Geekbench 3 – iPhone Benchmark Utility

Many iOS developers lower their prices for Black Friday and some even lower them to FREE! Geekbench 3 is one worth checking out (usually $0.99). If you’re into stats and details, this app is full of it. Recently adding an iPhone 6S to our family, seeing how much faster it is than an iPhone 6 Plus. It shows a lot of stats, many I don’t really know much about what they mean. It was pretty nice to see the bump up in memory for the 6S and double the power. You can also do stats on your battery and connect it to dropbox for saving stats. Here’s a quick video showing what it looks like along with some screenshots. [Read more…]

iCleaner – The Ultimate iDevice System Cleaner

I’ve never used one of these “cleaner” apps before but my storage was really full of pictures and videos from iMessages. I never delete my messages and I have many that go back a couple years. I has started cleaning out some of the media by searching for “attachment” but it was a really slow process and a little buggy. iCleaner supports cleaning message attachments. It has a lot of other features that I will list below. Some include cleaning out all the unused languages or images used by other devices such as the iPad if you’re on an iPhone. These are all individually selectable before the cleaning. After using iCleaner the first time I had about 3GB more space available on my iPhone. When running it again today while writing this article I cleaned up 5GB! [Read more…]

iGotYa – Take & Email Picture When Wrong Passcode Entered

If you’d like to add a little more security to your iPhone or iPod touch check out iGotYa. If you type in the wrong code for your passcode lock, it takes a picture with the front facing camera and emails you the picture along with the current location. It costs $6 but there is a 10 day trial. I testing it out by setting up a passcode lock and giving it to my son. It worked withing about 30 seconds. This would be a nice addition to the “find my iPhone” feature but since I’m still on firmware 4.1 it will be a great alternative.
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SBSettings Updated to Version 4.2.1 – Fix for 4.2.1 Firmware

SBSettings, an application that allows you to quickly toggle settings on your device, has been updated to version 3.2.1. The update contains three bug fixes including a fix for the 4.2.1 firmware. Check out the full change log below. You can get SBSettings via the BigBoss source.
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No Badges – Remove Home Screen Badges

No Badges is a simple hack that removes the badges from the icons on your device’s homescreen. The hack is super simple… once you install it via Cydia and respring your springboard… you will no longer have badges. There are no setting for the app and it will not put an icon on your springboard. It just does the mod automatically when the app is installed. To get your badges back, just go into Cydia and remove the app. No Badges worked perfectly when I tested both installing and removing it. A nice little hack if it is what you are looking for. Personally, I would love to see the app have a few options such as the ability to turn off badges for specific applications (like the Mail app!) and leave badges on other apps. You can get No Badges via the BigBoss source.
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DirectControl – Go Directly to iPod Controls in Multitasking Dock

DirectControl is a mod that allows you to go directly to the iPod controls in the multitasking dock. Normally when you double-tap the home button to bring up the multitasking dock, it brings you to the first application in the dock and you have to scroll to the left to get to the iPod controls. Well, with this mod, you are brought directly to the iPod controls and then can scroll right to see the apps. I also like that you can choose to go directly to the iPod controls all the time or only when music is playing… a nice little feature. Overall, a simple but useful mod if you use your iPod a lot. You can get DirectControl via the BigBoss source. Check out the Application Description below for more info about the app.

Note:
    • Requires iOS 4+
    • Works in conjunction with Direct Closer
    • Settings are located in the stock Setting app.
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SwitcherPlus – Adds Multitasking Ability on Lock Screen

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free  

SwitcherPlus is a mod that adds the ability to use the multitasking dock from your lock screen. Once the app has been installed in Cydia, you are able to use the complete functionality of multitasking from your lock screen.

If you do not have a passcode set for your device, and you select an application from the multitasking dock while on the lock screen, it will automatically take you from the lock screen directly into that application. If you do have a passcode, and you select an application from the multitasking dock while on the lock screen, it will require you to enter your passcode and then will bring you directly into the application you selected.

I did notice that after you select an app from the multitasking dock (while on the lock screen), the passcode keyboard disappears pretty quickly. So, you will want to start typing in your passcode as soon as the keyboard appears or it will disappear and you will have to go back into multitasking and select your app again. Hopefully this will be fixed with an update. NOTE: This can actually be changed in the app’s settings. If you go into the Lock Screen Mode option and then the Dim after dismiss option… you can increase the time before the screen dims and thus the keyboard disappears.
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Direct Closer – Quickly Close Multitasking Apps

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free  

Direct Closer Direct Closer is a simple little hack that, when you double-tap the Home Button to get to the multitasking apps, it automatically puts them into “wiggle” mode so they can be removed. Normally, you would have to double-tap the Home Button and then tap and hold an icon in the multitasking dock in order to get the apps into “wiggle” mode so that they can be removed. This app just makes this process a little faster by automatically putting them in “wiggle” mode. However, in order to switch to another app (using the multitasking dock), you have to tap the Home Button once to turn off the “wiggle” mode and then tap the app you would like to switch too. So, depending on how you use your multitasking dock… this app might not be for you. Check out the screenshots below. You can get Direct Closer via the BigBoss source. [Read more…]

LinkShrink – Quickly Shorten URLs

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free  

LinkShrink LinkShrink is an application that allows you to quickly shorten URLs. The app gives you the option to use one of four services to shorten your URL; TinyURL, is.gd, tr.im or rfly.me. Using the app is quick and easy… copy the URL you would like to shorten, open LinkShrink, paste your URL, choose your shortening service and click ‘Shorten URL.’ You are then able to copy the new shortened URL. The copied URL is put into your device’s clipboard and is ready to be pasted wherever you need it.
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QuickLock 2: One-Tap Lock Mode

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free  

QuickLock 2 QuickLock 2 is a basically the original QuickLock mod updated for the iOS 4 firmware. Like the original, this mod allows you to quickly lock your device with one tap on your SpringBoard. Once the app is installed, it adds an icon to the SpringBoard. Just tap the icon and your device will go into lock mode. It’s quick and simple!
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Signal – See Cell Tower Info on a Google Map

Available In: Cydia       Price: $4.99  

SignalThis app lets you see what cell towers are around you and what strength you’re getting. It’s amazing how many towers are around that I didn’t notice before. Some towers aren’t exactly where they show up on the map, but it gets you pretty close. It shows you signal strength, which one you’re connected to and all kinds of other info. One thing I’d like to see is the current location needs to move with you and update live, not just updated when app is opened. [Read more…]

Live Cams

Available In: App Store       Price: $1.99  

Live Cams Live Cams is one of the few apps that make it right on the front page of my iPhone. I’ll tell you the reason right up front before the entire review. I only use a few of their features but there are many more. So why is it on my front page? Because when opening the app, I can customize it to show thumbnails of the camera’s I’ve added myself. I’ve got it set to show 8 cameras all at once, then I tap on a camera to see it full screen. This way I can monitor all of our cameras at work from anywhere. The reason I can do this is because the app lets you customize what tab gets opened when the app loads.

settings

Now for some of the many features offered by this app. The first tab is the search tab. Once opened you see a list of presorted categories of cameras. If you’re looking for a camera in your locations or of a specific topic not on list there is a custom search button in the top right. This is more like an advanced search not just giving you the option to type in your search but from what category, country, state, and more. For the example below, I did a search for Hawaii.

Categories

Search Options

Search Results
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iBlueNova Updated 2.0.1 – Bug Fixes

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free 15 Day Trial then $5.99  

##ICON_NAME## iBlueNova, an application that allows the transfer of files via Bluetooth, has been update to version 2.0.1. The update includes a few bug fixes… including the issue with Windows 7. The developer has also given us a list of a few of the features we can expect in the next version of iBlueNova. You can get iBlueNova via the iSpazio source.

More info on iBlueNova.
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ShrikUrl – Quickly Shorten URL’s

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free  

##ICON_NAME## ShrikUrl is a very simple application that allows you to quickly shorten a URL. Just paste the long URL into the Trim section of the application and hit Shrink URL. It will then display the shortened URL. After you select Copy to Clipboard, the app can be closed and the shortened link will be in your clipboard. To paste the shortened URL, just tap wherever you would like it and select paste. The shortened URL will stay in your clipboard until you copy something else. [Read more…]

iBlueNova – Transfer Files Via Bluetooth

Available In: Cydia       Price: Free 15 Day Trial then $5.99  

##ICON_NAME## iBlueNova, an application that allows the transfer of files via Bluetooth, was released yesterday. Before you purchase the app, you are able to test it with a 15 day trial. To download the trial, select the Purchase button in the upper right corner (where the Install button normally is). This will not actually purchase the app but, will install the free 15 day trial.

Once installed, the app is decently easy to use. It allows you to transfer Pictures, Music, Videos or Other Files. You can view all the available Bluetooth connections in the Device Discovery option. Here you are also able to view the strength of the device’s WiFi, the device’s name, Address and Class as well as Favorite specific devices. You can also view your transfer activity allowing you to see the progress of transfers or stop a transfer.
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