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Castro, SSHIcon, and other jailbreak tweaks to check out this weekend

If you're like most jailbreakers, then you're probably foaming at the mouth for something new to install on your device right now. While the iOS 10 jailbreak has been slow lately, we've seen some fairly impressive releases this week.

In this roundup, we'll show you all the jailbreak tweaks that launched in Cydia throughout the past work week. We'll start with our favorites and move on to the rest of them afterward.

Castro gives the iOS volume HUD a much-needed facelift

I’ve said it many times before, and I’ll say it again: the volume HUD in iOS is a ridiculous mess, and it's in need of a facelift.

A plethora of jailbreak tweaks in Cydia can help with the situation, but after trying a new release called Castro by iOS developer candoizo, I’m convinced that this just might be one of the best looking alternatives to date.

SSHIcon lets you know when there are active SSH connections to your device

SSH is a powerful tool that lets you access your jailbroken handset’s filesystem on the fly, but one of the things I don’t like about it is how there’s no indication when an SSH connection is initiated.

A new free jailbreak tweak called SSHIcon by iOS developer Sticktron solves this problem by putting an icon in your Status Bar any time you or someone else uses SSH to access your device.

Apple seeds beta 9 of iOS 11 and tvOS 11 to developers

Apple on Thursday seeded iOS 11 beta 9 to developers. The release comes just days after beta 8 of the software was rolled out, suggesting that either a significant bug or security issue was discovered, or that Apple is charging hard down the final stretch of beta testing in an effort to finish the update on time for public release next month.

iOS 11 beta 9

If you're a registered developer with a device already running a previous iOS 11 beta, you can upgrade to the latest build (15A5370a) over the air using the Software Update mechanism in the Settings app.

Given the short lead time between beta 8 and beta 9, we don't expect many (if any) user-facing changes. But here are the new things we spotted in beta 8:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b--2ov6pcIk

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tvOS 11 beta 9

Developers with the appropriate configuration profile on their Apple TV (4th gen) can install today’s beta (build number 15J5378a) by visiting Settings > System > Software Update.

Otherwise, it requires you to hook up your Apple TV to your Mac via a USB-C cable and a quick trip to the Dev Center. tvOS 11 has shown to be a modest update, with just a handful of user-facing improvements.

As always, if you see something notable in the new betas you think we’ve missed, feel free to tell us about it in the comments below, or on Twitter @iDownloadBlog.

Apple sends out invites for September 12 iPhone event at Steve Jobs theater

It's official! Apple has sent out press invitations for its first-ever event to be held at the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple Campus 2. As usual the event is on a Tuesday, September 12, and it's scheduled to start at 10:00 am (PST).

The invites don't say specifically what will be announced, but the consensus is that Apple will use the stage to unveil next-generation iPhones. Most of the rumor mill evidence thus far has pointed to an all-new iPhone 8, with an edge-to-edge OLED display, wireless charging and 3D face scanning, as well as more tame iPhone 7s and 7s Plus handsets.

In addition to the new smartphones, Apple is also expected to announce a third-generation Apple Watch with possible LTE connectivity, and a new Apple TV with support for 4K and HDR content.

Apple has confirmed that it will be live-streaming the event, but as always you are welcome to join us here at iDB on September 12, as we will be covering all of the major and subsequent announcements as they happen.