UI

Quart is a new notification interface that will make non-jailbreakers jealous

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 3, 2020

When compared with other smartphone operating systems, there’s no question that iOS leaves a lot to be desired in the notification department. Fortunately, those with jailbroken handsets no longer have to settle with what Apple provides out of the box.

Quart is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer LaughingQuoll and designer timeloop that replaces the lackluster native notification system on your pwned iPhone with one that will get you riled up every time you receive a text message or any other sort of notification.

DarkSwitch commands iOS’ dark/light modes based on display brightness

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated August 9, 2021

One of my favorite features to ship with iOS 13 is native dark mode support. Not only is it something that I’ve wanted to have for several years, but it plays so nicely with the OLED display that comes standard in Apple’s flagship handsets for both enhanced aesthetics and lengthened battery life.

One way that I think dark mode could be improved, however, is with some kind of tool that automatically switches between dark and light mode depending on display brightness, as it would improve interface visibility in certain situations. Fortunately, that’s precisely the functionality that a free jailbreak tweak called DarkSwitch by iOS developer udevs appears to provide for users.

Upgrade your iPhone’s native keyboard with DockX

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 2, 2020

Apple took great care to ensure that iOS would have one of the most enjoyable typing experiences in the modern smartphone market. While it certainly is one of the best, it can still be argued that the iOS keyboard could be better with a few minor improvements.

One such example is the likes of a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called DockX by iOS developer udevs, a simple add-on that brings a full-fledged pasteboard shortcut dock to the bottom of the iPhone’s native keyboard interface.

Dusky enables use of iOS’ Reduce Transparency mode on a per-interface basis

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 2, 2020

Any stock installation of iOS or iPadOS includes a native Accessibility option called Reduce Transparency that, as the name suggests, reduces transparency in several interfaces found throughout the platform. Some of these interfaces include Today widgets, notification banners, and the Now Playing media player, to name a few.

Some people like using the Reduce Transparency option for the aesthetics alone; unfortunately, toggling this option applies to every aspect of iOS, which may not be preferred in all instances. Those looking for more fine-grained control over this feature may want to turn their attention to a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called Dusky by iOS developer P2KDev.

This tweak adds a date countdown timer to the iPhone’s Lock screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 30, 2020

One thing I’ve always wished that the iPhone had was a more sophisticated countdown timer. While you can certainly use the iPhone’s Clock app to accomplish this in terms of hours or minutes, it would be more useful if you could add days to the mix as this would make it easier to count down to Birthdays and other important dates.

While Apple has yet to introduce an official solution, a newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Counted by iOS developer Dave van Wijk introduces an elegant and fully customizable day counter to any iOS handset’s Lock screen.

Why settle for an ordinary iPhone Dock when you can use Multipla?

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 29, 2020

The Dock gives iPhone users quick access to their favorite apps from anywhere on the Home screen, but that’s just about the extent of it on stock handsets. If you’re jailbroken and looking for a more enticing experience, then you’ll probably like what a newly released jailbreak tweak called Multipla by iOS developers burrit0z and Thomz brings to the table.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above and below, Multipla expands upon the Dock’s existing functionality by unlocking additional features that simply wouldn’t be possible on a stock handset. Among those are adding more apps, viewing informative widgets, and much more.

DarkAlertPls makes all iPhone alerts respond to iOS 13’s dark mode

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 29, 2020

Albeit rare, iOS sometimes displays alerts as opposed to banners. These alerts are designed to appear at the center of the display, usually with a prompt of some sort for the user to respond to.

Unfortunately, even if you’ve configured your iOS 13 handset for dark mode, some of these alerts may still come through as light instead of dark. This is a problem that iOS developer LaughingQuoll aims to fix with a newly released jailbreak tweak called DarkAlertPls.

Blanca brings sexy leaf-shaped notifications and more to iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 28, 2020

Looking for a quick and easy way to upgrade your iPhone’s Notification Center experience? If so, then you’re in for a treat. Blanca is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Phoenix Dev that lets users redesign the native Notification Center interface with custom aesthetics.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above, Blanca can redesign notification banners, Today widgets, and even the Now Playing media player. Furthermore, Blanca users will be able to choose how many preview lines appear in their notification banners and fine-tune the banner corner radii, among other things.

AlbumPref lets you choose a favorite photo album for iMessage sharing

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 28, 2020

If you’ve ever tried to send somebody an image from your Photo Library via iMessage before, then you’ve probably noticed how it always defaults to the Recent Photos album. This tends to be convenient if you plan to send someone a recent photograph, but not so much if you’re trying to look back on older images.

Here to address this problem is a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called AlbumPref by iOS developer Julio Verne. Just as the name implies, AlbumPref lets users choose a preferred album that will appear when attempting to access the Photo Library browser in the native Messages app.

YouFold helps folders take better advantage of your iPhone’s tall display

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 28, 2020

Folders can make organizing your iPhone’s Home screen a lot easier, but the native implementation leaves a lot to be desired. For example, why would anyone want to have a square-esque full-screen folder on a portrait-oriented rectangular display?

YouFold is a free and snazzy new jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Plat-Ykor that addresses this concern head-on by replacing the traditional full-screen folders in iOS with something more friendly to the iPhone’s natural display shape.

Groups helps jailbreakers organize conversations in the native Messages app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 27, 2020

There are two types of people in this world: 1) those that proactively partake in conversation thread thinning in the Messages app to keep things clean and organized; and 2) those that let conversation threads build up over time in their Messages app, resulting in a seemingly endless list of conversations.

If your mannerisms align with the packrat-esque folk in the latter group, then we’ve got some great news for you. A newly released jailbreak tweak called Groups by iOS developer Ryan Trent can help you get organized by permitting you to sort conversation threads in the Messages app into… you guessed it… groups.

Hate the iPhone’s native incoming call interface? You may like Scorpion

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 27, 2020

It’s honestly rather embarrassing that Apple’s incoming call interface on the iPhone still looks the way it does in 2020, and that’s one of the reasons why I’ve always advocated for jailbreak tweaks that unlock minimized incoming call interfaces that are far less intrusive and more visually stunning than the native UI.

With the above sentiment in mind, it may not come off as much of a surprise that I’m having trouble containing my excitement about the likes of a newly released jailbreak tweak dubbed Scorpion by iOS developer Esquilli.