Tweak

How to back up your jailbreak tweaks before updating in iOS 6

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Many of our regular readers have been asking us about backup solutions for their devices after the release of iOS 6.1.2 and the jailbreak that followed shortly afterwards. I want to be clear here: automated backups can be very bad news. If you restore your tweaks without going through Cydia, and an update breaks a single tweak, you won't have a fun time attempting to find the incompatible package that crashes your phone at startup. While minor updates (like 6.1 to 6.1.2) are less likely to cause conflicts, the risk is never zero.

With that warning in mind, there are a number of options for backing up your Cydia tweaks when upgrading to iOS 6.1.2...

ActiveDock brings an OS X inspired dock to iOS

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

When you hear about an upcoming tweak collaboration between jailbreak community staples like Filippo Bigarella and Surenix, then the tweak is pretty much destined to be good. Unsurprisingly, that is the case for the upcoming ActiveDock, a jailbreak tweak that brings an OS X styled dock to the small screen.

We've gone hands-on with ActiveDock and put it through its paces. Needless to say, we came away impressed. Check out our video walkthrough inside.

‘Haptic Keyboard’ tries to make your typing experience more engaging

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Haptic Keyboard is a new jailbreak tweak that institutes haptic feedback with each press of a key on the iPhone's keyboard. Similar tweaks have appeared on Cydia in the past, but their compatibility has been spotty with recent iOS updates.

The purpose of haptic feedback, is to give the end user the sensation of actually typing on a physical keyboard, instead of a piece of smooth glass. Unfortunately, in the case of this latest version of Haptic Feedback, the idea is much better than the final execution.

‘Enable Copy text in Facebook’ makes using the official Facebook app less frustrating

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Have you ever had to jump through hoops to log into a desktop website because an app won't let you copy the text on your phone? This should never happen, but for some unfathomable reason, major services like Facebook do not allow for copying text in-app (the Facebook app currently allows users to copy text from messages and comments, but not from status updates or posts).

Luckily you can get rid of the annoyance, even if Facebook won't fix the issue themselves. 'Enable Copy text in Facebook' is a tweak that allows jailbroken iOS devices to capture the text directly from Facebook posts themselves...

SubtleLock lends a subdued look to the iPhone’s Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Looking for a Lock screen a bit on the unassuming side of things? Then try out this new jailbreak tweak entitled SubtleLock. This is a tweak that makes both the 'slide to unlock' and the clock section on your Lock screen a bit smaller.

The developer of SubtleLock says that his tweak reclaims almost 100 pixels from the Lock screen, lending more room to wallpaper and notifications. Take a look at our video walkthrough of SubtleLock inside.

How to jailbreak iOS 6.1.2 with evasi0n 1.4

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Evasion 1.4 was just released with support for the recently released iOS 6.1.2, and we've got the details on how to use it to jailbreak your iDevice of choice. Although iOS 6.1.2 doesn't bring any new features to the table, there is a bug fix that makes the upgrade worth it.

Take a look inside as we show you how to jailbreak iOS 6.1.2 with evasi0n 1.4. This tutorial is for the Mac, but the same principal applies across all computing platforms.

TypingPrivacy prevents iMessage users from seeing when you type

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Whenever you begin composing a new iMessage, your recipient can see that you're typing. That's because an ellipsis appears in their Messages app to let them know so. The purpose of this is to let people know that you're responding to them, that you haven't left them hanging. It makes the party on the other end of the message wait in expectation of your response.

While most people don't have a problem with this and actually enjoy the feature, some find it to be an intrusion of privacy. You could, obviously, just disable iMessage, and the issue would be settled. But that means the inconvenience of incurring possible SMS fees, and the inability to send messages via Wi-Fi, and on iOS devices which aren't iPhones.

As a response to this possible breach of privacy, a jailbreak developer has created a tweak to eliminate the 'now typing' ellipsis. The tweak is called TypingPrivacy, and it's available right now on Cydia's BigBoss repo.

How to grab Auxo nightly beta builds

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

A3tweaks, the team behind Auxo, has put together a beta repo which will host nightly builds of its popular tweak for paying customers. That means that if you purchased Auxo, you can simply add this beta repo to your Cydia sources, and enjoy the latest features before the general public.

In fact, there's already a new beta build available for download right now. Take a look past the break to learn how you can easily access the bleeding edge upgrades.

Zephyr updated again, resurrects keyboard options and adds more features

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

We love it when developers really take the time to listen to their user-base. That's exactly what Grant Paul (a.k.a. Chpwn) did after receiving feedback about his latest update to Zephyr.

Apparently, more than a few people were unhappy about the tweak's new keyboard features. So much so, that Paul received over 200 some-odd emails and tweets expressing dislike over the changes. His response? Push out another update a few hours after the previous update, fully addressing the concerns.

AssistantLove receives an iOS 6 update

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

One of my favorite jailbreak tweaks, AssistantLove, just received an update for iOS 6 compatibility. AssistantLove was featured in our top jailbreak tweaks of 2012 list, and would have been added to my "perfect iPhone" feature, if it had iOS 6 compatibility at the time.

If you're a Spotify user like I am, then you will really appreciate what AssistantLove brings to the table. Along with allowing you to integrate GPS apps with Siri, and launch apps using shortcut names, AssistantLove meshes Siri with Spotify. This means that you pretty much search for any song or artist you can think of using your voice.

LivelyIcons: animate icons and help cancer research

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

There's a new jailbreak tweak available in Cydia, and it's not unlike something you've probably seen before. The tweak is called LivelyIcons, and it allows you to add opening animations to each app icon on your iPhone's Home screen.

LivelyIcons features about a dozen different animations that you can enable via a simple list found in the Settings app. An option to increase or decrease the duration of the animation also exists. That may not sound all of that exciting, but the tweak's functionality plays second fiddle to a greater cause. Check inside for the full scoop.

Hands-on with Kamera

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIyfdVTepVU

Last week we brought you some information on Kamera — a recently released jailbreak tweak available for free on Cydia's ModMyi repo. Well, we just got a chance to try it out on...ahem, camera, so we thought we'd bring you a video walkthrough.

As you probably remember, Kamera is a Notification Center widget that enables you to go directly to the front-facing or rear-facing mode via the Camera app. Recently an option was added to Kamera to allow you to use a long tap and hold to go straight to video mode. I've found it to be a decent tweak, although many other options exist out there to quickly invoke the Camera.

If you're browsing from an iDevice, you can download Kamera from Cydia using this direct link. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.