While we don’t usually endorse jailbreaking your iOS device, especially one that would still be under warranty, such as the iPhone 5s, we have to admit that a tweak for the recent iOS 7 jailbreak does add some nice functionality for the iPhone 5s’s Touch ID sensor.
Apple’s Touch ID can now be enhanced using jailbreak tweaks, thanks to the recent availability of both evasi0n7 and a subsequent Cydia Substrate update for 64-bit iDevices. One of the first packages to improve the fingerprint-scanning Home button is Virtual Home, a clever jailbreak tweak that could actually help improve the lifespan of Apple’s physical, clickable Home button.
The jailbreak tweak allows users to activate their Home button without actually clicking it. It allows this by utilizing the Touch ID sensor, which detects a finger and activates Touch ID when a user attempts to unlock their iPhone or purchase something in one of Apple’s various stores using their finger or thumb.
Virtual Home allows users to activate the Home button by placing their finger over the button, rather than requiring them to press down as a stock iPhone 5s does.
This tempts me, as from my own experience and heresy evidence I’ve picked up from the web and friends, shows the Home button can wear out long before the rest of the phone. Think about it, how many times a day do you press the Home button on your iPhone?
Virtual Home could help increase the lifespan of your iPhone 5s’s Home button, because usually, the less something is used, the longer it lasts. (Unless you subscribe to the “Use it or you’ll lose it” school of thought…)
Virtual Home can be downloaded FREE in the Cydia Store, and it’s compatible with the iPhone 5s only. (DUH!) We’ll leave you to your own devices to find the iOS 7 jailbreak for the iPhone 5s.
If you do try this out, please be kind enough to let us know how well it works for you in the comments area below.
Note: Jailbreaking your device is at your own risk. It may void your warranty or harm your device. Apple does not support jailbreaking in any way, and MacTrast assumes no responsibility for any issues you may encounter while attempting to exploit your device.
So I have a jailbroken iPhone 5s, and recently installed/uninstalled Virtual Home. Like this article’s and the tweak’s description, it functions as promised. However, you are unable to use Siri without being on the lock screen if you have it set up to use a long press on the home button. I am also uncertain of the damage this tweak has on battery life; the home button connects a circuit, whereas the touchID biometric scanner turns on every time you are using it to go to the home screen or multitasking screen.
Overall, it’s neat. But I guess I will not be using it.
Thanks for the input. I was curious how well it would work in a real-world situation.
Hi there, I’ve installed virtual home and I definitely won’t be uninstalling unless it conflicts with an even better tweak that does the same and more. If people are more of my thought and feel weird talking too my phone (Siri) I think you’ll find this is a great tweak, also make for quick navigation through multitasking.
When i installed Virtual Hoem Tweak and already enable it but when try to test it, It’s not working. somebody please help me.
For me, there was an annoying delay of recognition and vibration. I really liked it but this made me uninstall the tweak, really sorry!
They have updated virtual home and it works flawlessly now. No issues!