Jailbreak

Diamond re-imagines the iPhone’s Dock and Status Bar in a big way

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 7, 2020

Two things that remain mostly the same since the very first iPhone launched in 2007 are the Status Bar and the Dock. Despite a few minor tweaks and adjustments by Apple over the years, they haven’t changed much, and it’s apparent that many users demand more from these essential interface elements.

Diamond is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer SouthernGirlWhoCode that re-imagines these interfaces on the iOS platform, and it does so by combining some of the most important features of the Dock and Status Bar into a single, aesthetically pleasing interface that can be customized in a bevy of different ways.

Kernel bug for iOS 14.1 and below raises hopes for exploit, and perhaps jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 6, 2020

Apple unleashed iOS & iPadOS 14.2 to the masses yesterday afternoon, and while most iPhone and iPad owners gleefully updated to take advantage of more than 100 new Emojis and six new wallpapers, the updates also appeared to beef up their respective platforms’ security.

Security improvements are generally a good thing for users; however, they can be red flags for proponents of the jailbreak community since software exploits are the very things that make jailbreak tools possible. With that in mind, it may come as no surprise that jailbreak developers repetitiously remind the community to stay in the lowest possible firmware, as this can increase one’s chances of jailbreak eligibility.

Got a jailbroken Apple TV? You may soon get to enjoy Guardian Firewall’s VPN on it

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 5, 2020

For a company that appears to tout privacy as much as they do, it’s both astounding and questionable as to why Apple doesn’t permit VPN functionality on its Apple TV platform out of the box. Fascinatingly, VPNs can be installed and used on almost every other Apple device aside from the Apple Watch, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and even the Mac.

There’s no question that this silly limitation has brushed some Apple TV users the wrong way. On the other hand, there may be hope for those holding out. In a teaser Tweet shared this Thursday afternoon, Guardian Firewall founder and CEO Will Strafach said that the first VPN (and firewall) for tvOS is in the works and could be released for jailbroken Apple TVs in the future:

Sphere brings a Chat Heads-inspired multitasking UI to jailbroken iPhones

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 3, 2020

Apple makes it a breeze to switch from one recently-used app to another on your iPhone, but one area where this particular platform has always left a lot to be desired is the multitasking department.

Jailbreak tweak developers have created a myriad of novel iOS multitasking concepts over the years, but one of the latest examples to land on a mainstream repository is a tweak called Sphere by iOS developer SynnyG.

Summon a floating web browser from anywhere in iOS with Megane

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 3, 2020

Any time you feel like browsing the web, it’s essentially as easy as launching the Safari app and beginning a web search or asking Siri to search the web for you. But if even these two methods are too much effort for you, or you’d rather stay in the app interface you’re already in instead of closing that app to visit Safari, then we might have just the right solution for you.

Enter Megane, a newly released and free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer sugiuta that allows users to summon a floating web search interface like the one shown in the screenshot example above from just about anywhere in iOS with a gesture of their choosing.

VolumeMixer permits individualized volume levels for each app on your iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 2, 2020

One of the things I’ve wished Apple would build into iOS and iPadOS for the longest time is the ability to control individual apps’ volume levels independently of one another. By that, I mean that I might want a higher volume level saved for my Music app as opposed to my Phone app, or perhaps a higher volume for my YouTube app saved as opposed to my favorite game apps.

While this isn’t currently a feature on stock handsets, the good news for those seeking functionality like what was described above is that a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called VolumeMixer by iOS developer Brend0n makes the concept into a very real feature.

Miss iOS 9’s Now Playing interface? This tweak resurrects it on jailbroken handsets

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

The iOS platform received a myriad of changes over the years, with many of those being functional changes and a smaller number being purely cosmetic. Perhaps one of the most iconic changes can be attributed to iOS’ Now Playing interface, which has evolved an awful lot since the days of iOS 9.

Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates all of the latest changes, and some even wish that the iOS 9 Now Playing interface would make an unlikely comeback. The good news, however, is that a new and free jailbreak tweak called NineMusic by iOS developer Minh-Ton can make this happen, at least on pwned handsets.

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: Escape, Max Photo Zoom, Pocket Protector, & more…

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 1, 2020

If you're a jailbreaker and you're searching for the latest and greatest ways to customize your iPhone or iPad, then you've come to the right place. This roundup will go over all the latest jailbreak tweaks released between Monday, October 26th and Sunday, November 1st.

As usual, we'll kick things off by talking about our favorite releases first; after that, we'll produce an outline of everything else. So without further ado, let's get started!

This jailbreak tweak ports the iPad’s Camera app interface to iPhones

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated August 2, 2021

As anyone with both an iPhone and iPad can tell you, there’s a distinctive difference between the Camera app interface on each type of device. The iPhone’s Camera app layout takes a horizontal approach to button positioning, while the iPad’s Camera app layout takes a vertical approach to button positioning.

Apple likely has its reasons for designing things how they did, likely to make accessing controls on the iPad easier when your thumbs are on either side of the device as you control it. But wouldn’t it be nice if there was at least some form of synergy between the two platforms? If you answered yes, then you might enjoy a newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed iPad Cam by iOS developer pholic.

Sana is a new jailbreak tweak for customizing the iOS 13 volume HUD

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 30, 2020

When Apple released iOS 13 last year, one of the most substantial new features was the redesigned volume HUD interface. It not only moved the volume HUD off to the side and out of the way, but it also made the interface touch-sensitive, enabling finger-based granular volume adjustments when visible.

If, however, you were hoping for some form of customization with regard to the new volume HUD, then you would have been let down. Fortunately, a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called Sana by iOS developer samoht provides some relief.

Checkra1n tinkerer demonstrates custom boot sound on T2-equipped Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 29, 2020

One of the things that makes the checkra1n jailbreak unique is that it’s bootrom-based, which means that it’s able to jailbreak any hardware vulnerable to the checkm8 bootrom exploit. This includes iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, and even the T2 chip that many modern Mac computers now come equipped with from the factory.

It wasn’t long ago that the checkra1n team baked official support for the T2 chip into their jailbreak tool, and as such, it may come as no surprise that some of the first T2-based hacks are beginning to trickle in. One of the latest of such hacks apparently involves modifying a T2 chip-equipped Mac Mini to play the infamous THX sound during boot-up:

iPAPatcher comes out of beta as developer re-writes tool for v1.0

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 29, 2020

Just under two weeks ago, developer Brandon Plank launched a beta macOS app dubbed iPAPatcher that allowed users to merge Dynamic Libraries (dylib) or jailbreak tweaks (.deb files) with iPhone or iPad apps (.ipa files) before installing them on a handset of your choosing. In essence, one might describe it as akin to enabling hacks and perks in your favorite apps without the need for a jailbreak.

As of this week, however, iPAPatcher is officially coming out of beta. The source code of version 1.0 of this handy utility is now published on the developer’s GitHub page, and as you might come to expect, it comes with a plethora of improvements that benefit the end user.