The iTunes and App Stores make up an integral part of Apple's success in the portable music, smartphone and tablet markets, generating much revenue for the company even after the device has been purchased.
One of the most talked about Cydia tweaks so far in 2012 has to be the fabulous Zeppelin modification by developer Alex Zielenski, which offers users the ability to not only set a custom image to display in place of the carrier name, but also to easily create and add their own logos of whatever they desire. Since Zeppelin was released, we have been having lots of fun with it, downloading logo packs from Cydia and seeing all of the excellent offerings which the community has created, but we thought it was about time Redmond Pie was represented in Zeppelin.
One of the hot topics surrounding not only iOS, but mobile operating systems in general is data security and privacy. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of discussion on the world wide web about mobile applications accessing data without permission or prior notice, as well as independent reports about users being able to launch FaceTime calls and gain access to certain contact information on an iOS device. Only last week, we were also able to view a report from the University of California which used the PiOS tool to show us that official App Store applications leaked more data than their Cydia based counterparts. When all of this information is put together, it hasn't been a very good two weeks for the reputation surrounding iOS security.
Jailbreaking iOS devices opens it up to a whole new world of apps and tweaks that let you customize your device to make it look and work the way you want it (and not how those folks up at Cupertino decide it to). While there plenty of game-changing apps/tweaks out there, I feel that it’s the smaller ones - the one-trick ponies that change the way how one small aspect of your device looks/works like - that make things better.
The Cydia store contains a wide range of offerings from developers from all works of life. Some of the software in Cydia is uploaded by teenagers, some by indie developers, some by security researchers and some of the more professional pickings in Cydia are submitted by development houses who do this as a profession. One of those development houses is CocoaNuts, who are a small team of developers dedicated to creating tweaks for iOS which put powerful functionality in the hands of users.
The latest version of iOS - iOS 5 - packs some pretty nifty features that aren’t readily-available on other platforms such as Android. To get these features on Google’s popular mobile platform, you have to search forums, go through social websites and (attempt to) find diamonds in the coal mine that is the Android Market. It’s not a very pleasant thing to do, so we decided that in order to make things easier for our lovely readers, we’d do the research and compile a list of apps that allow you to enjoy some of iOS 5’s best features on Android. Check them out after the jump!
Perhaps one of the most popular, but simple tweaks in the last few months is Zeppelin modification which is available through the ModMyi repository in Cydia. The tweak provides a small aesthetic enhancement to a jailbroken iOS device by allowing a custom logo to be set in place of the default carrier logo. Zeppelin is similar in functionality to that of Fake Operator and MakeItMine, except it allows total customization over the logo as long as the set graphic is within the space confinements.
One of the main driving forces behind users performing a jailbreak on their iOS device is the fact that it gives the ability to modify the feel and appearance of the operating system. As a company, Apple are a champion of innovative design and their current range of hardware is amongst the most beautifully designed out there, but a growing number of users feel the need to modify the stock interface elements to better suit their individual tastes.
The beta release of Apple's new Messages app for the Mac may have a hidden secret, and it's one that could make getting files onto an iOS device as easy as 1,2,3. Apple recently made the beta release of its new Messages app available to the public, with the beta tag offering a sign that the app isn't quite complete just yet. While there will no doubt be visual tweaks as well as under the hood changes, we're also expecting new features to arrive before the app ships as a part of the new release of OS X - Mountain Lion.
Ask any seasoned jailbreaker and they will be able to tell you that the Cydia Store is literally jam-packed full of themes and aesthetic customizations which are designed to make an iPhone or iPad look as different as possible from the native iOS look. This isn't because designers believe there is anything wrong with the visuals in iOS per se, but jailbreaking is about the freedom to alter and change the way a stock iOS device looks and behaves, and producing themes is one way to drastically do that.
