With the release of the new Absinthe untethered jailbreak for all iOS devices on iOS 5.1.1 - except the 3rd-generation Apple TV - there are many iPhone and iPad owners who're jailbreaking for the first time.
Jailbreaking your iOS device is now incredibly easy - and free - thanks to the programmers who've worked hard to allow Apple devices to be free of the App Store walled-garden.
When you jailbreak, you get a new app store which lets you download apps not allowed into Apple's official version.
The Cydia app store that appears on your device when you jailbreak can be daunting. It contains literally hundreds of apps, tweaks and themes - some free, some paid-for. If you've just jailbroken, here are nine apps we recommend.
IntelliscreenX
IntelliscreenX is a fantastic app from developer Intelliborn and turns iOS5's pulldown Notification Centre into something really useful. It displays your calendar, weather, text messages, emails, Twitter and Facebook feeds, and favourite RSS feeds. Tap on an email or SMS message and get the option to mark as read, reply or delete.
And this is just scratching the surface of its functions.
IntelliscreenX isn't free. It costs $9.99 but you get a free trial and the developers are regularly releasing updates.
biteSMS
This is an app that takes over from the iOS inbuilt text messaging app. You can receive and reply to SMS messages on your lockscreen...or any screen for that matter. And simply swipe down on your lockscreen...or any screen...to compose a text.
Again, it does far more than this and is worth checking out.
biteSMS is free if you're prepared to put up with ads or £5.95 ad-free.
AllMail
One of the most annoying things about the iOS built-in email app is not being able to select all email for deleting or marking as read. And that's what AllMail does. Simple and very useful.
AllMail costs $1.50.
Five Icon Dock
Again a simple and very useful tweak. Five Icon Dock lets you add another icon to your iPhone dock. Just that. And it's free.
SiriToggles
I think stock Siri on the iPhone 4S is pretty useless. But here's an app that unlocks a lot of Siri's potential. It allows Siri to understand commands to open apps and switch on/off WiFi, Bluetooth, Airplane Mode and 3G and it even lets you change screen brightness or check your battery level.
SiriToggles is free.
Flowtation
This is a fun tweak for the iPhone that lets you choose various transition effects when your scroll through your homescreens. It costs 99c.
FolderCloser
Ever get annoyed when you open and then close an app in a folder and you find the folder still open on your homescreen? FolderCloser simply closes folders after you've opened an app in that folder. Great. And free.
Activator
This gives you a multitude of screen swipes and taps to perform different functions. For example, swipe down to open your messaging app...swipe up to open notes...tap and hold the top status bar to open settings. There are literally dozens of swipes, taps and functions you can set and customise. And it's free.
Custom NC Background
Bored with the iPhone Notification Centre background...that black/grey fabric thing. This tweak lets you change it to...well...anything you want. You can take a photo or use a picture in your library. I've changed mine to a block dark purple and it makes it much easier to read.
Custom MC Background is free.
These are just nine of the scores of apps and tweaks in the Cydia app store that let you enhance your device hugely and get you out of the walled garden that is the Apple App Store.
Update: Some readers have asked why Winterboard isn't in my list. It's an app that you need to install the hundreds of iPhone themes in the Cydia store.
Well, I don't know if it's Winterboard or the themes, but I've always found it a battery hog. My battery always seems to drain faster when I'm using a Winterboard theme. For that reason, I can't recommend it.
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