Now Playing

MusicGesture upgrades the Now Playing interface with gestures & full-screen artwork

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 2, 2021

It’s no secret that in addition to being a venerable smartphone, the iPhone is still one of the world’s best portable music players. Still, that doesn’t give Apple a free pass for the somewhat stagnant music interface experience that we’ve all been using for the past several years.

Those in the market for an augmented Now Playing user experience might be interested in picking up a newly released jailbreak tweak called MusicGesture by iOS developer Antony_M. This tweak not only provides jailbreakers with a new way to interact with the Now Playing media controls, but it also allows for configuration of the Now Playing interface in ways that Apple would never permit on a stock handset.

Miss iOS 9’s Now Playing interface? This tweak resurrects it on jailbroken handsets

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

The iOS platform received a myriad of changes over the years, with many of those being functional changes and a smaller number being purely cosmetic. Perhaps one of the most iconic changes can be attributed to iOS’ Now Playing interface, which has evolved an awful lot since the days of iOS 9.

Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates all of the latest changes, and some even wish that the iOS 9 Now Playing interface would make an unlikely comeback. The good news, however, is that a new and free jailbreak tweak called NineMusic by iOS developer Minh-Ton can make this happen, at least on pwned handsets.

Make Spotify’s Now Playing interface more OLED-friendly with Blackout

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 10, 2020

The Spotify Music app is one of the best alternatives to Apple Music in terms of online music streaming for the iPhone or iPad, and while the application itself already sports a somewhat ‘dark’ aesthetic, there are certainly some areas where it could do with improvement for those who like using dark mode or who use an OLED display-equipped handset.

Blackout is a newly released and free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer atebitsy that brings improved dark mode and OLED display support to the Spotify Music app, and it does so by providing users with an always-blacked out Now Playing interface background, as depicted by the before and after screenshot examples above.

MediaBar14 adds music controls to the iPhone’s Home Bar

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2021

One of the things Apple does really well is provide a quality music streaming service that can be accessed from all of your favorite devices, whether they’re mobile handsets or desktop computers. On the other hand, Apple could always do better by improving the experience of the user interface, especially in terms of music control accessibility on the iOS & iPadOS platforms.

Jailbreakers know all too well about the many shortcomings of Apple’s stock user interface, and that’s one reason why there are so many jailbreak tweaks available to the aftermarket. MediaBar14, for example, is a newly released jailbreak tweak by iOS developer MegaDev that lends a hand to Apple’s user interface in this particular department.

Lobelias upgrades iOS’ Now Playing interface with slick aesthetics

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 13, 2020

It’s no secret that the music listening experience on the iOS platform has remained somewhat stagnant over the past few years, but if you’re avidly searching for something to make things a bit more exciting and you have a jailbroken handset at your disposal, then a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called Lobelias by iOS developer Litten offers a great place to start.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above, Lobelias gives iOS’ Now Playing interface a much-needed facelift and integrates a plethora of user-configurable aesthetics so that you can achieve the look and feel you want. Right off the bat, notable changes include the rounded album artwork, redesigned media controls, changes to the background, and new text label positions, among other things.

Lisa brings OLED display-friendly notifications to jailbroken iPhones

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 11, 2020

Apple made the right decision when switching from traditional LCD display panels to higher-end OLED display panels in its flagship smartphones, but one can’t help but question why iOS doesn’t take better advantage of the deeper black color tones made possible with OLED display technology.

If you have a jailbroken OLED display-equipped iPhone at your disposal and you’ve been asking yourself the aforementioned question since the day you first picked up the device, then we think you’re likely to enjoy a free jailbreak tweak dubbed Lisa by iOS developers Litten and Esquilli.

Melody brings Now Playing album art to more parts of iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 1, 2020

Those who use their iPhones to listen to their favorite music day in and day out are more likely to recognize the finer details of the music consumption experience than those who just listen to a song here and there. With that in mind, iOS developer Dylan West (iOSthemem0d) has released a new jailbreak tweak called Melody that tries to make the user experience even more enjoyable for hardcore music consumers.

Melody works by bringing the Now Playing track’s album artwork to more places in iOS. As depicted in the screenshot examples above, “more places” refers to quite a few different areas, including but not limited to:

Love lets you like or un-like a song without unlocking your iPhone

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 28, 2020

If you spend a lot of your time listening to music on your iPhone or iPad, then there’s a pretty good chance that you might take advantage of your Music app’s Like button to save a song you enjoy to your collection for later. Many apps support a Like button of some sort, but when your handset isn’t unlocked, getting to it can be somewhat of a chore.

That’s a problem that a newly released jailbreak tweak called Love by iOS developer MeBlackHat tries to fix, and it does that by allowing you to Like or un-Like music from almost anywhere in iOS with Activator or with a Control Center toggle – whichever you prefer.

Violet makes the Now Playing track’s album art into your handset’s wallpaper & more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 15, 2020

Jailbreakers have a lot of reasons to enjoy using their iPhone, perhaps more than those using unmodified handsets. This very same sentiment pertains to iOS’ music consumption experience, which can be completely augmented with the help of fun and quirky jailbreak tweaks such as a new and free release called Violet by iOS developer Litten.

As depicted in the screenshot examples above, Violet complements the music consumption experience on the iOS platform by automatically replacing the handset’s existing wallpaper image with that of the album artwork of any Now Playing track. Best of all, this process happens in real time and supports both the Apple Music and Spotify Music apps.

This tweak shows Spotify’s car mode interface at all times

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 4, 2020

The Spotify Music app sports a magnificent Now Playing interface that rivals even Apple’s own first party Apple Music streaming app in terms of aesthetics and usability. But if you’ve ever linked your iPhone to your car via Bluetooth before, then you’ve unquestionably witnessed Spotify’s simplified Now Playing interface.

Even if you’re not driving, this Now Playing interface may be preferred in some cases because it’s easier to operate whether you’re distracted or not. A newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed Spotify Car Mode Emulation by iOS developer aesthyrica can force your Spotify app to show this Now Playing interface all the time, whether you’re connected to a car via Bluetooth or not.

MusicGround complements music playback on iOS with animated wallpapers

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 25, 2020

Lots of folks rely on their iOS devices as their primary music consumption devices, and so it’s sort of a head-scratcher as to why Apple doesn’t provide more of an interactive listening experience. In the jailbreak community, we’ve seen a plethora of workarounds for this, including the introduction of music visualizers for the Now Playing interface and more.

A newly released and free jailbreak tweak dubbed MusicGround by iOS developer Tr1fecta, on the other hand, takes a slightly different approach. Instead of giving users an animated Now Playing interface, this tweak provides users with an animated Metal Lyrics-inspired wallpaper that comes alive whenever music is playing.

Lyricize fetches song lyrics and displays them on the Lock Screen

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 24, 2020

If you’re the type of person who likes to follow along with song lyrics while listening to music, then you might find that the iOS platform isn’t quite as supportive of your needs out of the box as it could be.

Luckily, that’s what we have the jailbreak community for, and there’s a newly released and free jailbreak tweak in town dubbed Lyricize by iOS developer level3tjg that puts song lyrics directly on the Lock Screen to make following along with your favorite music easier.