[Review] Custom Siri Background - Change Siri's Background!

[Anthony Bouchard]

Have you ever wanted to change the background of Siri?

Siri has that dreaded and despised generic Apple background that we see in Notification Center, folders, and a few other places. Have you ever wanted to change it to something different so that every place on your iDevice wasn't exactly the same? Now you can; thanks to a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Custom Siri Background by iOS developer Ori Kadosh. Using it is simple too. If you remember the free jailbreak tweak that Ori released not too long ago, Custom NC Background, then you already know how to use Custom Siri Background.

What you need to use this tweak is a device with Siri installed on it - whether it be the native iPhone 4S or a ported iPod touch or iPhone. You will also need a background that you want to use; retina images for retina devices or standard images for standard devices. You can even use images that you took with your camera. Once you have those two things in reach, you can download Custom Siri Background from Cydia and have a look at its settings:



The settings are easy to use; you tap on the, "Pick Image" button in order to select an image from the Camera Roll. After you have done that, it takes effect immediately without requiring a respring. There is another option that lets you enable and disable the tweak at your leisure so that you can have it on demand and turn it off when you feel like the image is overpowering Siri. The other setting is fill screen which is what you want to have enabled if you are using an image that is not the size of the screen, such as a photograph that you take with the iDevice you're using it on. If you haven't noticed, iPhone photographs are not the same resolution as the screen. This setting will make that image work correctly with this tweak.

Since you have to actually read the text on top of the picture that you choose, we advise that you use an image that isn't too heavy in detail. You are going to want something that doesn't overpower your ability to read the text that Siri shows. Since the text is white, it's a good idea to use a darker background. Custom Siri Background requires iOS 5 because no iOS 4 device supports Siri. It also will not work with the iPad. I can recommend this tweak for anyone using Siri that wants to add any kind of customization to it.

I interviewed Ori about the tweak to get his take on it; here are his responses:

Anthony: What gave you the idea to make Custom Siri Background?
Ori: Ever since the release of Custom NC Background, I've been getting a lot of emails asking me to make a tweak that customizes Siri's background. 99% of the work was already done with Custom NC Background and I just needed to tweak it a little to make it compatible with Siri, so I did.

Anthony: Does changing the background require a respring?
Ori: Not at all, I made a special effort using something called a "Post Notification" to refresh the image cache when the user chooses a new image.

Anthony: What was the hardest part about making Custom Siri Background?
Ori: The hardest part of this tweak was already worked out with Custom NC Background, which was definitely the image manipulation; making sure it didn't smear all over the screen.

Name: Custom Siri Background
Price: FREE
Version: 1.0-1
Repo: Modmyi
Developer: Ori Kadosh
Editor's Rating:  5/5

Are you going to be customizing your Siri backgrounds? Share in the comments.

Sources: Ori Kadosh

[2k1]

This seems intersting will check this out

[dajanksta]

awesome. I like that background picture anyone know where I can find it?

[expl0itfinder]

It appears that you are at a loss of a proxy as well.

[Luie82]

to change Siri Backgrounds Download iSpirit on your pc. download any siri background hack. open iSpirit find the siri background take any photos 640x960 and rename it AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png to chane the bottom of the back ground some cutting and pasting must be down but when done save that image to AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png put both of these images in the background folder respring and done

[iNfEk]

awesome. I like that background picture anyone know where I can find it?

here you go: https://twitter.com/#!/cjori/status/...863169/photo/1

[Anthony Bouchard]

to change Siri Backgrounds Download iSpirit on your pc. download any siri background hack. open iSpirit find the siri background take any photos 640x960 and rename it AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png to chane the bottom of the back ground some cutting and pasting must be down but when done save that image to AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png put both of these images in the background folder respring and done

Seems pretty pointless when the tweak does that for you without even needing to tether up to a PC.

[jacob1]

Seems interesting. Background bubble looking awesome. wanna try it.

[McManimal]

Luie82 - Yesterday, 06:05 PM
to change Siri Backgrounds Download iSpirit on your pc. download any siri background hack. open iSpirit find the siri background take any photos 640x960 and rename it AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png to chane the bottom of the back ground some cutting and pasting must be down but when done save that image to AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png put both of these images in the background folder respring and done

in theory you could use this method to include it into your theme, correct?

[Luie82]

Seems pretty pointless when the tweak does that for you without even needing to tether up to a PC.

I know I posted this here on another post hours before this tweak was available but thought it was still useful for people that wanna learn how to do things their self

Luie82 - Yesterday, 06:05 PM
to change Siri Backgrounds Download iSpirit on your pc. download any siri background hack. open iSpirit find the siri background take any photos 640x960 and rename it AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png to chane the bottom of the back ground some cutting and pasting must be down but when done save that image to AssistantMagicPocket_2only_@2x~iphone.png put both of these images in the background folder respring and done

in theory you could use this method to include it into your theme, correct?

yes. also for those do it your selfers, I changed my Siri background with iSpirit and learned so much is the process hours before this easier tweak came out.

[sandlog]

Hello people -

I've created a few backgrounds for anyone that wants to use them. They are sized for retina display devices and will work with this Siri tweak as well as the NC tweak that's mentioned in the article. I will create more as I have time.

Notification Center and Siri Backgrounds - a set on Flickr

[recognition]

Hello people -

I've created a few backgrounds for anyone that wants to use them. They are sized for retina display devices and will work with this Siri tweak as well as the NC tweak that's mentioned in the article. I will create more as I have time.

Notification Center and Siri Backgrounds - a set on Flickr

Thanks!

[StayyyFlyyy]

Seems pretty pointless when the tweak does that for you without even needing to tether up to a PC.

Y download a tweak when u can just replace png? Seems simpler to me and less hassle. Winscp

I know I posted this here on another post hours before this tweak was available but thought it was still useful for people that wanna learn how to do things their self


yes. also for those do it your selfers, I changed my Siri background with iSpirit and learned so much is the process hours before this easier tweak came out.

Thank you