LiveWire Adds A Cool New Unlock Animation To The iPhone Lock Screen
In the past, I have been an avid user of both PaperLock and Unlockize, but within a few weeks, the novelty factor wore off and I came back to the stock iOS lock screen. Another thing that contributed towards my getting bored of these tweaks was the lack of really unique animations. On that front, the newly released LiveWire should struggle (at least in theory) since it only offers one animation, but after using it, I can safely say that the tweak is sure to reside in my iPhone for the next few days at least. The unlocking animation offered by LiveWire is very simple, and does not cause any lag. After some time, you might even forget that it is not a default part of your iDevice. The tweak is extremely simple, requires no configuration and looks awesome in action.
Both PaperLock and Unlockize had animations that came into effect as soon as you started moving the unlock slider. Some of the animations removed or changed the slider as well. All this added to the appeal of these tweaks, but killed their subtlety. After all, you might want to surprise your friends with a cool animation that shows up on a lock screen that doesn’t look any different on the surface. This is the concept upon which the LiveWire tweak is based. The tweak keeps the lock screen completely unchanged, and the slider stays the same as well. When you try to unlock the screen however, the animation comes into play. The lock screen splits to reveal your SpringBoard or the app you were using before locking your device. In both cases, the animation is seamless, and the end result is great.
LiveWire works even if you have passcode lock enabled on your device. There is a slight problem in this scenario though. Rather than showing the view that is behind your lock screen, LiveWire just displays a blank area in the middle of the screen if you are using a passcode.
Despite being a simple tweak, LiveWire does enjoy a few advantages over other tweaks of its kind. PaperLock is a paid tweak, while Unlockize hasn’t been updated to work with iOS 6. LiveWire, on the other hand, won’t cost you a dime, and will work on both iOS 5 and iOS 6. You can give this cool lock screen animation a try by heading to the BigBoss repo of the Cydia store.
