iOS

Downgrades from iOS 13.5 halted as Apple stops signing iOS 13.4.1

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 27, 2020

Apple is no longer signing iOS or iPadOS 13.4.1 as of this evening, a move that prevents iPhone and iPad users from downgrading from the iOS and iPadOS 13.5 software updates that the Cupertino-based tech giant released to the general public just last week.

Downgrading iOS device firmware isn’t a common necessity, but it can be necessary if or when Apple releases a software update that introduces bugs or instability to its devices. This isn’t a particularly common thing to happen, but it did transpire last October when iOS 13.2 was found to be ‘too aggressive’ with backgrounding restrictions, compelling many users to downgrade until a software update could be released to fix the issue.

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Unc0ver v5.2.0 adds support for iOS 13.5.5 beta 1, incorporates bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 10, 2020

When Pwn20wnd released unc0ver v5.0.0 on Memorial Day weekend with support for iOS and iPadOS 13.5, it took the jailbreak community by storm. Not only was the firmware still signed at the time of release, but the exploit went unfixed for quite a long while after before Apple finally patched it in iOS and iPadOS 13.5.1. Just yesterday evening, Apple officially stopped signing iOS and iPadOS 13.5, a move intended to prevent jailbreak hopefuls from downgrading to a pwnable firmware.

But for those who accidentally (or intentionally) updated and now regret it, there's still hope, as unc0ver project lead developer Pwn20wnd updated the jailbreak tool to version 5.2.0 on Tuesday with novel support for iOS 13.5.5 beta 1, along with some other important improvements:

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SongShare generates multi-platform links for music sharing

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 27, 2020

Music enriches our lives, both in terms of entertainment and as an emotional and spiritual release. With that in mind, it may come as no surprise that people often share songs with others. But this can become somewhat challenging when you learn that your friends are using entirely different music streaming platforms than you are.

It may seem like a trifling matter, but it really can be rather annoying when I trying to share a Spotify song link with a friend who uses Apple Music or another platform. Obviously, they won’t be able to use my link since they’re subscribed to a different service, and that’s where a new and free jailbreak tweak dubbed SongShare by iOS developer Jeff Rescignano comes into play.

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The best jailbreak tweaks for iOS 13

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 26, 2020

Now that both checkra1n and unc0ver support iOS/iPadOS 13.5, the latest available firmware from Apple at the time of this writing, it seems more compelling than ever for jailbreak hopefuls to join the pwned life.

If you pulled the trigger and now have a jailbroken handset at your disposal, then there’s only one thing left to do: modify it in ways that will have members of Apple’s controlling software department pulling out their hair by the roots. Not sure what to install just yet? No problem! We’ll show you what we think are some of the best jailbreak tweaks for iOS 13 in this piece.

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Photon brings an ambient display to jailbroken devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 5, 2022
Photon brings an ambient always-on display to iPhone.

If you’ve got a jailbroken iOS device at your disposal and you’re in the market for a really cool new display experience for your iPhone, then you should probably take a few minutes to check out this new jailbreak tweak release called Photon by iOS developer cemck.

Photon appears to be a true ambient display experience for the Lock screen on iOS devices, and it displays pertinent information using a variety of different methods and in combination with existing popular Lock screen-centric tweaks such as Complications, Grupi, Jellyfish, Sylph, Xen HTML, and many others.

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This tweak displays a notification when your AirPods case gets low on battery

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 26, 2020
AirPods

Your AirPods are a piece of peripheral hardware with no useful battery indicator on them apart from a few limited features that are built into iOS. For example, you can open your AirPods case to view the battery percentage in the pairing interface, or you can look at the Today widget to see the remaining battery life for any paired AirPods.

These limitations mean that it’s easy to wear your AirPods’ battery down to near-zero, and this includes the charging case you use to keep them kicking all day long. At some point, they’ll just run out of battery, but with a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called AirPods Case Low Battery by iOS developer Jackson Sykes, you can at least receive a low battery notification banner when the charging case’s charge gets too low for comfort.

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SwitchConfirm prevents links from automatically redirecting you to other apps

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 25, 2020

There’s nothing I hate more than when I’m trying to enjoy a good article or conversation thread on a web page in Safari, and then I suddenly get smacked in the face with a redirect to another app. Whether it’s the App Store, my Reddit app, or something else, getting forcibly ejected into another app doesn’t feel nice, and it’s downright annoying!

That’s why I’m excited about a new and free jailbreak tweak release called SwitchConfirm by iOS developer P2kDev, as prevents these automatic application redirects from hijacking your user experience by displaying a popup that asks you to confirm if you want to be redirected or not. Snazzy indeed!

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10 reasons to jailbreak in 2020

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated July 18, 2020

It’s been a great weekend for the jailbreak community, especially now that two of the most popular jailbreak tools – checkra1n and unc0ver – picked up support for Apple’s latest and greatest iOS/iPadOS 13.5 firmware. But one question we’ve been getting asked often from both new and veteran jailbreakers alike goes something like this: “Why should I jailbreak in 2020?”

In all fairness, it’s a valid question. My own mind goes crazy with endless answers because I’ve been at this for so long, but if you’re new to the community or used to jailbreak in the past and went on hiatus after things seemed to go stale a few years back, then I would totally understand why you might be asking this question right now. In this post, I’ll discuss at least 10 reasons why I think jailbreaking is still relevant even in 2020.

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Playing produces a notification when a Now Playing track changes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 25, 2020

If you're any bit into music discovery and sometimes find yourself scratching your head about new songs when they begin playing, then we have a somewhat conscious feeling that you’re going to enjoy learning about the likes of a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called Playing by iOS developer HyperDev.

Playing aims to keep you in the loop about Now Playing music as one song ends and another begins by displaying a notification banner with informative details about the new track. By default, the tweak shows you the song’s name and artist, but that can be modified with custom text if it isn’t enough to tickle your fancy.

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Dynamically modify your iPhone’s Home Screen layout with HomePlus Pro

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated September 21, 2021

One of the hallmark things you can do with a jailbroken iPhone is customize the Home Screen’s app icon layout. Not only does it help break the monotony that you deal with when everyone around you uses an iPhone, but it also lets you enjoy custom formats for themes, widgets, and other extensions not mentioned here.

While there have been a lot of Home Screen layout-based jailbreak tweaks in the past, a new release dubbed HomePlus Pro by iOS developer Kritanta seems to provide one of the sleekest user interfaces we’ve seen. Best of all, it’s entirely dynamic, which means you can make edits on the fly directly from the Home Screen without spending much time in the Settings app.

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