Alec O'Grady

I recently have been living with a jailbroken iPhone 5 for some time now, and though I sometimes miss the stock iOS, I love the freedom that jailbreak allows you to have. You can just do so much more with it. But, when I started this, I said that I would keep as close to iOS as possible. Meaning I didn’t want to install any themes or change the view of the lockscreen. So, you won’t find any of those tweaks in here. But, you will find some awesome features that will allow you to use jailbreak to it’s fullest.

1. Stride ($3)

Android users have boasting at us iPhone users for some time about their fancy lock screen. And there are so many Android Lockscreen tweaks out there on Cydia, but this is a completely new idea. You’re just drawing on the screen. The phone is your canvas and you just draw a shape a couple of times and that is now your lockscreen. The promo video is down below.

2. Auxo

Auxo redefines multitasking for your iPhone. Instead of just having the app logo, like we’re all used to, it shows what you were previously doing in that application. It looks really cool and adds a bunch of extra features next to the music player. Including toggles for Wi-Fi, bluetooth, flashlight, etc…

3. NCSettings

Have you ever wanted to swipe down your Notification Center, turn your bluetooth or wi-fi off, and then swipe back up and it was off? NCSettings allows you to do just this. It gives a toggle bar for wifi, bluetooth, etc… in your Notification Center, so it’s extremely simple to turn them off.

4. iFile.

iFile is essentially the Finder for your iPhone. It allows you to go deep into the files of your applications, settings and other files. It’s extremely useful and easy to use.

5. MyWi 6.0

This IS the reason why I jailbroke my phone. So I could use my iPhone as a wi-fi hotspot. It’s absolutely incredible and I use it so much. Plus, you only have to pay $20 once, and then you get it for free. It’s awesome.

All of these are great Cydia Tweaks that you should definitely get. Other ones are Universal Video Downloader (allowing you to download any video from any app), Barrel, Activator and AssistantLove.

One of the glorious parts of the New Year are the New Years resolutions that people make. Unfortunately, not many people actually keep those resolutions, even when they tell themselves that they’re going to. But, if you’re really serious about keeping them, here are a couple of applications for your iOS device to help you keep those promises.

1. Clear (iPhone, $1.99)

This app lets you prioritize those promises that you’re going to make. It’s got a clean interface that shows you one list at a time. It’s cloud based so you can transfer your notes between your Mac and iPhone.

2. iBooks (iPhone iPad, Free)

One of your New Years resolutions is to read more often. Well, this app will definitely let you do that. With thousands of books, the iBooks app is definitely one of the best reading applications for iOS. It’s cloud based so it syncs your purchases, bookmarks and locations on all of your devices. You can sample the books which will give you the first chapter to see if you really do want to purchase it. Then, you’ll be reading more books in no time with this app. Plus, it’s free!

3. Paper by 53 (iPad, Free)

I’ve written about this app so many times. I do so because it’s the best drawing app on the App Store. If you’re looking to be more creative and want to draw more, this is a great app that will help you. You start out with one brush, but can buy others for $2.99 or all of them together for $5. It’s a great way to start drawing! I probably use this app everyday and have so much fun with it. The picture above was actually made with Paper. It was very quick, but it worked out.

Those are all of the apps that I will use for my New Years resolutions. My resolutions are to blog more, create more and mange my money a little better.

Of course the App Store has a list already for New Year’s resolutions. The Google Play Market also has it for their Android devices. Check those out for more options.

Back in June, Apple announced to the public that they were’ going to get rid or Google Maps because their contract with Google was over. Naturally, they needed a mapping service, so they decided to make their own. And thus, Apple Maps was born. But it was a big mistake. There were so many problems with it, it couldn’t live very long in the real world. Google then released their official Google Maps app. This climbed it’s way up to the top free app in under a night and for good reason. It’s better.

For this review, I hopped on my bike (multiple times) and went to a Starbucks that I don’t really go to. I got directions from Apple Maps one time, and Google Maps the next. Unfortunately, since I’m on a bike, I can’t go onto highways, freeways or expressways. So, for both Google Maps and Apple Maps, I had to go to a part where I could get turn-by-turn without going onto the highway. Apple Maps failed in this.

Apple Maps did good to get me to the place, but since I wasn’t really familiar with the area, I relied COMPLETELY on Apple Maps. It turns out, It took me behind the entire shopping center, and was taking me onto the highway! It wasn’t good. I had to turn back and figure out where it was.

But, the second time I did it, Google Maps was phenomenal. There’s a feature in the app that I didn’t notice until later. When you’re getting the route, there’s an option to avoid highways and tolls! That option to have right there is amazing and completely won me over.

So that’s my story on how Google Maps is better than Apple Maps. There are many other reasons (like it doesn’t screw up) but this was the most important one to me.

5 Must Have Apps for Your Brand New iPad

As you may know, your new iPad can do a lot. It can take photos and videos, can store music, movies and books. But, the main thing that your new device can do relies on the applications that you put on it. Here’s my list of my 5 favorite apps for your new gadget.

1. Garage Band (4.99)

Whether you have no idea how to make music or you actually play an instrument, the Garage Band app is perfect. I found myself tapping on the back of my iPad a lot and figured, why don’t I do this in an app and record them. I downloaded the $5 app and instantly loved it! I was making beats with the drums and songs with all of the instruments together. It’s one of the best music making apps for your iPad. It’s also available on the iPhone and has iCloud syncing to sync your beats from your Mac, to your iPad and iPhone.

2. Paper by 53 (Free)

This app was awarded the best app of 2012 in the App Store for a good reason. It’s the best drawing app out there. There are others like Adobe ideas and (believe it or not) Adobe Photoshop Touch, but this app is just better in every way. It has a large variety of brushes and colors that will satisfy your drawing. And you can even buy a color palette mixer tool for $2 to make your drawing even more brighter and colorful.

3. The Sims Free Play (Free)

Anyone who was played Sims on the PC knows this game. But, this time, it’s on the iPad and uses real time to complete tasks. It’s different from the PC version for a couple of reasons. It uses real time, so if a task says it takes 20 minutes, it takes 20 minutes. The money system is very strange, but in a good way. For about the first month, my Sim did not have a job, but I was still making money. This is done because at the beginning of the game, you get a pet dog or cat. And they go around digging up money for you! It’s amazing.

4. Flipboard (Free)

Flipboard is arguably the best news app for the iPad. It’s got a great UI and you can hook it up to your social network feed. It has a lot to offer and is great for viewing the news and your favorite sites.

5. Cut the Rope ($.99)

There is only one game that I will beat, reset and play it over and over again. This game is Cut the Rope. This game is a physics game where you try to deliver candy to a little monster named Om-nom. There are all of these barriers in your way including spikes, spiders and time. This game has been out for over a year now, and is still on this list and I play it at least 3 times a week.