iPhone Tweaks

One of the longer running jailbreak tweaks in iPhone history is LockInfo. For several versions of iOS, this tweak has brought an improved level of information and interaction directly to the iPhone lock screen. In fact, LockInfo actually brought Notification Center to iOS 4, before the feature was officially launched with iOS 5 in 2011.

LockInfo 8 now brings all of this functionality and customization to jailbroken iOS 8 devices. Bringing the Notification Center to the lock screen is the tip of the iceberg. Not only does LockInfo make swiping down to reveal what's going on unnecessary, it provides access to additional information with a swipe or tap. For example, swiping left on the lock screen will reveal the weather forecast, right on the iPhone lock screen.

Looking to temporarily hide conversation threads in the iOS Messages app? The jailbreak tweak HiddenConvos has you covered. Once installed, HiddenConvos adds new swipe functionality directly to Messages, with no options or settings to configure.

Simply swipe to the left on a message thread, and a blue Hide button appears right next to the standard Delete option. Tapping Hide will make the conversation thread disappear without deleting the thread entirely. Not only this, but when hidden, the conversation will automatically be put into Do Not Disturb mode. This means incoming alerts will be silenced, hiding all incoming messages.

The jailbreak tweak Stratos is heavily inspired by the classic multitasking tweak Auxo. The developers of Stratos have included some interesting features in their vision of iOS 7 and 8 multitasking. The tweak is described as a way to "simplify the way you interact with your iPhone". Simply put, Stratos brings a multitasking app switcher to the Control Center and separates media controls, app switching, and control toggles into three separate pages.

Once installed, there is a toggle to enable Stratos under Settings, along with many options to configure the tweak. Besides displaying running and recently used app cards directly in the Control Center, Stratos makes it possible to swipe up on an app card to open it immediately. Stratos can be configured to automatically open to the media control page when music is playing, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Popular is a jailbreak tweak for the app switcher that replaces the favorite and recent contacts icons. Instead of these, Popular displays your favorite and most often used apps right above the full size app cards. The tweak dynamically sorts app icons, putting the most-used apps first, right next to your favorites.

Once installed, there are several customizations that can be accessed via Settings -> Popular. When it comes to the most "popular" apps, usage statistics can be viewed directly in the settings. The Maximum Icon Count can be adjusted anywhere from 5 to 75, which controls how many apps will appear in the launcher.

Tracking cellular data usage by apps and the iOS system is possible using Settings -> Cellular. In addition to data usage itemized by app, system services and roaming totals are also listed. While this can help keep track of data usage, left to its own devices iOS will never reset the stats. Users must manually tap the Reset Statistics button.

Monitoring cellular data usage can be more useful when the statistics are only recorded for a specific interval, such as your billing cycle. The jailbreak tweak ReStats adds this functionality to iOS 8, automatically resetting the totals based on user preferences. Once installed, configuring the tweak is a two-step process.