Before you get out your pitchforks and whatever else Apple fans use to maim the non-believers, know that today’s unholy experiment comes from a Jailbroken theme. If somebody wants to add a little bit of Windows 8 to their iPhone, they will have already committed the unthinkable crime of going against Apple’s wishes by jailbreaking their iPhone.

Regardless, it’s a pretty sweet reskin and it looks just like the Metro UI that we’ve come to either love or hate. Seeing it on the iPhone just makes my week. I’m sure Apple fans will have something to say about it, but I think it’s a nice fit for the iPhone. I’ve always thought that Metro looked great on phones and the iPhone UI does need some sprucing up in the design department.

Check out the video below from Jailbreak Nation to get a close look at how Windows 8 would translate to the iPhone.

To get more information on the skin and where to download it, hit up Jailbreak Nations’s tutorial on how to install it. It’s only a paltry $1.50 to get the magic and wonder of Windows 8 onto an Apple device. That’s a small price to pay for the tech equivalent of crossing the streams.

[Lead Image: JBN]

Unless you jailbreak your phone, that is. Scarcely had the dust settled from Google’s launch of Chrome for iOS when a new jailbreak tweak hit the Cydia store. BrowserChooser was created by Ryan Petrich, and has one simple purpose: to change your iPhone or iPad’s default browser. And, like many single-purpose apps, it does it very well. Using the tweak is ridiculously easy: once you install it, you simply go into the Settings app and find BrowserChooser, which will be on the first page along with your other jailbreak app and tweak settings. When you tap it, you’re taken to a list of all the supported browsers you have on your iOS device. I only have Chrome and Safari, but the tweak also supports Opera Mini, iCab Mobile, Dolphine Browser, and Atomic Browser (sorry, Yahoo Axis). All you have to do is tap “Google Chrome” on the list, and you’re done.

There is one notable thing that BrowserChooser doesn’t do: it doesn’t change “Open In Safari” menu buttons. So if, say, you’re browsing reddit in Alien Blue and want to open a link in Chrome, you still have to tap “Open in Safari.” You’re just taken to Google Chrome instead.

The only catch is that BrowserChooser isn’t in any of the default Cydia repositories. You have to add Petrich’s repository manually. That’s pretty simple, though. In Cydia, tap the “Manage” tab at the bottom of your screen, the “Sources” button. From there tap “Edit” in the top right corner, then “Add” in the top right. Then just put in the address for Petrich’s repo – rpetri.ch/repo – and you’re done. Cydia will refresh, then you search for BrowserChooser, and install it (it’s free, by the way).

Of course, BrowserChooser isn’t the only jailbreak tweak that lets you change your default browser. Browser Changer has been around for quite some time, and supports a whole lot more browsers. Chrome, however, is not one of them, though that will probably change in the not-so-distant future. So if you’ve already got Browser Changer and love it, then you might as well stick with it for however long it takes for the developer to get Chrome support added. If, on the other hand, you want Chrome as your default browser now, then check out BrowserChooser.

With iOS 6, you’ll get a revamped revamped sharing menu that replaces the old stack of text-filled buttons with much more aesthetically pleasing grid of icons showing your various options – Twitter, Facebook, Messages, Email, etc. Unfortunately, though, iOS 6 is still a long way off, since it’s launching in the fall alongside the new iPhone. That means that if you’re sick of the boring old buttons and really want the new hotness, you’ll have to wait.

Unless, of course, you’re a jailbreaker. For those with jailbroken iDevices, a new Cydia tweak gets you the features of tomorrow’s iOS update today. The update, creatively dubbed iOS 6 Photos Menu, changes the share menu on your jailbroken device to match the menu from iOS 6. With the tweak, you can easily upload photos to Twitter, Facebook, or Google+, send them in an email or MMS message, assign them to a contact, and more.

iOS 6 Photos Menu is available free in the Cydia store. There’s no configuration necessary – just install, respring, and you’re good to go.

The app is similar to Cydia, which does the same thing but is only available on jail-broken phones. Apparently this isn’t sitting well with Cydia’s creator, whom Apple would not allow to sell on the Apple Store. He sent out a tweet letting everyone know he was not involved in the project and filed a complaint with Apple.

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Ryan Petrich
@rpetrich

Filed my first complaint in iTunes Connect today. DisplayRecorder in the App Store is not mine in spite of it using the same marketing

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5 hours ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto

This new version does have some functions that Cydia does not, like the ability to export the videos to YouTube or Camera Roll. It also has the option to tweak video and audio, and record from the microphone or pickup sounds coming from things on the screen.

Apple does not allow screen capture apps on its devices because it mimics the native screenshot capabilities on iOS. “Display Recorder” appears to take a series of screen caps to convert to video, so there is a good possibility that the app could be removed from the store in the near future. So, if this is something you are dying to have, you had better act fast.

The App was released by third party developer Bugun Software sells for $1.99 in the iTunes Store.

[BusinessInsider via 9to5Mac]

Nevertheless, progress has been made in jailbreaking iOS 6. In fact, on Tuesday Dev Team member MuscleNerd managed to get a fourth generation iPod Touch jailbroken, though many features – including Cydia – were non-functional. Nevertheless, a tethered jailbreak of iOS 6 beta 1 is now available to jailbreak developers courtesy of the Dev Team. MuscleNerd announced the release – an update to redsn0w – via Twitter today:

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MuscleNerd
@MuscleNerd

In the spirit of the “experimental ecosystem” JBers provide, we’re releasing a DEVELOPER-only tethered JB for iOS6 (no Cydia, just SSH)

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3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

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MuscleNerd
@MuscleNerd

redsn0w tethered iOS6 jailbreak for 3GS and A4 devices http://t.co/TeEvDCar (developers ONLY please! .. no Cydia, just SSH+afc2)

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1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

The link in MuscleNerd’s second tweet goes to a Dev Team blog post with more information. As both MuscleNerd’s tweets and the blog post point out, this is not a public jailbreak. Cydia doesn’t work, the jailbreak is tethered (meaning that the phone has to be re-jailbroken every time you reboot), most of Apple’s stock apps are broken, and it only supports the iPhone 3GS and A4 iOS devices (i.e., the 4th-gen iPod Touch and the iPhone 4). This jailbreak is meant for developers who will be building iOS 6 compatibility into their jailbreak apps.

While it’s encouraging that progress toward a full iOS 6 jailbreak is being made, we’re still probably in for a lengthy wait, even after iOS 6 releases to the public alongside the new iPhone in October.

Unfortunately, though, the news got a little worse today. According to a tweet by pod2g, iOS 6 also fixes an exploit that devs have been using for two years to root iOS. This particular exploit wasn’t found in any public jailbreak tool, as it requires an Apple Developer ID to work. Nevertheless, iOS 6 includes a patch rendering the exploit useless. Coincidentally, this particular exploit was discovered by a hacker called Comex (the person behind the JailbreakMe exploit from a few years ago). Comex, it seems, began working for Apple last fall as an intern. While it is, of course, possible that Apple happened to discover and patch this exploit less than a year after Comex began interning there, it’s not terribly likely.

Here’s pod2g’s tweet about the situation:

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pod2g
@pod2g

R.I.P. the exploit used by developers to root the device. Found by @comex in 2010. A 2 years old bug closed with iOS 6.

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8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

Of course, as pod2g and other members of the Dev Team revealed a few weeks ago, they keep a few iOS exploits secret in order to get a jumpstart on each new version of iOS. That being the case, it’s unclear what impact this development will have on the timeline for the iOS 6 jailbreak. Of course, in the same interview pod2g pointed out that they don’t spend a lot of time trying to jailbreak beta versions of iOS firmware, lest later betas fix the exploits they use. That being the case, the iOS 6 jailbreak will almost certainly be coming a few months after the public release, just as with iOS 5 and iOS 5.1.1.

MuscleNerd, a member of the Dev Team, tweeted earlier this morning that he had managed to get iOS 6 on his A4 iPod Touch jailbroken, but there were numerous problems, including with Cydia:

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MuscleNerd
@MuscleNerd

Here’s ioreg of my tethered-JB ipt4g 6.0: http://t.co/50LBbsGD ..MANY things including Cydia are broken, don’t expect beta JB for a while!

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4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

That means that despite the advance work the Dev Team has already done to get ready for iOS 6, we’re probably in for another long wait before there’s a public jailbreak tool available for iOS 6.

It’s worth point out again, though, that this isn’t particularly surprising. As soon as the Dev Team makes a jailbreak public, you can bet that Apple’s own devs are first in line for the download. Once they get it, they pick it apart to see how it works, then they begin changing iOS to compensate. It’s a game of cat-and-mouse that’s been going on for years. The fact that Apple is legally required to tolerate jailbreaking (which the FTC treats as an exception to the DMCA, despite Apple’s best efforts), doesn’t mean that they have to like it, nor that they can’t make the Dev Team’s life as hard as possible.

Of course, some of iOS 6′s new features may mean that some people won’t be as interested in jailbreaking iOS 6. After all, Apple has added many much-requested features this time around, several of which became popular first in Cydia. Those who do want to jailbreak iOS 6, though, should settle in for a long wait.

Now, though, just a few hours later, Absinthe has gotten an update. It seems there were some bugs in the initial release that were preventing some users from jailbreaking their devices. Absinthe 2.0.1, which is available now, should fix those bugs.

In case you missed it this morning, the new jailbreak supports all models of the iPhone from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4S, the third- and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and all models of the iPad except for the newest models of iPad 2 that have gotten an upgraded processor. Support for that iPad 2 model, the iPad 2,4, should be coming in an update sometime over the next few days.

You can download Absinthe 2.0.1 from greenpois0n, though you might have to wait awhile. The site appears to be down at the moment. Considering the high demand for the new jailbreak, that’s not at all surprising. If you’ve already jailbroken your device, you shouldn’t need Absinthe 2.0.1. If you’re still waiting to download Absinthe, then you might want to hold off until tomorrow, in order to give greenpois0n a little breathing room.

Several members of the Dev Team sat down with Softpedia at the Hack In The Box conference going on now in Amsterdam to talk about what’s coming next in the world of iOS jailbreaking. The interview consisted of pod2g (who’s given name is apparently Cyril), Joshua Hill (p0sixninja), and Nikias Bassen (pimskeks). They revealed several interesting facts about the jailbreaking process, including the fact that they’re already working to make headway on the jailbreak for iOS 6, which should be releasing later this year alongside the new iPhone.

Apple is expected to unveil iOS 6 at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference, which is scheduled to start in just two weeks in San Francisco. At the moment, though, Apple hasn’t released anything iOS 6-related at all. No developer betas, no previews, nothing. So how could they already be working on jailbreaking it? According to pod2g, some exploits that the team finds are kept secret. These are meant to allow them to quickly get into the new version of iOS and start digging around for the kind of vulnerabilities they need to jailbreak the device.

Now, that doesn’t mean that the jailbreak of iOS 6 will be available as soon as the firmware goes public. Pod2g also explained that the team waits until the public release to begin working on a new jailbreak so that their work on earlier beta versions isn’t undone by later betas.

While there won’t be a jailbreak for iOS 6 as soon as it launches, it’s good to know that the people working on it are prepared to hit the ground running when the time comes.

Absinthe currently supports all versions of the iPhone going back to the iPhone 3GS, the third- and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and all versions of the iPad, with the exception of the newest iPad 2 with the upgraded processor. Support for that iPad should be coming soon. That version of the iPad 2 is quite rare, though, so the odds of that being a problem for most jailbreakers are pretty low.

As noted above, you can get Absinthe 2.0 from greenpois0n, where you’ll also find instructions on how to jailbreak your device. Interestingly, this time around the jailbreak requires you to erase the data on your device (back your stuff up first!) before jailbreaking, then restore from the backup.

Yesterday we told you that the release of Absinthe 2.0 might be the Dev Team’s “one more thing” for their keynote at this year’s Hack In The Box conference in Amsterdam. That appears to have been the case. Several members of the team tweeted just a little while ago that the jailbreak was ready. Pod2g appears to have gotten the honor of posting the first tweet:

You should know, too, that erasing your data and then restoring isn’t strictly necessary, though it apparently speeds the process along quite a bit:

Of course, the problem with any new jailbreak is that when iTunes backs up your device’s data, it doesn’t keep any account of the apps and tweaks you’ve installed from Cydia, so jailbreaking your device means starting all over again. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. Or, more accurately, there are several apps for that. The good folks at iJailbreak have put together a list of the best options.

One more thing: greenpois0n appears to be handling things pretty well at the moment, but a big chunk of the U.S. is still asleep at this point. As the day goes on the Dev Team’s servers are bound to get slammed, which could make jailbreaking your device a little harder. So if you have trouble getting Absinthe downloaded, you may have to be a little patient.