iPhone Tweaks

Music fans who fall asleep listening to tunes may already know how to set a sleep timer in iOS. While the process is relatively straightforward, it takes a few steps to enable. Now jailbreakers can quickly set a sleep timer using a simple gesture, thanks to Activator and the Cydia tweak Lullaby.

Once installed, Lullaby can be assigned to a custom gesture in Activator. Once configured, when music is playing in the stock Music app the sleep timer can be enabled. Performing the gesture assigned to Lullaby will immediately provide a pop-up dialog box asking for the number of minutes to keep playing. Once the specified number of minutes elapses, the music stops automatically.

Enhancing Snapchat and removing some of the app's restrictions has become a full time job for some jailbreak developers. The latest addition to the growing collection of Snapchat tweaks is dubbed GhostPrefs. Those with jailbroken devices can get a ton of new options in Snapchat after installing this free mod from Cydia.

Snapchat is known for its ability to automatically delete messages after a preset time. Taking a screenshot of a photo or video will normally notify the sender that this activity has taken place. Perhaps the most sought-after option included in GhostPrefs prevents Snapchat from sending an alert when screenshots of a message are captured.

One of the cool things about switching off the simple passcode in iOS 7.1 is a new keyboard design that shows up on the lock screen. This special keyboard only arrives when the user is prompted for a complex passcode, one that includes numbers and letters. Now those with jailbroken devices can install the lock screen keyboard across the entire iOS 7.1 system.

The keyboard itself features transparent keys entirely outlined in white, on a dark background. LockKeyboard is the name of the tweak, which will replace the default iOS 7.1 keyboard with the lock screen keyboard at all times. Once installed, there are no settings or options at all. The new keyboard just appears in any app that needs keyboard input.

Postponing a notification for later in iOS is not possible with a stock system. Repeat Alerts can be set for Messages under Settings -> Notification Center -> Messages, however these only happen at pre-set 2 minute intervals. What about delaying a notification from another app?

This is where the free tweak NotifyMeAgain can help those with jailbroken iOS 7 devices. In place of repeated alerts, NotifyMeAgain uses two simple gestures to delay re-notification alerts from any app. A swipe left on the notification banner will delay an alert by one interval of time, while swiping right can be set to another delay. This can help to remind the user of notifications that can't be dealt with immediately.

Adding more power to the Spotlight search is a favorite pastime of jailbreak developers. While iOS 8 will bring more features to the Spotlight, jailbreakers can enjoy some of these upgrades now. In addition, there have been mods to integrate Spotify and multiple other apps and search types. These not only make search results more useful, but make it possible to launch apps directly.

Now the jailbreak tweak SpotFile promises to expand Spotlight search directly into the iOS 7 file system. Much like iFile, which provides access to iOS files, SpotFile brings similar functionality directly to Spotlight. When it comes to its capabilities, browsing the file system is only the beginning.