Joe Rossignol

Joe Rossignol is a former iDB editor.

Apple considering iTunes for Android, on-demand streaming service

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple is contemplating launching an iTunes app for Android devices to bolster its digital music sales, according to a new Billboard report. The company is also said to be in exploratory talks with senior label executives about rolling out an on-demand streaming service that would rival Spotify and Beats Music. These two moves are part of a broader strategy that would help the Cupertino-based company combat double-digit drops in iTunes downloads in the United States…

New study shows that iPads are replaced less often than iPhones

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

While most iPhone users look to upgrade their Apple smartphone once every two years, coinciding with the end of their contracts, a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reveals that the iPad has a much longer replacement cycle. Based on a survey of 2,000 customers in the United States who purchased an iPhone, iPad or Mac last year, the tablet is believed to be closer aligned to the Mac's average lifespan of 2 to 4 years…

How to enable Drunk Mode on iPhone

Joe Rossignol ∙ March 21, 2014

You are out for a night on the town with your friends, and perhaps you've had one too many Long Island Iced Teas or Peppermint Schnapps. We're not judging you, but others might be when you send them a misspelled text message or perhaps worse. Fortunately, if you have an iPhone, this is an easily avoidable situation.

While it might sound stupid, a jailbreak tweak called Drunk Mode actually serves a relatively useful purpose. The tweak is a very simple one; when enabled, it prevents you from sending iMessages to your friends, family, boss, co-workers or whoever else you probably shouldn't be talking to at the time. Details ahead…

Theme Thursday: Inversify, Ayza, VectrOS and more

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

It is quite impressive that even as this eighth edition of Theme Thursday has come upon us, there are still a number of quality Winterboard themes being released each week. It is equally as impressive how collaborative the theming community is in general, as a number of iDownloadBlog readers and others continue to share themes with us that they feel are deserving of making this column. This week, we are proud to share Inversify, Ayza, Rollypop and VectrOS. Here they are…

How to mail more than five photos at once on iPhone and iPad

Joe Rossignol ∙ March 19, 2014

One of the biggest inconveniences that comes from using the stock Mail app on iPhone and iPad is the inability to attach more than five photos per email. But the areas where iOS has shortcomings is where the jailbreaking community proves its value; in this case, developer Pramod Mohandas has released MailUnlimitedPhotos, a new jailbreak tweak that removes the five photo restriction from Mail. We've got a closer look at the tweak ahead…

SlideWeather replaces “slide to unlock” with current weather conditions

Joe Rossignol ∙ March 17, 2014

As someone who lives in Canada, which has been experiencing one of the coldest winters on record, it is safe to say that I have been checking the forecast a little more often than usual. That is part of the reason why I am a big fan of weather-related jailbreak tweaks such as SlideWeather, a new iOS extension that replaces the default "slide to unlock" text on the Lock screen with the current temperature and conditions.

SlideWeather pulls forecast information based on the location of your device, meaning that you must have Location Services enabled for the Weather app for this tweak to work properly. I only learned that by experimentation, as disabling Location Services caused the tweak to display no temperature and warn that a tornado was incoming. Fortunately, that is not the case. Details ahead…

Theme Thursday: Newport for iOS 7, Trima HD and Lucid

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

We're back with the seventh edition of Theme Thursday, a weekly column that promotes some of the best Winterboard theme releases for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This column has mostly been experimental up until this point, as we continue to gauge the feedback from our readers. What we heard last week was that many of the themes looked very similar to each other, so this week we've tried to make things more unique…

Theme Thursday: Habesha, Mary and Myrea

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

It is already March and time for the sixth edition of Theme Thursday, a weekly roundup that features some of the best Winterboard themes for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Even over three months since the iOS 7 jailbreak was released, there continues to be a number of high-quality theme releases each week. Ayeris captured the attention of the jailbreaking community last week, and this time around we present you with Habesha, Mary and Myrea…

Theme Thursday: Axla, FlatIcons, Gusht and more

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated November 30, 2016

This fifth edition of Theme Thursday marks one month since we began highlighting some of the best Winterboard themes available for iPhone and iPod touch. It has been a lot of fun putting this column together each week, and I'm glad that so many readers have been enjoying it. iPad users, your roundup is on the horizon.

Best of all, it makes me proud that we're able to give some well-deserved recognition to the talented graphic designers in this community. If it wasn't for those people, we wouldn't have these great themes to use on our devices. So, without further ado, this week's featured themes are: Axla, iOS 8 Concept, FlatIcons, Gusht and iOS 8 Infinity Theme. Dive right in…

WhatsApp confirms outage, working to restore service [updated]

Joe Rossignol ∙ February 22, 2014

Update: It appears that WhatsApp service has been restored for at least some users. I am successfully able to send messages again using the app in Canada. We will wait for official word from WhatsApp to confirm that the downtime has been resolved.

Twitter is lighting up with tweets that popular cross-platform messaging service WhatsApp is experiencing a widespread outage. iDownloadBlog can confirm that the downtime is affecting users in Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and several South American countries, and numerous tweets indicate that other areas are affected as well. The outage has been ongoing since at least 1:30 to 2:00 PM Eastern…

Theme Thursday: Jaku, Slab and Redsgn 2.0

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

The fourth edition of Theme Thursday has arrived, a weekly column that covers some of the best theme releases for Winterboard to date. This week's roundup continues to focus on iPhone and iPod touch themes, although many are designed for the iPad as well. Moreover, after listening to your feedback for the last three weeks, we have plans to publish an iPad theme roundup in the near future.

This week, we highlight the following themes: Jaku, Slab and Redsgn 2.0. To get the reflective dock used in the screenshots, download ClassicDock. I am also using a custom font called Cartogothic Std that is applied using BytaFont. In this edition of Theme Thursday, I provide a combination of stock images from the designers alongside my own screenshots. Take a look…

Gameboy Advance emulator GBA4iOS 2.0 to be released soon

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

A few days ago, Jeff posted about an awesome new website called webNES that allows iPhone and iPad users to play Nintendo games directly from Mobile Safari. But while the web-based emulator does not require jailbreaking your iOS device, that benefit is largely overshadowed by the sluggish performance of most games. Fortunately, in less than two days, gamers will have another great no-jailbreak alternative in GBA4iOS 2.0. Take a look…