Jailbreaking smartphones creates a wide array of themes and customization opportunities that wouldn't exist otherwise. Some of these themes, such as Winterboard's eXpLos1on HD, allow iPhone apps to be displayed in an eye-popping way that can distinguish your Apple device from anyone else's. However, a new, clever jailbreak may disguise your iPhone with an unexpected interface.

The Windows 8 Metro design layout is the newest theme to be available to jailbreakers. Known as the Metroon interface for Dreamboard, the design simulates the Windows 8 experience for iPhones and iPod Touches.

The Metroon theme is available in the Cydia Store for $1.50, for those who can't wait for Microsoft's upcoming operating system upgrade in the fall. However, it is important to remember that jailbreaking your phone can make it susceptible to unauthorized applications, strange themes and phone service on different carriers.

How to find 'Metroon'

To find Metroon, tap the Cydia icon on your home screen. This is automatically added to your iPhone once it is jailbroken. Make sure that Dreamboard is installed on your device, which Cydia should do automatically as well. Then type Metroon in the search box, and the theme should turn up under the results almost instantly. For further questions or issues, be sure to visit Jailbreak Nation.

How Metro works on the iPhone


One difference that users will realize immediately is that there is no slide to unlock feature on the home screen. Instead, the user simply swipes up to access the Windows 8 interface. From here, one can scroll through the various apps that are arranged in tile form across the screen.

Once an app is selected, the user is taken directly into the iPhone application. For example, a user can select the calculator app from the Metro-themed home screen and then will be taken directly to the iPhone calculator. Hitting the home button returns users back to the Windows 8 interface.

It's incredibly smooth and fluid, it works very well, says the narrator behind the video tutorial.

Switch between Windows and iOS

Can't decide whether you want to stick with your iPhone theme or try out Windows 8? The Metroon Dreamboard theme lets you switch back and forth between the layout your phone came with and the Microsoft-based interface. When tapping the desktop, users are brought back to the original springboard.

If you decide you don't want to use the UI or something's going wrong with it and you want to fix it up, you just hit that and you go back to the home screen, the narrator says.

All of the apps users have downloaded on their phones are displayed in true iPhone fashion in iOS. A side-panel search menu that appears when swiping the side of the screen allows you to switch between interfaces quickly and easily. The user will see three buttons appear in this menu, the top one brings you to Spotlight to perform searches for apps and content on your phone, and the middle switches between Windows and iOS. The last button is the Settings icon, which automatically brings a user to the theme's settings menu.

Settings on Windows 8 Metro for iPhone

Choosing the Accents option in the Settings menu will let users play around with different colors that will be added to their interface experience. Selecting Backgrounds will affect the color of the spaces between application tiles on a user's home screen in Metroon.

To check out the full post for more information about the Metroon theme, visit Jailbreak Nation. Microsoft has just announced that the release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 8 will be ready for this August, and the company will be offering a Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer for only $39.99.

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