Notification Center

How to run a terminal session via Notification Center

It's neat to see the terminal get lots of love from the jailbreak community this week. We just got the new MobileTerm Backgrounder tweak, and now we have another new tweak related to the terminal — NCTerminal. As you have probably figured out by now, NCTerminal allows you to run a terminal session directly in Notification Center. That being said, I will say that the tweak is a bit on the peculiar side, as you'll see in my full video walkthrough.

‘ayra’ brings slick new features to the iOS Lock screen

Ladies and gentlemen, ayra, one of the more polished tweaks that we've seen in recent weeks, has finally touched down on Cydia. This is a tweak for users of iOS 6, and among other things, brings an iOS 7 inspired Lock screen to the table. Along with its gorgeous Lock screen design, comes the ability to open Notification Center directly from the Lock screen to interface with toggles and notifications.

This is a tweak that has been developed by two well known figures in the jailbreak community — Surenix, the designer of many things, but best known for his legendary ayecon theme, and Bensge, a great developer in his own right, and the mind behind the uber-popular Velox. When you combine good design with good development, then the results are usually more good than bad, and that's exactly the case with ayra. It may not knock your socks off like some of the other projects that these two have been involved with, but it's a solid jailbreak tweak for those of us who are still proudly using iOS 6.1.x as our daily driver.

Of course, I previewed ayra a week ago, but now I've had the oppurtunity to play around with the completed version of the tweak. What did I find? Have a look past the break as it's all broken down via our video walkthrough...

Add a standalone calendar widget to Notification Center with ‘CalendarX’

CalendarX is a recently released jailbreak tweak that serves as a widget for Notification Center. It's a very interesting tweak that can be enabled by using the standard Notifications panel in the stock Settings app. The thing that makes CalendarX so unique is that it is a standalone self contained calendar app that doesn't rely on any outside functionality. In fact, none of the calendars or events that you setup within CalendarX will be displayed in the stock Calendar app or vice versa. Again, think standalone here. Depending on your outlook, that could be perceived as either a positive or a negative. Have a look past the break as I go more in-depth with CalendarX on video.

Actiwidget: add Activator action shortcuts to Notification Center

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.

A hands-on look at iOS 7 on the iPad

iOS 7 beta 2 is the first iOS 7 to feature support for Apple's iconic tablet, and we've got a hands-on demonstration of how it looks and feels. The first word that came to my mind when I initially fired up iOS 7 on the iPad was “modern.” The iPad feels more spacious, and lightweight with iOS 7 installed. Whereas iOS 6 felt heavy and weighed down by skeuomorphism, iOS 7 feels light free.

I think you're going to like the way that iOS 7 looks and performs on the iPad. Check out our full video demonstration inside...

‘NCEnough’ smartly resizes Notification Center based on content

Does it annoy you a bit when you have a single notification present in Notification Center, yet you're forced to pull down the entire Notification Center window to view the notification? That's because notifications are pinned to the top on arrival, so even if you have just one notification to view, you must pull down the entire window to view it.

Pulling down the entire Notification Center window to view one notification pinned at the top can tire out your thumb, if you're used to operating your iOS device single handily. NCEnough is a new jailbreak tweak that seeks to eliminate this finger fatigue, and it does so by adjusting the size of Notification Center based on the content contained within. Jump past the break for our full in-depth video hands-on.

How to add iOS 7 Control Center inspired toggles to iOS 6

iOS 7 Control Toggle Icons is a new jailbreak theme that brings iOS 7 inspired toggles to lesser firmware. The toggles, based on those that appear in iOS 7's new Control Center, help bring the look and feel of iOS 7 to jailbroken iPhones.

Designed by renowned designer, Surenix, the toggle theme integrates with NCSettings, and requires WinterBoard. It's also been recommended that you add a blur effect tweak to the Notification Center window, further emulating the signature style of iOS 7.

I've installed iOS 7 Control Toggle Icons on my iPhone, and I'd like to show you how it all comes together. Check out our hands on video walkthrough after the break...

A closer look at the new Notification Center in iOS 7

From the moment you lay eyes on iOS 7, you can tell that it's completely different than any of the previous versions of Apple's mobile OS. The entire system has been redesigned, from the Lock screen to the app icons, and everything in between.

We've taken brief peeks at a lot of the changes that we've spotted thus far in iOS 7 over the past few days, but we felt some of them deserved a more in-depth look, like the all new Notification Center. It's better looking now, and quite a bit smarter...

iOS 7: the Lock screen

The iOS 7 Lock screen is another significant departure from its predecessors when it comes to looks. The overall functionality remains similar, but it's a whole new ball game when it comes to visuals.

First and foremost, the font for the clock and the date has been replaced with a thinner variety of font. You'll also notice that the clock, status bar, and slide to unlock backgrounds have been nixed for a cleaner look that doesn't obscure the Lock screen wallpaper.

Take a look inside as I go hands-on with the new iOS 7 Lock screen, including demonstrations on how to enable or disable the new and improved Notification Center, and the new Control Center options.

New in iOS 7: Notification Center ‘Today’ stream shows context-based alerts

Alongside the sweeping changes in iOS 7, Apple gave its Notification Center a complete overhaul. It's been divided into three sections, it no longer sports a linen background, and it's lost a few features, such as the handy Weather widget.

But it's also gained some nice features, such as the new 'Today' view. The column offers up all kinds of useful information including stock prices, Calendar events, and apparently, traffic information for your frequently visited locations...

‘Overview’ allows you to manage mail, reminders, and events in one place

Overview is a brand new jailbreak tweak that provides a Notification Center widget containing email, reminders and calendar events. All of these items can be viewed directly via Notification Center. As you'll see, it's a really awesome design and concept, and it's from the same developer that brought us Tap to Widgets: Alan Yip.

You can easily scroll through all of the events, reminders, and email via the Overview widget. By tapping and holding on any of the items, you'll be taken directly to that item's full app. For example, if you tap and hold on an email within the widget, you'll be taken directly to the individual email message within the Mail app.

I've been testing out Overview for a few days now, and I'm confident that you'll like what you find, especially if you liked Tap to Widgets. Want to see how it looks in motion? If so, check out my full video walkthrough after the break...