Zephyr is, with BiteSMS, one of my must-have jailbreak tweaks for iPhone. While BiteSMS has started making its way to devices on iOS 7 for a few weeks now, Zephyr is still nowhere to be found.
In fact, after chatting with Zephyr developer Grant Paul (aka chpwn), I was told that there were no plans at this time to update the tweak for iOS 7. So I decided to make the best I could with what I have: Activator by Ryan Petrich...
A couple of days ago, we told you about Virtual Home–a brand new jailbreak tweak that allowed users to simulate a press of the Home button using Touch ID enabled hardware. Virtual Home was one of the first jailbreak tweaks that modified the behavior of the iPhone 5s' Touch ID sensor, and because of that, it proved to be very popular among jailbreakers.
Adding to the popularity of Touch ID tweaks is a recent update to Ryan Petrich's Activator—an absolute staple of a jailbreak tool that all users should have installed from day one. Petrich's latest 1.8.3 update brings support for a single press of the Touch ID sensor.
But Activator goes far beyond the scope of Virtual Home, because you can, in theory at least, assign any Activator action to a Touch ID gesture. Have a look inside to see how it works.
Activate Link is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to launch predefined URLs using an Activator gesture. Up to five different URLs can be customized within the preferences for the tweak; launching them via Activator invokes's iOS default Safari browser.
I've put together a brief video tutorial that showcases how to use Activate Link. Take a look past the break for the full enchilada.
Ryan Petrich tonight posted an interesting picture to his Twitter account that appears to answer the long-standing question of "can iOS 7 be jailbroken?" The image is of his popular tweak Activator running on what looks like an iPod touch with iOS 7 installed.
Of course, it's easy to speculate about something when there isn't much to go on. But looking at the stock app icons in the dock, the flat text in the alert box, and the Activator icon on the Home screen, it certainly looks like Petrich's iPod touch is jailbroken...
Jailbreak developer Ryan Petrich has been extremely busy lately, adding new features to his Activator tweak. In this month alone, he's seeded beta updates that add flick icon gestures, custom email events and shutter actions, and collapsible menus.
And as you've probably guessed by now, Petrich posted another new version of Activator this weekend. This time the update, which brings the tweak to version 1.8 RC, includes the ability to schedule standard actions in iOS to occur at certain times...
Actiwidget is a brand new tweak by Activator developer, Ryan Petrich. Actiwidget allows users to add Activator shortcuts directly to Notification Center. It's an idea that seems so simple, yet only until now has it been brought to fruition. The tweak, which uses Activator's preferences for configuration, adds yet another way to execute your favorite actions. Take a look at our video demonstration inside to see how it all works.
Activator beta updates are becoming like a weekly ritual around here, and we love it. The latest update, Activator 1.7.5 beta 9, was released just three days after the previous beta release. Beta 9 adds four new bullet points to the fray, and two of them are readily noticeable.
This latest version of Activator includes the ability to collapse certain groups that contain a lot of action entries. This will make it significantly less cumbersome to navigate through all of the provided actions. The second, and arguably one of the biggest features to hit Activator in quite some time, is the ability to assign multiple actions to an event. Yes, this means that you can stack multiple actions, as long as they are compatible with one another, and execute them using a single gesture or trigger.
Want to have a look at how this all works? I've demoed it on video inside...
After a marvelous update that brought us flick icons gestures, Ryan Petrich is still at it. This time, we're all the way to Activator 1.7.5 beta 8. The last couple of Activator beta releases have added a few new handy features to the fold, and I'd like to take the time to tell you about them.
First up to bat is a new gesture that allows you to take advantage of a simultaneous press of the Home button and Sleep button. If that combination sounds a bit familiar to you, it's because that's currently the stock gesture combination for taking Screenshots on iOS. This means that you can basically reassign the stock screenshot gesture to do something completely different.
Secondly, you'll find a new action to invoke the camera shutter for the stock Camera app. If you're already inside of the camera app, this gesture will cause the shutter to fire. If you're not already inside of the Camera app, then the initial gesture will take you there.
Lastly, but certainly not least, is a new custom trigger that allows you to execute an action when you receive an email from a specific sender, subject line, or a combination of the two. Check inside for our full video walkthrough that showcases all of the goods in action.
I'm not a Pebble watch owner, but if I was, I'd be all over this like white on rice. PebbleActivator is a new jailbreak tweak from iOS developer Ryan Petrich, and it allows you to execute specific commands via the Pebble Smart watch's physical buttons.
PebbleActivator is basically an Activator add-on, as it runs inside of the Activator app. With that said, the app does feature its own standalone app icon for interfacing with its settings. Take a look inside for a few more details, and why this new tweak is so handy for Pebble watch owners.
If you're someone who's often taking screenshots on your iOS device, then boy, do I have a new jailbreak tweak for you. ScreenshotPlus is an extremely handy jailbreak tweak that allows end users to pre-crop screenshots prior to taking them.
The tweak is enabled using a standard Activator gesture, which brings up an overlay on the screen. The overlay features drag handles that can be used to adjust the dimensions of the screenshot in question. For those of you who want to get exact dimensions, there's a dimensions readout right below the screenshot area, and next to the button used for taking the screenshot.
Needless to say, this is a tool that can be very time saving if you take a lot of screenshots on your iOS device. Take a look at our video walkthrough inside for more information.
WiPi is a recently released jailbreak tweak that allows you to quickly access your device's Wi-Fi picker. Using a simple Activator gesture configurable in the tweak's preference panel, it's a quick way to select a desired Wi-Fi network without having to resort to the Wi-Fi section in the stock Settings app.
Want to see how WiPi works in action? Then check inside for our hands-on video walkthrough.
Activator has been around for a long time, and it's safe to say that it's a staple jailbreak app, and probably a little bit under appreciated. While new fangled tweaks seem to get all the shine, Activator, the gesture plumbing that many jailbreak tweaks rely on, keeps on trucking along.
Since the initial 1.7.5 beta release at the beginning of May, Activator has been on the receiving end of a significant overhaul of its structure and inner workings. Perhaps the most exciting of all of the updates happened yesterday, with 1.7.5 beta 6. This new release adds support for per-app launch gestures and icon flick gesture. Think Velox.
In other words, Activator just got a lot more power under the hood, and it'll be interesting to see what developers and users like you, do with it all. Take a look inside as I dissect these two new features and showcase how they can be used.