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+.

How to unlock the iPhone 4S using the R-SIM interposer

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 5, 2012

I'll admit that I've never used a Gevey SIM interposer, or anything like it in the past, but I figured I'd give it a shot with the iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 4S has its own special SIM interposer called the R-SIM II Ultra S, which was recently released.

I'm happy to report that this is by far the easiest method for "unlocking" your iPhone 4S, and using it with T-Mobile or virtually any other GSM carrier. And guess what, no jailbreak is required.

Check out our review of the iPhone 4S R-SIM tool inside...

‘Notificator’ officially released on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 5, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPmebvmDk8Y[/tube]

Notificator has finally hit the Cydia store for the price of $0.99. This is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to create custom banner notifications for various system events.

If you've been anticipating Notificator ever since reading our preview of the tweak, then head over to Cydia's BigBoss repo where you can download it today.

Be sure to let us know what you think about it after giving it a try.

App Store 25 billionth app download winner announced

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Where's My Water? How about "where's my $10,000 iTunes Gift Card?" That's likely what a fortunate person from Qingdao, China is thinking after being revealed as the winner of Apple's App Store Countdown to 25 Billion Apps.

Winner Chunli Fu's perfect timing when downloading Where's My Water? Free yielded a virtual goldmine by App Store standards. Something tells me they'll have no problem purchasing the $0.99 version of Where's My Water? now...

‘BadgeRemover’ will clear every badge on your SpringBoard

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 5, 2012

If you're looking for a way to remove your app notification badges in one fell swoop, there are many options to do so. Just search for "badges" in Cydia, and you're bound to come up with a few options for suppressing those annoying badges.

And then there are tweaks like Springtomize 2, which removes badges, along with about a million other functions.

But if you just want a tweak that will silence your app badges, and nothing else, then there's a new option called BadgeRemover...

‘SiriCorrectInfinity’ makes Siri subject to infinite text edits

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 5, 2012

SiriCorrectInfinity is a free jailbreak tweak available on Cydia that allows you to make text edits to Siri queries not once, but an infinite amount of times.

Since a lot of people don't know that you can edit Siri queries to beging with, it's one of those things that's best explained by seeing it for yourself.

Check out our video walkthrough inside...

‘Plugication’ makes its way to Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 3, 2012

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

Plugication — the jailbreak tweak that automatically resumes music upon connecting your headphones to your device — has been officially released to the public.

Our preview covered Plugication's main feature, but a version is also in the works that will allow users to disable the "pause on disconnect" feature that happens when you remove headphones.

Plugication can be downloaded for free from Cydia's ModMyi repo. Be sure to share your thoughts after giving it a try.

Siri gets a HAL 9000 theme

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 3, 2012

"Good evening, Dave."

Yes, the inevitable has finally happened, we're just curious why it took so long.

Indeed, Siri has finally been laced with a classic HAL 9000 theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It's all possible thanks to a WinterBoard theme, and a handful of UISounds that replace the stock Siri sounds. Check out our how-to video inside...

‘SMSmileys’ automatically converts text smiley faces into Emoji icons

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 3, 2012

Isn't it weird that the stock Messages app doesn't automatically convert ASCII smiley faces into Emoji icons?

I never understood why Apple neglected to include this feature; I think they should have at least made it an option.

Thanks to the jailbreak community, now it is an option, and that option is called SMSmileys...

‘AppSlider’ now available for download in Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 3, 2012

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

Lock screen app launcher, AppSlide, has made its way to the Cydia store this afternoon. As we previously discussed, AppSlider is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to customize your Lock screen with two shortcuts to your favorite apps.

You can launch your favorite apps directly from the Lock screen, and if you have a passcode enabled, AppSlider will respect the passcode before allowing you to launch the app.

You can download AppSlider for free on Cydia's BigBoss repo. Let us know what you think about it.

‘Plugication’ will automatically restart music when headphones are connected

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 2, 2012

Tweaks like these are the reason why I love jailbreaking so much. Jailbreaking allows you to add obvious features to the iPhone that Apple may have looked over, or purposely omitted.

Plugication is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. It's a jailbreak tweak that forces your music to resume when you plug your headphones back into your device.

Check out our full video demonstration of Plugication inside...

Upcoming ‘AppSlider’ tweak places two app shortcuts on your Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 2, 2012

Do you have a couple of apps that you just can't live without? Do you find yourself wishing for a way to launch them directly without hitting your Home screen?

If you fit the above criteria, then check out this video preview of AppSlider. This is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that lets you specify two app shortcuts for your Lock screen...