How To Get The Best iOS 6 Features On iOS 5 Right Now

After including major missing features in iOS 3, 4 and 5, iOS 6 has turned out to be more of an incremental update than anything else. Other than Maps, there are no downright mind-blowing features. Everything iOS 6-related announced by Forstall at WWDC 2012, we’ve seen in one form or another whether as a Cydia tweak or a minor feature on other platforms.
Yes, I am tad disappointed at how things turned out at the event. I went through the iOS 6 keynote, wrote down every new feature mentioned in it and found that most of these features are available in iOS 5. They are definitely more scattered and less polished, but the functionality is there and that’s what we will be discussing in this post: how to get iOS 6’s best features on iOS 5 right now.

New Siri Features
Believe it or not, Siri’s new features – including the ability to take sports-related queries and local searching in newer countries – have already been implemented in one way or the other with tweaks from Cydia.
Let’s start with sports: SiriSports tweak, free from Cydia under ModMyi, lets you make queries related to NBA, MLB and NHL from Siri. You can look up match timings, statistics and scores with phrases like Did The Giants win last night?, just like it was shown in the WWDC keynote.

Sireet, free from Cydia under ModMyi, lets you use Siri to tweet. Just saying Tweet [your actual tweet] and Siri will do the rest.

Last but not least, those of you in unsupported countries can install International Locations for Siri($0.99, BigBoss repo) to get local search.

There are many other Siri tweaks available with go well beyond its limited built-in feature-set. You can search for them on our site using the search function in the right column.

Siri for iPad
Siri on the iPad is something which we’ve been looking forward to for ages! Well, not exactly ages, but since the launch of the iPhone 4S and iOS 5. We knew Apple would eventually bring Siri on other devices, but didn’t know it would happen this quickly.And now, Siri has finally made its way onto the iPad with iOS 6. But there’s one problem, iOS 6’s launch is a bit far away, and only the 3rd-gen iPad is supported to work with Siri.
Fear not, the jailbreak community has us covered with a tweak called Spire, which brings Siri to the iPad. But there’s one small catch, it doesn’t support iOS 5.1.x and will work on devices running iOS 5.0.1 or earlier, which also means that it won’t support the new 3rd-gen iPad right out of the box even if it’s jailbroken.
The devices supported by Spire are; iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch and the first and second generation iPads.

Do Not Disturb
We discussed a Cydia tweak called BannerDisable (free, BigBoss repo) just a few days ago here. Just like the iOS 6 feature, it lets you turn off all push notifications with a flip of a toggle from the native Settings app.

It doesn’t come with the “fine-grain control” that is offered in iOS 6’s Do Not Disturb feature. We suspect the developer will update their app to make use of user-interest in Do Not Disturb until Apple’s version of it releases under iOS 6 this fall.

FaceTime over Cellular
FaceBreak ($1.99, BigBoss repo) has been in Cydia for almost two years now. As the name implies, it lets you make FaceTime calls over 3G.

This results in reduced picture quality but, let’s be honest, it’s better than not being able to make a call at all, right?

Full-screen Mode in Safari
FullScreen For Safari ($1.99, BigBoss Repo) is another one of Cydia’s famous old tweaks. To make better use of the 3.5” Retina display, it lets you view webpages without the intrusive bar at the bottom.The tweak is actually better than the official iOS 6 feature as it lets you view full screen in not just landscape orientation but also portrait! Also, let’s not forget that you can enable OS X-like multitouch gestures for Safari with the same tweak.



Pull To Refresh in Mail app
Because of it’s intuitive-ness, Tweetie’s Pull to Refresh feature has made its way through hundreds of other apps such as Facebook, Tweetbot, Sparrow etc. Now Apple has taken notice of it and included it in their Mail app.

The vibrant jailbreak community understood this before Apple and as such, a tweak named Pull to Refresh Mail (free, BigBoss repo) was introduced many, many months ago.



Turn by Turn Navigation
One of iOS’ biggest shortcomings, especially when compared to Android, was its lack of turn-by-turn navigation feature. Until its introduction in iOS 6, however, users had plenty of options in the form of third-party apps.

The most well-regarded in this case is TomTom’s official app which costs a whopping $59.99, but the free, crowd-sourced Waze also does a pretty splendid job.

Upload Photos from Safari

It’s not as elegantly designed as Apple’s feature in iOS 6, but it gets the job done. On sites that give you the option, Safari Upload Enabler ($1.99, BigBoss repo) will let you choose a photo/video using a file browser like on a desktop PC.

3D MapsThe most anticipated and one of the hottest features in iOS 6 has to be 3D Maps. Giving Google Maps the thumbs down in iOS 6, Apple has stepped up to the roster and implemented their very-own in-house implementation of the Maps app which sports mind-blowing 3D renders of numerous cities around the globe.

Quite unfortunately, there aren’t many apps in the App Store which provide the same results as Apple’s own implementation, but if you’re rocking an iPad then the UpNext HD Maps app is your best bet to get the same Apple-esque results. The only downside of the app is; no support for the iPhone nor the iPod touch.

Google announced at the start of this month that they will be bringing a dedicated Maps app to iOS which will bring 3D maps to the masses, which is a clear sign that Google is also stepping up its game to compete with Apple’s invention. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for this one.

Facebook Integration
Facebook Integration in iOS 6? Hah! The jailbreak community released a tweak called Fusion ($2, BigBoss repo) two months ago that not only integrates Facebook in iOS, but also MySpace and Foursquare so you can share photos, links and more just like you would with Twitter.

You can even update your status on these networks with the Siri integration that comes with Fusion.

Upload Photo to Facebook using native Photos app

This is a feature we’ve all been yearning for a long time now, and it’s there in iOS 6 by default, and thankfully the jailbreak community has us covered in this department as well. With a tweak called FacebookThis – free from the BigBoss repo – it allows you to upload photos and images directly from the native Photos app.

Do you have any other tweaks/apps in mind which let you enjoy iOS 6’s features right now? If so, name them in the comments section.

Jailbreak iOS 6 Beta On iPhone And iPod touch (A4 Devices) Using Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1

The jailbreak community and the technology loving world have been talking about it for quite a while now, discussing what they believed would and wouldn’t be included in Apple’s overhaul of iOS. The Worldwide Developers Conference pretty much confirmed or dismissed all of the speculation, leaving us with the first beta of Apple’s iOS 6 software to get our teeth into.
As is the case with nearly all new iOS updates these days, all limera1nable A4 based devices and below like the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4G, iPhone 3GS can now be jailbroken (tethered-only) using the just released Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1.

Before you go ahead with this tethered jailbreak guide below, it must be noted that:

• Jailbreak is meant for developers who are looking to fix bugs in their broken tweaks/apps.
• iOS 6 beta is currently available to registered developers of iOS Dev Center only.
• Cydia wont be installed.
• Jailbreak is compatible with A4 devices only.
• Hacktivation is not supported.

Step 1: Download the latest version of the iPhone Dev Team’s Redsn0w tool, make sure to get the right compatible version for your operating system. [Windows | Mac]

Step 2: Locate the downloaded Redsn0w zip file and uncompress the contents to a familiar location.

Step 3: Download iOS 6 beta IPSW firmware file legally from iOS Dev Center only. Make sure that the downloaded firmware file is specific to the device you are attempting to jailbreak. Once you have downloaded the firmware file, restore it on your device using either Xcode or iTunes.

Note: Before going through any jailbreak process it is always good practice to make a full backup of the device contents. Connect the iDevice to iTunes via a USB cable and make a complete backup through the normal process. If preferred, an iCloud backup can be made.

Step 4: Run the Redsn0w executable file and select ‘Extras‘ from the main interface before clicking the ‘Select IPSW‘ option.

Step 5: Locate and select the iOS 6 beta firmware file.

Step 6: On the main interface of Redsn0w, select the ‘Jailbreak‘ option.

Step 7: The rest of the process is pretty self explanatory, with Redsn0w providing on-screen prompts relating to the jailbreak procedure. The only user interaction required is to put the connected device into DFU mode so make sure to follow the steps on screen exactly.

Step 8: When DFU mode is detected by Redsn0w, the rest of the process will be automatically completed by the software. As you’d expect, the jailbreak is tethered-boot, which means; if you come across an instance that your device loses power or restarts, then you would have to boot it into the jailbroken state again. The process of booting it back into the jailbroken state is quite simple actually, simply plug in your device to your PC or Mac, fire up Redsn0w, click on the "Extras" button on screen and then simply click on "Just Boot" and follow the on-screen instructions.

Again, Cydia wont be installed. This is because it is currently not ready for iOS 6 yet. The only way to access the device is through SSH or afc2. As MuscleNerd has said in the official blog post, “ If you don’t know what either of those are, you shouldn’t be using this developer version of redsn0w!”

iOS 6 Beta Has Been Jailbroken On A4 Devices, But Don’t Expect A Public Beta Jailbreak Release Anytime Soon

The world wide web has been rife with speculation over the last few weeks as Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference drew closer, leaving us all wondering just what Tim Cook and his team would introduce to the world. While the opening keynote presentation has been and gone, we are still left in a state of awe as we try and digest the marvels that were announced on stage at the Moscone.


From what I can gather, even the most seasoned WWDC visitors believe this year’s opening presentation was the best yet, with a lot of that being put down to the fact that Apple announced updates to their entire range of notebooks along with a new version of OS X and the breathtaking new version of their mobile operating system, iOS 6.




For the many thousands of Apple fans who also happen to be hardcore jailbreakers, it would have been interesting for them to watch as Apple introduced a number of features that negate the need for a few Cydia tweaks going forward. As Apple seeded first beta of download iOS 6 to developers, many wondered if it was possible to tether-jailbreak A4-devices using the latest Redsn0w tool, especially Cydia developers who may want to update their jailbreak tweaks for iOS 6 compatibility.

We would love to sit here and break the wonderful news that iOS 6 beta is jailbreakable using the latest version of Redsn0w, but, unfortunately it just isn’t the case this time around. We have tested jailbreaking both our iPhone 4, as well as our 4th-gen iPod touch on iOS 6 beta using Redsn0w. Unfortunately, when pointing the Redsn0w jailbreak tool to an older firmware like iOS 5.1.1, the jailbreak is just not successful. This will certainly prove to be a negative in a day that has brought a lot of positives for Apple fans, but this to be honest was expected with so many API changes introduced with iOS 6.


While MuscleNerd of iPhone Dev Team has managed to get his A4 based iPod touch jailbroken, he has confirmed that many things including Cydia is currently not compatible on iOS 6 yet:

So yes, don’t expect a beta jailbreak for iOS 6 for a while. Quite a few casual jailbreakers may not actually feel the need to jailbreak soon, as Apple have added a number of feature improvements to iOS 6 that have been found to be extremely successful downloads from Cydia.

This certainly shouldn’t dampen the spirits of jailbreak fans. I would imagine that the Jailbreak Dream Team are already hard at work researching the internals of the current beta release to see exactly what they can do with it.

Download OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 4 Today From Mac Dev Center

There has been a lot of chatter over the Internet for last few months about OS X Mountain Lion, Apple’s latest OS for the Mac. Considering Apple is an ever evolving company, with consumers developing a growing admiration for their OS X and iOS operating systems, the company have opted for a new direction with Mountain Lion with an offering that shows the first signs of unity between desktop and mobile.

After various developer releases that have been pushed out to fix multiple issues, Apple has finally deemed Mountain Lion stable enough to blessed it with a “near final” Developer Preview 4 tag, available for download by developers enrolled in the OS X development program. The release of the Developer Preview 4 version of the new operating system means that Apple is pretty much done applying the polish and finishing touches to the software, with a prime time public release coming next month in July.

The Mountain Lion OS has seemingly split public opinion since its announcement, but it definitely goes some way to showing the world just what Apple’s future plans are. The company describes the OS as bringing a whole host of new features that have been inspired by the hugely successful iPad and re-imagined for the Mac, with the hope that it makes the Mac experience smarter, easier and a lot more intuitive and fun.

Deeper integration with iCloud allows users to sign-in with a registered Apple ID to automatically have iCloud support across the whole system, something that will greatly benefit features such as mail, calendars and documents. OS X Mountain Lion also brings a significant and much needed update to the iChat application, rebranding it to ‘Messages’ and bringing the ability to send unlimited free of charge iMessages to users of Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

Popular iOS-based applications such as Reminders, Notes, Notification Center have also been integrated into Mountain Lion, as well as sharing sheets being littered throughout the system for complete social interaction with services such as Vimeo, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Mountain Lion represents a monumental change for Mac users and goes way beyond being an evolutionary operating system upgrade, feeling more like a new relationship is being formed with OS X and iOS.

As mentioned earlier, the released DP4 build of Mountain Lion is only available to registered Mac OS X developers, so if that applies to you then head on over to the Developer Center and download your copy now.