Jailbreaking

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.

Some jailbreak tweaks are simple. Others are comprehensive in their scope, and fundamentally change stock iOS apps for the better. Canopy for iOS 7 is in the latter category, adding a plethora of new features to Safari. With many of these additions to the default Safari app, the user may wonder why Apple hasn't already included them in the stock app.

When it comes to Canopy, the iOS software team is surely looking at the work of developer Jonathan Bailey. It would not be surprising if some features from Canopy arrive in a future version of Mobile Safari. In the meantime, jailbreakers can install Canopy for iOS 7 and enjoy a more powerful version of Safari on their mobile devices.

Access to streaming video from a variety of apps is one of the perks of using an iPhone. Unfortunately, these videos often are barraged with advertising and include restrictions on what can be viewed when. The jailbreak tweak StreamEnhancer is appropriately named, as this tweak will change the video viewing experience on iOS devices once installed.

The main function of StreamEnhancer is to remove ubiquitous advertising from video streams in popular apps. Many streaming video apps are enhanced by StreamEnhancer, including YouTube, History Channel, Comedy Central, NBC, Hulu, and A&E. A complete list of the capabilities of StreamEnhancer follows, along with the apps that are compatible.

There is a versatile jailbreak tweak called AppControl, which allows the user to control various settings for individual apps. Jailbreakers are used to having more control over their devices, and AppControl is another way to add customization to iOS. With AppControl installed, key settings such as brightness and volume can be pre-determined for each app ahead of launch.

This means after installation and configuration, the tweak AppControl will automatically set the volume and brightness to presets depending on which app is launched. The concept behind the tweak makes sense, since iOS by default will use the same display brightness and volume across all apps. For example, if the user typically reads only at night, with AppControl the iBooks app can be configured with a low brightness setting automatically.

Replacing a broken home button with a virtual one can be achieved using stock iOS Accessibility settings, or with a variety of jailbreak options. In some cases, using a virtual home button is preferable to pressing the physical button even if there's no malfunction involved. vHome is a jailbreak tweak that provides a slick option to add virtual home and sleep buttons to iOS.

Once installed, vHome adds a representation of the iPhone 5 home button as an overlay to the iOS display. The virtual button will act just like the physical version, with a single or double tap duplicating the function of the real thing. vHome gets interesting when this virtual button is relocated to the top half of the screen. In this case, the button will change into a likeness of the sleep/power button.