Apps

Jailbreaking made my iPhone fun and more usable

No, this isn’t illegal

Published

June 22, 2020

Vincenz

It’s been a month since the jailbreaking community got hyped over the latest jailbreak tool for iOS. At the same time, Apple’s iOS 14 announcement is just around the corner.

Jailbreaking was introduced way before the early releases of iOS through iPhone and iPod Touch. Coined from the word itself, jailbreaking is “breaking free” from the restrictions of iOS, Apple’s proprietary operating system.

This isn’t new to me. In fact, I was able to do it on my first ever iPhone 3Gs nearly seven years ago — back when I was just a high school student. As far as I can remember, it was risky yet successful.

Around that period, it’s when Apple announced a major design change through iOS 7. Unfortunately, devices older than the iPhone 4s are not supported. But with the power of jailbreaking, I was able to make my phone look like one. I even kept a single Instagram post as a remembrance.

Some of the iPhone users out there might not be contented with what iOS has to offer. And for someone (like me) who needs iOS services but wants to get more “Android-like” features, jailbreaking your iPhone is the closest answer.

Installation

This isn’t mainly a tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPhone. There’s a step-by-step installation video that helped me throughout the jailbreak process. Just make sure your phone is running iOS 13.5 or below. This method uses the unc0ver jailbreaking tool.

For devices running the patched iOS 13.5.1 or the latest iOS 13.5.5 Beta, you can still jailbreak your device through a different method with checkra1n‘s tool. If you have the latter version, watch this video instead.

Customization through jailbreak tweaks

If your iPhone shows Cydia on your home screen and runs without errors, it’s a sign that your iPhone is already jailbroken. If you’re not yet familiar, Cydia is the less intuitive (and cluttered) version of the App Store where you can find tons of tweaks that make your jailbroken iPhone magical.

Some jailbreak tools use Sileo as a substitute for Cydia with a refined UI. Only downside is that it still has incompatibilities in most tweaks.

By adding more repositories (or repos), you can gain more access to limited and exclusive tweaks that cannot be found through default tweak sources (such as BigBoss).

As most of these tweaks were made by several developers, most of them are free of charge. You should take note that advanced tweaks are paid.

Lock screen, Home Screen, and App Switcher

First thing you’ll notice is the different look of the lock screen. These are the tweaks I used:

Jellyfish is a tweak that completely overhauled my lock screen. It’s mostly compatible to music player tweaks. A free alternative would be April but it’s incompatible to other tweaks (which causes a crash then resprings into safe mode).
AOD allows you to add Always-On Display functionality in your OLED-powered iPhones (such as the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max).
Tap Tap Lock is a simple tweak that lets you lock your iPhone by double tapping anywhere on the home screen.
AutoUnlockX, from the word itself, it automatically unlocks your Face ID-powered iPhone without the hassle of swiping up. This is fast and convenient for users who are always in a hurry when unlocking their phones.

For years, iOS’ home screen has been stuck with a grid of app icons with the plain red notification badges. But with jailbreaking, customization is possible.

Velox Reloaded lets you transform home screen icons into widgets. This was rumored to be an iOS 14 feature but is possible through jailbreak.
dotto+ is a replacement tweak for iOS’ default notification badges. It adapts the color of the app’s icon and eliminates the notification count for a simpler appearance.
CastSwitcher is a tweak that replaces your old stacked card-style switcher into a grid, iPad-like switcher.
Dockify either lets your dock look transparent or hides the dock icons completely.

Other small tweaks you can install for your home screen:

AwesomePageDots makes those simple page dots more lively with the option to choose your preferred animation style.
HideLabels13 simply hides texts of apps on your home screen for a cleaner, minimalist look.
iconvibe adds haptic feedback whenever you open apps.
Manila is a simple tweak that reveals the apps found inside the folder through 3D/Force Touch menu.
No3DLines is a non-configurable tweak that hides lines whenever you activate 3D/Force Touch.

Notifications and Control Center

If some of you miss the bottom-style control center, Prysm brings back that nifty feature. Although it’s not a total rip-off of the iOS 10 control center, it still includes the rounded look of the latest Control Center in a less-cluttered order.

Other than the added power options (such as reboot, shutdown, respring, lock, and safe mode), it even displays the battery percentage of your Apple devices such as the AirPods and Apple Watch.

Other tweaks that are useful for Control Center:

RealCC lets you completely turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles in Control Center.
CCModules adds more module options (and even app shortcuts) in your default iOS 13 control center.

And here’s a list of tweaks I installed that revamped my iPhone’s notification appearance:

Quart completely changes the overall look of your phone’s notifications. It has customizable rounded corners, header and content text sizes, and circular icons that go well with iOS 13’s rounded look.
ColorMeNotifs adds color to your notifications. Just like dotto+, it also adapts color based from the app’s icon.
NoDNDBanner is a tiny tweak that completely removes Do Not Disturb banner when activated.
PencilChargingIndicator replaces your old charging icon in favor of the Apple Pencil-like charging banner alert.
AirPods Case Low Battery is convenient if you carry an AirPods or AirPods Pro with you. It lets you prompt whenever the case is below the charged level.
Scorpion replaces the full call window into a less intrusive banner. You can now accept or decline calls without blocking what’s currently on your screen.
SilentRecorder hides the annoying red status on the time bar when the screen is recording.

Settings

Three tweaks are responsible for the changed look of the top and bottom bar:

noNotch completely hides the notch through a black bar and makes the app windows rounded. It gives the illusion of an iPhone without a notch.
DigitalBattery13 replaces the battery icon with a battery percentage symbol.
Saw maximizes the look of your app screen by removing the home bar and the bottom padding altogether.

For settings, here are two important tweaks:

shuffle categorizes setting list based on where they belong. Originally, the settings and tweaks list are both cluttered.
ModernSettings adds a visual graphic of your phone’s battery and storage information as well as basic details of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even the phone itself.

There are also optional tweaks you can install to configure reachability:

Carbonite adds quick toggles whenever you activate reachability.
StayDown lets reachability stay as it is without coming back from its original position.

Apps

For music apps such as Apple Music and Spotify, these tweaks are helpful enough to make your playback more appealing:

StatusViz adds a little visualizer at the upper left corner of the screen whenever you play music — which replaces the time status.
ColorFlow 5 beautifies your music player by adapting the color of the album art as the background (instead of white).

For the camera app, here are tweaks that can imitate the look of iPhone 11 series’ camera UI on older devices:

Camera Features lets you change the camera layout of your old iPhones. It brings the exclusive camera UI of the iPhone 11 series — including the zoom slider, QuickTake, and the ability to tap and change video resolution and frame rate in video mode. Other than that, you also have the option to choose an iPad-style camera UI plus show/hide certain camera elements and modes.
PortraitXI is a tweak that lets you take portrait mode shots even if your iPhone only has a single lens.
Enlighten brightens most of shots taken in low-light. However, this isn’t a complete imitation of the Night Mode found on the iPhone 11 series.

For security, BioProtect XS is a helpful paid tweak that uses Face ID (or Touch ID on older devices) to lock specific apps — including system apps such as messages, photos, videos, Safari and more.

Safari Features completely enhances your Safari experience by adding a tab bar and even show a 2×2 grid switcher.
SmallSiri shows Siri through a small banner, instead of the usual full window prompt.
InstagramPlus is a handy paid tweak that lets you control your Instagram completely. Features include saving photos, videos on feed and through IG stories, follow status, anonymously see stories of other people, and the inclusion of Instagram Music even if your region isn’t supported.

Keyboard

The default keyboard in iOS is intuitive yet lacks certain features that make it stand out. Here are some tweaks to maximize your typing experience.

BarMoji lets you add your frequently used emojis at the bottom of the keyboard between the global keyboard switch and voice control icons.
Dark Keys enables a system-wide dark keyboard, which goes well if you’re in Dark Mode. Default iOS Dark Mode doesn’t darken the keyboard.
RealKeys adds a haptic (or taptic) feedback whenever you type. This makes typing more tactile and responsive.
AnyKeyTrackpad lets you swipe over texts and words by pressing any key on the keyboard. It’s not limited to the spacebar anymore.
DeleteCut is a helpful keyboard tweak that deletes words faster. Just click the shift key and it will delete multiple words instead of characters one by one.
For people who use different keyboards, Keyboard Accio is a tool that lets you switch between your first two input methods. Don’t worry, long press still works for other keyboard input.
MenuSupport replaces the text-heavy menu into a menu of icons when editing texts.
Finally, CopyLog is a wonderful tweak that lets you save all your copy-pasted texts (or paragraphs) through a snippet log.

Stability

Some tweaks may not run properly due to certain iOS and jailbreak version limitations or overlapping and incompatible tweaks installed. You can still prevent this from happening, use these utility tweaks:

FlyJB lets you bypass certain apps that detect jailbreak status. In that way, you can continue using your apps you need (such as Snapchat, McDonald’s, Pokémon Go) without worrying about complete removal of the jailbreak. Another similar tweaks are KernBypass and Unsub.
Flame is a specified tweak for Cydia which enables the user to batch add repos and auto resprings/reboots after a tweak download.
ReProvision is a tweaked app that prompts you to sign your jailbreak utility apps three days before they get revoked. This is helpful just in case you forgot to re-sign your jailbreak app or else, you’ll do the tedious process again from the beginning.
KeepMyJB removes the software update setting on Settings. Automatic updates won’t install, keeping your jailbreak alive and kicking.
iCleaner Pro lets you delete temporary files and tweak settings. These settings usually remain even after tweak uninstallation from Cydia.
Cr4shed is another tweak that lists and reports any app or task that caused a UI crash. This is helpful if ever one of your installed tweaks always gives your iPhone an error before it resprings into Safe Mode.

Misconception

Some users might think that jailbreak could “unlock” their factory-locked iPhones. In that case, jailbreaking isn’t the solution. If that’s what you’re after, you should bring your iPhone to a technician to get it unlocked.

Other accessible methods are the use of GPP sim chips that “partially” unlocks sim-locked iPhones from countries like US and Japan.

Legality

Although some countries might have certain laws and restrictions when it comes to Digital Rights Management (DRM), jailbreaking in most countries isn’t illegal. Jailbreaking may void your device if it’s still under warranty but rest assured that there are methods to unjailbreak your phone and bring iOS back to its default state through iOS restore.

Community

Don’t limit yourself from the tweaks I’ve listed. There are tons of jailbreak tweaks from various repos and developers. There are also a plethora of jailbreak tweak videos on YouTube from different YouTubers and jailbreakers.

Other than that, you can also join this reddit community where they mostly talk about iOS jailbreaking.

Apps

EU wages war against doomscrolling

Brussels is asking TikTok to change its addictive design.

Published

February 16, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Doomscrolling is the greatest enemy to everyone’s productivity today. The temptation to keep on scrolling for hours is an ever-present temptation. Taking a very strong stance against the phenomenon, the European Commission is now investigating TikTok for having an addictive interface.

Via Politico, Brussels is now prodding TikTok to change its interface. Very technically, the European Commission is not out to get doomscrolling, specifically. However, the major changes that they want to introduce “disabling infinite scrolling, setting strict screen time breaks, and changing its recommender systems.”

App addiction is a persistent problem today. Besides concerned parents, governments around the world have been trying to regulate addiction, especially when it comes to children. The European Commission, as is apparent from this new initiative, is at the forefront of preventing addiction.

Though the target is explicitly TikTok right now, changing addictive interfaces will also affect other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and X. Most platforms nowadays thrive on encouraging users to keep scrolling through more content.

Right now, TikTok isn’t set to change just yet. However, the report states that the European Commission is willing to work with platforms for a better, non-addictive interface. It’s less abrasive than the region’s recent privacy initiatives, which requires users to verify their age before accessing mature content.

Apps

Breaking up with Adobe Photoshop after 20 years

Wedding planning and Apple Creator Studio made me realize it was time

Published

January 31, 2026

Chay Lazaro

Planning a wedding, even a small and intimate one, has a way of sharpening your sense of priorities. Right as my fiancé and I were making decisions for our city hall wedding here in New York City, Apple announced Creator Studio.

Creator Studio is a subscription service that gets you access to eight creative pro and productivity apps for US$12.99 a month, or US$2.99 if you’re a student or educator. The design app included in the subscription, Pixelmator Pro, is also available as a standalone purchase for US$49.99. Adobe Photoshop, my design software of choice for over two decades costs me US$22.99 a month.

Seeing those numbers next to each other made me pause. It’s not that I was unhappy with Photoshop. I was just suddenly made aware how expensive it is. I’d been paying more for a single tool than I could for an entire creative ecosystem.

Adobe Photoshop was my first foray into the world of graphic design

Creative Studio’s lower price point, along with the free trial, made me consider switching to Pixelmator Pro altogether. That’s something I never thought I would do. Photoshop was how I got into graphic design. It was my first love, and up until recently, I truly thought it would be my ride or die.

Getting to know Pixelmator Pro

If you’re not familiar, Apple’s Pixelmator Pro is a graphic design and image editing app that’s similar to Adobe Photoshop. In practice, it covers a huge amount of the same ground but with a very different philosophy around usability and design.

I tried Pixelmator Pro, mostly as a challenge because we were doing a YouTube video on Apple Creator Studio. Personally, I was lowkey excited to try something new.

The first time I loaded the app, I recreated our YouTube thumbnail template — all within 10 minutes — and I haven’t looked back since.

Familiar enough to feel effortless

One of the biggest reasons my transition to Pixelmator Pro was so easy is muscle memory. Many shortcuts behave the same way: cmd+T for transform, cmd+R to show rulers, cmd+J to duplicate layers, just to name a few.

Having used Photoshop since high school, it felt familiar and intuitive — the complete opposite of how it felt to try and switch to Adobe Illustrator many years ago.

Photoshop is how I got into graphic design. It was my first love, and up until recently, I truly thought it would be my ride or die.

Later, I learned that you can import PSD (Photoshop) files directly to Pixelmator Pro. Apparently I didn’t even need to recreate the GadgetMatch assets. It does a good job of converting and preserving layers.

Photoshop now feels archaic

After using Pixelmator Pro for a few days, going back to Photoshop felt jarring. The sharp edges of the UI felt cold and rigid. Everything was layered with popups, panels, and tiny interruptions.

Pixelmator Pro, in comparison feels warm, smooth and frictionless. Its user interface is very Apple-like — rounded edges, softer icons and buttons. The Creator Studio version also gets the new Liquid Design touch, with transparent menus and elements that feel dynamic.

I especially love the little things. Color adjustments live in one simple panel instead of being scattered across different windows. There’s an eyedropper tool beside every color picker with a magnifier built-in.

When you hover over tools, it shows you the shortcut (e.g. “R” for Repair). There are also subtle animations, like when you use the Color Fill tool to change your canvas color.

Pixelmator Pro’s UI is warm, snappy, and approachable

The differences in user experience are stark. Photoshop’s animations either don’t exist or are too abrupt for one to notice.

Smart tools without the noise

Photoshop has one clear advantage over Pixelmator Pro: Generative AI. It’s great and powerful especially when you need to save time.

I personally used it a couple of times before to save time on cloning, erasing, or expanding elements. Am I going to miss it with this switch? Something tells me I won’t.

Pixelmator Pro’s clone and repair tools, though seemingly so simple, work like a charm. And for how I usually manipulate images, those two are more than enough.

From digital to physical

If Pixelmator Pro was going to replace Photoshop in my workflow, wedding prep was the perfect time to give it a real world test — and it more than held its own. Its ease of use gave me permission to think outside the box, because I knew I had a reliable tool that can help me make it happen.

On the left, a Kufic-inspired wedding logo designed on Pixelmator Pro; on the right, 3D printed stamps

Since my fiancé is half-Iranian, I designed a logo combining our names, inspired by Kufic calligraphy, and I did it entirely in Pixelmator Pro. I developed that same logo further and designed a save the date, with color, also inspired by Kufic calligraphy. I went through a few iterations to come up with the final designs, which were made easier by the Shape tool and grid overlays.

My fiancé then took the logo I designed in Pixelmator Pro, converted it to 3D on Revit, and printed it into stamps in different sizes. One way we’re using it is to deboss the handmade pottery he’s making as one of our party favors.

There are a few more wedding pieces I’m designing on Pixelmator Pro in the coming weeks: our final invitation, and the custom stationery for the dinner that follows the ceremony.

Through this whole process, Pixelmator Pro never felt like it got in the way, or that it was limited. On the contrary, it feels like that enabler friend who says yes to every idea I have, and can actually help make them real.

Powerful, but approachable

The best way I can describe what using Pixelmator Pro is like is this: it’s a mix of Photoshop’s professional tools, Canva’s free library of assets, and Apple’s UI sensibility.

Shortly after Apple announced Creator Studio, Adobe rolled out significant Creative Cloud discounts. Are they threatened? They better be.

That makes it great for beginners, small business owners, and casual creators. Like Canva, it comes with some beautiful templates to help someone with zero experience come up with something good.

But unlike Canva, it still feels like a serious design tool. I can do so much of what I need using Pixelmator Pro but with UI that’s so much more approachable compared to Photoshop.

As the great philosopher Ariana Grande once said, “Thank U, Next”

I remember meeting Canva’s founders before launch and not fully understanding their mission to make graphic design accessible to everyone. Now I do.

It was never about replacing Adobe products and pro designers. What Canva did was fill a huge void we didn’t know existed. They democratized something that used to be reserved only for the privileged few.

Pixelmator Pro comes with free templates, assets, and mockups like this MacBook Pro and coffee packaging

Pixelmator Pro’s lower barrier to entry has potential to make a significant impact. My hope is it opens doors for people who were previously shut out of the graphic design world, and that it becomes something they can grow with, just as I did with Photoshop.

Adobe is still the industry standard

Switching to Pixelmator Pro wasn’t about rejecting Adobe, in the same way that Canva’s success did not kill Photoshop.

It’s worth noting that Adobe products are still the standard in the industry. A lot of companies rely on them, and most schools teach them. In a traditional design or agency environment, Photoshop and Illustrator are still the default language.

Even on Apple’s own Design Resources site for developers, the official design templates are built for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, not Pixelmator Pro. That says a lot about how embedded Adobe is in professional workflows.

Competition makes the space better

Apple Creator Studio, and tools like Pixelmator Pro, challenge Adobe’s near-monopoly in a really healthy way.

It’s not lost on me that trading Photoshop with Apple software actually keeps me locked into one ecosystem. But having more pro creatives try Pixelmator Pro can put pressure on the industry. A strong alternative that’s more cost effective can force titans and dinosaurs to evolve in a way the likes of Corel was never able to do.

Ideally, that means better products and fairer pricing for everyone. Shortly after Apple announced Creator Studio, Adobe rolled out significant Creative Cloud discounts. Are they threatened? They better be.

Pixelmator Pro’s intuitive UI makes switching from Photoshop easy peasy

Access matters, and at the end of the day, with a healthy competition in the market, it’s consumers that win. Canva is a great example of this. It made design tools accessible to those who aren’t professionals. It didn’t make everyone a great designer, just as a novice who tries Final Cut Pro today won’t become a pro video editor tomorrow. Design is still a craft you develop over time with practice.

Is Pixelmator Pro my GadgetMatch?

Photoshop still has its place. But for my everyday work, and occasional personal projects, Pixelmator Pro can do everything that I need to accomplish, at a fraction of the cost.

It feels faster, lighter, and more alive. Honestly learning my way around new software has been so enjoyable — so much so that I feel a renewed sense of eagerness to try other design software like Blender and Figma.

Pixelmator Pro never felt like it got in the way, or that it was limited. On the contrary, it feels like that enabler friend who says yes to every idea I have, and can actually help make them real.

Wedding planning and Apple Creator Studio didn’t just make me switch to a new software. They also made me question how much I’ve been missing out on. How much of what I do is simply due to inertia?

Ending my longest relationship doesn’t mean it failed. I’m grateful for what Photoshop taught me. It helped shape the creative professional that I am today.

But alas, this is one area where my practicality wins over loyalty. Relationships — with people or with tools — only work when both parties keep showing up. There’s no room for complacency, despite the history.

Walking away from something that taught me so much feels bittersweet, but Pixelmator Pro fits the way I work now, and I hope it grows with me as I turn the next page.

Watch our review of Apple Creator Studio

Apps

Apple Creator Studio: Creative apps bundled into single subscription

All the tools you need, one payment

Published

January 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Apple has officially streamlined its popular creative apps into one single subscription suite with the introduction of Apple Creator Studio.

The collection includes some of the most useful apps for today’s creators: Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage.

New AI features and premium content in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers also make the Apple Creator Studio an exciting subscription suite. Freeform will eventually be added to the lineup.

The groundbreaking collection is designed to put studio-grade power into the hands of everyone. It builds on the essential role Apple devices play in the lives of millions of creators worldwide.

The apps included cover video editing, music making, creative imaging, and visual productivity to give modern creators the features and capabilities they need.

Final Cut Pro introduces exceptional new video editing tools and intelligent features for Mac and iPad.

For the first time, Pixelmator Pro is also coming to iPad with a uniquely crafted experience optimized for touch and Apple Pencil.

Logic Pro, meanwhile, for Mac and iPad introduces more intelligent features like Synth Player and Chord ID.

Apple Creator Studio will be available on the App Store beginning January 29. In the Philippines, the rates are PhP 399 a month or PhP 3,990 annually.

There is also a free one-month trial which includes access to:

Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad
Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac
Intelligent features and premium content for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform for iPhone, iPad, and Mac

College students and educators can subscribe for a discounted price of PhP 149 per month or PhP 1,490 per year.