How To Enable Multitasking Gestures And Display Mirroring On The iPad 1 (Without Jailbreaking)

In iOS 5, Apple added some slick multitasking gestures to the iPad that allow you to four-finger swipe to pull up the multitasking drawer, swipe left and right between apps, and five-finger pinch to view the homescreen. They also added AirPlay mirroring, which allows you to view your iPad’s screen on an Apple TV. Both of these features are great, but for whatever reason, Apple decided they were best relegated to the iPad 2. Here’s how to enable the new multitouch swipes and mirroring on your first generation iPad, no jailbreaking required.

Currently the iOS 5 jailbreak is tethered, meaning that in order to restart your device, you have to plug in your device and run your jailbreak app every time you restart. So while the iOS 5 tethered jailbreak includes an option to enable these features, the lameness of the tethering isn’t really worth it. So here’s a jailbreak-free, tether-free method for enabling multitasking gestures and display mirroring on your first-gen iPad.

What You’ll Need

For this method, you’ll need a first generation iPad and a Mac. (Windows users, jump to the bottom of the post for a Windows-friendly method.)

This hack comes from a user called d.B. in the modmyi forums, who modified the jailbreaking tool redsn0w to do just one thing: Enable multitouch gestures and mirroring. Despite what the app says, no jailbreaking is actually happening. redsn0w is just tweaking a few settings on your iPad so gestures and mirroring are enabled. Here’s how it works:

1. First, download the modified redsn0w download from this page.
2. Unzip and run redsn0w.
3. Walk through the redsn0w wizard. If you’ve ever jailbreaking an iPhone or iPad, this is pretty basic stuff. You’ll need to put your phone into DFU mode, which redsn0w walks you through, then allow it to perform its magic on your device.
   This process will take a few minutes, and your iPad will restart a few times throughout.

Be patient, and once redsn0w is done, your iPad will restart. Unlock your screen, head to Settings > General, and you should now see the multitasking option enabled on your device. Go swipe crazy.

The Windows Method

I haven’t tried this, but this guide from web site CopyBot walks through a more complicated Windows-friendly method that may work for you. I opted to take the Mac route because, well, it was easier.

Good luck gesture-ifying your iPad. Multitasking gestures are one of my favourite features of iOS 5 on the iPad, so it’s worth the effort to get them working.

Republished from Lifehacker