Security

LastUnlock displays the last time your iPhone was unlocked on the Lock screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 18, 2019

If you have a jailbroken handset in your possession and you’re paranoid that someone might know your passcode and that they might be logging into your device when you aren’t looking, then you just might come to appreciate a newly-released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed LastUnlock by iOS developer Smokin1337.

As indicated by the screenshot example above, LastUnlock records the most recent date and time that your handset was unlocked (whether it was by you or someone else) and displays it on the Lock screen where the ‘press Home to unlock’ or ‘swipe up to unlock’ text would typically appear.

Instagram is trying to make it easier to recover a hacked account

Evan Selleck ∙ June 17, 2019

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks out there, which makes some profiles a prime target for hacking. And unfortunately for some account owners, the current state of security on the platform doesn't make it easy to get a hacked profile back. But Instagram is looking to change that.

BigBoss repository now uses SHA256, paving the way for Sileo support

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 15, 2019

In an unexpected turn of events this weekend, @0ptimo added official SHA256 support to the BigBoss repository, a move that looks to appease the Sileo Team as an increasing number of people use the Electra Team’s Chimera jailbreak to take advantage of the full-fledged A12(X) support in the here and now.

Sileo Team lead developer CoolStar acknowledged the change just this evening via Twitter, noting that an upcoming update for the Sileo package manager will implement native support for the newly-upgraded BigBoss repository:

InstallProtect12 makes you authenticate yourself to install or uninstall jailbreak packages

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 15, 2019

InstallProtect12 is a newly released and free jailbreak tweak created by iOS developer Castyte, and we’re particularly excited to show it to you.

While most jailbreak tweaks are somewhat subjective depending on the user, this one seems like a no-brainer for most as it seriously augments the jailbroken handset experience on all fronts. More specifically, it necessitates biometric authentication to manage packages in three of the most popular package management apps, including Cydia, Sileo, and Zebra.

SiriUnlock lets you access more data with Siri without unlocking your handset

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 13, 2019

Siri can make interacting with your iOS handset easier, and more specifically, the ‘Hey Siri’ feature comes in handy when you have dirty hands and you don’t want to touch your device. But when your handset is locked, Apple prevents Siri from accessing certain things to protect your privacy from those who may try to exploit her handiness to reveal personal information about you.

While we can understand Apple’s reasoning for doing this, we also understand that some iOS device power users care more about functionality than privacy, and so it would’ve been nice if Apple offered more flexibility in this department. Fortunately, a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called SiriUnlock by iOS developer CokePokes makes this happen.

Safari in iOS 13 lacks the awesome iPad-only features, but iPhone still gets a download manager along with a bunch of other perks

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 12, 2019

iOS 13's Safari lacks the iPad-only capabilities afforded by the iPadOS software, such as the ability to create multiple browser windows by dragging, but there are plenty of other feature enhancements to make it a worthwhile update, like a dedicated download manager.

Google’s login chief says Sign In with Apple will make people ‘much safer’

Evan Selleck ∙ Updated July 1, 2019

At this year's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Apple took some time to announce a brand new, secure way to log into websites and applications. The new "Sign in with Apple" is meant to help customers navigate the internet, their favorite sites and apps, and keep things a bit more anonymous along the way. And despite having a competing button with a very different outlook, Google's login chief likes Apple's methodology.

macOS Catalina 10.15 brings streamlined Apple ID account management to System Preferences

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 11, 2019

macOS Catalina has a central place for the Apple ID account details in System Preferences, letting you review important tips and notifications for your account, access and adjust security features, update iCloud settings, manage media and purchases, and more.

Apple beefs up security in macOS Catalina

Evan Selleck ∙ June 11, 2019

Apple added new security-related features to iOS 13, and the company is not missing out on the opportunity to do the same for its desktop operating system as well. After initially announcing macOS Catalina at this year's WWDC, Apple also detailed a few new security features launching later this year.

iBSparkes teases Cydia running on the first iOS 13 beta

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 11, 2019

Just yesterday, talented security researcher and iPhone hacker iBSparkes teased what appeared to be Saurik’s Cydia package manager running on an iPhone SE with iOS 12.4 installed on it, which was a particularly noteworthy feat given that all public jailbreak tools at the time of this writing only support up to iOS 12.1.2.

The teaser raised several questions, such as whether iBSparkes’ latest exploit would also support Apple’s upcoming iOS 13 software update. Fortunately, we might now have an answer to that question, as iBSparkes shared another teaser just this morning of Cydia running on an iPhone 8 (iPhone 10,4) running the first iOS 13 beta:

iBSparkes teases Cydia running on the iOS 12.4 beta

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 10, 2019

Each of the latest jailbreak solutions, be it the Electra Team’s Chimera tool or Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver tool, only support iOS versions 12.0-12.1.2. That said, a teaser shared just this morning by talented security researcher iBSparkes tends to be particularly exciting.

In the Tweet, iBSparkes shares a screenshot of what appears to be the all-too-familiar Cydia package manager running on an iPhone SE (iPhone 8,4) with the iOS 12.4 beta installed:

This tweak necessitates Face ID authentication to access the Photos app’s Hidden album

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 9, 2019

You can hide sensitive images from your Photos app’s Camera Roll by moving them to the app’s Hidden album, but it doesn’t take much for someone with access to your handset to find the Hidden album and start perusing through the images it contains.

With this caveat in mind, iOS developer Menuska has released a new free jailbreak tweak called FaceID for Hidden Photos that adds a biometric authentication requirement to the Photos app’s Hidden album. With it, you’ll need to pass a Face ID authentication test to access the Hidden album’s contents, as shown in the screenshot example below: