Jailbreak

101 'Jailbreak' stories June 2011 - October 2015

See All Stories

Jailbreaking generally refers to the removal of iOS software restrictions on Apple devices by means of software exploits. Jailbreaking affords root access to the iOS file system, allowing users to install tweaks and utilities that provide extensive functionality to iOS.

Jailbreak tools vary from jailbreak to jailbreak. Some tools consist of tiny utilities that must be executed from a Mac or Windows machine, while other jailbreak methods can be executed right on device without needing to connect to a computer.

Jailbreaks have been released for all iOS hardware categories, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV. The most recent Apple TV jailbreak, made available for the 4th generation Apple TV, required users to stay on an earlier version of tvOS. Of all iOS-related devices to date, only the third-generation Apple TV never saw a jailbreak during its lifetime.

Since jailbreaking takes advantage of security vulnerabilities, Apple works hard to patch these vulnerabilities. Once a vulnerability is patched, a new version of iOS is released and the signing window for previous susceptible versions are closed, making it impossible for users to upgrade or downgrade to the vulnerable version of iOS.

Cydia, a third-party app and tweak resource, is frequently mentioned in the same breath as jailbreaking, although it has nothing to do with the exploits responsible for the jailbreak itself. Cydia is by far the most popular way for jailbroken users to acquire apps and tweaks to modify their jailbroken devices.

The most recent jailbreak is from Chinese hacking team, Pangu. Pangu’s jailbreak works with iOS versions 9.3.3, 9.3.2, 9.3.1, 9.3, 9.2.1, and 9.2. The Pangu jailbreak is available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. At the moment, Pangu’s official iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak is Windows-only, and available in Chinese.

Pangu releases first untethered jailbreak for iOS 9, includes support for iPhone 6s

Benjamin Mayo Oct 14 2015 - 2:12 am PT

Pangu has today released the first public untethered jailbreak for iOS 9, which can be installed on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. This includes the latest iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and every public version of iOS 9 (iOS 9.0, iOS 9.0.1 and iOS 9.0.2), meaning its now technically possible to reach beyond what’s possible in the Apple App Store on Apple’s latest devices. The jailbreak software is available for free, but right now there’s only a Windows installer available. Mac support will probably follow in the future but a date has not been announced.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Untethered iOS 9 jailbreak shown off in new YouTube video

Mike Beasley Sep 10 2015 - 2:25 pm PT

Well-known iOS hacker “iH8snow” published a new YouTube video last night showing off the first untethered jailbreak for the as-of-yet-unreleased iOS 9. The modified iPhone 5 is running the GM build of the software, which will be released to the public on Wednesday.

iH8sn0w says that the jailbreak shown in the video, is “dirty and hacky,” but nonetheless a “proper jailbreak,” which he confirmed also works on the iOS 9.1 beta, though that’s not shown in the video.

Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS jailbreak malware stole 225,000 Apple IDs across 18 countries, but it’s unlikely you’re at risk

Ben Lovejoy Sep 1 2015 - 4:04 am PT

Researchers from Palo Alto Networks have discovered that a piece of iOS malware successfully stole more than 225,000 Apple IDs and passwords from jailbroken phones, using them to make purchases from the official App Store. The malware, dubbed KeyRaider, also has the ability to remotely lock jailbroken iOS devices in order to hold them to ransom.

These two tweaks will hijack app purchase requests, download stolen accounts or purchase receipts from the C2 server, then emulate the iTunes protocol to log in to Apple’s server and purchase apps or other items requested by users. The tweaks have been downloaded over 20,000 times, which suggests around 20,000 users are abusing the 225,000 stolen credentials.

However, it’s extremely unlikely that you’re at risk: the malware can only run on jailbroken devices, and appears to spread through only one set of Cydia repositories, run by Weiphone.

The malware was used in two tweaks that allow those running them to download paid apps and make in-app purchases from Apple’s official App Store without payment. The tweaks used the stolen credentials to make the purchases.

If you think your iPhone or iPad may be at risk, Palo Alto Networks has provided the following instructions to detect and remove the malware. Further details over at the company’s lengthy blog entry.

Users can use the following method to determine by themselves whether their iOS devices was infected:

Install openssh server through Cydia

Connect to the device through SSH

Go to /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries/, and grep for these strings to all files under this directory:

wushidou

gotoip4

bamu

getHanzi

If any dylib file contains any one of these strings, we urge users to delete it and delete the plist file with the same filename, then reboot the device.

We also suggest all affected users change their Apple account password after removing the malware, and enable two-factor verifications for Apple IDs.

The company also notes that not jailbreaking iOS devices is the only way to protect against such exploitation.

Mac version of Taig iOS 8.4 jailbreak tool now available

Mike Beasley Aug 2 2015 - 10:03 am PT

The team behind the Taig jailbreaking app for iOS 8.4 has finally released the long-awaited Mac version of their software. Previously only a Windows version of the app was available, forcing users on Macs to need to rely on other apps or use Boot Camp to tweak their iOS devices.

If, like me, you’re still looking to jailbreak your phone to get a few tweaks that Apple hasn’t yet “sherlocked,” you’ve now got one more way to do so. You can download the free Taig tool from the team’s website. It supports everything from iOS 8.1 and up.

Alympus tweak revamps multitasking on jailbroken iOS devices

Mike Beasley Jul 28 2015 - 9:46 am PT

Famed designer Surenix and developer Kyle Howells have teamed up to create a new iOS task switcher/Control Center replacement called Alympus, which combines a full screen of toggles with a new music controller and a customizable grid layout for running apps.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Opinion: Here’s why I’m still jailbreaking my iPhone on iOS 8.4

Mike Beasley Jul 21 2015 - 12:58 pm PT

With iOS 9 coming out later this year, there will once again be a number of articles proclaiming that jailbreaking is now unnecessary because so many of the most popular tweaks have been added as native features. While jailbreaking may not be as popular as it was in the iOS 4 days, there are still a lot of great reasons to give it a try.

I recently downgraded from iOS 9 to jailbreak my phone again. Here are just a few reasons I recommend you consider jumping off of the beta bandwagon.

Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 8.4 jailbreak already completed, planned for release later today [Update: available now]

Mike Beasley Jun 30 2015 - 11:08 am PT

With the release of iOS 8.4 today, many users found themselves faced with the decision to upgrade now or wait until a jailbreak is available so they can continue using their tweaks. That choice just got a lot easier, as the Taig development team has announced that the exploits used in their 8.3 jailbreak are all still available in the new update.

Expand
Expanding
Close

TaiG jailbreak now available for iOS 8.3 – but Substrate and MS tweaks not yet working

Ben Lovejoy Jun 23 2015 - 5:03 am PT

TaiG has released an untethered jailbreak for iOS 8.3 – but Cydia Substrate isn’t yet working, meaning that many third-party add-ons won’t run. MS Tweaks likewise don’t work at present.

As people still seem confused: to fix Substrate on iOS 8.3, @taig_jailbreak (not me) will update the jailbreak kernel patch (not Substrate).

— Jay Freeman (saurik) (@saurik) June 23, 2015

The release notes suggest that the jailbreak installation may take several attempts.

If jailbreak failed, turn off WIFI and try again. If failed again, please use TaiG Pro to restore and try to jailbreak again.

If you’re not yet running iOS 8.3, TaiG Pro allows you to perform the upgrade as part of the data backup process …
Expand
Expanding
Close

Developers hack Apple Watch to run real UIKit-backed native apps

Benjamin Mayo Jun 12 2015 - 9:10 am PT

Well-known developers Steve Troughton-Smith, Saurik and Adam Bell have managed to hack the Apple Watch on watchOS 2 to run truly native apps on the device. Although Apple is advertising native apps with watchOS 2, it isn’t as ‘native’ as some developers wanted or expected. The logic code now runs on the watch, but raw access to the user interface is still not allowed on watchOS 2.

This means frameworks like UIKit cannot be used to draw truly custom UI. Instead developers must rely on the same techniques employed with current WatchKit apps that revolve around image sequences to create more interesting effects.

In the demo, video embedded below, the team managed to get a fully interactive 3D object running on the Apple Watch powered by Apple’s SceneKit framework.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Developer hacks Watch OS to get a web browser running on Apple Watch

Benjamin Mayo May 10 2015 - 8:30 am PT

Prominent community developer and jailbreaker Comex has posted a video showing a successful hack of Watch OS to get the device running a web browser.

In the video, Comex has managed to get the Google homepage to render on the small Watch display. Apple does not include a Safari browser app on the Watch, for obvious reasons. The video shows that scrolling around even basic web pages on a tiny display is impractical.

More importantly, the video shows that it is possible to get the Watch to run arbitrary code. This could be the first step towards a ‘jailbreak’ of the Apple Watch although Comex makes no such promises to ever release the details of his hack.

Expand
Expanding
Close

TaiG jailbreak almost instantly updated for iOS 8.1.2, download available now

Ben Lovejoy Dec 10 2014 - 5:55 am PT

Prominent jailbreakers i0n1c and iH8sn0w had strongly suggested that yesterday’s release of iOS 8.1.2 wouldn’t block the TaiG jailbreak, and this has now been confirmed: the latest version is available just a day after the iOS update.

The jailbreak supports all devices capable of running iOS 8, including the iPhone 6/Plus, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.

It’s Windows-only for now, with a Mac version promised later. The Pangu team released an OS X tool for its own jailbreak last month.

Via Redmond Pie

How to use the Apple Watch font as the system font on OS X Yosemite

Benjamin Mayo Nov 19 2014 - 5:34 am PT

As part of the WatchKit resources, which can be freely downloaded by anyone at Apple’s website, the company released the font it uses on Apple Watch, called San Francisco.

With Yosemite, Apple changed the system font from Lucida Grande to Helvetica, the font used on iOS. This caused some backlash amongst the designer community who detested the change of typeface. The Apple Watch font has been widely praised, leading some people to speculate whether it will become the default on iOS or OS X anytime soon. A user on GitHub has posted instructions on how to try out San Francisco on your Mac today, with some basic changes.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Pangu team releases iOS 8 jailbreak tool for OS X and here’s how to use it (Video)

Dom Esposito Nov 9 2014 - 7:41 am PT

It’s finally here. The Pangu team has released its iOS 8 jailbreak tool for Mac. This will provide a one-click jailbreak solution for anyone without a Windows computer. Previously the tool was only available for Windows, which could also be used within a virtual machine on OS X, but now it’s native.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Pangu jailbreak for iOS 8.0-8.1 now “stable enough” for use, says Cydia creator

Ben Lovejoy Nov 7 2014 - 7:41 am PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/saurik/status/530454505994076161]

Cydia creator Jay Freeman (better known as Saurik) has tweeted that the Pangu jailbreak for iOS 8.0 to 8.1 is now “stable enough” for use.

We first saw a developer version of the jailbreak last month, with a user version released a week later, complete with Cydia installer. The installer is Windows-only, but it’s an untethered jailbreak, so once it’s done you won’t need to reconnect to a PC following a reboot …
Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 8 jailbreak Pangu now comes with Cydia installer and English support for the masses (Update)

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 11:46 am PT

When the iOS 8 jailbreak tool Pangu was released earlier this month for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, it still had some rough edges such as no one-click solution to install Cydia or support for English. Fortunately, the Pangu tool for Windows now includes a Cydia installer and English support for the masses.
Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS 8.1 Jailbreak hits the web via Chinese Pangu team, but it’s Cydia-less and only to developers for now (Updated)

Dom Esposito Oct 22 2014 - 4:54 am PT

It wasn’t too long ago when the Pangu jailbreak team took the scene by storm with it’s iOS 7.1.x jailbreak tool release. It was quite unexpected because no on had really heard of Pangu prior to the surprise. Turns out the team was very talented and they’re all set to reach another milestone…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Pangu untethered jailbreak still works with iOS 7.1.2

Stephen Hall Jun 30 2014 - 11:15 am PT

Apple today seeded iOS 7.1.2, and we’ve confirmed that the recently-released Pangu jailbreak does indeed work perfectly fine with the new build. While Pangu was released after Apple seeded 7.1.2 to carriers (meaning that the likelihood of the security holes being patched was fairly low), there was still the slim possibility that Apple would make a few changes and patch the holes before pushing the update to the masses.

But alas, the untethered jailbreak that we told you about last week is still capable of jailbreaking iOS 7.1.2, and you can still follow the very same guide that we published if you need help getting the famed Cydia application running on your device. It’s worth noting, however, that the jailbreak also recently got an update to support OS X, and that we would recommend you use this version if you’re planning on jailbreaking your iOS 7.1.2 device.

Pangu jailbreak for iOS 7.1.1 updated with English interface, OS X support, and more

Mike Beasley Jun 29 2014 - 12:19 pm PT

Last week a team of developers released the first untethered iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak, dubbed “Pangu.” At the time, the application only ran on Windows and the entire interface was in Chinese. However, a Mac version of the software was promised, and today that promise has been kept.

Pangu 1.1 was released on the dev team’s website earlier today and brings a handful of changes. Most importantly, the software now supports Mac OS X and sports a new English UI. The update goes deeper than just the desktop app, though. Bug fixes have been made to the jailbreak itself to fix issues such as a boot loop on certain devices that was being reported by those who had used version 1.0.

Expand
Expanding
Close

How to jailbreak iOS 7.1 and 7.1.x with Pangu (Video)

Dom Esposito Jun 23 2014 - 3:25 pm PT

Pangu is a new untethered jailbreak tool for iOS 7.1 and 7.1.1 that was recently released for Windows. There’s no current ETA on an OS X version (OS X is now version available), but after some initial testing, we’ve determined this to be a legitimate tool for jailbreaking iOS 7.1 and up. The process does seem a bit shady, but we have yet to experience any issues with it. Pangu iOS 7.1-7.1.X jailbreak is compatible with all iOS 7 devices.

Keep in mind, this tool is from an unknown team and we’re unsure of the long-term reliability of the jailbreak and exploits used. Proceed at your own risk, but like I mentioned above, everything seems to be working as advertised…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Pangu untethered iOS 7.1.X jailbreak released, but proceed with caution

Stephen Hall Jun 23 2014 - 10:28 am PT

A new jailbreak from a Chinese team dubbed “Pangu” has been released, and reports are spreading quickly around the Internet that it does indeed successfully install the famed “Cydia” jailbreak package installer application. It appears that this jailbreak is similar to the TaiG side of the evasi0n jailbreak from last year in that it also includes a sketchy Chinese pirated app installer.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Cydia gets updated with better repository and package management, iOS 7-style icon, other fixes

Stephen Hall Jun 12 2014 - 8:22 am PT

The well-known jailbreak application Cydia has received a fairly notable update today, bringing the utility to version 1.1.10. The new version of the app makes it much easier to manage sources and packages, and brings a refreshed iOS 7-style icon as well as other fixes.
Expand
Expanding
Close

OkSiri brings always-on voice control to jailbroken iOS devices

Mike Beasley May 29 2014 - 5:32 pm PT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUBWqr3AI4

Even if you’re strictly an iOS user, you’ve probably heard of Android’s “Ok Google” command, which automatically brings up the Google Now voice control interface from the home screen. iOS doesn’t really have an equivalent feature. In order to bring up Siri, you have to hold the home button down for a few seconds.

Today a new jailbreak tweak called OkSiri was released that enables the same functionality on iOS devices. It works just like you see in the video above, though there are a few little annoyances. Keep reading for a full breakdown on the upsides and downsides to this tweak.

Expand
Expanding
Close

ActiveBoard jailbreak tweak is a beautiful way to stay on top of missed notifications and running apps (video)

Dom Esposito May 23 2014 - 9:49 am PT

ActiveBoard is a new tweak for iOS 7 that adds a couple of useful features to the home screen. Using a pulsating glow behind app icons, ActiveBoard will let you know if an app has a notification or is running in the background. A red glow and bouncing animation will indicate a missed or unread notification, while a white glow informs you of the app’s background status.

Expand
Expanding
Close

OS Experience jailbreak tweak brings OS X-like features to iOS

Dom Esposito May 7 2014 - 7:26 am PT

OS Experience is a new jailbreak tweak for iPad that adds an extensive OS X experience to iOS. This tweak has been in development for quite some time and was actually announced before the iOS 7 jailbreak was released. Since then, the developer has been hard at work perfecting OS Experience to be the ultimate multitasking tweak for iOS. It’s very similar to an older discontinued tweak called Quasar, but this one takes multitasking on iPad to another level.

Expand
Expanding
Close