Daily Tip: How to get custom Notification Center widgets in iOS 5 [Jailbreak]

Jailbroken iOS 5 and curious how to get custom Notification Center widgets up and running? Right now, Apple has only included weather and stocks widgets and hasn’t shown any signs of extending an API to 3rd party developers for building their own. However, as soon as iOS 5 was jailbroken a few developers started tinkering around and found it was rather easy to build their own custom widgets, and we’re already starting to see some interesting things come out of developers. We’ll show you how to add them to your custom Notification Center… after the jump!

To get started, first check out our iOS 5 jailbreak how to and then fire up Cydia. Note: these widgets are fairly new athere are still some bugs that need to be worked out, but for the most part they’re interesting and useful.

The widgets we’ll go over are developed by @qwertyoruiop, so you’ll have to add his beta repo to get access. Just follow these quick steps to add the correct Cydia repository before getting started.

The first widget is one I’d definitely suggest getting…

UISettings is a great widget that offers most of your settings toggles right from within Notification Center. Much akin to SBSettings, UISettings lets you toggle WiFi or Bluetooth, respring, reboot, adjust brightness/volume and more. You swipe to reveal more toggles, and turning your WiFi or Bluetooth radios on/off is very fast.

The developer is actively working on improving UISettings and we’re betting he’ll keep up with Apple’s iOS 5 betas as they roll out. The only issue (if you can even call it an “issue”) is the icons used aren’t the best looking, but they’re currently a big step up from the initial release last week. We’re also looking into the possibility of manually changing the icons via SSH and we’ll have a guide up if we determine it’s possible.

MusicCenter offers now playing information in the Notification Center with playback options available by swiping to the left. It’s great if you need more track identifier data over what’s shown in the native app switcher when swiping left, and also comes with a Twitter option to tweet what’s playing from the official Twitter for iPhone app.

I found the playback controls to be quite buggy, but I think it was more due to the button design than anything else. The playback control buttons are too small, making it difficult for those with larger thumbs to get the button press exact. Additional bugs were noticed after my iPhone crashed into safe mode when I tried to disable the widget, and in one case I had to completely reboot my iPhone after disabling it.

This one needs a little more work, but the concept is great for quickly getting to track information on what’s currently playing without going into the Music app.

BetteryCenter is a very simple widget to display your current battery percentage. BatteryCenter shows a battery icon on the left and the percentage on the right. It will also tell you whether the device is charging or unplugged.

For most, this widget might seem useless since the information it displays is also included in the status bar. But for some, it serves a purpose if you don’t want the percentage displayed on the status bar, as some status bar icons tend to get “pushed” out of the way when too many icons are being displayed (including the percentage indicator). I personally use BatteryCenter for this very reason, and have since disabled the battery percentage in the status bar since it’s no longer needed. I also ran into zero bugs with this widget.

RSSWidget is a simple RSS reader for Notification Center that displays a single RSS feed, letting you swipe between recent articles with the post’s title and first few lines displayed. Tapping an article takes you straight into Mobile Safari to read the full post.

I noticed a few small bugs with this one as well, in that some RSS feeds with links in the first few lines get displayed as HTML code, making it difficult to read without going into Safari to view the full post. This is very noticeable on blog posts that start with a photo (see above image). I also had occasional crashes to safe mode when enabling or disabling the widget, similar to buggy behavior in MusicCenter.

This is a great widget for getting news at-a-glance or keeping up with your favorite RSS feed, but it also needs a little work. Follow these quick steps in order to change the RSS feed displayed.

It would be nice if there was a shortcut setting to change the RSS feed a little quicker, but for now you’ll have to do it through iFile or via SSH.

That’s it! These new Notification Center widgets are looking good, and there’s more to come from other great jailbreak developers. If we left anything out, or if you know of other cool Notification Center widgets for iOS 5 then let us know in the comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Vote for iPhone Alley’s New Logo

Editors Michael DeLisi (myself) and Nikhil Katti have been hard at work designing a new logo for iPhone Alley, but our readers get to make the final choice. To the left, banner versions of each logo are paired (by number) with the icon that would become iPhone Alley’s new avatar on Twitter. Not only does your vote decide which logo wins, but also the color scheme that the site’s upcoming redesign will follow.

Which design should become iPhone Alley's new logo?

View Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also make sure to check out bigger versions of the designs for a better view:

 

Michael’s “iOS Blog” design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nkatti’s “News, reviews and more” design 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nkatti’s “News, reviews and more” design 2

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! – Dr. Seuss book for iPhone and iPad now available

Oceanhouse Media has released a new Dr. Seuss book for iPhone and iPad, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! This interactive book is unique in that it sets the stage for each scene, giving the child a chance to image it themselves. Then they tap the colorful questions to watch the story appear as Dr. Seuss imagined it.

If you pick this one up, let us know what you and your child think! Sreenshots after the break.

[$3.99 - iTunes link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

everythingiCafe App Update Version 1.6 Now Available in App Store

Version 1.6 of the everythingiCafe app is now available in the App Store. The application is the perfect companion app to our forums and it’s free.

The new update includes the following:

The everythingiCafe app remains free. The app is also completely ad-free for members who are signed into the forum.

You can download the everythingiCafe app from the App Store.

In stock: New TiPb t-shirts are here!

Have you gotten your TiPb t-shirt yet? The new TiPb t-shirts are here, and you can find them in the SPE Swag Store. They come in all shapes, sizes, weights and colors, for men and women, and feature our awesome TiPb icon front and center.

There are also some fabulous Lloyd t-shirts for those of you who like your feisty green Androids as well.

Get them. Wear them. Send us your pictures!

Shop TiPb t-shirts at the SPE Swag Store…

Verizon dropping unlimited data plans next month

According to All Things Digital, a Verizon spokesperson has said that they will be dropping its their Unlimited data plan option in July.

Verizon will be switching to a tiered data option for smart phone users on their network, and according to the source, the data caps and prices will be as follows,

10GB – $80/month

Tethering is a $20/month add-on and includes an additional 2GB of data.

Overages are assessed at $10/GB.

AT&T dropped their unlimited data plans last summer and switched to a tiered system, but allowed customers to stay “grandfathered” into their unlimited data plans (without the option to tether). Whether or not Verizon follows suit allow their existing users with unlimited plans to keep them, we don’t know yet.

If you’re on Verizon, what do you think of these new plans? If you’re not on Verizon, are you tempted to switch now before unlimited goes away?

[All Things Digital]

iPad 2 and AirPlay Make Nintendo’s Wii U an Unnecessary Console

When Nintendo introduced its follow-up to the incredibly successful Wii console, titled Wii U, it brought current-generation graphics and a controller that is only unique in the console industry. Nintendo is still betting that the controller, dominated by a 6.2″ resistive touch-screen surrounded by traditional buttons and motion sensors, will be seen as innovative once customers can get their hands on it despite a fairly lukewarmly-received demonstration at the E3 Expo. Though the system is certainly unique in how video can be wirelessly streamed from the console to the controller, enabling games to be played exclusively on the controller (which has little internal hardware) without the need for a television while also giving developers and users the option of having both the controller and a television working independently. Trouble is, a 2012 release date may be too little, too late for Nintendo.

With iOS 5, Apple introduces similar functionality into a multi-purpose device that millions already have: the iPad 2. The iOS 5 introduction of wireless AirPlay allows users to transmit video to a television cable-free. In this instance, the actual processing is being done on the controller, the iPad. Similar to the functionality of the Wii U controller, this not only allows for a mirroring of the iPad’s display but also something different to be displayed on a television and the iPad.

Quickly stepping in to test out the new AirPlay functionality, developer Firemint implemented the feature into a beta version of Real Racing 2. In the early build, the game itself is displayed on a TV while a map and motion controls make up the complementary iPad experience. Proving that a powerhouse app can use AirPlay to great effect, we are not too far-off from seeing the trend continue, especially as the Wii U is marketed.

If the current power of the iPad is not enough for a game, then cloud gaming can fill in the gaps. OnLive, which processes games on its own server farm while sending a synchronized video stream of the game to devices so that it is irrelevant how powerful the device actually is, had already been preparing similar dual-display functionality for its upcoming iPad player app. Once the app is released later this year, developers can make full-blown console/PC games playable on a tablet while also adding touch-specific controls and complementary displays on a television and tablet.

If developers are creating a Wii U version of the game anyway, it would not take much work to port it over to a service such as OnLive or optimize it for the App Store so that users can have a similar experience with devices that they already have.

Interestingly enough, there are unique multiplayer scenarios for a Wii U controller when used with multiple Wii remotes. However, even this can be extended to the iPad with the iPhone and iPod touch replacing Wii remotes, because after all, how many people do you know that don’t have an iOS device?

For all intent and purposes, iPad 2 can take the place of a Wii U. Though the Wii U does have a hardware advantage going for it, the iPad will likely take another performance leap in the next iteration before Nintendo’s new console is released. By the time it launches, parallel tablet and television apps/gaming will not be a new thing. Who knows how much of an effect such a version of Angry Birds could have on the living room gaming scene within the next few months?