Review

This tweak auto-pauses media playback when muting your iPhone’s volume

Mute notifications while listening to music on iPhone with MutePlay.

There are often times when I’m forced to turn my iPhone’s media playback volume down so I can hear someone as they’re talking to me. But even with my volume turned all the way down, my media playback continues without an audience.

It’s odd that iOS and iPadOS haven’t adopted a user-friendly feature to auto-pause media playback when the volume is turned all the way down, especially since you wouldn’t even be able to hear it. While it wouldn’t be necessary for video playback, it would certainly be useful for music.

This tweak puts a white dot in the Status Bar when your LED flashlight is on

One of the things I really like about iOS and iPadOS is that a tiny colored dot manifests itself in the Status Bar when your handset’s camera or microphone activates. Not only is it a great way to be reminded that your hardware is being used in the background, but it also promotes privacy by ensuring you’re in the know whenever an app taps into your camera or microphone.

I can’t count on my own two hands the number of times I’ve witnessed someone who forgot their device’s flashlight on and failed to realize it either because they were out in the Sun or because the LED flash was being covered by something. Having said that, a similar Status Bar-centric indicator for the rear-facing LED flash could also benefit users.

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: IAmLazy, Liddel, NetFence, & more…

If you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone or iPad at your disposal, then you’ve likely got an itch for finding and installing the latest and greatest jailbreak tweaks.

Fortunately for you, we’re back with a new edition of the jailbreak tweaks of the week, where we’ll be discussing all the latest releases and jailbreak-centric news in one easy-to-digest piece.

NetFence is an effective outgoing firewall for jailbroken iPhones & iPads

Most people view the internet as a powerful tool for accessing information in an instant, but advertising companies see it in just the same way — often utilizing the very internet connection you depend on for said information to track your every move and report back with personally identifiable statistics.

A firewall can help preserve your anonymity and privacy over the internet by giving you the distinct choice to allow or deny these connection requests. That’s just one reason why a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed NetFence by iOS developer FoxfortMobile might be of interest to you.

No2Theft4 alerts iPhone owners to thieves, takes their photo, and sends location data to email or SMS

An email showing what appears when someone tries to steal your No2Theft-enabled iPhone.

Nobody likes it when their iPhone gets stolen, either by pranksters or actual thieves, and while Apple’s Find My app can certainly help you track it down, it’s limited in its feature-centric capacity.

iOS developer Elias Sfeir knows this, and that’s why he spent the time to make a popular jailbreak tweak known as No2Theft. Today, we’re excited to share that No2Theft4 — the fourth iteration of this handy anti-theft extension — is now available for all pwned iOS 12-14 devices.

Luv lets jailbroken Spotify users like or dislike songs from anywhere in iOS

Many media streaming apps like Spotify provide a like button so that you can tell the app you like what you hear. The app then tries to curate playback based on the feedback you give it.

I enjoy the ability to enhance music playback in this way, as it helps with artist discovery. But it frustrates me that you need to physically be in the Spotify app to like a song, which calls for a multitasking and gesture shenanigans even when you’re trying to get something done in another app.

Walletigious disables the MagSafe wallet animation on pwned iPhone 12 devices

MagSafe is a relatively new feature that ships with the iPhone 12 lineup, and it lets users connect wireless chargers and other accessories such as cases, wallets, and battery packs to their handset with the satisfying click that comes with magnetic attraction.

In many instances, connecting first-party and other licensed MagSafe accessories to a supported iPhone results in an aesthetically pleasing animation. Even Apple’s MagSafe wallets provides an animation of their own that’s distinguished from the one you see when connecting to a MagSafe charger.

Some of the best jailbreak tweaks for iOS 14’s Messages app

Jailbreakers are continuously trying to tweak their devices to make them easier to use and/or more capable than they would be right out of the retail box. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of jailbreak tweaks that make this possible.

Given just how popular iMessage and SMS are for iPhone and iPad users (jailbroken and non-jailbroken alike), we’ve decided to make this piece to recap on a few different jailbreak tweaks that can upgrade the Messages app on iOS 14.

Get tiny customizable notification banners on your jailbroken iPhone for free with Liddell

The concept of smaller notification banners has been around for the iOS & iPadOS platforms for quite some time now in the form of jailbreak tweaks, but it’s something that Apple hasn’t yet taken up – not even in the latest iOS & iPadOS 14 releases.

Jailbreakers appear to enjoy this feature because it makes notification banners more compact and prevents them from getting in the way of the buttons on the navigation bar. Personally, I love this feature too, and that’s one reason why I’m so excited about a new and free jailbreak tweak release called Liddell by iOS developer Litten.