The iOS app switcher is in serious need of an overhaul, and back in October, forum member Sentry took it upon himself to give it just that. He mocked up an app switcher that would make use of the extra vertical space on the iPhone 5’s screen with card-like icons that give users more information about their running apps. Fast forward to today, and the designer and his developer partners have a working prototype called Auxo running on jailbroken devices. And while it's not quite finished yet, the results are impressive.

What really makes it useful is the ability to quickly change Wi-Fi and brightness settings

In the video below, iDownloadBlog takes an in-depth look at the tweak, showing the webOS-like card interface and settings shortcut pane in action. Since there’s still no jailbreak for the iPhone 5, we can’t comment on that particular experience, but it runs smoothly on an iPhone 4. The ability to see at a glance what's happening in your running apps is great — visual feedback is always nice, and the design perfectly fits in with the rest of iOS. But what really makes it useful is the ability to quickly change Wi-Fi, brightness, and tethering settings without having to jump into the phone's Settings app. Every time I hit the street I have to deal with two problems: my phone connects against my will to my carrier's Wi-Fi hotspots, but I need Wi-Fi turned on to get a quick and accurate reading in Maps. The ability to turn Wi-Fi on and off with something built into the app switcher would be reason enough for me to jailbreak if it was possible on my daily driver. Ditto for adjusting screen brightness, which is one of the only reasons I keep Launch Center Pro on my home screen.

This might sound great, but unfortunately you won't be able to try it out quite yet — Sentry tells us that it will be another few days before Auxo is available on Cydia. It’s also iOS 6 only for the moment, but an iOS 5 version is said to be on the way.

Update: Auxo is now available on Cydia for $1.99.