How To Use Amazon’s Instant Video App On A Jailbroken iPad [Jailbreak]

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Video playback in Amazon Instant Video on the iPad? Heck yes!
Video playback in Amazon Instant Video on the iPad? Heck yes!

It was recently revealed that jailbroken iPads are not able to use Amazon’s new Instant Video app. The issue is a common one that similar apps, like HBO GO and DirectTV, have dealt with in the past. The reason jailbroken iPads couldn’t access Amazon’s video streams seemed to be related to DRM. Amazon may or may update the Instant Video iPad app with a fix, but in the meantime, there’s an easy way for jailbroken iPad users to get around the restriction right now.

After posting about the app blocking jailbreakers this morning, I was pointed towards a Cydia tweak called xCon:

xCon is a project aimed to be a one-stop solution to bypassing jailbreak detection in App Store Apps.

xCon supports an extensive list of applications, and while some are not yet supported, the project is constantly being worked on to add support for more and more applications all the time.However, don’t get too excited just yet. Although the tweak is pretty useful, it is by no means universal. As of now, the tweak only supports a few apps, all of which are listed.

I remember the tweak from back when Time Warner Cable was blocking jailbreakers from using its iOS app as well. The tweak’s description says that it will bypass jailbreak detection for the following apps: Bloomberg Anywhere, Cablevision, Cisco M-Learning, DirecTV for iPad, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Time Warner Cable, Skype, McAfee EMM, Verizon On Demand, and a host of others. I’ve also heard that it works with SkyGo, and I can confirm that it fixes Amazon Instant Video for iPad as well. This is due to a series of universal hooks the tweak’s developer tied in to fool jailbreak detection in iOS apps across the board.

So there you have it: download “xCon” for free in Cydia on your jailbroken iPad, open Amazon Instant Video, and you’ll be right as rain!

Thanks: Rey

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