Now Playing

Spice up your jailbroken iPhone’s Now Playing widget with Arkita

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 29, 2021

Anyone who uses their iPhone for frequent media consumption will inevitably interact with the handset’s Now Playing widget under various circumstances. It can be useful for pausing the Now Playing track in a pinch or resuming playback when it has already been paused. Moreover, it makes skipping to the next or returning to the previous one without unlocking your device a breeze.

Despite just how useful the iPhone’s Now Playing widget can be, I still find myself desiring more when I see it. It could be that the widget is merely too plain for my taste; or perhaps that I feel that Apple could’ve done so much better than they did when designing it. If you agree, then a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed Arkita by iOS developer P2KDev may offer a hint of refuge.

Give your Now Playing widget a facelift with Playour

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 20, 2021

If you’re jailbroken and you’re interested in adding a splash of color or personality to your iPhone or iPad’s Now Playing widget, then we’ve got just the thing for you!

Playour is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer popsicletreehouse that lets users customize the background, color, and border properties of the Now Playing widget.

Switch between Active Noise Cancellation & Transparency modes more easily with QuickANC

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 20, 2021

If you have a pair of AirPods Pro or AirPods Max at your disposal, then chances are you’ve become somewhat fond of their Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes. The only problem? – Switching between those modes in a pinch, especially in rapid succession, tends to be a cumbersome two-step process.

Recognizing that this process could do with some refinements, iOS developer exodia9610 conceived a new and free jailbreak tweak known as QuickANC.

Spectral gives jailbreakers a sleeker Now Playing interface with an audio visualizer

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 15, 2021

Given that iOS devices continue to be some of the best music players on the market today, it’s not surprising that we continue to see more and more jailbreak tweaks for pwned handsets that try to out-do Apple at their own game, or at the very least, offer a level of personalization for the end user that otherwise wouldn’t be available on a stock handset.

For those wanting to expand on Apple’s award-winning music player experience, a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Spectral by iOS developer Beckett O’Brien just might be of interest.

ReachPlayer fills the Reachability interface’s void with Now Playing info

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

Apple knows that its largest handsets can be unwieldy for one-handed usage, and that’s the primary reason why all modern iPhones come equipped with an accessibility feature dubbed Reachability.

I take advantage of Reachability somewhat frequently on my massive 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, and while doing so, I often think to myself about just how much potential screen real estate is being wasted at the top of the display. After all, Apple could at least show device information of some sort in the unused Reachability space so that it isn’t occupied by a whole lot of nothing.

Jailbreakers can customize the Now Playing widget with aquarius

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 3, 2021

If you’re jailbroken and listen to lots of music, then chances are you interface with the Lock Screen’s Now Playing widget rather often and might take an interest in customizing it.

iOS developer Nico Carbone has just released a new and free jailbreak tweak called aquarius that permits jailbreakers to personalize the Now Playing widget with minimal effort.

Vinyl shrinks iOS’ oversized Now Playing widget and makes it more customizable

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 1, 2021

I’ve got nothing against the iPhone’s Now Playing widget; after all, it’s a convenient tool for controlling media playback from the Lock Screen without going through the process of unlocking your device and launching the Now Playing app every time you want to make a small adjustment.

Praise aside, I also agree with anyone who says that the Lock Screen’s Now Playing widget is larger than it needs to be, and that’s one reason why I’m excited about a new and free jailbreak tweak release dubbed Vinyl by iOS developer Lightmann.

TinyWidget14 puts the Lock Screen’s Now Playing widget on a diet

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 22, 2021

Most iPhone users are familiar with the Now Playing widget. It’s the thing that pops on your Lock Screen whenever you have any type of media playing in the background.

While it’s useful for granular playback controls, the Now Playing widget certainly takes up a lot of vertical screen real estate on the Lock Screen, which severely limits available space for missed notification banners. Fortunately, a new and free jailbreak tweak dubbed TinyWidget14 by iOS developer P2KDev puts the Now Playing widget on a diet.

MusicGesture upgrades the Now Playing interface with gestures & full-screen artwork

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 1, 2021

It’s no secret that in addition to being a venerable smartphone, the iPhone is still one of the world’s best portable music players. Still, that doesn’t give Apple a free pass for the somewhat stagnant music interface experience that we’ve all been using for the past several years.

Those in the market for an augmented Now Playing user experience might be interested in picking up a newly released jailbreak tweak called MusicGesture by iOS developer Antony_M. This tweak not only provides jailbreakers with a new way to interact with the Now Playing media controls, but it also allows for configuration of the Now Playing interface in ways that Apple would never permit on a stock handset.

Miss iOS 9’s Now Playing interface? This tweak resurrects it on jailbroken handsets

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

The iOS platform received a myriad of changes over the years, with many of those being functional changes and a smaller number being purely cosmetic. Perhaps one of the most iconic changes can be attributed to iOS’ Now Playing interface, which has evolved an awful lot since the days of iOS 9.

Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates all of the latest changes, and some even wish that the iOS 9 Now Playing interface would make an unlikely comeback. The good news, however, is that a new and free jailbreak tweak called NineMusic by iOS developer Minh-Ton can make this happen, at least on pwned handsets.

Make Spotify’s Now Playing interface more OLED-friendly with Blackout

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 9, 2020

The Spotify Music app is one of the best alternatives to Apple Music in terms of online music streaming for the iPhone or iPad, and while the application itself already sports a somewhat ‘dark’ aesthetic, there are certainly some areas where it could do with improvement for those who like using dark mode or who use an OLED display-equipped handset.

Blackout is a newly released and free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer atebitsy that brings improved dark mode and OLED display support to the Spotify Music app, and it does so by providing users with an always-blacked out Now Playing interface background, as depicted by the before and after screenshot examples above.

MediaBar14 adds music controls to the iPhone’s Home Bar

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

One of the things Apple does really well is provide a quality music streaming service that can be accessed from all of your favorite devices, whether they’re mobile handsets or desktop computers. On the other hand, Apple could always do better by improving the experience of the user interface, especially in terms of music control accessibility on the iOS & iPadOS platforms.

Jailbreakers know all too well about the many shortcomings of Apple’s stock user interface, and that’s one reason why there are so many jailbreak tweaks available to the aftermarket. MediaBar14, for example, is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer MegaDev that lends a hand to Apple’s user interface in this particular department.