[Review] ColorBanner - Change the Color of iOS 5 Banner Notifications

[Anthony Bouchard]

Would you like to change your iOS 5 notification banner to almost any color or theme that you want?

One thing about iOS 5 that we have been wanting for a really long time was an unobtrusive way to get notifications. To do this, they came out with the banner notifications system that goes away automatically when you ignore it. The only problem with it? It's always the same, boring color. If you have ever wanted to customize the color and text of the iOS 5 notifications banners, then we have an awesome jailbreak tweak for you. It has been dubbed ColorBanner by iOS developer SBCoders and it has extensive settings for customizing the entire appearance of your banners.

Perhaps the most appealing part of this tweak is the fact that you can change not only the color of the banner itself, but also the color of the text that appears in it. We are excited about that, because if you choose a really heavy color, the black default text cab be hard to read because there isn't enough contrast. With this feature you can create as much contrast as you need to be able to see the text without straining your eyes or getting a headache. You can grab a glance of the settings for ColorBanner in the screenshot below:



This tweak is especially good if you're an iOS themer and you want to make your banners match a theme that you are using. Shown in the first image of this review are: 1) red banner with default (black) text; 2) striped banner with blue text; 3) blue banner with red text. In case you were wondering, the themes for the iOS 5 banners are as follows:

Banner Colors:

• Black
• Blue
• Gold
• Green
• Metal Bars
• Pink
• Purple
• Rainbow
• Red
• Stripes

Text Colors:

• Default (Black)
• White
• Blue
• Red
• Green
• Yellow

Another great feature about ColorBanner is that if you don't like all of the themes that are pre-installed with it, then you can make your own. There is a link in the Settings for ColorBanner that brings you to a Web site with instructions for setting up your own theme for the iOS 5 banners and using it with ColorBanner. Aside from being able to change the text color and the banner color, you can also enable and disable the tweak at your leisure, so it won't have to be uninstalled to get rid of its functionality. This tweak will only work with iOS 5 because it themes the banners that iOS 5 comes with. It will work on any device including iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

After talking with SBCoders, I asked a little about himself and his tweak:

Anthony: What made you want to design a tweak that lets you change the color of notification banners?
SBCoders: Because white is boring! Originally I made it for personal use to turn my banner green, but then I expanded it and wrapped it up nicely for the public.

Anthony: Why would you recommend that people buy this tweak?
SBCoders: Because it plays nicely with WinterBoard and other tweaks and could really add that last touch to themes. You can make your own banner themes too, so its useful for theme designers.

Anthony: Have you ever made any other tweaks?
SBCoders: Yes, the ones that I actively work on are: ActionBoard and speak (both on the ModMyi repo).

Name: ColorBanners
Price: $1.99
Version: 1.0.0-1
Repo: Modmyi
Developer: SBCoders
Editor's Rating: / 4.5/5

Will you be changing the colors of your iOS 5 banners? Let us know in the comments!

Sources: SBCoders

[ipodtouchman77]

Can I ask where you got your wallpaper from?

[J Sweeney]

Why would I pay for this?

[ipodtouchman77]

Why would I pay for this?

Lol, I was thinking the same thing.

[evolution83]

This should be $.99 or free. $1.99 is absurd just for changing colors of a notification bar.

[mmaboi21]

Awesome tweak but 1.99 is pretty steep... Pass

[JoeStorm]

I've bought a lot of themes and a ton of Cydia/Rock apps but I don't see how this is worth $2.

[djjessejames]

Worth mentions that the $1.99 tag is at least worth complaining about... lol.

[jacob1]

Why would i spend money for Color Banner Notifications?

[ca3sar]

Worth mentions that the $1.99 tag is at least worth complaining about... lol.

LOL I dont see any need for it even when free.

[mmaboi21]

LOL I dont see any need for it even when free.

Definitely no 'need but it's nice to fully customize your device to your liking. Not for 1.99 though IMO

[dsg]

just theme it manually, if you want it themed

BannerGradientLeft.png = 6 x 36 px
[email protected] = 15 x 74 px

BannerGradientMiddle.png = 2 x 36 px
[email protected] = 4 x 74 px

BannerGradientRight.png = 10 x 36 px
[email protected] = 20 x 73

BannerMask.png = 15 x 38 px
[email protected] = 30 x76 px

BannerRollGradient.png = 1 x 10 px
[email protected] = 2 x 20 px

BannerShadowBottom.png = 16 x 27 px
[email protected] = 30 x 54 px

BannerShadowCenter.png = 16 x 40 px
[email protected] = 30 x 80 px

BannerShadowLeft.png = 32 x 40 px
[email protected] = 64 x80 px

BannerShadowLeftCorner.png = 32 x 27 px
[email protected] = 64 x 54 px

BannerShadowRight.png = 32 x 40 px
[email protected] = 64 x 80 px

BannerShadowRightCorner.png = 32 x 27 px
[email protected] = 64 x 54 px

they go in the SpringBoard.app or Your.theme/Bundles/com.apple.springboard

Edit: this can only theme the shape not the colour, sorry

[ZĄG]

Yeah. $1.99 is crazy for such a tweak. It's cool and everything, but of I made this I would not charge that much. Actually I wouldn't charge anything, unless it was more work to make, I would charge prolly 50ą max. Not 2 frikkin dollars. Only tweaks that actually offer Functionality should charge more than $1.00. Too much to have a red/green/blue banner.