iOS 11

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: BadgeMe, Haptigram, ScreenSafe, and more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 9, 2019

There’s been so much excitement in the last couple of weeks with regard to the checkm8 bootrom exploit that we can’t wait to see what becomes of it. On the other hand, those already jailbroken with Chimera or unc0ver will be happy to know that we continuously report on the best of the newest jailbreak tweak releases each day.

In this roundup, we’ll talk about all the jailbreak tweaks released from Monday, November 4th to Sunday, November 10th. As usual, we’ll kick things off by talking about our favorites and then wrap things up with an outline of the rest afterward.

Last-minute issues delaying checkra1n launch, but release still imminent

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 10, 2019

Hacker and checkra1n team member Luca Todesco took the stage at POC2019 in Seoul, South Korea early Friday morning to talk about checkra1n, an upcoming checkm8 exploit-based jailbreak tool that would work with A5-A11 devices. But perhaps more intriguingly, sporadic teasers indicated that the tool would be released sometime after his presentation there.

The last official update we have from Todesco himself is that the checkra1n release was delayed longer than expected following the presentation, but it was still supposed to launch sometime today. With the day now over and still no official checkra1n jailbreak launch at the time of this writing, you wouldn’t be alone if you were twiddling your thumbs and wondering what was happening.

Luca Todesco talks at POC2019, reveals checkra1n team identities and plans

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 8, 2019

If you’ve been following the development of the checkm8-based checkra1n jailbreak all this time, then you’ll be excited to hear that one of the project’s most vocal developers, Luca Todesco, took the stage at POC2019 in Seoul, South Korea to discuss the jailbreak and reveal particularly captivating details about the checkra1n team’s members, long-term plans, and more.

Todesco entitled his Keynote presentation “The One Weird Trick SecureROM Hates,” and from what we can gather, the checkra1n team is comprised of the following members, many of which might be familiar to veteran jailbreakers:

Sileo v1.5.2 now available with iOS 13-centric improvements

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 7, 2019

Despite the recent and controversial announcement that Sileo’s development had been ‘suspended until further notice,’ project lead developer CoolStar appears to have since overturned that declaration. Thursday evening, CoolStar announced a second update to the alternative package manager since that announcement, formally bringing it up to version 1.5.2.

Surprisingly, the official @GetSileo Twitter page didn’t make mention of the latest Sileo update, but it’s worth noting that CoolStar posted a memo about it not too long ago in his official Discord channel:

Give notification badges a custom aesthetic with BadgeMe

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 6, 2019

The infamous notification badge has looked almost the same on the iOS platform for more than a decade. The single most significant transformation befell with the release of iOS 7 when Apple nixed skeuomorphism from the bulk of iOS’ user interface, but even then, it didn’t change much.

The circumstances are absolutely astounding, but they aren’t hopeless. Those lucky enough to have a pwned handset in their possession can change how their notification badges look right this very second with the help of a newly released jailbreak tweak called BadgeMe by iOS developer Sirius24.

ScreenSafe protects your iPhone’s display from burn-in with screensavers

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 3, 2019

Handsets equipped with OLED displays are particularly adept at displaying high-contrast colors due to the true blacks they exhibit, especially when compared to handsets sporting traditional LCD displays. On the other hand, OLED displays are also notorious for screen burn-in issues, and that’s where screensavers come in.

Modern iPhones such as the iPhone X, XS, and 11 Pro (including their larger counterparts) come standard with OLED displays, and while Apple has already done plenty to mitigate screen burn-in with these devices, they haven’t yet adopted screensavers on the iOS platform. With that in mind, a new jailbreak tweak release called ScreenSafe by iOS developer Kushy comes off as particularly interesting.

Add haptic feedback to the Instagram app with HaptiGram

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 3, 2019

If you’re a jailbreaker that uses the Instagram app and also happens to enjoy subtle vibrations when performing actions (better known as haptic feedback), then we think you’ll take a particular liking to a newly released jailbreak tweak called HaptiGram by iOS developer iCraze.

As you may have inferred already from the context clues above, HaptiGram integrates haptic feedback into various actions performed in the official Instagram application for iOS. According to the developer, haptic feedback can be felt when doing any of the following things:

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: IconTweak, PureFocus, SafariElectro, and more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 2, 2019

Having a jailbroken iPhone or iPad means that you can modify that device outside of Apple’s stock parameters, but it’s not always easy to know where you should start.

This convenient week-end roundup will encompass all the latest jailbreak tweaks released from Monday, October 28th to Sunday, November 3rd. As always, we’ll kick things off by discussing our favorites and then wrap things up with an outline of the rest afterward.

CoolStar says Chimera and Electra jailbreaks will soon ditch Substitute for libsubstrate

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 2, 2019

The Electra Team’s Chimera and Electra jailbreak tools have long utilized Substitute for native tweak injection, but it now seems that this could be on the verge of changing.

Electra Team lead developer CoolStar took to his jailbreak-oriented Discord channel on Thursday to share that his team would no longer maintain Substitute due to its incompatibility with certain jailbreak tweaks and hooking limitations:

This tweak forces the Twitter app to show the ‘Latest’ Tweets at all times

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 1, 2019

Twitter users who use the social network via the official app will notice that it seems to favor “Top” Tweets over “Latest” Tweets in your News Feed. In some cases, it even switches you from Latest to Top without your consent. It’s easy to switch back, but it can be annoying to deal with nonetheless.

I’ve always disliked this about the Twitter mobile app, and for that reason in particular, I’m excited to show you a newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed AlwaysLatestTimelineTwitter by iOS developer aesthyrica.

Take Home screen customization to the next level with IconTweak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 1, 2019

The Home screen is something you interface with every single day. That said, wouldn’t it be nice if Apple allowed you to do more with it than simply change the wallpaper image and move the app icons around?

If you’re onboard with the aforementioned idea, then you’ll probably take a liking to a new jailbreak tweak called IconTweak by iOS developer ichitaso. With it, you can customize your Home screen’s app icons in new and exciting ways.

Sileo v1.5.1 brings bug fixes and anonymous analytic data collection

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 1, 2019

It was just last week that Sileo Team lead developer CoolStar announced a controversial development hiatus for the Sileo package manager on the Chimera and Electra jailbreaks. But in an unforeseen turn of events, another update was released late last night.

As shared by the official @GetSileo Twitter page, Sileo v1.5.1 is now available for users and brings new bug fixes and improvements to the app’s user experience: