With the release of iOS 7 beta 1 having just occurred, the question that was posed to a huge number of iOS device owners was whether or not they should upgrade, and lose their jailbreak just to try the first beta of iOS 7. For those not aware, many of the features found in iOS 7 are accessible already via jailbreak, thus it seems almost foolish to update. For those people that rely on a jailbreak too much however, like myself, I have some good news! A few packages and tweaks have hit Cydia in the last few days which do a great job of emulating iOS 7 on a jailbroken device.
Of course replicating the core functionality of an iOS 7 device isn’t going to be possible, there are just too many differences. However for the most part, features and UI additions can be achieved through jailbreak tweaks and themes.
The video below will walk you through everything I have included to transform my iPhone 5 running jailbroken iOS 6, into an iOS 7 competitor.
Due to the nature of iOS 7, it’s pretty feature rich. For this reason, I’ve had to use quite a few tweaks and themes to accomplish the end product of this mini-project. A full list of Cydia packages, along with their prices and repos can be found below:
- iOS 7 Theme for iPhone: is the icon set that I used for this video, it does a great job in incorporating iOS 7 icons in replacement for the boring iOS 6 stock app icons. It can be found on the MacCiti repo for free.
- iOS 7 Bars And Battery: produces an identical status bar to iOS 7, including the new flatter battery icon, and dots in replacement for signal bars. It can also be found on the MacCiti repo for free.
- BlurriedNCBackground: provided the functionality required to have a Gaussian blur effect in replacement for the linen Notification Center background we’re all so accustomed to. This tweak is available for free on the BigBoss repo.
- CardSwitcher: is the tweak used to replicate the iOS 7 App Switcher. This is almost identical to the multitasking functionality found in iOS 7, and will set you back $1.99 from the BigBoss repo.
- Thin Lockscreen: is the lock screen theme that I used in this video. It provides a very minimalist approach to the lock screen, and looks incredibly similar to the iOS 7 LS. It is hosted on the Patrick Muff repo for free, so you’ll need to add this source (patrickmuff.ch/repo) to your Cydia sources in order to access the download. The lock screen wallpaper can be found here: goo.gl/SkxzY
- FolderEnhancer: was used in this video, to emulate the functionality and appearance of iOS 7 folders. It does a great job, as I’m sure you noticed from the video above. It’s available for $2.49 from the BigBoss repository.
- Auxo: is the tweak chosen to replicate the functionality of Control Center within iOS 7. Whilst it doesn’t look very similar, the functionality it provides is almost identical and even could be considered better with the addition of app switching. This tweak will set you back $1.99 from the BigBoss repo.
- DeepEnd: produces a parallax effect, by moving your home screen wallpaper depending on the accelerometer motion detection from your device. This provides a very cool 3D effect to your springboard, and can be found for free on Ryan Petrich’s beta repo (rpetri.ch/repo).
- BytaFont + Roboto Light: were used in this tutorial in order to provide a font that looks incredibly similar to the default font found within iOS 7. Both are available for free within Cydia.
- (Optional): Here’s how you can set Yahoo weather app as default on iPhone home screen.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos.
Following along with this tutorial is an excellent way to replicate many of the nuances found within iOS 7. If you’re stuck on iOS 6 because you don’t want to lose your jailbreak, or you just aren’t an Apple developer, this may be a great way to try out some of the basic features found within Apple’s new mobile operating system.
You may also like to check out:
- iOS 7 Features Walkthrough [VIDEO]
- Download iOS 7 Beta 1 For iPhone 5, 4S, 4, iPod touch 5
- iOS 7 vs iOS 6 – Side By Side Visual Comparison [IMAGES]
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.
