the evidence to prove it

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 7, 2012

I'm not trying to pile on after my post about i0n1c, but my friend and iOS developer Filippo Bigarella just posted some stunning evidence as to how bad piracy is within the community.

Bigarella is the mind behind such tweaks as Springtomize 2 and CleverPin, and he's clearly one of the most talented and dedicated developers in the community. Hence, it's sad to learn that his hard work is taken for granted by so many people. His latest tweak, Springtomize 2, has an audacious 92% piracy rate!

And you wonder why people like i0n1c point to the piracy problem within the community?

Love him or hate him, i0n1c has skills

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

Love him or hate him, i0n1c has skills. Want proof? A little over a half an hour ago he showcased his new iPad (iPad 3) running Cydia on iOS 5.1.1. Said firmware was just released. I understand that this is a result of being able to jailbreak 5.1, but the fact still stands that he has the talent that the jailbreak community could benefit from.

As you're probably well aware of, i0n1c has an interesting relationship with the jailbreak community. On one hand, he's a clearly talented hacker that can solve some of the most perplexing issues regarding iOS jailbreaking.

On the other hand, he continues to spite the community with rants about piracy, money, and an overall disdain towards jailbreaking in general...

How to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 with RedSn0w

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 7, 2012

iOS 5.1.1 was just released, and with it come a few bug fixes. If you're worried about maintaining your untethered jailbreak, then it's important not to update.

If, on the other hand, you have a device that's currently jailbreakable on iOS 5.1, you can use the latest version of RedSn0w to perform a tethered jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 with a few easy steps.

Check inside for the full video tutorial...

Giffy: view animated GIFs in the Photos app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Animated GIFs are an incredibly popular method for sharing moving pictures in a way that's viewable in a wide variety of areas. As a result we have new apps like Gifture appearing on the App Store.

While GIFs are easily viewable in the Safari browser, saving them to the Photos app results in a loss of the animation. Since animation is the whole point behind animated GIFs, saving them to the Photos app under normal circumstances might seem a bit pointless.

But that's where jailbreaking once again proves its worthiness. Giffy is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to view animated GIFs within iOS' stock Photos app...

How to add a character counter to the Notes app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 7, 2012

Who types text that is lengthy enough to warrant a character counter in the Notes app? That's the first thing I thought when trying Characount for Notes, and needless to say I'm still pondering the question.

That's literally all this tweak does. It places a character counter, not a word counter mind you, but a character counter at the top of each note you compose.

Who really needs something like this?

Add widgets to your Home screen with this new jailbreak tweak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 6, 2012

Although I've never really understood the excitement behind the widgets, it's one of those things that my Android toting friends love to brag about.

What if I told you that there was an easy way to add widgets to the Home screen of an iOS device? What if I told you that there are a plethora of interesting widgets already available?

Both of the above statements are now true, courtesy of a new jailbreak tweak called Dashboard X. Dashboard X is the result of months of hard work by developer, Ori Kadosh. This tweak allows you to take existing widgets created for Notification Center and position them anywhere on your iPhone or iPad Home screen.

Take a look at inside for our hands-on experience with Dashboard X...

Chip: a feature rich jailbreak tweak for customizing banner notifications

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 6, 2012

With entries like Vexillum and ColorBanner, there's no shortage of jailbreak tweaks that allow you to customize your notification banners in iOS 5. But neither of those are as deep and complete as Chip.

As simple as its name may make it seem, Chip is by far the deepest of the three tweaks mentioned. It allows you to customize banner notification background color, text color, border color, and gradient using simple RGB sliders.

Chip also includes the ability to customize the notification sound and banner animation. If you're looking for the best tweak for customizing banner notifications, then look no further...