Tips

Remember when your old cellular phone had a blinking status light? Some models even flashed when there was an incoming call or text. These days the iPhone is capable of giving you similar visual alerts when you aren't looking at the display.

Accessibility options are designed to help make the iPhone more useful to those with disabilities, of course many of the features are useful to anyone who owns the device. The iPhone flash can be used as an alert notification all on its own. Incoming calls can transform the LED on the back of the handset into a flashing beacon.

Wouldn’t it be great if your iPhone knew when you didn’t want to be disturbed automatically? Now the jailbreak tweak MyVibe offers several options to control Do Not Disturb (DND) settings and vibration based on the device’s position in space. The feature Upside Down Silencer automatically puts the iPhone in DND mode any time the device is placed face down on a flat surface.

This means silencing your iPhone temporarily is as simple as placing it down in the right position. There are other features of the tweak available from the Settings -> MyVibe menu. Table Vibrate is similar to the upside down silencer, however in this case the tweak will only stop vibration when the iPhone is horizontal.

iMessage has brought more convenience and features to iOS users since Apple introduced the feature in October 2011. With the ability to communicate directly between iOS devices and OS X desktop computers, the service can save iPhone users text message charges as well.

One of the highlights of iMessage is an ellipsis (…) that appears in a grey bubble when the person you’re communicating with is typing a response. This makes the whole experience more like an instant messenger client with real-time chat. The jailbreak tweak TypeStatus takes this concept a step further.

Texting can be quick and convenient, but sometimes things are better accomplished on a phone call. When viewing a contact's text messages in the Messages app, iOS does provide a Call button which dials the person whose texts you're reading. The problem with the Call button is its location, all the way at the top of all the messages.

When there's a long thread of texts, it takes some time to scroll up to reach the Call, Contact Info, and Load Earlier Messages buttons. Thanks to the tweak RaiseToCall, this problem is solved on jailbroken iPhones by adding a feature found on the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Those with jailbroken iPhones have become accustomed to customizing the look and feel of their devices. Now even the lock screen can be altered thanks to the tweak Vexil. Once installed, Vexil thanks you for purchasing the package by immediately modifying your lock screen.

To change things more to your own personal liking, navigate to Settings -> Vexil. Here the tweak provides a plethora of options and settings, from the default lock screen look to the outrageous. You have control over the appearance of elements such as the Top Bar, Bottom Bar and more.