Tweaking refers to fine-tuning or adjusting a complex system, usually an electronic device. Tweaks are any small modifications intended to improve a system. [Wikipedia]

The tweaks on my jailbroken iPhone are the main reason why I will not go back to using an unjailbroken device. I have a lot of them, and probably have tested all of them out at one time or another. I wish I could describe them all to you, but I will not do it for two reasons: first, there are too many of them and I just don’t have the time, and second, more importantly, I think it would be best to provide you with the joy to discover them by yourself. Here is a tiny list of my favourites (these are the tweaks I download every time I jailbreak my iPhone):

MY TOP 40 TWEAKS & APPS

Activator (FREE on BigBoss) - this tweak allows you to assign gestures or buttons as shortcuts. For example, double-pressing the home button opens up the phone app instead of activating the multitasking switcher (the bar with open background applications at the button of the screen). Or pressing both volume buttons simultaneously shows the volume control bar. Or ‘pinching’ the screen opens a compose tweet window. There are many tweaks available on Cydia which work with Activator, many of which are listed below.

Aero ($1.99 on ModMyi) – enabled using an Activator gesture, this tweak allows you to switch through your background applications using one of 12 different stylish animations.

animate (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak replaces the start-up Apple (boot)logo by a custom logo or animation. There are hundreds of custom bootlogos available on Cydia. NOTE: in order for it to work on devices with iOS > 4.2.1 you also need to install animate fix for iOS 4.x.x/5.0.x (FREE on ModMyi).

Barrel ($2.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak adds 18 different graphical effects for icons on your springboard when scrolling sideways from page to page.

biteSMS ($6.95 on BigBoss) – this Cydia app replaces your native SMS app. Why is it better? The main feature is quick reply which means that upon receiving an SMS it shows up as a popup window and I have the option of replying to it within than popup window. Once again, this works even if I have another app open. Other features are quick compose (with Activator), scheduled messages, auto-forward, password protection, contact pics, templates, signatures, etc.

BytaFont (FREE on ModMyi) – this tweak allows you to change font on your iPhone. There are hundreds of font packages available on Cydia. My favourite: Klill Font (FREE on ModMyi).

CallBar ($3.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak makes incoming calls show up as a small bar at the top of my screen. Once again, this works even if I have another app open, allowing me to continue what I am doing if I choose to make the caller wait before I answer (or ignore him/her altogether). It works with incoming FaceTime or Skype calls too.

Cascade ($0.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak adds a coverflow effect to icons displayed on your dock. It works very well with another tweak Infinidock (see below), allowing you to scroll back and forth through the icons.

Color Keyboard ($1.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to theme your keyboard. There are many CK themes available on Cydia.

Data Usage Monitor ($1.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak displays the amount of data you have used right up there in the status bar. You can also make it send you a warning when you are close to your monthly limit.

Deck ($1.99 on on ModMyi) – enabled using an Activator gesture, this tweak opens a menu containing power functions (lock, respring, reboot), compose options (SMS, mail, tweet), toggles (wifi, bluetooth, airplane mode, location), favourites (your favourite 6 apps), and shortcuts (Siri, camera, iPod) in a multitasking switcher-like fashion on the side of your screen.

DreamBoard (FREE on ModMyi) – my love. This Cydia app is an alternative to Winterboard (see below) for theming your iPhone. In my opinion it’s potential is far superior to that of WB, but unfortunately the number of themes available for it on Cydia is very limited, mainly because the developer has abandoned the project and left it in a slightly unrefined form. Nevertheless, it is definitely worthy of a special mention. See more about DB on the Themes page.

f.lux (FREE on Cydia/Telesphoreo) – this tweak softens the strong blue lighting emitted by your iPhone at nighttime. Apparently research has shown that “blue light during the day is great for your circadian rhythm, [but] at night is not”.

Five Icon Switcher (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak makes your multitasking switcher display 5 instead of 4 icons.

FolderEnhancer ($1.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to have more than 12 apps within a folder. In fact, you can have multiple pages of icons within a folder. What about folders within folders? Yes. What about folders on the dock? Yes, that too!

Gridlock ($0.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to arrange your icons wherever you want on the 4×4 screen. It works very well with another tweak Iconoclasm (see below), which lifts the 4×4 restriction.

iClassic ($2.00 on BigBoss) – this Cydia app simulates the original Apple iPod (looks like an iPod, clicks like an iPod, and plays like an iPod). Unfortunately, Pelaez, the developer behind iClassic, has stopped working on it quite some time ago, and it is not for sale on BigBoss anymore. I have therefore included it on my repo (see iClassic v1.5).

Icon Renamer (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to rename app icons on your springboard.

Iconoclasm ($2.99 on ModMyi) – this tweak allows you to place icons in a custom arrangement, breaking free from the 4×4 rule, or even from columns and rows. There are many different iconoclasm arrangement packages available on Cydia

iFile ($4.00 on BigBoss) – this Cydia app is for the iPhone what the Finder is for Mac and My Computer is for Windows. With iFile you have access to all your iOS folders and files from where you can open image files, music files, video files, text files (also edit them), zip and unzip them, as well as send them as email attachments. A new feature allows you to link your iPhone to your Dropbox account, moving folders and files to and from very easy.

Infinidock ($0.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to place more than 4 app icons or folders in your dock. Also, you have the option to scroll through several ‘pages’ of icons in the dock.

IntelliscreenX ($9.99 on ModMyi) – this tweak is pricey but packed with very cool features. Most notably, it integrate your Notification Center in your lock screen. Next, it allows you to scroll sideways within your NC to view your emails, Facebook timeline, Twitter timeline, and RSS feeds, with a possibility to directly reply, post/comment/like, tweet/retweet, and open attachments/links/images. It gives you access to hidden space as well as adds toggles (airplane, wifi, bluetooth, data, rotation lock, respring) inside the NC. And more…

iSHSHit (FREE on BigBoss) – this Cydia app allows you to save and email yourself your firmware SHSH blobs (used for downgrading; see my post). Just do it, you’ll thank me later.

KillBackground (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to kill all apps running in your background, freeing up RAM in dire situations. Shows up as a little button in the multitasking switcher, or activated using an Activator gesture.

MultiIconMover (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to move multiple icons simultaneously.

MusicBarExtended ($1.59 on BigBoss) – enabled using an Activator gesture, this tweak opens a customisable “widget” displaying the album art of the song playing, as well as rewind, play/pause, and forward buttons for easy iPod control. There are many MBEx themes available on Cydia.

My3G ($3.99 on ModMyi) - this tweak allows you to overcome your iPhone’s restriction of not being able to use certain apps like FaceTime or Skype, do an iCloud backup, stream HD movies on YouTube, or download apps >50Mb in size from the AppStore while on 3G. It basically tricks the apps into thinking they are on Wifi even though they are not. I would also like to quickly mention MyWi 5 ($19.99 on ModMyi) made by the same developers, which enables tethering via your iPhone if you are with a carrier which disables Personal Hotspot).

PasswordPilot (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak auto-fills your Apple ID Password whenever you buy/update anything from the AppStore, iTunes, iTunes U, or iBooks.

PhotoAlbums+ for iPhone ($4.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to create folders in the Photo app, and move (not just copy) images from one folder to another. It can also password-protect pictures.

Poof (free on BigBoss) – this Cydia app allows you to hide apps. For example, I hide my Phone app since I don’t need it (having assigned double-press home button to it via Activator).

SnowCover4 (FREE on ZodTTD & MacCiti) – this tweak displays the album art of the song playing on the lock screen, and gives you easy iPod control using gestures. There are many SC4 themes available on Cydia.

Spire (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak is MEGA! it installs every file you require for Siri to work on your non-4S iPhone. You do need access to a proxy host though (which is not included. There are dozens (perhaps even more) Spire Proxy Hosts you can find on the web, usually with an monthly or annual fee for access, but unfortunately most have very frequent downtime, or don’t work, period. I recommend SiriZone – by far the best one (costs $20 per year, but money well spent if you consider the alternative: upgrading to an iPhone 4S). ATTENTION: Spire caused a few issues when I installed it for the first time: it caused many of my AppStore apps to crash on opening. It seems to be a common problem reported by many users. The solution is to install it on a freshly restored iPhone that has not been restored from backup via iTunes.

Stride ($2.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to unlock your iPhone with a gesture (e.g. drawing a triangle on your lockscreen).

SwipeSelection (FREE on BigBoss) – this tweak allows you to edit/select text on your iPhone using gestures to move the cursor left or right. No more pinpointing via magnifying glass required!

USB Drive (FREE by Dmytro Pohromskyy / repo: http://apt.dmytro.me) - this Cydia app allows you to use your iPhone as a USB thumb drive by creating a partition (any size) accessible by a computer via the USB/charging cable. Once the partition is created, your iPhone will work in 2 different modes when connected to the computer: USB drive or iTunes syncable (reboot required if you switch between the two modes). This app is actually very old and has glitches (slow, SD graphics, permanent loss of space if the iPhone auto-locks during creation of partition > fix: disable auto-lock).

WeatherIcon (FREE on ModMyi) – this tweak displays the current temperature on the weather app icon (replaces the misleading 23C or 73F).

Winterboard (free on Cydia/Telesphoreo) – see the Themes page.

Yourtube 3 (FREE on CocoaNuts beta packages / repo: http://apt.cocoanuts.co) - allows you to download videos from youtube onto my iPod/Video library. There are several Cydia apps that allow you to do the same, for example ProTube ($1.49 on BigBoss) or MxTube (FREE on BigBoss), but these are separate apps, as opposed to Yourtube which is a tweak integrated into the Youtube app that comes with the iPhone.

Zephyr ($2.99 on BigBoss) – this tweak elegantly displays the multitasking switcher by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Another feature is switching between background apps by swiping with 2 or 3 fingers across the screen left or right.

Zeppelin (FREE on ModMyi) – this tweak replaces the carrier text (e.g. AT&T, Optus, Orange) by custom icons. There are hundreds of custom Zeppelin carrier logos available on Cydia.