Jeff Benjamin

Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+.

How to rearrange apps on your Apple TV

Rearranging apps on Apple TV

Rearranging apps on the Apple TV works much as it does on iPhone or iPad. First, you enter into "jiggle mode," and then you move the user-installed apps to your preferred location. This written tutorial, along with a video, shows you how to change the position of installed apps on your Apple TV Home Screen.

Apple begins shipping new Apple TVs, releases final 9.0 build, and launches App Store

Big things are happening with the new Apple TV. Not only have numerous readers received their now shipping notifications, alluding to a Friday arrival, Apple has also made several significant necessary infrastructure changes for tomorrow's big launch.

First and foremost, the App Store is now live for the Apple TV. Twitter is flowing with screenshots and images of the new Apple TV App Store. Although its discovery elements are still questionable, Apple is probably still in the midst of rolling out the categories section and top charts section. Remember, the actual launch isn't until tomorrow, so anything can change between now and then.

Secondly, Apple has released the final build of its tvOS software that powers the new Apple TV. In fact, you can download tvOS 9.0 right now.

Report: the iPad Pro Pencil will ship with an adapter for Lightning cable connections

Good news: when you want to charge your iPad Pro Pencil, you won't necessarily have to look like a doofus when you do so.

Prior to today, it was assumed that the only way to charge the iPad Pro's Pencil stylus was to plug it into the bottom of the iPad Pro itself. The Pencil's cap features a Lightning plug hidden underneath, and Apple showcased its ability to charge it by plugging the device directly into the iPad Pro's Lightning port.

While this method of charging works, and is extremely handy when you need a quick bit of extra juice on the fly, it looks incredibly goofy to have a stylus protruding out of the top of the iPad Pro, especially because the iPad Pro is so big itself.

Today, 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple plans on shipping the Pencil with an adapter that will allow users to connect the device directly to a Lightning cable. The adapter will reportedly ship with all Pencil's, which come as a separate purchase from the iPad Pro itself.

Tether: a unique new jailbreak tweak for creating quick Alarms, Reminders, or Calendar events

Tether is a new $0.99 jailbreak tweak from Philip Tennen and Evan Luther, and it's pretty awesome. I like this tweak, not so much for what it does, although that's handy as well, but I like it for its originality.

By using a 3D Touch gesture on the Home screen, you can invoke the Tether interface. Tether's interface consists of a clock-like glyph with a line extending from it. As you drag your finger away from the point of origin, you'll see a small time readout spell out a future time. The further your finger is away from the origination point, the further in time your tether will be.

When you release your finger, you have the option to set up an Alarm, Reminder, or Calendar event at the specific time that you selected. If it all sounds  little confusing, it's because it's much easier to explain by watching it in action. With that in mind, have a look at our hands-on video walkthrough for all of the details.

Apple releases iOS 9.2 for public beta testers

Not long after it seeded iOS 9.2 beta 1 to developers, Apple has released iOS 9.2 for public beta testers on its public beta program website. iOS 9.2 is a small update, but as we told you about, it brings some significant new features to iOS 9's new Safari View Controller for embedded web views.

If you're already a member of the public beta, or if you'd like to join, simply head over to Apple's beta website to get started.

Helium brings Picture in Picture options to the Mac

Picture in Picture mode is a cool new feature for the iPad on iOS 9. As we showed you earlier today, you can even take advantage of Picture in Picture mode on the iPhone, if you're willing to jailbreak.

But what about the Mac?

Fortunately there's a Mac app called Helium that does a pretty good job of emulating the Picture in Picture effect on the desktop. It's especially handy for watching YouTube videos. Watch our hands-on video to see what I mean.

Pegasus: a tweak that brings Picture in Picture mode to all iOS 9 devices

The iPad has a leg up on other devices in the iOS family, because later model versions can take advantage of iOS 9's new Picture in Picture mode for video multitasking. Picture in Picture mode lets you watch videos or conduct FaceTime calls in a smaller window while using other apps at the same time.

Unfortunately, for those of you on iPads that predate the iPad Air, along with iPhone and iPod touch users, Picture in Picture mode is not available. That's unless you decide to jailbreak and install Pegasus, a tweak by developer Evan Swick. Pegasus is a new jailbreak tweak that enables Picture in Picture mode on previously unsupported devices. Have a look at our full video walkthrough to see how it works.

Nintendo announces Miitomo, its first smartphone game

As expected, Nintendo has announced its first app for mobile devices. Entitled Miitomo, the free to play game is based in the Mii universe, and will be released next spring.

According to a Wall Street Journal live blog, Miitomo will allow users to design their own Miis, virtual avatars, which first appeared on the original Wii console. Nintendo has characterized Miitomo as a "Friendly Conversation Starter". By asking and answering questions, gamers will be able to find out unknown aspects about friends along with things that you share in common.

Mobile Terminal now works on jailbroken iOS 9 devices

Good news for all of you Mobile Terminal fans, or for anyone interested in easily changing their jailbroken iOS device's root password. Saurik just pushed an update for PAM Modules on Cydia, which was a prerequisite for terminal access.

All you need to do is go out to Cydia and update to PAM Modules 36.1. Cydia should automatically prompt you for the update, since this package is installed by default. Once you update, you can download Mobile Terminal, or any terminal emulator on Cydia that you prefer.

New in iOS 9.2 beta: a look at Safari View Controller updates

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 9.2 beta 1 to developers. As we explained, the update ushered in a couple of new features to iOS 9's Safari View Controller.

In iOS 9.2 beta 1, Safari View Controller gets a bit more powerful. It now has the ability to request a desktop site directly from the view controller, disable content blockers, and it can interface with Action Extensions, such as the 1Password extension.

In the video that follows, I showcase both new features, and compare them with an older version of iOS 9.

Cydia Substrate updated to version 0.9.6100

Cydia Substrate received a new update, which comes a few hours after the Pangu tool update for jailbreaking iOS 9 on Mac.

This new version of Cydia Substrate brings the package to version 0.9.6100, and it includes preventative measures to stop would-be problem-causing jailbreak extensions.