iMessage

Navatar brings messaging avatars to unsupported devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 24, 2018

If you use the native Messages app to send iMessages or SMS messages from your iPhone, then you may have noticed the avatar that generally appears in the navigation bar. When you have a contact picture configured for the recipient, that picture displays here; otherwise, you’d see the recipient’s first and last initials instead.

Apple stopped supporting this feature on smaller handsets like the iPhone 5s and earlier with some of the latest iterations of iOS, limiting it to larger-displayed devices such as the iPhone 6 and later. On the other hand, a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Navatar by iOS developer EthanRDoesMC changes that.

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This tweak removes the app bar from the iOS 11 Messages app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 25, 2018

One of my most significant quarrels with iOS 11 is the app bar that appears at the bottom of the Messages app. I never use extensions while iMessaging friends and family, so it feels somewhat intrusive to me that Apple pushes the app bar down my throat in every conversation.

Anyone in agreeance may want to try a new free jailbreak tweak called NoMoreAppBar by iOS developer Reed Haffner. Just as the name implies, this tweak removes the app bar from the iOS 11 Messages app.

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This tweak protects jailbroken devices from the Telugu character bug

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 17, 2018

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, then you might’ve caught wind about a severe bug that crashes iPhones and iPads when a particular Telugu character gets sent or received in emails or text messages.

Apple plans to fix this bug in a future update for iOS, but firmware updates aren’t ideal for jailbreakers that depend on older firmware versions, and that’s where a new free jailbreak tweak called NotTodaySatan by iOS developer Zack Hankewycz comes in.

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Force authentication from your iMessage recipient with MsgL0ck

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 19, 2018

Some people take their privacy more seriously than others, and a new iMessage extension dubbed MsgL0ck by iOS developer Simon Andersson takes that sentiment into consideration.

MsgL0ck lets the sender require authentication from the iMessage recipient before they can read the message. In Apple-speak, this means providing a fingerprint for Touch ID or a facial scan for Face ID (or a passcode if the recipient has neither).

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