If you were one of the thousands begging chpwn for the ability to not only multitask but also for the ability to get onto your home screen using only touch gestures, then you’ll be very happy to hear that he has done just that. To do this, chpwn has updated his extremely popular Zephyr (touch multitasking) tweak, that allows you to toggle the App Switcher, switch between applications, and now exit an application using only touch gestures without ever having to use your home button. Here is a video demonstration of the new features:

I was at first confused as to how exactly you open the App Switcher since it appeared as though the settings were merged with that of closing an application. The key is that you pause halfway, it will take approximately one second for Zephyr to realize that you want the App Switcher open and that you don’t want to only close the application. Even under the circumstances that you do exit the application, you can always open the App Switcher when you are on the home screen after exiting.

For many of us who purchased Zephyr, this literally means that we don’t ‘have’ to use the home button anymore. The only reason that I could possibly see fit for using the home button is to enter DFU mode. I don’t use the iOS 5 Camera button from the lock screen often, and I don’t normally use the home button as a shortcut for going from the last SpringBoard page to the first. That being said, I think that Zephyr has replaced a hardware function of iOS with a great software counterpart.

You can go into the Zephyr settings and choose between swiping up to both toggle the App Switcher and exiting an application, or you can choose to have only the App Switcher opened. It’s up to you how you ultimately want to use Zephyr, since the settings are extensive and intuitive. If you have never bought Zephyr before, buying version 1.1 will set you back $2.99 and you can download it from the BigBoss repo today!