iOS 12

AOD brings an Android-style always-on-display to jailbroken iPhones

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 4, 2022

One of the cool things that several Android handsets have that the iPhone doesn’t is an always-on-display, which, for those who don’t know, continuously displays information on the Lock screen of OLED display-equipped handsets without ever shutting off, such as the time and any missed notifications. Fortunately for jailbreakers, this is no longer an Android-only feature.

With the help of a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed AOD by iOS developer Soh Satoh, you can enjoy a true always-on-display experience on jailbroken devices running iOS 12, and while it works best on handsets equipped with OLED displays, it should work with LCD displays too.

CoolStar teases Chimera compatibility for A12(X) devices running iOS 12.1.3-12.4

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 27, 2019

If you’re on iOS 12, then there are two primary jailbreaks you can choose from: Chimera by the Electra Team or unc0ver by Pwn20wnd. Both jailbreaks are neck-and-neck with device and software compatibility, but since iOS 12.4 first became jailbroken, both parties have been hard at work to implement support for A12(X) devices.

The unc0ver jailbreak only “partially” supports A12(X) devices at the time of this writing, and full support is coming sometime in the near future, including those running iOS 12.4. Chimera, on the other hand, has lacked A12(X) support on iOS 12.1.3-12.3 (beta) and 12.4 since v1.3.0 first launched, and still lacks it to this day.

Pwn20wnd launches dedicated website for the unc0ver jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 27, 2020

If you’ve ever used Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak tool to liberate a device running iOS 11 or iOS 12, then you’re probably familiar with the process of visiting the hacker’s GitHub page to find and download the latest iteration of the tool. But that’s all changing as of today, and in a very good way.

In a rather exciting turn of events, Pwn20wnd launched a brand-new website on Tuesday dubbed unc0ver.dev to host the unc0ver jailbreak tool. Pwn20wnd announced the launch of the website via Twitter just this afternoon, noting that the current and all future releases will be published there:

The best jailbreak tweaks for iOS 12

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 26, 2019

With the public release of iOS 13 right around the corner, the iOS 12 jailbreak is set to climax very soon as security researchers shift their efforts toward the newer firmware. With that in mind, we thought we’d take this wonderful opportunity to reflect on the past year with a roundup of some of the best jailbreak tweaks ever released for pwned iOS 12 devices.

If you’re jailbroken on iOS 12 with Chimera by the Electra Team or unc0ver by Pwn20wnd, then this roundup is for you. For ease of reading, we’ll sort the following jailbreak tweaks by alphabetical order.

SwitchShades gives the iOS App Switcher a fresh coat of paint

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 4, 2023

The iOS App Switcher is somewhat bland out of the box, but it doesn’t have to be. A newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed SwitchShades by iOS developer AnthoPak promises to add a splash of color to the App Switcher background based on the application preview card that appears front-and-center at any given time.

As you can see in the screenshot examples above, the background color changes to match the dominant color of the app icon above the application preview cards themselves. This can be changed to colorize based on the application snapshot itself if you wanted to, or you could configure a custom color to display at all times.

FlixRatings for Netflix augments the Netflix app’s rating system

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated January 13, 2024

If you’re a cable-cutter or you simply enjoy having access to a massive library of movies and TV shows, then you probably have a subscription to Netflix. The Netflix app for iOS is particularly intuitive, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t do with some improvements.

Enter FlixRatings for Netflix, a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Joshua Seltzer that augments Netflix’s in-app rating system and integrates a legacy forward skip feature for those who miss how it used to work in a previous version of the app.

Sileo v1.3.5 released with fix for endless repository refresh bug

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 25, 2019

The Sileo Team launched an updated version of the Sileo package manager for the iOS 11-centric Electra jailbreak and the iOS 12-centric Chimera jailbreak Sunday evening, officially bringing the proprietary package manager up to version 1.3.5.

The Sileo Team announced the update via Twitter just within the past hour, noting that it would resolve an issue with repositories refreshing endlessly:

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: PhoneCaller, SafePowerOff, and more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 25, 2019

It’s that time of the week again, and now that you can jailbreak iOS 12.4, we’ll be composing a roundup of all the latest jailbreak apps and tweaks for the convenience of those with jailbroken handsets who might be looking for new and exciting ways to trick them out.

In this roundup, we’ll be looking at all the jailbreak tweaks released from Monday, August 19th to Sunday, August 25th. As usual, we’ll kick things off by discussing our favorite releases first, and then wrap things up with an outline of the rest afterward.

Unc0ver v3.5.6 adds support for remounting and rootFS restore for A12(X) devices on iOS 12.1.3-12.4

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 24, 2019

Pwn20wnd updated the unc0ver jailbreak Saturday afternoon, officially bringing it up to version 3.5.6 with increased support for A12(X) devices running iOS 12.1.3-12.4.

As you might recall, Pwn20wnd released unc0ver v3.5.5 earlier this week with SSH support on the aforementioned device and firmware combinations, but citing a Tweet shared just this afternoon, the latest unc0ver update adds support for remounting and restoring the RootFS on those same devices:

Chimera v1.3.6 released with Sock Puppet reliability enhancements, crash fix

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 23, 2019

An updated version of the iOS 12-centric Chimera jailbreak tool was released by the Electra Team on Friday, officially bringing it up to version 1.3.6.

The Electra Team announced the latest update early this morning via Twitter, noting that it would improve the reliability of the Sock Puppet exploit and resolve a rare crash that could occur shortly after jailbreaking a device:

SafePowerOff makes it tougher to accidentally power off your jailbroken device

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 23, 2019

If you use a modern semi-tethered jailbreak such as Chimera or unc0ver, then you probably already know the importance of keeping your device up and running for as long as possible. If your device reboots for any reason, then you’ll need to re-run the respective jailbreak app to access to your jailbreak tweaks and extensions.

Powering down your handset is easy, and as some would argue, perhaps too easy. With that in mind, iOS developer Paparajote Team has just released a new and free jailbreak tweak called SafePowerOff that can help you avert accidents and friendly pranks by your buddies.

Unc0ver v3.5.5 released with SSH support on A12(X) devices running iOS 12.1.3-12.4, bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 22, 2019

Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak has received lots of updates recently, mostly pertaining to bug fixes and stability improvements centric to the newfangled iOS 12.4 support that came by way of an updated Sock Puppet exploit under a week ago. But as you might’ve noticed, this didn’t initially include support for Apple’s latest handsets, such as the A12(X) variety.

Pwn20wnd changed that Thursday afternoon, at least partially, with the launch of unc0ver versions 3.5.4 and 3.5.5. Both updates were announced via Twitter: