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Apple released iOS 7 beta 2 to developers right on schedule, two weeks after the original dropped at WWDC. Most developers originally thought the upgrade would only bring speed and performance improvements, but a host of new features are already being discovered. One big discovery includes the addition of contact photos in group conversations. This is a feature iOS users have been wanting for a long time, and one of the few perks jailbreakers have been enjoying thanks to tweaks like ChatPic or Copic. You can also now choose to have nicknames enabled so they will appear in group chats instead of the person's actual name.

Unfortunately, the contact photos only appear in group messages, but hopefully Apple will add them to all messages and texts before iOS 7 is released. The stock Message app also received a few visual tweaks like a larger Send button, and a new send animation. Other tweaks discovered in iOS 7 beta 2 include Siri's new male voice, and a return of the stock Voice Memos app which disappeared in the original beta.

After taking on Twitter by introducing 15-second video to Instagram, Facebook has set its sights on the popular mobile application Flipboard. According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, the social media giant has been working on a new service called "Reader". Facebook Reader will display content from Facebook users and publishers in an aggregated format, much like the popular iOS app Flipboard already does. Evelyn M. Rusli of the WSJ said Facebook has been working on the mobile app for more than a year, and that they are focused on building it for Apple's operating system.

Flipboard is a social network reader that allows users to easily collect and flip through content from popular websites. The Flipboard iOS app already offers both Twitter and Facebook support, so it is hard to see why people will want to switch to a Facebook-branded news reader. Especially since Team Zuckerberg's track record with mobile services has not been very good this year. Facebook Home hasn't really taken off, and not to mention, how many Facebook apps does one person really need?

Quick Response (QR) codes are supported by many iPhone apps, but iOS has no built-in ability to read or generate the codes. The jailbreak tweak NativeQR seeks to change all that, by adding native QR code support to iOS. After installation, the stock Camera app will include an option to Enable QR in the same menu as HDR and Panorama.

Turning this on makes it possible to scan and recognize a QR code directly with the camera, no third-party app required. As soon as a QR code enters the field of view and is recognized, the link appears and an option to copy the text is presented. If you're not interested in the QR code just tap Cancel. No special action besides focusing on the QR code with the camera is required.

iPhone owners no longer have to be jealous of the fancy Android unlock. Adding a pattern unlock to the iOS lock screen is only a jailbreak tweak away. PatternUnlock brings this fully customizable experience to the iPhone, replacing the default boring passcode lock. For those who haven't seen the Android version, it allows users to access their devices by simply drawing a pattern to connect points in a grid.

Unlike Stride, which makes it possible to draw a free-form unlock pattern, PatternUnlock offers a grid of nine points to connect. Once installed, PatternUnlock provides a variety of settings just like the default passcode lock on the iPhone. The feature can be disabled completely, but when activated it will bypass the normal passcode.

Keyboard enhancements are no stranger to the iPhone. Besides cosmetic changes to the iOS keyboard, many jailbreak tweaks are aimed at simplifying and speeding up touch screen text entry. AltKeyboard and SwipeSelection are two popular examples. Now The Quick Brown Fox has arrived on Cydia, promising to further improve typing.

Once installed, there are three features of The Quick Brown Fox that can be configured on your iOS device. The first is Auto Twins, which automatically pairs certain characters. For example, typing a parentheses "(" will output "()" every time. While this can be useful, the cursor must be moved to the middle of the pair before adding text between the parentheses. With SwipeSelection installed this is easier to do.