JB

Duo of tweaks enables round profile pictures in Facebook & Twitter apps

As iOS moves forward in design, square profile pictures across the platform are becoming somewhat dated in terms of aesthetics.

A new free jailbreak tweak duo called Round Profile Pic (for Facebook) and (for Twitter) are available in Cydia that let you bring the round profile picture effect to Facebook and Twitter, an aesthetic that already exists throughout all modern iOS versions in various native apps.

You could soon be able to unlock your Mac using Touch ID on your iPhone

Apple engineers are designing a remote unlock function that would allow an iPhone to unlock a Mac when in close proximity, reports MacRumors. The feature would use the handset's Touch ID hardware, and is slated for the upcoming OS X 10.12 update.

The site notes that this will use Bluetooth LE frameworks, and will likely work similar to the solution found in the Apple Watch. Passcodes on the Apple Watch can be bypassed by entering your iPhone passcode or using Touch ID on the connected iPhone.

Apple supplier says iPhone with glass casing coming in 2017

Apple is moving forward with plans to change its iPhone casing from metal to glass next year, says Catcher Technology CEO Allen Horng. Catcher is a Taiwanese metal casing maker and a key player in Apple's current iPhone supply chain.

Following the company's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, Horng told reporters that Apple hopes the move will help differentiate its handsets. He also dispelled rumors that the change will cause Catcher to lose their iPhone business.

ThemeStore tweak lets you customize various aspects of the App Store

ThemeStore is a new customization platform intended specifically for the App Store app on your jailbroken iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. With it, you'll not only be able to customize the look of the App Store, but you'll also find some functional goodies packed inside of it.

We'll walk you through some of the features of ThemeStore in this review so you can decide if it's the tweak for you.

Siri for Mac icon leaks ahead of WWDC

9to5Mac claimed back in January that Siri would be finally coming to the Mac via the forthcoming OS X 10.12 software update this fall. Today, MacRumors published a genuine looking image that purportedly shows a colorful Siri icon sitting in OS X's Dock, adding fuel to the Siri for Mac rumors.

Another screenshot appears to show a Siri icon sitting in the Mac's menu bar at the top. The publication says that these screenshots were sent to them by a source “who has provided us with reliable information about Apple's software plans in the past”.

Kairos lets you schedule text messages to be sent later [jailbreak]

Text message scheduling is a useful feature that I'm surprised Apple hasn't already built into iOS' Messages app as a stock feature. After all, sometimes you want to wish someone a Happy Birthday or wish them a great holiday and you may remember before the fact, but you forget when the time actually comes.

Kairos is a new jailbreak tweak that streamlines scheduling out text messages in iOS, and we'll show you how it works in this review.

Will iPhone 7 camera support laser auto-focus?

Recently leaked images of a purported iPhone 7 backplate have since puzzled technology watchers, who scratch their heads over an additional hole that sits between the rear iSight camera and the LED flash. iPhones already have one hole on the back for a microphone that improves Siri reception and suppresses background noise during phone calls.

DigiTimes: Intel to supply at least half of iPhone 7’s faster LTE cellular modems

Rumors continue to swirl that Intel had been commissioned to build LTE modem chips for Apple's upcoming smartphone refresh, a marquee win for the semiconductor giant.

Tuesday, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported that Intel may supply up to fifty percent of LTE modems for the forthcoming iPhone 7 models.

Although Intel itself will package the modems, the chips will be mass-produced by contract manufacturers TSMC and KYEC, as per DigiTimes, indicating that the iPhone 7's 'A10' system-on-a-chip may integrate an Intel-built LTE modem. These Intel-designed LTE modems for the iPhone 7 are said to be faster than those in the iPhone 6s.

Suppliers ramping up hiring ahead of iPhone 7, which has ‘more complex’ design

Apple's Taiwanese suppliers have kicked off the recruiting process in preparation for an 'iPhone 7', CNBC reported Tuesday citing Economic Daily News. The mass-hirings have started earlier than usual because the iPhone 7 design is said to be “more complex than previous models,” which meant that Apple's suppliers needed to start work on iPhone 7 parts earlier than on previous iterations.

Both Foxconn and Pegatron had ramped up hiring as they prepared to assemble the upcoming iPhone 7 models, ahead of their expected September release.

Installing themes on your iPhone without a jailbreak

Theming your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad has been a long time primary reason of jailbreaking. Unfortunately, as the wait for a new jailbreak becomes ever so longer in between iOS releases, the jailbreak scene is becoming less reliable for getting the features you want on the latest version of iOS.

For those who are tired of waiting, iSkin is a new platform that can be used directly from your Safari web browser to install themes on your iOS device without a jailbreak, and we'll show you how it's used in this tutorial.