Music

Top jailbreak videos of the week

The big news last week was of course the new iPad and Apple TV launches. For that reason, we supplemented our normal deluge of jailbreak videos with some iPad and Apple TV unboxings, comparisons, and the like. But that's not to say that there weren't some striking jailbreak videos created last week, because there were.

Please be sure to share our iPhone, iPad, and iOS video guides by spreading our posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Hud: Visualize when your music skips to the next track

Want a quick and easy way to visualize when the music you're listening to skips to the next track? If so, then Hud may be up to the task.

Unlike a tweak such as MusicBanners, Hud places the album art and track name smack square in the middle of your iPhone's screen.

Check out our video demonstration of Hud inside...

‘Plugication’ makes its way to Cydia

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSuhjmIbmVA[/tube]

Plugication — the jailbreak tweak that automatically resumes music upon connecting your headphones to your device — has been officially released to the public.

Our preview covered Plugication's main feature, but a version is also in the works that will allow users to disable the "pause on disconnect" feature that happens when you remove headphones.

Plugication can be downloaded for free from Cydia's ModMyi repo. Be sure to share your thoughts after giving it a try.

‘Plugication’ will automatically restart music when headphones are connected

Tweaks like these are the reason why I love jailbreaking so much. Jailbreaking allows you to add obvious features to the iPhone that Apple may have looked over, or purposely omitted.

Plugication is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. It's a jailbreak tweak that forces your music to resume when you plug your headphones back into your device.

Check out our full video demonstration of Plugication inside...

Apple working on “adaptive streaming” for audio

Apple is currently working on a new file format for its iCloud service, according to reports.

Writing for The Guardian, Charles Arthur cites sources with "inside knowledge" and claims that Apple is set to bring a new format to the music world which will allow for adaptive streaming of music from iCloud, with the quality being altered depending on the playback method.

Apple's iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match both rely on music being stored on servers owned by the technology company. Being able to alter the music quality as it is being distributed could potentially save in bandwidth costs for the end user...

‘MusicGestures’ adds customized gestures to the stock Music app

MusicGestures is a jailbreak tweak that lends the ability to control the stock Music app with gestures instead of button presses. There are a total of 6 actions (7 if you count disabled as an action) that you can assign to any number of gestures.

The gestures can be used to skip, play, pause, and gather info on both the album cover view, and the individual track view.

It's not the deepest tweak in the shed, but the simplicity of MusicGestures makes it worth a look...

‘AssistantLove’ integrates Spotify with Siri, GPS, and more

If you know me, you know I've been waiting on a way to integrate Spotify with Siri's voice search for a long time.

I'm happy to say that it's finally here. AssistantLove can launch your favorite songs on Spotify via Siri, theoretically giving you a seemingly infinite library of songs right at the command of your voice.

Not only that, but AssistantLove features GPS app integration with TomTom, Navigon, and other popular GPS apps, and that's not all...

‘Anti-Theft’ sounds an alarm when your iPhone is stolen

Afraid a thief might try to snag your iPhone while out an about? Well, don't look for Anti-Theft to help you. By the time you hear the alarm sounded by this jailbreak tweak, any such thief will be long gone.

Anti-Theft can, however, assist you in a small classroom or work environment. Maybe. Okay who are we kidding? If you're relying on a tweak like this to keep your iPhone secure, it's probably already gone by now.

‘iTunes in the Cloud’ goes live in Japan, iTunes Match to follow

It's been more than a month since Apple's last iTunes Match roll out, but it looks like the company is getting ready to launch the popular music-mirroring service in Japan.

Macotakara is reporting that Apple has flipped the switch on its 'iTunes in the Cloud' component for Japanese users, allowing them to view and re-download previously purchased music...

How to sync multiple iTunes libraries with your iPhone

Whenever I hear of a jailbreak app that somehow alters the iTunes syncing experience, a red flag goes up. I guess it was one bad experience I had when I was new to jailbreaking a few years ago that keeps me on guard whenever anything wants to touch my music.

Needless to say, I downloaded MultiTunes and decided to give it a try anyway. What I found was an awesome tweak that works just as advertised. With MultiTunes, you can sync multiple iTunes libraries on your iPhone with ease...

SiriLoveLyrics: Ask Siri for lyrics to your favorite songs

Out of the box, Siri isn't much a music fan. But throw a few jailbreak tweaks here way, and she starts to love music. In fact, this latest tweak apparently makes her love lyrics.

Indeed, SiriLovesLyrics is a jailbreak tweaks for Siri that involves music. It allows you to query Siri for the lyrics of the currently playing song in your Music app, and outputs them in a clean interface so that you can sing along to your favorite songs.

Record Labels Being Paid for Individual Songs Played on iTunes Match

iTunes Match, Apple's cloud music locker, launched late last year with every major record label signed on. iTunes Match costs $25 a year per customer, and allows users to keep every one of their iDevices synced up with music they've purchased.

Today, TuneCore's Jeff Price published a post praising Apple for their payouts to record labels for songs played on iTunes Match. Price detailed the $10,000 he was awarded by Apple, in only two months...