2012 may not have been as eventful as previous years for jailbreakers due to the lack of an untethered jailbreak for iOS 6.x.x and newer devices, however that didn’t stop iOS jailbreak developers from releasing some really cool jailbreak apps and tweaks.
While working on this post I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we’ve written more than 180 articles related to jailbreak apps and tweaks in 2012.
So without wasting much time, here’s our list of the top jailbreak tweaks and apps that were released (or covered by us) in 2012. Note: Please click on the title of the jailbreak tweak to find out more details about the jailbreak tweak:
Aero is a stylish replacement for the default iOS app switcher or multitasking bar. It comes with various animation styles such as: Linear, CoverFlow, Rotary, Wheel, Cylinder, Time Machine etc.
AnimateLockscreen brings some cool animations to iPhone’s Lock screen. It allows you to choose from 1000s of Boot logo animations that are available in Cydia.
The jailbreak tweak adds ripple effects to jailbroken iPhone and iPad’s Home screen and Lock screen.
AssistantExtensions was the mother of all Siri jailbreak tweaks. It allows you to launch apps, send tweets, enable/disable Settings toggles, control brightness, respring Springboard and lots more.
The jailbreak tweak also provided a framework for other developers to create Siri extensions, which was used by jailbreak developers to release tweaks for Siri.
iOS jailbreak developers have released a number of tweaks to replace iOS app switcher, but Auxo, which replaces the app icons in the app switcher with a card-like screenshot of the current state of the app, is easily the best app switcher replacement and our favorite jailbreak tweak of 2012.
Currently, when you tap on a link in an email in the Mail app, it opens the link in mobile Safari. It is not the best user experience as you end up exiting the Mail app.
BrowseInApp allows you to open the links within the app, which means that you don’t have to exit the Mail app. It loads the link in WebKit based browser window.
BrowserChooser – as the name suggests, allows you to change the default browser to popular third-party iOS browsers such as Google Chrome, Opera Mini, iCab Mobile, Dolphin Browser and Atomic Browser.
CallBar – one of our favorite jailbreak tweaks received a major update towards the end of 2012.
The jailbreak tweak stops calls from interrupting you by showing banner notifications when you get an incoming call instead of launching the Phone app.
CallBar v2 comes with support for iOS 6 or later, number of new features such as integration with the iOS 6 call management features, brings iOS 6 “Reply with Message” and “Remind Me Later” options to iOS 5 users, quick and easy access to the dial pad from anywhere in iOS and lots more.
CameraTweak adds additional functionality to the native Camera app such as separate Focus and exposure views, frame rate settings while video recording, timer mode etc.
Curiosa gives you a notification whenever there is an update available for the jailbreak tweaks and apps installed on your iOS device.
The jailbreak tweak allows you to add widgets to iPhone and iPad’s Home screen.
Deck allows you to quickly access Settings toggles and apps via a hot bar from your jailbroken iPhone’s SpringBoard.
A majority of jailbreak apps and tweaks available on Cydia, either add new features or enhance iOS’s functionality. Occasionally though, we also come across jailbreak tweaks that merely serve to enhance the native visual experience of the iPhone. DisplayCandy fits this category. It adds some cool animations while opening, closing and switching apps.
The jailbreak tweak brings the OS X-style banner notifications to the iPad. After installing the jailbreak tweak, the notifications show up in the top-right corner of the iPad’s screen similar to the way notifications show up on the Mac.
The jailbreak tweak allows you to blur the Notification Center background, which looks quite cool. FastBlurredNotificationCenter is a more efficient version of BlurriedNCBackground, which reduces or get rids of the delay.
Currently, you have to first tap on the x button and then tap on the Clear button to clear notifications from the Notification Center.
FastClear is a nifty little jailbreak tweak that makes it easier and faster to clear the notifications from the Notification Center by replacing the x button with the Clear button, thus enabling you to clear notifications with a single tap.
The jailbreak tweak allows you to use Siri hands-free, so you don’t have to short press on the Home button to activate it.
Ipsum allows you to quickly dismiss the notification from the lock screen, so you don’t have to open it or unlock your iOS device just to dismiss it.
If you don’t like the idea of tapping on the x button and then tapping on the Clear button, check out Lorem, it allows you to clear a notification from Notification Center with just a swipe.
The jailbreak tweak allows you to make Google Maps as the default Maps app instead of Apple’s Maps app.
MissionBoard Pro is another awesome app switcher replacement.
The jailbreak tweak brings the impressive app switcher concept created by designer Joost van der Ree to life. Swiping up at the bottom of screen displays thumbnails of apps (rather than logos) running in the background. You can scroll vertically through all the apps running in the background.
You can access music controls, volume control with the album artwork in the background, orientation toggle, brightness slider and AirPlay control (AirPlay control didn’t work properly) by simply swiping to the left after invoking MissionBoard Pro using an Activator action.
We’ve seen quite a few jailbreak tweaks that have brought some of the commonly used Settings toggles to Notification Center for quick and easy access from anywhere in the iOS. But we haven’t anything quite as sleek as NCSettings without taking too much space in the Notification Center, which is at a premium.
NCSettings brings several System Settings toggles to Notification Center such as – toggles for Wi-Fi, Volume, Brightness, Orientation Lock, Location Services, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode, and Respring to Notification Center.
NowNow
The jailbreak tweak allows you to replace Siri with Google Voice Search.
Octopus Keyboard brings BlackBerry 10 inspired keyboard to the iPhone.
Just like the BlackBerry 10 keyboard, Octopus Keyboard displays the suggested words on top of the keys as you type on the keyboard, thus allowing you to auto complete the word simply by swiping up on the appropriate key.
PaperLock replaces the slide-to-unlock feature on iPhone’s lock screen and allows you to unlock your iPhone by swiping on the Lock screen as if you’re flipping through a page in the iBooks or Kindle app.
One of the drawbacks of Apple’s Find My Phone service is that, if your iPhone is stolen, the thief can turn off your iOS device to prevent it from being tracked.
Not if you’ve PowerGuard installed. The jailbreak tweak prevents someone from turning off your iOS device.
Pull to Dismiss is a nifty little jailbreak tweak that allows you to hide the virtual keyboard, which can be useful in apps like Notes etc.
The jailbreak tweak allows you to run apps in a window that can be resized, moved, closed or expanded to full-screen mode.
This means that you can run more than one app (two seems to be the most optimal) at once on your iPad.
Have you missed an important call because you forgot to turn on the ringer on your iPhone? Wouldn’t it have been nice if you could have set the duration for which you want the ringer to be turned on, at time of turning on the mute switch?
The good news is that Ringer X VIP allows you to do just that and lots more. It allows you to customize ringing and vibration behavior for calls and text messages.
After installing SwipeBack, all you need to do is swipe on the screen from the left to right (from the left edge) to navigate back within the app. It’s a lot more intuitive than tapping on the Back button.
Swipe Safari adds tons of new gestures to mobile Safari to enhance the user experience while browsing.
While iOS’s virtual keyboard has been one of the revolutionary features of the iPhone (and iPad), Apple hasn’t added any new features other than split keyboard feature for the iPad in iOS 5.
SwipeSelection makes editing text on an iOS device a lot more easier by allowing you to drag the cursor over the keyboard with a one-finger gesture, move the cursor faster with two-finger gesture and allow you to select text while dragging by holding down the shift key.
Unfold replaces the slide to unlock feature with a cool fold to unlock animation to reveal the Home screen.
If you like the idea of changing the boring carrier logo with a Batman or Superman logo then check out Zeppelin – a jailbreak tweak that lets you change the carrier logo on your jailbroken iPhone.
The jailbreak tweak brings cool animations to Notification Center.
That’s it, those are our top picks for 2012. If we’ve missed a must-have jailbreak tweak or app, then please don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below.
We hope that in 2013, the list will be even bigger. It will also be interesting to see which of these make it to iOS 7.
