It may not bring the most exciting of functionality to a jailbroken device, but the new VertaSwitch tweak that has just landed on Cydia does offer users the ability to change the visual app switching properties of the device. As we all should know by now, switching between running apps is as simple as double pressing the home button to invoke the app switcher and then selecting the desired app to display.
The VertaSwitch package doesn’t exist to change any of the standard native functionality that we are all used to, but it does amend the animations that occur when switching between backgrounded apps. In a native installation of Apple’s iOS, the preferred direction of app switching is a side animation that sees the currently running application exit from the left and the selected app enter from the right hand side of the display. When installed, VertaSwitch simply amends this animation from a horizontal switching to a vertical one meaning apps enter and exit in a vertical fashion.
After installation, VertaSwitch does not append the Springboard with any additional icons and doesn’t bring any of its own preferences bundles through the native Settings app. The tweak is totally self sufficient and exists purely as an extension to the operating system, hooking into the multitasking animations to change the way they function.
The Cydia platform already contains quite a large number of tweaks and packages that offer users alternative solutions to Apple’s native multitasking implementation. Some of the available options simply make small modifications to the native way it is handled, however some developers have chosen to fully implement a new system in the hope that it provides a better solution for users.
VertaSwitch may not rewrite what is already there but it will be a successful installation for those users who are happy with the already offered solution and just want a simple aesthetic enhancement. Head on over to Cydia and give it a whirl, after all it is free.
VertaSwitch is available as a free of charge download from the BigBoss repository and requires a jailbroken device running iOS 4.0 or above.
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