iOS 14

Apple no longer signing iOS 14.3 following release of iOS 14.4

Apple just last week released iOS & iPadOS 14.4 to the general public with new features, bug fixes, and niche improvements, and as you might come to expect from the Cupertino-based tech company after having released a software update, the previous iOS & iPadOS 14.3 firmware is no longer being signed.

Apple closed the iOS & iPadOS 14.3 signing window just this evening, a move on the company’s behalf that prevents iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users from being able to downgrade their handset’s firmware from the newer iOS & iPadOS 14.4 release. This should come as no surprise to anyone, as Apple generally follows this rhythm of signing and un-signing after each software update it launches, no matter how large or how small.

ReProvision developer reaffirms tool’s end of life, recommends AltStore instead

Many jailbreakers were taken by surprise this past week when apps installed by AltStore post-January 28th suddenly began crashing upon launch. AltStore’s development team quickly recognized the issue responsible the crashes, citing server-side issues on Apple’s end, and then released an update in the form of version 1.4.3 this afternoon to resolve it.

While AltStore certainly is popular among jailbreakers for its ease of side-loading jailbreak apps like Chimera, Odyssey, and unc0ver and keeping them signed via AltDaemon, another popular option for achieving the same means was ReProvision, which was also unfortunately impacted by Apple’s server-side changes. Worthy of note, however, it seems that ReProvision won’t be receiving any updates to fix the app crashes as AltStore did.

MusicGesture upgrades the Now Playing interface with gestures & full-screen artwork

It’s no secret that in addition to being a venerable smartphone, the iPhone is still one of the world’s best portable music players. Still, that doesn’t give Apple a free pass for the somewhat stagnant music interface experience that we’ve all been using for the past several years.

Those in the market for an augmented Now Playing user experience might be interested in picking up a newly released jailbreak tweak called MusicGesture by iOS developer Antony_M. This tweak not only provides jailbreakers with a new way to interact with the Now Playing media controls, but it also allows for configuration of the Now Playing interface in ways that Apple would never permit on a stock handset.

DNDToast displays a ringer/silent-inspired pop-up when Do Not Disturb is toggled

Whenever you switch the iPhone’s ringer/silent switch between the ringer and silent positions, iOS automatically shows a small pop-up at the top of the display to let you know the status of the switch.

We really like this subtle feature, and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve often wondered why Apple doesn’t do the same for Do Not Disturb mode. After all, if you’re unaware when Do Not Disturb gets turned on, you could miss important notifications. With that in mind, you’d think Apple would want users to be more aware of when it gets switched on or off – automatically or not.

Animate or add conditional effects to notification banners with Yokumiru

Although the iPhone’s native notification system is faily stout in its present form, that’s not to say that it couldn’t benefit from a tiny bit of imagination. Perhaps that’s one reason why we see so many different jailbreak tweaks that change the aesthetics of iOS’ notification banners.

One of the latest of such releases is a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Yokumiru by iOS developer Plat_Ykor, which can augment incoming notification banners with slick animations, apply specialized badges to those that contain a user-designated keyword, or conceal the contents of those notification entirely until you’re ready to view them.

How to install Odysseyra1n on a checkra1n device

By default, the checkra1n jailbreak installs Cydia as the defacto package manager, and Cydia Substrate or Substitute can be used for tweak injection. But if you’re accustomed to the Chimera or Odyssey jailbreaks, then you might prefer to use Sileo for package management and libhooker for tweak injection instead, yet checkra1n’s jailbreak method offers many benefits over relying on certificates or signed apps.

If you’re wondering whether it’s possible to install Sileo and libhooker on your checkra1n device, then the astounding answer would be yes! A script called Odysseyra1n installs the entire bootstrap on your checkra1n device, allowing you to have an Odyssey-like experience on your checkra1n jailbreak.

CoolStar updates libhooker Configurator to v1.1.0 with crash fixes, other improvements

Libhooker configurator banner.

In case you missed it, CoolStar released a brand-new libhooker Configurator app last week so that users of the Odyssey and Odysseyra1n jailbreaks could have more granular control over their libhooker tweak injector.

In addition to letting users toggle libhooker on or off on the fly, libhooker Configurator also permitted individualized tweak toggling, disabling tweak injection for Web Pages, and individually configuring tweak injection for apps, SpringBoard, and even Daemon processes.