Tips

Checking up on apps and how they use iOS system resources is handled automatically, but some iPhone owners want to know what's happening behind the scenes. AppSwiper provides a new way to visualize what apps are running at a glance, and to display the amount of RAM being used. If necessary, apps can be stopped with a simple button press.

For those with jailbroken devices, AppSwiper provides new functionality for $0.99 on the Cydia app store. Once installed, this tweak makes it possible to swipe up directly on a running app icon, which will display the amount of RAM taken up by the app. Tapping Kill immediately stops the app, freeing up system resources for other things. What's cool is that running apps are highlighted right on the home screen, by adding color behind the app name.

The iPhone has a variety of passcode features to help protect the device from prying eyes. Normally with a four-digit "simple" passcode, the iPhone unlocks as soon as the fourth number is entered. iOS users can set a complex passcode which includes letters, however when this is enabled an OK button appears. From then on, unlocking the device requires tapping an OK button after entering the password.

Now jailbroken iPhone users who use a complex passcode can skip the OK button with the free tweak AutoOk installed. Just as it's named, the tweak will automatically register the passcode OK button, making complex passcodes behave like simple passcode entry. As soon as the full password is entered the device will unlock.

Selecting a new wallpaper image can keep iOS looking fresh. Even better is creating a completely unique wallpaper image with the jailbreak tweak Sodium. Once installed, Sodium provides access to 27 blend modes and 16 colors, along with a variety of other options. Alpha and intensity can be adjusted to create the perfect iOS background in combination with other mods.

Users of image editing software such as Photoshop will recognize the blend modes, including Multiply, Negative, Darken, Lighten, Color Burn, Color Dodge, Soft Light, Hard Light, and many more. In fact, many of the modifications that Sodium brings to the iOS background image of your choice can be accomplished on a computer. The advantage of Sodium is that all of these options can be customized directly on a mobile device.

Looking for a quick, easy way to launch apps on the iPhone? The InstaLauncher jailbreak tweak not only looks polished but it adds a slick new interface to iOS for running apps. Instead of scrolling back and forth between several home screens and navigating folders, one gesture is all you need to bring up access to a custom list of applications.

There are several ways to customize InstaLauncher after installation from Cydia. Choosing an activator action to bring up the InstaLauncher interface is the first order of business. An alphabetical index of installed apps will appear when activated, blurring the home screen and providing instant access to app icons, favorites, and recently used apps.

Google released version 2.0 of its Maps application for iOS earlier this month. One feature that was not mentioned in the official change log is the ability to cache maps. In fact, this capability is hidden and requires a special trick to activate. Performing this one simple step will automatically pre-load the current map into your local cache, making it viewable offline.

This means if you suddenly lose your data connection the map is still available. To save a map to your iOS device, just zoom into the area you want to download then type "Ok maps" without the quotes into the Search box, then hit Search. If successful, Google maps will provide a pop-up box noting that the on-screen map area has been cached.