a polished layer of security for jailbroken devices

For most people, using a passcode or Touch ID authentication on the Lock screen is enough for keeping an iPhone secure from intruders. On the other hand, many share their passcodes with those near and dear to them or give their unlocked iPhones to others to show off photos or videos.

If you’re worried about someone rifling through your data when they shouldn’t be, and you fall under either of the two scenarios above, then a new jailbreak tweak called Bio Locker by iArrays might be worth checking out.

As shown above, Bio Locker is a comprehensive locking system that protects a host of things on your iPhone by requiring Touch ID authentication or a unique passcode to get in. Among the things the tweak can protect are:

• Specific applications installed on your device
• Folders you’ve created on your Home screen
• Notifications on your Lock screen or Notification Center
• Certain preference panes in the Settings app
• Any Flipswitches you’ve enabled on your device
• Your entire Photo Library
• 3D Touch menus
• Your Home screen’s application icon placement
• Prevent respring or reboot without authentication

For many, the first option on the list above is enough, but the tweak goes all out for your protection. Being able to lock people out of folders is also nice because now you can lock people out of your social media or banking apps from one place.

Additionally, Bio Locker prevents notifications from being deleted or read from the Lock screen or Notification Center without authentication.

For those who are just super paranoid, locking people out of specific preference panes in the Settings app or keeping Flipswitches on lockdown is also useful because you can prevent people from turning off data/Wi-Fi and resetting your device, which ensures you can always track your iPhone if it’s ever stolen.

The tweak adds a preferences pane to the Settings app where you can configure a few options:

As you can see, the options are split into several sections, which we’ll outline for you below:

General

From the General preference pane, you can configure the bulk of the tweak’s functionality. The things you can do here include:

• Make the device vibrate when your authentication fails
• Require Touch ID or passcode authentication to access the App Switcher
• Protect Photos from being snooped by other apps on the device
• Protect application icon arrangement on the Home screen from being changed
• Protect 3D Touch on apps from the Home screen
• Keep the device from being resprung without authentication
• Retain the device from being rebooted without authentication
• Remember authentication for an entire unlock session and force authentication again after your iPhone or iPad is locked

Applications, Flipswitches, Folders, Notifications, Settings

In the Applications, Flipswtiches, Folders, Notifications, and Settings preference panes, you can control how Bio Locker protects individual aspects of your device. The things you can configure here include:

• Choose the apps on your device that will be protected by Touch ID/passcode
• Choose which of your Flipswitches are protected by Touch ID/passcode
• Choose the folders you’ve made that will be protected by Touch ID/passcode
• Choose what app notifications will be protected by Touch ID/passcode
• Choose what Settings app preference panes will be protected by Touch ID/passcode

Note: Flipswitch preference pane not present because we don’t have Flipswitch installed.

Extras

And finally, the Extras preference pane will let you configure a few additional options to increase your device’s security:

• Disable Bio Locker protection when your device is connected to trusted Wi-Fi networks
• Set up a passcode you want to use in tandem with Touch ID (this is not the same as your device’s login passcode)
• Prevent protected apps from being seen in the App Switcher
• Configure a Bio Locker theme:

That about wraps things up for how Bio Locker can be configured, and as you’ve seen, the options are quite extensive. Anyone looking for that extra layer of security will find Bio Locker to be a welcomed addition.

In my opinion, Bio Locker is by far one of the most polished security experiences I’ve tried on iOS 10 to date, but such is to be expected from iArrays.

If you’re interested in giving Bio Locker a shot, you can download it from Cydia’s BigBoss repository. Please note that you will be required to activate the tweak for your device’s unique serial number upon installation for $1.99 via the developer’s third-party payment system. Bio Locker is compatible with jailbroken devices running iOS 8 through iOS 10.

Do you like the way Bio Locker is implemented? Share in the comments section below!