Now Playing

Lobelias upgrades iOS’ Now Playing interface with slick aesthetics

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 13, 2020

It’s no secret that the music listening experience on the iOS platform has remained somewhat stagnant over the past few years, but if you’re avidly searching for something to make things a bit more exciting and you have a jailbroken handset at your disposal, then a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called Lobelias by iOS developer Litten offers a great place to start.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above, Lobelias gives iOS’ Now Playing interface a much-needed facelift and integrates a plethora of user-configurable aesthetics so that you can achieve the look and feel you want. Right off the bat, notable changes include the rounded album artwork, redesigned media controls, changes to the background, and new text label positions, among other things.

Lisa brings OLED display-friendly notifications to jailbroken iPhones

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 10, 2020

Apple made the right decision when switching from traditional LCD display panels to higher-end OLED display panels in its flagship smartphones, but one can’t help but question why iOS doesn’t take better advantage of the deeper black color tones made possible with OLED display technology.

If you have a jailbroken OLED display-equipped iPhone at your disposal and you’ve been asking yourself the aforementioned question since the day you first picked up the device, then we think you’re likely to enjoy a free jailbreak tweak dubbed Lisa by iOS developers Litten and Esquilli.

Melody brings Now Playing album art to more parts of iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 1, 2020

Those who use their iPhones to listen to their favorite music day in and day out are more likely to recognize the finer details of the music consumption experience than those who just listen to a song here and there. With that in mind, iOS developer Dylan West (iOSthemem0d) has released a new jailbreak tweak called Melody that tries to make the user experience even more enjoyable for hardcore music consumers.

Melody works by bringing the Now Playing track’s album artwork to more places in iOS. As depicted in the screenshot examples above, “more places” refers to quite a few different areas, including but not limited to:

Love lets you like or un-like a song without unlocking your iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 28, 2020

If you spend a lot of your time listening to music on your iPhone or iPad, then there’s a pretty good chance that you might take advantage of your Music app’s Like button to save a song you enjoy to your collection for later. Many apps support a Like button of some sort, but when your handset isn’t unlocked, getting to it can be somewhat of a chore.

That’s a problem that a newly released jailbreak tweak called Love by iOS developer MeBlackHat tries to fix, and it does that by allowing you to Like or un-Like music from almost anywhere in iOS with Activator or with a Control Center toggle – whichever you prefer.

Violet makes the Now Playing track’s album art into your handset’s wallpaper & more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 14, 2020

Jailbreakers have a lot of reasons to enjoy using their iPhone, perhaps more than those using unmodified handsets. This very same sentiment pertains to iOS’ music consumption experience, which can be completely augmented with the help of fun and quirky jailbreak tweaks such as a new and free release called Violet by iOS developer Litten.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above, Violet complements the music consumption experience on the iOS platform by automatically replacing the handset’s existing wallpaper image with that of the album artwork of any Now Playing track. Best of all, this process happens in real time and supports both the Apple Music and Spotify Music apps.

This tweak shows Spotify’s car mode interface at all times

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 3, 2020

The Spotify Music app sports a magnificent Now Playing interface that rivals even Apple’s own first party Apple Music streaming app in terms of aesthetics and usability. But if you’ve ever linked your iPhone to your car via Bluetooth before, then you’ve unquestionably witnessed Spotify’s simplified Now Playing interface.

Even if you’re not driving, this Now Playing interface may be preferred in some cases because it’s easier to operate whether you’re distracted or not. A newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Spotify Car Mode Emulation by iOS developer aesthyrica can force your Spotify app to show this Now Playing interface all the time, whether you’re connected to a car via Bluetooth or not.

MusicGround complements music playback on iOS with animated wallpapers

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 24, 2020

Lots of folks rely on their iOS devices as their primary music consumption devices, and so it’s sort of a head-scratcher as to why Apple doesn’t provide more of an interactive listening experience. In the jailbreak community, we’ve seen a plethora of workarounds for this, including the introduction of music visualizers for the Now Playing interface and more.

A newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed MusicGround by iOS developer Tr1fecta, on the other hand, takes a slightly different approach. Instead of giving users an animated Now Playing interface, this tweak provides users with an animated Metal Lyrics-inspired wallpaper that comes alive whenever music is playing.

Lyricize fetches song lyrics and displays them on the Lock Screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 23, 2020

If you’re the type of person who likes to follow along with song lyrics while listening to music, then you might find that the iOS platform isn’t quite as supportive of your needs out of the box as it could be.

Luckily, that’s what we have the jailbreak community for, and there’s a newly released and free jailbreak tweak in town dubbed Lyricize by iOS developer level3tjg that puts song lyrics directly on the Lock Screen to make following along with your favorite music easier.

ImTrynaVibe keeps users from accidentally force-closing a Now Playing app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated March 10, 2021

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I’m playing music in the background and I begin force-closing apps from the App Switcher only to learn that I’ve accidentally killed the Now Playing app. This frustrating experience often results in the cumbersome process of re-launching the Now Playing app and finding the track I was playing just to try and scrub back to the point where I was before prematurely killing the music.

If you’ve ever been in the same boat and understand just how irritating this experience is, then you might turn to a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called ImTrynaVibe by iOS developer PopsicleTreehouse for help, as it effectively prevents users from accidentally force-quitting the Now Playing app via the App Switcher.

Pigment offers quick and convenient colorization options banners & widgets

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 30, 2020

If you’re in the market for a jailbreak tweak that can change the aesthetics of your iPhone or iPad in a pleasant way without drastically altering the way iOS or iPadOS was designed to look, then we think you’re going to appreciate a newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Pigment by iOS developer Simalary (Chris).

In brief, Pigment lets users colorize notification banners, widgets, and the Lock Screen’s Now Playing interface with easy-to-configure settings that have a minimalistic impact on the device’s overall appearance. In the screenshot examples above, you’ll notice that many of the notification banners are tinted to match the app icon they represent.

Finical lets iPhone users dismiss a lingering or unwanted Now Playing widget

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 27, 2020

iOS’ Now Playing widget manifests itself on the Lock Screen any time there’s music playing when your iPhone is locked. The Now Playing widget can be useful at times, but as a number of users have pointed out over the years, it has a tendency to linger even after you’ve stopped listening to music.

While most would write this off as some sort of quirk and go about their busy lives, some tend to be a bit more disturbed by this apparent flaw. Fortunately, a newly released jailbreak tweak called Finical by iOS developer FivePixels offers a simple solution: merely swipe the Now Playing widget out of the way whenever you don’t feel like looking at it.

This tweak pauses your music playback if you turn your volume all the way down

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 15, 2020

When you’re trying to enjoy music and someone approaches you to say something, you might feel compelled to turn your volume all the way down so you can hear that person’s voice. The only problem is that when you do this, your music continues to play, forcing you to miss bits of your song.

If you can relate to the somewhat frustrating experience described above, then we think you’ll probably have a deep appreciation for the likes of a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called MusicBeQuiet by iOS developer lia, as it can keep you from missing your tunes after turning your volume all the way down.