Ryan Petrich

Ryan Petrich releases a new cache cleaning tool

If you have Ryan Petrich's beta repo added to Cydia, then you likely saw the presence of a new jailbreak tweak called CacheClearer. The tool, which is available for free, allows users to clear app caches from the Usage section of the stock Settings app. The great thing about CacheClearer is that it feels like a native part of iOS, and not a bolt-on. If you're looking for a sleek way to manage individual app cache, then you should definitely give CacheClearer a look.

LittleBrother: add iPhone 6 Plus-inspired scaling and a landscape Home screen to older iPhones

And like clockwork, Ryan Petrich is at it again. His first headlining iOS 8 compatible tweak is called LittleBrother, and it seeks to add features enjoyed on Apple's latest iPhone hardware to older devices like the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.

LittleBrother allows users to essentially do two things: adjust the display zoom scaling like the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, and enable landscape mode features on the Home screen and even Lock screen.

I've been playing around with this new tweak for several hours, and I'm convinced that many iPhone 5 and 5s users are going to love it. It's not without its shortcomings, but the promise is definitely there. Have a look at our full 60fps video walkthrough inside for more details.

Ryan Petrich pushes iOS 8 updates for Activator, FlipSwitch, and more

You know things are starting to roll when Ryan Petrich begins to update his vast library of Cydia tweaks. The first such tweaks to receive their iOS 8 updates landed on the prolific developer's beta repo just a short while ago.

Activator, is of course, the headlining feature of them all, since so many other tweaks rely on it for core functionality. It, along with AppList and the FlipSwitch framework were updated.

Activator receives major update with new icons, developer APIs and more

Popular jailbreak tweak Activator has been updated today, bringing the package to version 1.9. Developer Ryan Petrich says that this is the "largest release" for the tweak in over a year, as it brings about many new features and enhancements.

We've posted the lengthy change log down below, but just to give you an idea of what to expect, Activator 1.9 includes several new icons, new developer APIs and custom actions. It also offers a number of bug fixes and various other improvements...

VintageKeys lets you switch back to the old iOS 6 keyboard

Ryan Petrich is one of the most influential developers within the jailbreaking scene, with his name behind several well-designed and useful jailbreak tweaks for iPhone and iPad. One of his latest releases is VintageKeys, a useful extension that allows you to adjust the keyboard styling on your device. There are four different keyboards to choose from: modern light, modern dark, legacy light and legacy dark… 

How to easily search the contents of the stock Settings app

As a recent Galaxy S5 adopter, one of the features that I immediately appreciated was the ability to perform a search within the phone's Settings. Granted, Samsung is notorious for packing its phones with so many settings that a search is almost a requirement, but it's still a nice feature to have.

Needless to say, ever since I laid my hands on the GS5, I've been wanting for a similar feature on iOS. Well, that feature arrived just a few minutes ago, and it's, unsurprisingly, brought to us by the prolific developer Ryan Petrich.

SearchSettings is a new jailbreak tweak available on Ryan's beta repo, and like on the GS5, you can perform searches within the settings app. Have a look at our video demo of the tweak in action after the fold.

PopShare: share text from the copy and paste menu

PopShare is a recently released jailbreak tweak that acts as an add-on to Ryan Petrich's Action Menu. Action Menu is the legendary tool that adds a ton of extra features, including the ability to create add-ons like PopShare, to the copy and paste menu.

The idea behind PopShare is that you can highlight specific text and quickly share that text using iOS' built-in sharing sheet. As an idea, PopShare is a good jailbreak tweak. Unfortunately, ideas don't always translate into success, especially on the very first try. Have a look at our video walkthrough inside to see what I mean...

Ryan Petrich releases jailbreak tweak to patch iOS 7 Mail encryption bug

Earlier this week, word got out that there's a gap in security in iOS. Security researcher Andreas Kurtz discovered  that all versions of iOS 7.1, and at least iOS 7.0.4, don't encrypt email attachments.

Kurtz says that he has informed Apple of the bug, and they are working on a fix, but there's no word when it will be available. Fortunately, the jailbreak community has a much faster response time...

New speech synthesizing action added to latest Activator beta

As usual, Ryan Petrich has been on quite the tear with updates to the Activator beta. The latest update, which comes in at version 1.8.4 beta 11, adds a new speech synthesis feature to the fray.

What does speech synthesis do? We've created a video that shows you step-by-step how to use this new feature. Check it out after the break.

Keyfault eliminates frustrating iOS keyboard behavior

Instead of simply describing this tweak, I'll start by telling you a personal story. Like Sebastien's incessancy over ShareLock,  I too had a tweak burning a hole in my brain at JailbreakCon. However, unlike Sebastien, I was able to convince my new favorite jailbreak dev, Filippo Bigarella, to code mine at the dinner table that fateful Friday night. Now, perhaps Filippo felt some form of quid pro quo harassment, considering I let him bunk with me at the hotel across from the convention center, but that is of no consequence.

Ever since I have used the emoji keyboard, I have been frustrated with the way default keyboards are selected when tapping a typable field. This behavior is also the same on language keyboards, but since I am an average American, I only know two languages, English and emoji.

Fixing this long annoyance of mine, Keyfault returns the active keyboard to the default language keyboard as determined in settings...

Activator beta updated with exciting new Profiles feature

A brand new feature has been added to the beta version of Activator, and it's a pretty big deal. You can now set up differing profiles for groups of Activator assignments, making it possible to have different Activator assignments based on various circumstances.

The new Profiles panel, which is accessible at the bottom of the main page of Activator's preferences, allows you to quickly add, name, edit and remove custom profiles. You can then switch to a custom profile and begin setting up assignments that only pertain to that profile.

Making the rabbit hole go even deeper, you can actually assign Activator gestures to switch to a Profile, which opens up a whole new arena of possibilities for automation and activation. Needless to say, it's all pretty exciting stuff. Check out our new video walkthrough of Activator's new profiles feature in action after the break.

JailbreakCon 2014: behind the scene

As I am trying to write a catchy intro for this post, I can’t help but feel the pressure. I’m feeling the pressure mainly because I wrote a similar piece a couple of years ago when I first attended JailbreakCon. To date, this post is still one of my favorites I have published on iDB. Having set the bar pretty high, this sequel could prove to be like most sequels: uninspired and thrown out there to cash in on a previous success. This is a risk I am willing to take today.

Maybe more importantly, I am feeling the pressure because I don’t want to disappoint readers by writing the same story I wrote a couple years ago. I guess I’m feeling like a musician that is incapable of finding a different sound for his next album, you know, kinda like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sometimes it’s good to keep the same sound. Sometimes it gets repetitive and boring. Hopefully, this time will still feel as refreshingly honest as it did the first time, while still entertaining readers, which really is my ultimate goal.

Yes, my goal is not so much to tell you about all the great workshops and talks I attended at JailbreakCon this year. My goal is to share the other side of the story. The side that no one not attending the event would be able to experience if it wasn’t for the words I’m typing on the keyboard right now. Let’s call it the behind the scene story of JailbreakCon.

So this is me, sharing my story of JailbreakCon 2014. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed living it…