iPhone Tweaks

Animated GIFs have experienced a vast resurgence on today’s Internet. Ever since the 90s the popular format has circulated widely on the web and elsewhere. iOS devices display animated GIFs properly in the Messages and Mail apps, however saving these images to the Camera Roll results in a freeze.

Now you can restore the animation in the stock Photos app with one of the two jailbreak tweaks Giffy or GIFViewer. Once installed, animated GIFs will appear as intended in the iOS Photos app. There are no settings to configure or toggles to worry about. While the thumbnail preview of the image will be static, tapping the image to view the full screen GIF results in animation.

Nothing is more important to a mobile device than battery life. Obviously, without electricity the iPhone is nothing but a brick. There are many battery saving tips that can help, but none of these is a comprehensive solution. BattSaver for iOS 7 provides highly customizable, one-stop radio management tools to extend battery power.

Users can toggle any number of specific options to control when and where radio components are turned on or deactivated to save juice. While the number of toggles can be overwhelming, there are battery saving Strategy presets such as iMessage friendly, Normal, Aggressive, and Ultimate. Each level will take more aggressive steps to disable cellular and Wi-Fi radios depending on circumstances.

The iPhone lock screen does a decent job of providing music controls and information when tracks are actively playing. For those looking to spruce things up a bit, the jailbreak tweak Spin brings a whole new look to the music lock screen. Album art is centered in a circle that spins when a track is skipped, with a circular scrubber that shows current position.

The design looks interesting, and provides a variety of options to customize the look and behavior of the music lock screen. The latest version of Spin (0.1-4) incorporates several improvements and bug fixes. The screenshot above illustrates one possible configuration, with a solid dark background. Pause and skip controls have a distinctly iOS 7 inspired style.

Looking for a unique way to open iPhone applications? Gestr is a jailbreak tweak that makes it possible to assign custom gestures to individual apps. While the method is mostly just interesting, it can provide a convenient shortcut depending on the configuration.

Many jailbreak fans are anxiously awaiting the release of Intelliborn’s flagship lock screen tweak for iOS 7. The developer has teased that Intelliscreen X 7 will be worth the wait, and has now launched a preview video and screenshots of what’s to come.

Intelliscreen has been around for some time, with previous versions integrating flawlessly into the iPhone notification center and lock screen. The tweak is on a short list of reasons to jailbreak iOS, and has been featured as a must-have jailbreak tweak on iOS 6.