[TweakReview] TypoPhone Weather – Man, I love this thing. Now read why.

If you guys follow me on Twitter, or speak to me in general, then you will know that I am a LockScreen snob. I go through LockScreen apps as if it is nobodies business. I change widgets as if they are socks – that is, frequently, and after I’ve soiled them. The point is, it takes a LOT to capture my interest, and even more to hold it. With the LockScreen being arguably the most viewed aspect of the iDevice with the exception of the keyboard, I prefer mine to look clean and crisp, as well as inform me of what I consider to be the more important information. I like elegant, and classy. I like things looking native, and simple. That is why I fell in love with a LockScreen widget called “TypoPhone 4”. Now, right off the bat, it may not be for everyone, because it does display nothing but the time, month, date, day, and year. But it was just so sexy that I didn’t even bother to care about all of the missing information. Would it have been nice to have additional info, such as a display of missed e-Mail like what @stimpy5050 (David Ashman) does with LockInfo? SURE, it would be great! That’s why whenever I want that stuff, I simply go into settings and re-enable LockInfo. TypoPhone 4 was a milestone for me because it was So simple and sexy that I was drawn to it. But there was something missing. So I went into Cydia, and did a simple search, and found a different version of it!

See, the author of Typophone 4 has openly stated that he would no longer be continuing to offer support of updates to this widget, so he gave permission to anyone out there who wanted to take up the torch. And that’s when I found “TypoPhone Weather”. It may not sound like much, but trust me, the addition of HTC-style HD weather is a night and day difference. While earlier versions, in my opinion were better and more streamlined to the eye, you cannot deny that the more current updated versions load faster. What’s the difference? Version 1.9 and above of TypoPhone Weather use native fonts to load, whereas version 1.8 and below used the same format as the original TypoPhone 4, which were images loaded via javascript. Each version offers different pros and cons, but ultimately, since I am extremely familiar with Photoshop but NOT JavaScript, I found it INFINITELY easier to theme the hell out of TypoPhone Weather 1.8, and enjoyed doing so. Below, you will find images of the original (Black & White), and what I have tweaked and changed for my own tastes (Black & Red). Ultimately, the opportunities to customize are yours and yours alone, but you can find all mentioned tweaks and widgets in Cydia. If you want to contact the developer who took up this project, you can do so via Twitter, @dcinzona, or you can contact Gustavo directly via his website at http://typophone.gmtaz.com. Have fun customizing.