iOS

NCGrabberInfo: An actually useful Notification Center grabber for jailbroken devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 22, 2019

A lot of times when playing full-screen games on my iPhone, I wonder what time it is or how much battery life I have left. It’s inconvenient to pause my game to peek at Control Center or swipe out of the app to glance at the Status Bar, and so I was particularly excited when I saw a new free jailbreak tweak called NCGrabberInfo by iOS developer Antique.

With this tweak, you can grab a peek at both the time and your handset’s remaining battery life even when you’re enjoying a full-screen game; and the best part is, you don’t need to stop playing or leave the app to do it.

MessageColors lets you add color gradients to the Messages app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 22, 2019

If you have an iPhone, then chances are you spend a lot of time in the Messages app text messaging other people. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be great if you could colorize the Messages app to match your individual personality?

If you like what you’re hearing so far, then you’ll probably enjoy a new free jailbreak tweak called MessageColors by iOS developer RestiveConch. This tweak lets you apply custom color gradients to your Messages app, making it possible to achieve the result you see in the screenshot example above.

This tweak lets you add a splash of color to your iPhone’s passcode entry interface

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 22, 2019

One of the most exciting parts of owning a jailbroken iPhone or iPad is having the freedom to customize the handset’s look and feel outside the realm of Apple’s stock parameters and disturb the monotony exhibited by most iOS devices. If you agree, then you might take a liking to a new free jailbreak tweak called NudePassScreen by iOS developer Kiran Patil.

As you might have discerned from the screenshot examples above, NudePassScreen empowers the user to colorize their handset’s passcode entry interface with virtually any color scheme they want, helping them to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

No2Theft2 protects your iPhone from thieves and pranksters

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 25, 2020

Whether you’re always paranoid about someone stealing your iPhone when you set it down on a table somewhere in public or you’ve just got lousy friends that like to play pranks on you, a jailbreak tweak called No2Theft2 by iOS developer Elias Sfeir promises to let you know whenever someone tries to be nefarious with your handset.

After you’ve installed and configured No2Theft2, you can rest assured that if someone’s doing something fishy with your iPhone behind your back, you’ll know about it. The tweak uses several methods to notify you whenever someone picks up your handset and enters the passcode incorrectly.

SpotCC launches Control Center instead of Spotlight when swiping down on the Home screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 22, 2019

Swiping down while on the Home screen of your iPhone usually presents you with the Spotlight search interface, but if you don’t use the Spotlight search feature that often, then you might take a liking to a new free jailbreak tweak called SpotCC by iOS developer Kiran Patil.

There isn’t much to say here concerning what the tweak does, but just as the name implies, SpotCC makes it so that swiping down on the Home screen summons Control Center rather than Spotlight search.

TinyBanners provides less intrusive notification banners for iOS 12

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 21, 2019

Apple originally introduced the humble notification banner to replace the intrusive notification alert pop-up in iOS, but Apple has since made those notification banners much taller, making them more intrusive than they were initially designed to be.

Here to solve that problem is a new jailbreak tweak called TinyBanners by iOS developer donbytyqi, which just as the name implies, makes iOS’ notification banners smaller such that they aren’t as intrusive.

Quickly search or translate any selected text with Selector

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 21, 2019

Selector is a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Nepeta that makes it easier to interact with strings of selectable text from almost anywhere on your iPhone or iPad.

Upon installing Selector on your device, you can select a word or a string of words and you should notice two new options in the ensuing action menu: Translate and Search.

FreshWall gives you a new wallpaper to look at every time you unlock your device

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 21, 2019

At iDB, we understand the importance of finding the right wallpaper for your handset, and that’s one of the reasons why we host a weekly wallpaper roundup. But if you have a jailbroken handset and feel the need for more frequent wallpaper changes, then you might take a liking to a new tweak release called FreshWall by iOS developer SparkDev.

As you might have inferred already from the context above, FreshWall keeps things ‘fresh’ by updating your wallpaper whenever you unlock your handset. The tweak makes use of numerous wallpaper sources to grab images, which ensures you get something fresh to look at each and every time.

BigCards fills the App Switcher’s empty space with larger application cards

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 21, 2019

Most would agree that the iPhone’s App Switcher interface leaves a lot of unused space for the taking, and while some have proposed making better use of that space with grid-centric switchers or App Switcher/Control Center hybrids, iOS developer CydiaGeek had a different idea: fill that space with bigger App Switcher cards.

Enter BigCards, a new free jailbreak tweak that increases the size of the App Switcher’s application cards such that they make better use of the excess empty space normally found in the app-switching interface.

Second-generation AirPods hint imminent release of macOS Mojave 10.14.4, iOS 12.2, & watchOS 5.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated March 26, 2019

In case you missed it, Apple released its highly-anticipated second-generation AirPods on Wednesday with some notable under-the-hood improvements including the brand-new H1 chip and a Qi wireless charging-compatible case.

But as you might come to expect from Apple, the release of new hardware often requires newer software with support built-in, and the Cupertino-based company’s second-generation AirPods are no exception to this general rule of thumb.

SmartRotate: a video-friendly Rotation Lock for your iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 20, 2019

While iOS’ built-in Rotation Lock feature can be an asset at times, there are also instances where it tends to be a real pain in the fanny. Case in point: when you begin watching a video and your handset won’t rotate into landscape mode until you manually turn Rotation Lock off.

iOS developer LaughingQuoll understood the problem with this implementation by Apple and set out to come up with a better solution. The result? – A new jailbreak tweak called SmartRotate has now been released.

Meteoroid automatically sets your wallpaper from various NASA image sources

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 20, 2019

One of the most personal aspects of any iPhone or iPad is the wallpaper we choose to decorate our Lock screen and/or Home screen, but sometimes choosing the ideal image for the job can be a grueling challenge.

A new free jailbreak tweak called Meteoroid by iOS developer Jeff Rescignano attempts to make this much easier for the end user by automatically selecting and applying high-quality wallpapers for you.