[Review] Springround - Use SpringBoard Anywhere

[Anthony Bouchard]

iOS normally requires you to exit an application before you can gain access to your home screen again. Does it bother you having to exit what you're doing to see and navigate through your home screen? Then a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Springround, which was a collaboration project between iOS developers Andrea Oliva and iolate, will give you the ability to access your home screen from anywhere in iOS. The screenshots above show you how it appears as you are doing something.



In this screenshot is the simple preferences pane for Springround. Springaround is used to assigning an Activator action and then later invoking the action when you want to use it. Springround brings the home screen to view inside applications and even on the lock screen. If you have a pass code set, Springround will still make the home screen applications appear on the lock screen, but you won’t be able to physically launch any applications until the device is unlocked.

When you invoke Springround, you will have access to paging through home screen pages, iOS folders, and Spotlight from wherever you activate it from – more than just the first page of the home screen. From having it open, you can not only launch applications, but also delete them, change the order of them, create or remove folders, and more.

The animation for Springround looks very similar to when you press the home button when you are exiting an application; the icons all come from the edges of the screen and move toward the center. When opening a new application while you are already in one, the animation will remind you of interchanging between applications in the multitasking App Switcher.

Due to the nature of Springround, its usefulness can be moot. It depends how you use your iDevice and if you like the appearance of your entire home screen contents leaking over your application view. To most, it doesn’t really look great and the contrast isn’t very sufficient. It also seems a bit unnecessary when you can simply press the home button from an application to get to the home screen to do the same thing Springround lets you do without pressing the home button.

Springround requires iOS 4 or iOS 5 to use and does have some slightly buggy graphics when returning to the true home screen at times. Older devices will have more trouble keeping up with the graphical aspects of the tweak, however newer devices won’t experience any lag whatsoever. This is ultimately a, "because I can" tweak and doesn’t offer any truly useful functionality.

Name: Springround
Price: 99¢
Version: 1.0
Repo: BigBoss
Developer(s): Andrea Oliva and iolate
Editor's Rating:  3/5

Sources: Andrea Oliva

[iPod]

What is considered an old device? Will this run smoothly on an A4 iPod touch?

[Anthony Bouchard]

What is considered an old device? Will this run smoothly on an A4 iPod touch?

Yes. Older like the iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3G.

[teej1410]

I always wanted a tweak like this. Right now I currently use Dock for the main use of this tweak's function.

[iPod]

Yes. Older like the iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3G.

Ok thanks

[nataliesn]

I believe that by "older devices" they mean 3GS and back.
Nice tweak!

by the way - is it just me, or does this icon look like a pervert cat ?

[zoltan1600]

Pointless.

[BenderRodriguez]

Pointless.

Not really just helps the home button from being used so much depending how u use activator

[zoltan1600]

Not really just helps the home button from being used so much depending how u use activator

That's what zephyr is for.

[BenderRodriguez]

That's what zephyr is for.

Yeah try to use that while playing a game and this isn't multitasking it's everything on the homescreen even the search page

[Lohand]

Took the plunge (working well on a jacked 3gs). Only one critique, the icons should have a blurred background. The icon text and text for whatever app is in the background often collide and looks confusing. A blurring of the background would solve it...

[BenderRodriguez]

Took the plunge (working well on a jacked 3gs). Only one critique, the icons should have a blurred background. The icon text and text for whatever app is in the background often collide and looks confusing. A blurring of the background would solve it...

You stole a 3gs and your admitting to it, man and I thought monkeys were dumb