iPhone Tweaks

One of the features coming to iOS 5 this fall spruces up the Messages app by adding contact photos directly to text messages. A chat in progress, especially with group messaging where multiple people are involved, is much easier to follow with everyone's picture displayed.

To get this feature now, you must jailbreak your iPhone to install the Cydia app store. Open Cydia and navigate to Sections -> Tweaks to find the app called ChatPic, or search directly for the title using the search function.

Finding your USB cable and plugging in the iPhone to a computer to sync can be a hassle. iOS 5 will allow users to sync wirelessly on a Wi-Fi network, but the new operating system isn't due for release until later this year. Luckily for those with jailbroken devices Wi-Fi syncing in possible right now.

The Cydia app is named Wi-Fi Sync, and it can be found using the search function or by navigating to Sections -> Networking. The package costs $9.99 and can be paid for using Cydia's app store which accepts payments from PayPal and Amazon Payments.

Everyone is waiting for iOS 5 to be released so they can enjoy all of the new features coming to Apple mobile devices. One of these features allows iPhone owners to tap out custom vibration alerts. This is useful because different contacts or types of notifications will vibrate in a specific pattern.

You can know who's calling right away without even looking at the iPhone screen. If you have already jailbroken your iPhone this feature can be installed now, without waiting for iOS 5.

It can be a real drag when you want to organize some photos on your iPhone or iPad and you realize this has to be done on your computer. After making the new photo albums and organizing the photos then you have to sync to your iOS device. Once on your iPhone the photos in albums can't be moved or edited at all.

Luckily Apple got wind of the situation and plans to add this functionality to the next version of its mobile operating system firmware, iOS 5. This doesn't come out until the fall, but for those with jailbroken iPhones the feature can be installed right away. The tweak is called PhotoAlbum+ and it's available on Cydia for $4.99.

One of the cool things that iOS 5 will offer when Apple releases the new mobile operating system is the capability to create custom shortcuts that can be used when entering text. Of course you can have this feature right now if you jailbreak your iPhone and install the utility called Xpandr using the Cydia app store.

Xpandr costs $1.99 and can be found in Cydia under Sections -> Utilities or by using the Search function. Payment is simple and uses either PayPal or Amazon Payments directly in the Cydia app store. Once installed, Xpandr can be configured by tapping its icon on the home screen.