How to enable Guest Mode on iPhone/ iPad or iPod Touch

While multiple user account support exists on OS X and certain Android devices, the same cannot be said for iPhone. Enter GuestMode, a new jailbreak tweak by computer science graduate student Ian Burns that offers a fully customizable guest experience like none other.

Allow your kids to play games on your smartphone without accidentally calling someone, or let your friends control your music without lurking through your Facebook or Photos app. Find out how it works… 

GuestMode adds a dedicated menu to the Settings app with a main toggle switch for enabling the tweak, alongside a number of options to configure. There are several methods that can be enabled for entering guest mode from the Lock screen: tapping a guest button added to the passcode keypad, swiping to the left or right on the Lock screen, or assigning an Activator action or gesture. A passcode can also be set specifically for guest mode.

The guest mode experience is highly tailored based on the restrictions that you set. You can choose which apps to enable, and control access to the Camera, Control Center, Notification Center, Siri, Spotlight, Newsstand, phone dialer and app switcher. Apps that are blocked off will appear greyed out on the Home screen, while elements like Control Center and Notification Center are hidden entirely.

Even though guest mode enhances the privacy of your device, it is not a full-stop solution. For instance, if the Photos app is enabled, a guest could still use the share sheet and gain partial access to Mail, Facebook, Twitter and so forth via that route. All activity carried out on guest mode is not isolated, either, meaning that all game saves or other changes apply to the entire device. But until Apple implements multiple user accounts as a stock feature, this tweak is probably the next best solution.

For the most part, GuestMode performed well on my iPhone. The only minor issue I experienced was the Newsstand icon still remaining greyed out when I unlocked my device outside of guest mode, which is something I resolved with a simple respring. Other users have noted a bug where the Phone app crashes when pressing the voicemail button, although I have not been able to duplicate the problem.

GuestMode is available now on the Cydia Store for 99 cents. iOS 7 or later is required.

Is guest mode for iPhone something you’ve been looking forward to?

JellyLock7 Review for iOS 7

The original JellyLock was an extremely popular jailbreak tweak, because it brought the Android Jelly Bean styled Lock screen to iOS. Now, a new version of JellyLock has just been released, and it sports compatibility with iOS 7.

The appropriately name JellyLock7 is available right now for download. Like its predecessor, it adds some of the conveniences brought to the fore by the popular Android OS. Have a look at our full video walkthrough inside to see the iOS 7 version of JellyLock in action.

JellyLock7 allows you to assign up to five different application shortcuts to your Lock screen. Each application shortcut icon is capable of displaying badges to count missed notifications. There’s also a method of launching apps directly via a method not unlike the camera launcher on the Lock screen. This allows you to open apps without having to unlock your device.

Of course, there are many customization options to switch up the look and feel of JellyLock7 as well. You can change the outside circle size, color, and alpha settings among other visual changes. JellyLock7 gives you the option of hiding the camera slider shortcut and disabling the default unlock swipe method.

Whenever you make any changes to JellyLock7 by means of the tweak’s preferences, you’ll have to use the respring button located near the tweak’s kill switch toggle. If there’s one negative aspect of this tweak, this would be it. Many tweaks today are making strides to avoid resprings, but with JellyLock7 you must respring with every single settings adjustment.

To add apps to the Lock screen, you’ll need to go into JellyLock7′s app shortcut panel. From there, you can assign up to five applications to display as shortcuts on the Lock screen. Each shortcut has a number assigned (one through five) and the lower the number, the closer it appears to the left side of the Lock screen and vice versa. All of the apps that appear on the Lock screen are automatically balanced for a symmetrical look.

It should be noted that JellyLock7 works on jailbroken iPads as well. In fact, there’s a setting contained within the tweak’s preferences for adjusting JellyLock for the iPad’s landscape mode. When you enter landscape mode on the iPad, the grabber will move to the right side of the screen for easy thumb access. You can instead choose to enable the landscape left toggle to reposition the grabber to the left side of the screen.

One of the most remarkable features of JellyLock is its price. For a tweak that has gone through many iterations and beta testing, Max Katzmann, the tweak’s developer, has made JellyLock completely free on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. True, he gave away the initial version of JellyLock free of charge as well, but it’s nice of him to continue to give his hard work away without a cost.

JellyLock7 is a solid jailbreak tweak that adds real value to the iOS 7 Lock screen. With it being free, I unequivocally recommend that you check it out. Let me know what you think about the tweak in the comments section below.

Flex 2: create your own jailbreak tweaks for iOS 7

Many of us would love to develop our own apps, tweaks and learn programming, but like our aspirations to master a new language, pick up a new instrument or go to Australia, issues such as time, money and work often prevent these things from happening. But a tweak called Flex has long since given those with little knowledge of code the ability to create their own patches, and with a thriving community having helped to make the sequel – aptly named Flex 2 – a reality, those of you looking to create your own iOS mods can continue to do so with ease.

If I were to speak of every single way that Flex 2 can manipulate your device, I would certainly be here all day, but it’s fair to say that, if you’ve ever had a niggling issue with the way an app or feature looks or behaves, then Flex 2 is your key to doing something about it.

Flex 2 for iOS 7

iOS is inherently restricted. Not only in the fact that it’s closed source to the point where developers can’t access core features, but it seems that the Cupertino has a rather bemusing knack for imposing limits on elements almost arbitrarily. For example, while the Mail app has somewhat improved over the last few iOS revisions, you’re still limited to sending only five images at once via email from Photos app, if you’ve always found this to be a hindrance to the general experience, you can use Flex 2 to set the limit to 1000 photos via email, should you so wish.

Of course, this is an extreme example, but this Cydia tweak doesn’t seem to know limits. Almost anything you don’t like the look of, or wish to change, can be done with Flex 2. From altering the size of the Siri window to adding timestamps to every correspondence in the Messages app, this tweak gives you the freedom to modify things on your own terms.

As per the release notes, the dedicated users of Flex have already created some 6,000 working patches for altering the behavior and look of certain segments of the iOS interface, so if you check out the Flex Community Cloud upon installing Flex 2, the chances are, someone’s probably already done the (admittedly menial) work for you.

Patch Editor for Flex 2

Flex 2 costs $3.99 over at the BigBoss repo, and while this is certainly at the higher end of the tweak pricing bracket, it’s also a one-off opportunity to mod your device by creating the patches that you specifically require.

Controllers for All : Use your PS3 Controller to play iOS Games

Controllers for All

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is not a joke, nor is it a dream. The Jailbreaking community has done it again by reimaginating how we use our ps3 controllers.

Yes, finally after years of wait you can now play your favorite ios games on your Jailbroken  device.This means that any game that supports a MFi (Made for iPhone) controller in iOS 7, is now fully playable with the Dual Shock 3, no cumbersome configuration required.

Controllers for All really is a game changing tweak for gamers, no pun intended. It also means that you no longer have to shell out your hard earned dough to support the half-baked hardware controller efforts we’ve seen thus far.

Folks, seriously; this tweak is reason enough alone to jailbreak. It basically turns your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into a full-fledged legitimate gaming console. And this is just the beginning, as its developer, Ori Kadosh, promises that even more controllers, like the Dual Shock 4, will be supported in future updates.

Heres a little something for you to watch.

Once you install Controllers for All on your jailbroken device, it’s just a matter of pairing your PS3 controller with your iOS device. In order to do this, you’ll need to use a utility called SixPair. This utility can be downloaded for the Mac, PC, or Linux.

SixPair Utility. Image from www.idownloadblog.com

The pairing only needs to be done once, and the SixPair download and instructions for pairing your device can be found here. You’ll need to connect both your PS3 controller and the iOS device to your Mac, PC, or Linux box before proceeding.

Once you have your PS3 controller paired to your iOS device, you’ll need to disable the standard Bluetooth connection on your device, because Controllers for All utilizes the BTstack. Just go into Control Center and turn off the Bluetooth toggle. After Bluetooth has been disabled, fire up your MFi controller enabled game, and press the PS button on the face of the PS3 controller when prompted.

Controllers for All Notification

Most games have a note in their description denoting whether or not they have MFi controller support built in. Most of the new games that are coming out have the support built in, but you can always do a simple Google search to see whether or not your favorite game has the support.

For my testing, i played Asphalt 8 and it just worked beautifully and all out of the box. I did not even have to change a single setting. 

Although not every game supports controllers throughout the entirety of the experience, but I suppose that as time goes on, developers will be more diligent about including support from beginning to end.

Controllers for All doesn’t feature much in the way of settings, but that’s because the tweak truly does pride itself on being as straightforward and plug-and-play as possible. You will find an option to suppress the pairing notifications that you receive when firing up a game, but that’s about it.

Controllers for All Settings

Controllers for All is a $1.99 download from Cydia’s ModMyi repo, and at that price I feel that it’s an absolute bargain. As I stated before, for $1.99, you can unlock an extreme amount of value out of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. It’s like having a new gaming console that works like real consoles do. And I haven’t even touched on the prospects of hooking up your device to an Apple TV enabled television. Can you say authentic console experience? I can!

iOS 7 controller compatible games

Here is a Reddit link containing a list of all of the compatible iOS 7 controller compatible games. Special thanks to iPhone Guru for the link.

Let me know what you think about Controllers for All in the comment section below.

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Happy Playing!

Ayecon is now Updated for iOS 7; A must for Themers

Ayecon for iOS 7

If you’ve been into jailbreaking and theming for any decent amount of time, you’ve surely heard of the legendary Ayecon theme. This is a theme that set the standard for detail when Retina displays were still a relatively new feat in the mobile device industry.

A lot has changed since Ayecon first came riding over that hill on its white horse, reinvigorating the stagnant theming space in the process.

Flat is in, skeuomorphism is hated (and dead). So where does Ayecon fit in with this wave of change? Will Surenix, its designer, abandon the style that made Ayecon a success in the name of staying with the trend? Or, will he instead, stick to what made Ayecon work?

The answer to that question is obvious if you’ve seen the screenshots accompanying this post. Of course, Ayecon won’t abandon its skeuomorphic style in favor of iOS’ new direction; it bucks the trend and does so proudly.

If you hate iOS 7′s icons then you’ll feel right at Home with Ayecon for iOS 7. It brings back the familiarity that was a staple of iOS for six successful generations. Ayecon is still one of the, if not the most detailed themes to ever hit Cydia. Super high resolution displays are the norm these days, so the effects are not as eye-popping as they once were, but it still looks awesome.

Look at the insanely great details in the ayecon theme for iOS 7.

You’ll notice the incredible detail on every single stock iOS app icons. Even third party applications, cydia or otherwise, get the Ayecon treatment. You’ll notice apps like Instagram, iFile, Dropbox, and many others, all benefit from Ayecon’s insane level of detail.

Ayecon features:

• Auto-app mask for all App Store and Cydia apps
• 100+ re-designed icons
• Gorgeous new (classic) dock
• 9 beautiful high-resolution wallpapers
• Status bar icons
• SMS bubble enhancement
• PSD file (to create your own icons using ayecon’s style)

For apps that haven’t yet been themed, they’ll still fit in well with the overall style. This is because Ayecon applies an auto app mask to every single app icon on your screen. The mask lends a three dimensional effect to the app icons and gets rid of the flat style that permeates the whole of iOS 7.

Skeuomorphic haters apply here

But what if you’re like me, and you prefer the look of iOS 7? What to do then? My advice is to enjoy the other aspects of Ayecon while using the iOS 7 app icons. This means that you can still reap the benefits of the changes to the dock, status bar, wallpaper, and messages without having to use the skeuomorphic hyper-detailed app icons that are the theme’s hallmark.

It may seem a little sacrilegious to promote using Ayecon without using the app icons that the theme is known for, but skeuomorphism is a very polarizing subject. I mentioned this to Surenix, and even he agreed; there’s still a lot to benefit from even if you don’t want to use Ayecon’s app icons.

The dock

The best argument for using Ayecon, outside of the tweak’s namesake feature, is for its dock. The Ayecon dock is more akin to the dock present in pre-iOS 7 devices. It brings the sense of having more breathing room to play with. It’s much like the effect that happens when you tear down a wall in the house t open up the living space; it makes the iPhone 5s and other 4″ screen devices seem taller.

Stock iOS 7 dock on the left, Ayecon’s dock on the right

The status bar

If you hate the new dots that represent the signal strength in iOS 7, then you’ll appreciate the status bar that comes with Ayecon. Surenix’s theme brings the cleaner looking status bar present on pre-iOS 7 devices. This feature, just like the dock, can be independently enabled or disabled via WinterBoard.

Stock iOS 7 status bar on the left, Ayceon on the right

Wallpapers

Ayecon for iOS 7 comes with nine new wallpapers that accentuate the look and feel of the theme. Each of these wallpapers can be enabled via the stock Settings app > Wallpapers & Brightness.

Nine new and amazing wallpapers courtesy of Ayecon.

Messages bubbles

The is one of the more subtle features of Ayecon’s theme, and it too can be enabled independently in WinterBoard’s settings. The message bubbles with Ayecon have a more squared off look, but it’s hard to tell the difference without comparing each side-by-side.

Stock iOS 7 messaging app on the left, Ayecon messanger on the right

Troubleshooting

WinterBoard, being just recently updated to work with iOS 7 and the arm64 devices like the iPhone 5s, still has its fair share of bugs and fixes in store. Saurik acknowledges as much on WinterBoards’s Cydia page. With that said, the only issue that I encountered while testing out Ayecon was a simple caching problem. If you notice that some of the features don’t show up when you have Ayecon installed and enabled, try the following:

Step 1: Open iFile, and go to /private/var/mobile/Library/Caches/com.apple.UIStatusbar

Step 2: Delete all of the files located in this directory

Step 3: Respring your device

Doing this should clear up any caching issues that occur when enabled or disabling certain features of the theme.

Conclusion

I always make it a rule to be up front with you guys, so I’m going to be honest about how I plan on using Ayecon. As you know, I’m not a big fan of skeuomorphism. I used to like it, but ever since iOS 7, I prefer the cleaner look. This doesn’t mean that I won’t use Ayecon on my daily driver, I’ll just use it without enabling the SpringBoard option in WinterBoard. This means that I can enjoy the other benefits of Ayecon, namely the dock, without having to give up the flat icon style prevalent throughout the whole of iOS 7.

Ayecon Looks really amazing

Even years after its initial debut, Ayecon is still one of the gold standards of iOS theming, and a great example of how to go about the process for those keen on creating themes. If you’re interested in giving it a try, then head over to Cydia’s BigBoss repo where it can be had for $2.99. If you’ve already purchased Ayecon for iOS 6, then Ayecon for iOS 7 is a free update. Be sure to share your thoughts down below in the comments.

Evasi0n7 1.0.4 brings security update and fix for Retina iPad mini

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s release of evasi0n7 1.0.3, evad3rs today pushed another update to the iOS 7 jailbreak tool. evasi0n7 1.0.4 provides important untether security updates as well as a fix for the iPad mini with Retina display issues.

This is the second evasion update in two days. Yesterday’s release was also supposed to provide a fix for the boot loop issue that some Retina iPad mini users were affected by, yet many still encountered the problem. As the evad3rs note, evasi0n7 1.0.4 will hopefully fix this problem once and for all…

Current users already using a jailbroken device will receive this important security update via Cydia. At the time of writing, the update is not available on Cydia, but by the time you read this, Saurik will have likely refreshed his repo and the update should be visible.

As always, you can download evasi0n7 1.0.4 by clicking here.

If you were having the reboot issue on your iPad mini, please make sure to let us know if this update finally fixed the problem for you.

Oh and also check out our Facebook page here and be sure to tell your friends about itechnoblog.

iOS 7.1 beta 3 doesn’t patch evasi0n7 jailbreak

With today’s release of iOS 7.1 Beta 3, many people feared that exploits used in the Evasi0n 7 Jailbreak would be patched. As it appears, and even though evasi0n7 cannot jailbreak iOS 7.1 beta 3 as is, Apple didn’t patch evasi0n7.

Although official members of the evad3rs still have to talk about it, the news has been confirmed by hacker iH8sn0w in a recent tweet…

From what we hear, there is even an unofficial updated version of evasi0n7 making the rounds online, apparently developed by a team of Russian hackers. We don’t really know much more at this time, but I believe Jeff is currently trying out this unsanctioned version of evasi0n7 on a test device. You may want to check back iDB later for more details on that.

Even though iOS 7.1 beta 3 doesn’t patch evasi0n7, it’s hard to believe that the software will make it out to the general public in this state. As always, time will tell.

How to Jailbreak iOS 7.1 Beta 3 Untethered using Evasi0n

A modified version of the Evasi0n Jailbreaking Tool began making its rounds around the internet this afternoon. This unofficial version of Evasi0n7 was created in order to jailbreak the just released iOS 7.1 beta 3.

One of the first things I tried when iOS 7.1 Beta 3 dropped was run the latest official version of Evasi0n7. I was quickly (and unsurprisingly I might add) met with an error message stating: Sorry, the version of iOS (11D5127c) of the attached device is not supported.

You can probably tell where this post is going. Indeed, I decided to take the plunge and see if the “unofficial” version of Evasi0n7 could legitimately jailbreak iOS 7.1 beta 3. After about 15 minutes of testing, I can state that the answer to that question is yes.

Although we definitely can’t, and frankly don’t recommend that anyone use an unofficial version of the Evasi0n jailbreak tool, we aren’t naive, and we know that many are going to simply do it anyway. For that reason, we felt it might be beneficial to verify whether or not the tool works. Have a look inside for the proof.

Again, this modified version hasn’t been sanctioned by the Evad3rs and we cannot vouch for its safety. If in doubt, it may be wise not to use this tool

You can download the unofficial version of Evasi0n7 for iOS 7.1 beta 3 from here

If you decide to jailbreak iOS 7.1 beta 3, let us know any observations you make in the comment section below.