iOS

Increase the performance of 3D Touch menus with Smooth3D

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 27, 2017

3D Touch is a fast and convenient way to access app shortcuts from the Home screen. On the other hand, because jailbreakers with older devices wanted in on the action, numerous 3D Touch simulation tweaks quickly made it to Cydia to allow non-supported devices to access these shortcuts.

Unfortunately, as slower devices gained support for simulated 3D Touch menus, some users found that the blur effect of the background and menus impacted device performance, and that’s why iOS developer Demy Kromhof released a new free jailbreak tweak called Smooth3D.

This tweak keeps your music playing while you record video

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 27, 2017

If you’ve ever tried listening to music and recording video from the Camera app at the same time, then you’ve probably noticed the app is designed to automatically silence your music the moment you tap on the record button.

A new free jailbreak tweak called Dndmymusic by iOS developer Demy Kromhof circumvents this restriction by allowing you to continue listening to music as you record footage from the Camera app.

DismissAnywhere lets you tap anywhere outside of an alert to dismiss it

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 26, 2017

Different kinds of alert messages pop up in the middle of your screen throughout iOS. They can appear for a variety of reasons, including after an attempt to buy an in-app purchase or while you try to delete apps from your Home screen.

These alert pop-ups normally have both an actionable button and a cancel button, but a new free jailbreak tweak called DismissAnywhere by Demy Kromhof puts a new spin on things by eliminating the cancel button and letting you tap anywhere outside of the alert to dismiss it.

LastTimeUnlocked displays when your iPhone or iPad was last unlocked

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 26, 2017

Do you really know when the last time your iPhone was unlocked? You might assume no one else knows your passcode, but it would be very easy for a family member or friend to unlock your device if they knew what it was and you left it unattended long enough.

A new free jailbreak tweak called LastTimeUnlocked by iOS developer ijapija00 works to your advantage in these scenarios by showing you exactly when your device was last unlocked.

The best Augmented Reality apps for iPhone

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

More often than not, the term Augmented Reality still has that elusive, techy ring to it, particularly when brought up in conjunction with Apple’s purported eyewear project. Curiously, many of us have it down as tomorrow’s technology rather than today’s, when the truth is that AR apps have populated the App Store for years.

While some of these apps are admittedly not much more than shoddy tech demos, separating the wheat from the chaff actually produces some really cool apps conceived to boost your business, creativity or simply keep you entertained in novel ways. With the preamble out of the way, here are the best Augmented Reality apps for iPhone available today.

ExactTime shows exactly when your notifications were received

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 25, 2017

When there are missed notifications on your iPhone or iPad, a summary of what’s awaiting your attention is available in Notification Center. Each notification header displays an estimate of when it was received, but it’s not always as descriptive as you might want it to be.

A new free jailbreak tweak called ExactTime by gilshahar7 helps improve on this tiny frustration with iOS notifications by providing an exact time received in the notification header, rather than just an estimate.

Fourth betas of iOS 10.3.2, macOS Sierra 10.12.5, watchOS 3.2.2 & tvOS 10.2.1 now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 24, 2017

Apple on Monday issued fourth betas of what would become maintenance and bug-fix updates to its four major software platforms: iOS, macOS Sierra, watchOS and tvOS. Members of the Apple Developer Program can now deploy iOS 10.3.2 beta 4 (build 14F5086a), macOS Sierra 10.12.5 beta 4 (build 16F67a), watchOS 3.2.2 beta 4 (build 14V5485a) and tvOS 10.2.1 beta 4 (build 14W5583a) through the Software Update mechanism.

The best jailbreak tweaks for the Music app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 24, 2017

If you have a jailbroken iOS 10 device, then you likely used the Yalu jailbreak tool that debuted at the beginning the year. While the iOS 10 jailbreak has inspired the development of numerous jailbreak tweaks, some of them really stand out from the rest.

In this piece, we'll discuss the best jailbreak tweaks for complimenting the Music app that have been released following the iOS 10 jailbreak.

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: CCDataMore, WifiChannelBar, & more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 23, 2017

As we conclude yet another week here at iDB, it's only standard that we come at you with another roundup showcasing all of the jailbreak tweaks that were released throughout the week.

We'll start with our favorite releases we covered this week and then move on to everything else later on in the post.

Give Notification Center a makeover with betterNC10

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 22, 2017

If you're looking for a new look and feel for Notification Center, then check out a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed betterNC10 by CydiaGeek.

This tweak lets you change up the aesthetics of Notification Center as well as change the way certain functions behave. The bevy of options that are baked into betterNC10 can reduce the time you spend clearing notifications and remove unwanted clutter among other things.

How to use CoolBooter CLI to dual-boot your device

Joaquim Barbosa ∙ Updated April 15, 2019

You may have seen my report on the CoolBooter updates, in which I mentioned that both the app and the command line versions had seen changes. Whilst using the CoolBooter app is self-explanatory and will satisfy the needs of most, it does not currently support iOS 5 as the secondary OS, which may lead some to want to try out the command line utility instead. I will therefore be walking you through using CoolBooter CLI 0.3 to dual-boot your device.

Five neat tricks Spotlight search can do for you on iPhone

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Bearing in mind the numerous ways to invoke Spotlight search on your iPhone today, the feature has clearly become a centerpiece of iOS 10th iteration.

That is because for one, it's the fastest way to rifle through your device for any type of information, however it is also incrementally adopting Siri-level intelligence. You might know about using Spotlight for swift currency and measurement conversions by now, but the list does not end here. Largely undiscussed on the web, here are five more cool uses for Spotlight.