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+.

SlideWriter: an upcoming app that makes text editing easier on the iPad

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Not that we can blame them, but it looks like someone's trying to capitalize off of the attention garnered first by Daniel Hooper's iPad editing concept video, and then again by Kyle Howells' jailbreak tweak that made the concept a reality.

SlideWriter is an upcoming App Store app that will allow you to edit text using techniques made popular by both the concept and the subsequent jailbreak tweak implementation.

The developers of SlideWriter have put together a brief video demo to show how the app works in action. Check it out inside...

SpotDict: Search iOS’ built in dictionary from Spotlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 5, 2012

Spotlight search is very useful when you actually need to use it, but how many times do you find yourself needing to do so?

If you're anything like me, you can probably count on one hand how many times you've used Spotlight over the past few months.

Perhaps this recently released jailbreak tweak will coerce you into using Spotlight a bit more often? It's called SpotDict, and it allows you to look up words in iOS' built in dictionary directly from the Spotlight search page...

‘SwipeSelection’ now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 5, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h2yrBK7MAY[/tube]

SwipeSelection — the jailbreak tweak based on Daniel Hooper's iPad keyboard editing concept — is now available on Cydia.

If you haven't seen our hands-on video and review of the tweak in action, be sure to check it out.

You can find SwipeSelection for free on Cydia's BigBoss repo, and it plays nice with both the iPad and iPhone.

Have you tried it? What do you think?

iPad text editing concept comes to life thanks to this jailbreak tweak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 4, 2012

When Cody posted about Daniel Hooper’s iPad keyboard demo, we had no idea that it would be as popular as it has turned out to be. Thousands of retweets later, the public has spoken out against how terrible the iPad's editing situation is. I think John Gruber summed it up best when he noted that the iPad was a great for typing, but poor for editing.

The iPad keyboard demo video was created with the hopes that Apple would respond and implement something similar in the upcoming version of iOS. There's even instructions included on the video for submitting a bug report to Apple.

Well, Apple may not listen, but someone else did. Indeed, the jailbreak community has responded in a big way. Introducing SwipeSelection — a usable realization of the original iPad concept video...

‘DisabledNC Switch’ disables Notification Center in full screen apps

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 1, 2012

Don't you just hate it when you're in the middle of playing a game and you accidentally invoke Notification Center?

I've found that in particular, games that require a lot of random swipes suffer the most from this issue.

Thankfully, a new jailbreak tweak has been created to put an end to this nonsense, and it's appropriately titled DisableNC Switch...

‘AlwaysArrange’ now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 1, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbFsxOEk1yU[/tube]

Do you hate having to place your app icons into wiggle mode to be able to rearrange their position on the Home screen? If so, then AlwaysArrange is the tweak for you.

AlwaysArrange is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to rearrange your App icons on the fly, without needing to place them into wiggle mode.

Check out our full walkthrough of AlwaysArrange, and head over to Cydia if you're interested. It's available for free on Cydia's ModMyi repo.

‘Image Grabber’ allows you to save and share images from any website or PDF

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 1, 2012

While mobile Safari is more than adequate for casual web surfing, it's also very limited when it comes to performing more advanced functions.

For instance, if you were interested in viewing the source code behind one of your favorite websites, it's impossible to do out of the box.

Even something as simple as viewing all of the images contained on a given page is out of reach. This is a function that's easily accomplished with stock versions of desktop browsers.

Thankfully we have jailbreaking, and with it the tools to accomplish such simple, yet otherwise impossible tasks. Take Image Grabber for example — a jailbreak tweak that allows you to view all of the images on a given web site or PDF, and save, copy, or share them...

We’re giving away three ‘Lima’ beta invites

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 30, 2012

Last week we brought you an in-depth look at Lima — the web-based Cydia alternative for jailbroken iOS devices. Needless to say, we were thoroughly impressed by what we saw.

If you're anxious to get your hands on Lima, then here is your chance. As promised, we're giving away three Lima beta invitations.

Want one? Check inside for the details...

‘SiriStatus’ can help you troubleshoot Siri

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 30, 2012

SiriStatus is a recently released jailbreak tweak that reveals a hidden Siri status bar. This bar is located at the top of your screen, and is used for checking the current query status and manually entering in queries via the keyboard.

If you tend to find yourself experiencing problems with Siri, then SiriStatus can help you decipher what the problem may be.

Check out our video walkthrough straight ahead...

Hands on with Lima, a browser based Cydia alternative

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 28, 2012

Over the years there has been no shortage of proclaimed Cydia replacements, alternatives, and supplements.

Lima is the latest such purported alternative, but it has one unique thing going for it that makes it a bit different from the others — it's entirely browser based.

Is Lima a legitimate threat to Cydia's dominance?

I've had the privilege to go hands-on with a beta copy, and I'd like to share some of the things that I found with you.

New iPad jailbreak tweak ‘Quasar’ allows for true iPad window based multitasking [Video]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 28, 2012

A new $9.99 jailbreak tweak was released for the iPad today on Cydia, and it goes by the name of Quasar.

Quasar is a tweak that's exclusive to jailbroken iPad's, and it allows you to have a true window based multitasking session with your iPad.

As you know we've been fairly adamant about a true multitasking solution for the iPad for quite some time now, so we're excited to see what Quasar can do for iPad users.

Full story and video walkthrough inside...