Jailbreaking

The jailbreak tweak OneHandWizard replaces default Reachability behavior with a completely new interface. This interface is designed to knock the socks off of Reachability, providing robust features for those with larger devices like the iPhone 6 Plus. Once installed, OneHandWizard will appear using the same home button double tap used by Reachability.

What happens next is completely different. A full-screen interface of the iPhone screen is displayed, reduced in size to accommodate one-handed use. Swiping on the background moves this interface to the left or right side of the display, making it customizable for right or left handed usage. The interface can also be adjusted in size, by simply grabbing the corner of OneHandWizard.

Multify adds a quick app switcher and true multitasking to iOS 8 devices. Jailbreakers can use several different modes to run multiple apps simultaneously. The key to this function is Edit Activation which allows the user to place windows for running apps anywhere on the screen, and resize them. These windows will function independently, with each running app being fully accessible just like on a desktop computer.

The Launch Activation feature provides access to the Multify launcher, where favorite app icons can be placed at the top of the screen. Running apps from here will keep them open in the background, which makes switching between apps quick and convenient. When app windows are small, the keyboard will automatically expand to make typing in the selected app perform as normal.

Theming the iOS home screen with the help of tools like WinterBoard is a favorite pastime of jailbreakers. The tweak Vex brings customizations specifically designed for the Notification Center and Control Center. Using these themes can dramatically change this part of iOS 8.

Vex comes with a list of included themes for each section. For example, Notification Center comes with Classic, Default, Modern or Wood themes. When it comes to the Control Center, there are 10 options, including throwback Classic and iOS 7 options. Themes are previewed right in the Settings under Vex -> Configuration.

The iPhone typically registers a keystroke by providing a sound effect and popping up the key pressed. This zooming animation confirms the right key was entered, by providing a visual cue. While the keyboard clicks can be silenced under Settings -> Sounds, turning off the animations requires a jailbreak tweak.

NoKeyPop brings this functionality to the iPhone, by removing the zoomed in key preview entirely. This means when keys are entered they do not react. For hiding keystrokes from potential spies this can be an important tool. Having keystrokes highlighted when entering a password, for example is not ideal.

iPhone owners looking to get system stats can add an array of meters directly to the Notification Center. Stock iOS hides much of this information from the user, but NCMeters seeks to change this on jailbroken devices. In addition to free storage space, additional information can be added at a glance.

Meters to choose from include CPU usage, RAM available, free disk space, upload speed and download speed. Once the tweak is installed from Cydia, these meters can be enabled, disabled and reordered under Settings -> NCMeters. Customizations include different colors for both the meter icons and text.