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Piano Passcode lets you unlock your iPhone by playing a familiar tune

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 3, 2013

After some teasing, Piano Passcode has finally touched down on the Cydia Store, and I can confirm that it's pretty sweet. The jailbreak tweak, which I've been testing for the last few days, allows you to replace, or augment the iPhone's Lock screen passcode security system with 7 piano keys.

Each of the keys makes a distinctive sound, just as you would expect from a piano. It's not perfect, but when used correctly, it can do a good job of spicing up the iOS Lock screen. Take a look inside as I break down the ins and out of Piano Passcode, and show you how to go about configuring it to work for you.

AT&T U-verse subscribers can now access streams in WatchESPN, Fox Now iOS apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

If you're subscribed to AT&T's U-verse, are a sports fan and love Fox shows, good news here as the nation's second-largest carrier has cut deals allowing users of the WathESPN and Fox Now iOS apps to stream content and watch live feeds.

The latter app also added another provider for TV episodes, Suddenlink. U-verse subscribers should go download these updates to immediately gain access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU live feeds and such shows as Hell’s Kitchen and Family Guy, straight in these apps...

Infuse, a versatile iOS media player by FireCore [review]

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Over the past few days I've been testing Infuse, an iOS media player by FireCore, the team that brought you the aTV Flash Black for your jailbroken Apple TV.

Given their expertise in bringing support for streaming dozens of file formats to Apple's set-top box, it goes without saying I was very much looking forward to testing Infuse for iPhone and iPad.

The App Store is home to some nice media players, Plex being my personal favorite, but none fully taking the pain out of properly rendering iOS-unfriendly video file types on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

In my personal opinion, Infuse addresses the media conundrum in one fell swoop while incorporating possibly the best subtitles support on iDevices to date and taking full advantage of Retina screens and Apple's newest and most powerful mobile chips...

How to get Chat Heads on iOS right now with MessageBox

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Normally speaking, mainstream outlets like The Verge don't run posts on topics like jailbreaking or jailbreak tweaks, but one in a while they do. For instance, they will be happy to cover a tweak like Auxo, which transcends barriers of interests, even for those who've never jailbroken an iPhone.

Recently, another jailbreak tweak has graced the front page of The Verge: MessageBox. It's the tweak, that as I'm sure you all know by now, allows you to enable Facebook's new Chat Head feature system-wide. It, too, proved to be a very popular topic of interest in the tech community. What? Facebook's Chat Head on iOS? And so soon?

If you've been around jailbreaking for any length of time, you probably weren't surprised to see Chat Heads appear on iOS within such a short period of time. In fact, I outright predicted it in this tweet. It was even less surprising when I heard who was actually behind the tweak — Adam Bell. Adam is an excellent developer and designer, and he's come up with some of the community's most innovative releases.

Ever since MessageBox was first shown off, I've been in contact with Adam while he's been knee-deep in code. For the record, MessageBox is still in beta, but the potential for greatness is undeniable. The demand is so great that a deluge of tweets, emails, and other forms of communication have landed on Bell's digital doorstep. Now he's decided to release a beta version of MessageBox as an answer to the demand.

What should you expect? I thought you'd never ask...

Concept video shows what iOS 7 could look like without skeuomorphism

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In October of 2012, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS software, Scott Forstall, was relieved of his duties. Some have speculated that, under the watchful eye of lead designer Jonathan Ive, iOS will lose the skeuomorphic design that both former CEO Steve Jobs and Forstall championed. Instead, Apple’s mobile operating system might take on a sleeker, minimalistic theme as Ive asserts his industrial design aesthetic.

Today, Brazillian fellow Rafael Justino published a trailer for the concept design he believes iOS 7 could adopt at the hands of Ive. Check out his entire concept video below...

CameraTweak HD supercharges the iPad’s stock Camera app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 23, 2013

Hopefully you're not one of those people, but if you are, then listen up. I am, of course, talking about people who take pictures and record video with their iPads. Not only is it awkward, but it's also incredibly goofy looking.

With that in mind, I was taken aback a bit when an email from the developer of CameraTweak — a tweak that I had already reviewed for the iPhone — arrived in my box. The email stated that there was a new app, CameraTweak HD, and they wanted my opinion on it.

I immediately thought to myself, "cool, an upgrade to the awesome CameraTweak for the iPhone," but soon after I realized that this was for the iPad. Admittedly, it did take me a while to get used to the idea of using my iPad to take pictures, but I somehow got through it.

My conclusion goes a little like this: If you're going to look silly and take photo and videos with your 10" tablet, then you might as well do it with the best available software out there. Ladies and gentlemen, like its precursor, CameraTweak for iPhone, CameraTweak HD is hands-down the best camera oriented jailbreak tweak for the iPad. If you want to take awesome photos and videos while having a plethora of options at your disposal, then look no further.

Atom now available for download on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 23, 2013

Atom — the gorgeously animated Lock screen launcher for iOS has finally landed on Cydia's BigBoss repo. We brought you an initial in-depth preview of Atom last week, but the tweak has since been updated and features a few new visual cues for the final build.

This time around you'll find new animations. In the initial version of Atom that I previewed, there were no animations present when you placed the Lock screen numb over an app you wished to launch. Now, along with the animations that happen when you first touch the nub, you get a better sense of when you slide your finger over one of the apps located on the Lock screen.

Check out our brand new video of the final version of Atom...

FlatIcons: a beautiful two dimensional theme for iOS

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 18, 2013

From a pure looks standpoint, FlatIcons is one of the better looking themes for iOS. It's not the deepest theme out there as far as the UI area it covers on iOS, but it's definitely up there with some of the best from a purely visual standpoint.

Along with the app icons themselves, FlatIcons includes themes for the stock Weather app, Auxo toggles, and Notification Center. As a bonus to purchasers of the theme, the creator of FlatIcons added an additional alternate theme to the package as well. Have a look inside for our hands-on video walkthrough.

You can now watch Funny or Die’s ‘iSteve’ online

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2013

Comedy web site Funny or Die originally said its satirical movie about Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs, dubbed iSteve, would arrive on April 15, but they pushed it back a bit in the wake of Boston bombing.

The movie is now available online, as a free stream via the Funny or Die web site.

Directed by Ryan Perez, iSteve stars Justin Long of Dodgeball and Jeepers Creepers fame, who gets to portray Steve Jobs. The general public remembers the actor thanks to his amusing depiction of the Mac character in Apple's Mac vs. PC campaign. Other roles include Lost's Jorge Garcia as Steve Wozniak, James Urbaniak as Bill Gates and Michaela Watkins playing Melinda Gates...

Time Warner to enable live TV streaming in its iOS app tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 16, 2013

Time Warner Cable, a major U.S. cable telecommunications company, confirmed to Bloomberg that it will be adding out-of-home live television streaming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod devices via its free TWC TV software, which will gain new features via an update tomorrow. In addition to on-demand television shows and movies available from 26 networks, the refreshed TWC TV app will also make ten live television networks available for out-of-home viewing on iOS devices. Go past the fold for the full breakdown...

JellyLock is an Android inspired Lock screen launcher for iOS

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 16, 2013

JellyLock is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to add an Android inspired Lock screen launcher to iOS. The tweak, developed by Max Katzmann, and only available via his beta repo, has proven to be quite popular amongst the jailbreak community — it's been downloaded over 19,000 times already.

Like its inspiration, Android Jellybean, JellyLock features a lock icon that you can drag to the edge of a circle on your Lock screen to unlock your device. It also features the ability to fully customize the look of the launcher and add up to three custom apps that can be launched directly from the Lock screen. Take a look inside as we go showcase JellyLock in our in-depth video walkthrough...