iPhone Tweaks

My personal favorite jailbreak tweak of 2012 was SwipeSelection, and it's compatible with the evasi0n iOS 6 jailbreak. SwipeSelection is one of those tweaks you have to use to truly appreciate. It's a simple tweak that makes texting, taking notes and writing emails on your iPhone or iPad a lot much easier.

SwipeSelection allows users to drag one or two fingers across the keyboard of an iOS device to move the typing cursor. This makes editing text much easier by eliminating the need to tap the display of your device to delete or change letters. You can use one finger for a more precise cursor drag, or two fingers to move faster across the screen. You can also easily delete or copy entire sentences by holding the shift key and dragging your finger over the text you want to highlight. This is all demonstrated in the original concept video from Daniel Hooper posted below.

Wouldn't it be convenient to keep the most important pending reminders in a place where you'll actually read them throughout the day? Now with the tweak Reminders+ and a jailbroken iOS device, users can link specific tasks from the stock Reminders app to the lock screen.

The tweak works by adding functionality directly to the Reminders app. Simply tap and hold the reminder you want to pin to the lock screen, and a menu will pop up. Tapping Add Bulletin or Remove Bulletin will add or remove the reminder from the lock screen, it's that simple.

Some tweaks do simple things and do them well. If you are lucky enough to have a jailbroken iOS device, Bolt will make some extra space in your status bar by removing an obvious redundancy. Apple includes the option for users to display battery percentage remaining under Settings -> General -> Usage.

What Apple did not provide is a mechanism to subsequently remove the battery status icon from the screen. Why show the empty/full battery icon and the battery percentage next to each other? Bolt adresses this quirk by removing the battery icon once and for all.

One of the fun benefits of jailbreaking has been the ability to change the boring carrier logo in your status bar. Now non-jailbreakers can join the party by downloading a new Mac application called CarrierEditor. The app, created by developers Kevin Lo and Daniel Levi, allows iPhone owners to easily customize their devices by swapping out the carrier logo for other fun logos or pictures of their choice.

To change your carrier logo, download the Mac application CarrierLogo and select the "Lets Get Started" option once it's installed. It will then ask you for your Carrier Version Number. To find your version go to Settings >> General >> About, and scroll down until you see your Carrier Version Number. After you enter your Carrier Number, hit "Next" and select your device and carrier (not all carriers are supported) from the drop boxes on the next page. You can then go to the next screen and customize your logo by dragging a photo into the available boxes. Next open iTunes and hold down the alt/option key and select "Restore iPhone". Open the new carrier file CarrierEditor placed on your desktop and wait for iTunes to update. Finally, reboot your iPhone and your new icon should appear.

We recently took a look at jLauncher, which upgrades the stock multitasking dock into a full screen control center. Although there are many of these tweaks available, Auxo brings app switcher redesign to a new level. The idea for Auxo was originally just a concept, but designer @Sentry_NC has teamed up with developers to make the iOS tweak reality.

Auxo replaces the normal multitasking dock icons with versatile app cards. Besides offering a preview of each app, they can be removed by simply swiping down. No more holding an icon and tapping red circles individually. Tapping and holding one app card will give you the option to remove all multitasking and recently opened apps at once. Auxo will even remind you that an app is doing something in the background, such as playing music, and confirm the exit.