Chpwn

How to use Activator to replicate Zephyr functionalities

Zephyr is, with BiteSMS, one of my must-have jailbreak tweaks for iPhone. While BiteSMS has started making its way to devices on iOS 7 for a few weeks now, Zephyr is still nowhere to be found.

In fact, after chatting with Zephyr developer Grant Paul (aka chpwn), I was told that there were no plans at this time to update the tweak for iOS 7. So I decided to make the best I could with what I have: Activator by Ryan Petrich...

Chpwn and other developers hit with iMessage DoS attack

Over the past few days, several well-known iOS and jailbreak developers have reported that they've been hit with an iMessage DoS, or denial of service, attack. The attacks feature a series of spam messages that end up crashing the iMessage app.

The list of affected developers include Sn0wBreeze creator iH8sn0w, Zephyr creator Chpwn, and others. And the perpetrator has been tracked to a Twitter account involved in selling things like provisioned UDIDs and Siri proxy servers...

Gridlock updated for iOS 6

Gridlock 2.0 was released just moments ago, and it brings iOS 6.x support in tow. Gridlock is a tweak that's very popular among jailbreakers, because it gives users the ability to rearrange their app icons using a simple drag and drop action.

Normally, iOS prevents users from organizing app icons in any way but in a linear manner. With Gridlock, you can easily leave blank spaces between app icons. In my opinion, Gridlock is best served when mixed with iOS themes, and jailbreak widgets like Dashboard X. Whatever the case may be, you'll likely enjoy the sense of freedom that you get from using Gridlock.

Zephyr updated again, resurrects keyboard options and adds more features

We love it when developers really take the time to listen to their user-base. That's exactly what Grant Paul (a.k.a. Chpwn) did after receiving feedback about his latest update to Zephyr.

Apparently, more than a few people were unhappy about the tweak's new keyboard features. So much so, that Paul received over 200 some-odd emails and tweets expressing dislike over the changes. His response? Push out another update a few hours after the previous update, fully addressing the concerns.

Zephyr updated to implement new Screen Area option

A new update to Zephyr just appeared on Cydia, and it contains at least one new feature. If you were attuned to Twitter about a week ago, you may have noticed a somewhat intense conversation between @_Yllier_ and Zephyr developer, @Chpwn.

Basically, the conversation began when Yllier created a hack for Zephyr, which makes it possible to limit the screen area where a "swipe from left to right gesture" is valid. He created the hack with the intention of making it easier to use apps like Gmail, and Facebook, which both rely on the swipe gestures that can interfere with Zephyr.

To make a long story short, Chpwn wasn't pleased that the hack was released due to issues it could cause with future updates, support, etc., and he asked Yllier to remove it. Yllier did eventually remove it, but not before he received a nod from Chpwn agreeing to include the useful feature in a future version of Zephyr. And that, folks, is where we are now.

Zephyr updated with iPad gestures and iOS 6 bug fixes

Zephyr is arguably one of the most popular jailbreak tweaks available on Cydia today—and for good reason. It's easy to use, reliable, and it makes switching between applications on your iPhone a breeze.

Today, the tweak gets even better. Chpwn announced this morning that Zephyr 1.5 is now available with several bug fixes for iOS 6, and the ability to use the iPad's four-finger gestures on your iPhone...

Infiniboard updated with Iconoclasm and OverBoard support

In what seems like the first bit of news from the jailbreak scene in quite a while, Chpwn announced today that an update for his popular Infiniboard tweak is now available in Cydia.

The utility, which allows you to add an unlimited amount of icons to each springboard page, now works with Sakurina's Iconoclasm and Ryan Petrich's OverBoard tweak...

Chpwn releases rebuilt Infiniapps with iOS 6 support

The Infiniapps are some of the most popular tweaks on the jailbreak scene. There's Infinidock, which lets you add more icons to your iOS dock, Infinifolders, which does the same thing for folders, and Infiniboard, which adds vertical scrolling to your Springboard.

If you're a fan of the trio, you'll be happy to know that Chpwn has recently updated all three of them to support iOS 6. In fact, he's completely rebuilt them from the ground up to eradicate long-standing bugs, and improve the stability and performance of the tweaks...

iPad 4 jailbroken

Hot on the heels of the iPad mini being jailbroken, well-known developer and iOS hacker Chpwn has announced that he has hacked his iPad 4. Both tablets officially went on sale last Friday.

As Chpwn points out, Cydia doesn't look any different on the fourth generation iPad than it did on its predecessor. But the fact that it's been jailbroken is actually pretty significant...

The tale of my three days at the epicenter of the jailbreak community

I went to JailbreakCon full of good intentions. I was going to live tweet the event, I was going to write posts about every speak, and I was going to interview as many speakers as I could. As it turned out, I did none of that. Instead, I soaked in as much as I could from everyone around me. I did what I hadn't done for a long time: I socialized!

When I say that I socialized, I'm not saying that I pretended to be friends with some people I mostly knew on Twitter. No, I actually lived with these people for three days, learned about their lives, their habits, and their personality. I learned about the real "them", not the image they sometimes give of them on Twitter or IRC.

This is the story of my three days at the epicenter of the jailbreak community. You won't learn anything here about the iOS 6 jailbreak, because what happens at JailbreakCon stays at JailbreakCon, but hopefully, you will get a glimpse a the other side of the jailbreak community...

iPhone 5 jailbroken

It looks like Grant Paul, aka Chpwn, is in possession of a jailbroken iPhone 5.

We can't really say much more, other than the fact that he posted a screenshot of Cydia running on the iPhone 5 a few moments ago. More details of the exciting news inside...

Jailbreak developer Chpwn now interning at Facebook

Is jailbreak developer extraordinaire Chpwn looking for a new challenge? After releasing some of my favorite jailbreak tweaks such as Zephyr, Grant 'Chpwn' Paul has accepted an intern position at Facebook.

So what is Chpwn going to do at Facebook? Work on the mystery Facebook phone? Bring some Apple sauce to the company? Fix the plumbing? We have absolutely no idea what he's up to but we sure wish him well in his new endeavors...