How To Check For Cydia Updates In The iOS 5 Notification Center [Jailbreak]

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Screen Shot 2012-04-08 at 9.13.00 PM
Never miss a Cydia update again with Curiosa

A new jailbreak tweak called Curiosa lets you see incoming Cydia updates in the iOS 5 Notification Center. Instead of having to open the Cydia app and refresh for changes, new updates will be pushed as notifications for you to quickly view and open.

Developed by prominent jailbreak dev Ryan Petrich, Curiosa is available for free in Cydia now. It comes with some nice features to enhance its functionality.

Curiosa is a relatively simple tweak, but there are some options you can tinker with in the Settings app. You can set how often Cydia is pinged for available updates, which is nice for those of us with limited data plans. There’s also the option to only check for updates when connected to a WiFI network. An Activator action can be assigned to Curiosa for manually checking available updates anywhere in iOS 5.

The magical keywords feature in Curiosa and Notification Center integration

A really neat part of this tweak is the ability to set keywords. This lets you see all Cydia updates for tweaks that contain the same words you add into the Notification Keywords setting of Curiosa. Want to see all updates for jailbreak tweaks and apps that contain the word “WiFi?” No problem. This is a great way of tracking trends in Cydia you want to stay on top of, like Notification Center widgets.

The way Curiosa interacts with Notification Center can be customized alongside all other apps in the Notifications section of Apple’s Settings app. You can see incoming updates on your lock screen as well as the Notification Center drop-down window. Banner notifications will also be displayed for Cydia like any other normal iOS app. It’s like the integration should have always been there.

Curiosa is still in beta, but I’m already loving the fact that I won’t have to manually check for updates in Cydia ever again. Apple really needs to add this functionality for the App Store.

This kind of tweak may be for more of the power user, but all jailbreakers should at least give it a try. To install Curiosa, you’ll need to add Ryan Petrich’s personal repo in Cydia: https://rpetri.ch/repo/

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