jailbreaking

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on jailbreaking:

Android on iPhone? New project enables the unthinkable

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androidforiphone
Apple is not going to like this.
Photo: Corellium

One of Apple’s biggest foes in the courtroom, Corellium, is making it possible for iPhone users to install Google’s Android operating system on Apple’s devices.

Corellium released the first public beta build of its Android for iPhone software today called Project Sandcastle. The software currently only works on a couple of iPhones but if you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to have Android 10 running on Apple hardware, this is the closest you’re going to get.

checkm8 promises to permanently jailbreak millions of iOS devices

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At long last, we can announce the winner of the Cult of Mac iPhone X Giveaway.
Your iPhone X may have just got a lot more interesting.
Photo: Cult of Mac

A security researcher claims to have discovered an expliot that could lead to jailbreaken iOS models released as recently as 2017. Just as significantly, checkm8 supposedly can’t be patched by Apple, so any jailbroken device will remain so, no matter which iOS version it’s running.

iOS 12.4.1 locks out iPhone jailbreakers

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iOS 12 jailbreak
iOS 12.4 really can be jailbroken, but Apple apparently just removed the necessary security hole.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple just introduced an update to iOS 12.4 that likely fixes a security flaw that allowed a jailbreak to be created for this version — the first in years.

There don’t appear to be any other changes in iOS 12.4.1.

Find out if iOS 11 jailbreak is right for you

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Cydia jailbreak
Cydia is now compatible with iOS 11. Here’s which tweaks you can use.
Photo: Cydia

iOS 11 finally has its first jailbreak with Cydia support. If you’re yet to use our guide to installing Electra 1.0.1, which supports all of Apple’s latest devices, you need to check out this list of Cydia apps and tweaks compatible with iOS 11 to find out if it’s still worth it.

The useful iPhone X gestures you haven’t heard about, on The CultCast

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The CultCast: The best 30-minute Apple podcast you'll hear anywhere.
Let us reveal to you the hidden gestures.
Image: YSR50/Twitter

This week’s CultCast is a hot one! We discuss: The useful iPhone X gestures you haven’t heard about; why you need to check out Apple’s new YouTube channel; why folks are mad as heck about Apple Watch 3’s data prices. Plus, it’s the end of an era: Jailbreaking is dead. (And stay tuned for our favorite movies of 2017.)

Big Cydia sources shut down as jailbreaking dies out

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Cydia jailbreak
Cydia is now compatible with iOS 11. Here’s which tweaks you can use.
Photo: Cydia

Two of Cydia’s largest repositories have been shutdown as jailbreaking dies out. ModMy and ZodTTD are no longer available, leaving BigBoss as the only major source still available to those who want apps and tweaks you can’t find in the App Store.

Jailbreaking pioneers say iPhone jailbreaking is dead

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Jay
Cydia creator Jay Freeman says he doesn't recommend jailbreaking your iPhone anymore.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s been months since the last iOS 10 jailbreak has been released. And according to the guys that originally made jailbreaking a huge craze, you shouldn’t get your hopes up about jailbreaking your iPhone ever again.

In fact, even if you could jailbreak iOS 10, Jay Freeman — the guy who invented Cydia, which was the App Store before the App Store was the App Store — says he doesn’t recommend it.

Jailbreaking is officially dead.

iOS 11 wish list: Features we’d love to see

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iPhone 7
Here's what to expect from the next version of iOS
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

With WWDC 2017 right around the corner, it’s that time of the year when Apple can fix all the annoyances of iOS 10 and unveil something truly revolutionary for the next generation of iPhones and iPads.

Apple is expected to show off all the major features of iOS 11 at the WWDC in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, the rumor mill has been quiet on what to expect, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of speculation. We’ve got some ideas of our own too that we really want to see come to iOS 11.

This is what we want in Apple’s next big update:

Apple hires renowned iPhone jailbreaker to help protect privacy

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iPhone 7
If you can't beat 'em, hire 'em.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

One of the world’s top iPhone security experts and jailbreakers has decided to help Apple in its battle to keep iOS secure.

Jonathan Zdziarski, who was active in the iPhone jailbreaking community for years, revealed today that he has accepted an offer to join Apple’s Security Engineering and Architecture team.

Old iPhone exploit opens Nintendo Switch to jailbreaking

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The Nintendo Switch's flexible Joy-Con controllers work just fine with a Mac (but not an iPhone).
The Switch might be jailbroken soon.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Nintendo Switch owners may soon be able to install third-party applications on the new gaming console thanks to an old Apple security flaw.

Although the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have a web browser, it uses Apple’s WebKit in order to render web pages. Noted iPhone jailbreaker qwertyoruiop recently discovered that the Switch could be easily hacked just by running the Pangu jailbreak tool for iOS on it.

Famous jailbreaker says WikiLeaks CIA dump is overhyped

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The CIA has been hoarding zero day exploits.
The CIA has been hoarding zero day exploits.
Photo: US Gov.

WikiLeak’s trove of CIA cyber documents is being hyped as one of the biggest leaks since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA. But according to one of the world’s top jailbreakers, you shouldn’t believe the hype.

Cyber security expert Will Strafach, who gained notoriety under the name Chronic for finding zero-day exploits used for jailbreaking, says iOS users don’t need to be worried.

#ProTip: The upside to jailbreaking your iPhone

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Jay
Jay "saurik" Freeman, maker of Cydia, says there are legit reasons to jailbreak your iPhone.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac is at WWDC and AltConf, fishing for ProTips. The world’s biggest gathering of Apple developers is a rich hunting ground filled with alpha geeks, experts par excellence. What’s a ProTip? A ProTip is a nugget of knowledge, a little bit of expertise from someone in the know — a pro.

SAN FRANCISCO — Has Apple ever contacted you? This is one of two questions gray-hat hacker Jay “saurik” Freeman gets asked all the time. It happens so often, he has thought about putting it on a T-shirt.

“I have been contacted by Apple twice — once about a job and the other time a 50-page response to request sent to the copyright office,” he told Cult of Mac after his AltConf presentation on copyright in the digital era.

How to jailbreak iOS 7.1

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Jailbreaking has been around almost as long as iOS itself, giving users more control over their iPhones and letting them customize almost everything.

In today’s video, we take a look at how to jailbreak iOS 7.1 using the Pangu jailbreaking tool. If you’re not running that particular version of Apple’s mobile operating system, don’t worry: The process is very similar for every release. Take a look at the video to learn how to do it for yourself – it only takes a few minutes!

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

For young app makers, winning a WWDC Student Scholarship is a dream come true

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Some of last year's WWDC scholarship winners. (photo credit: Apple)
Some of last year's WWDC scholarship winners. (photo credit: Apple)

For any Apple coder, attending the annual Worldwide Developers Conference is a coveted opportunity. But for the young recipients of WWDC 2014 Student Scholarships, a free ticket to the event means more than an adventure in geekery; it’s the crowning achievement of their blossoming careers.

Take Shaan Singh, a 14-year-old developer and designer whose iPhone finance app Budgetize helped him bag a scholarship to WWDC, a prize that’s something like winning a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

“It’s a big honor for me to be selected because I made an app that I feel was creative and smart, and Apple thinks so too,” he told Cult of Mac. “I’ve always admired Apple’s design, and I’m excited that they like mine too.”

How iOS 7 Helped Me Kick My Jailbreaking Addiction

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Cydia
We haven't Cydia on our iPhones in forever.
Photo: Alex Heath

I’ve had iPhones for years, but I’ve never really been keen on using one that wasn’t jailbroken. As much as I love iOS, some of Apple’s decisions always kept my iPhone from working exactly how I wanted it to.

Jailbreaking gave me the ability to sidestep those limitations and make iOS my own. I could experience some of the freedom that Android users have grown to love while retaining the reliability, stability and polish of iOS. While I was frustrated that Apple wasn’t making major changes to improve its platform, I was happy that I could make them myself using unauthorized third-party tweaks.

Then I started using iOS 7, and everything changed.

Is iOS 7.0.4 Safe For Jailbreaking?

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Every time Apple releases a new version of iOS, there’s a good chance they have broken existing jailbreak techniques with it. If a public jailbreak has already been released, it means your jailbreak has gone away; if a public jailbreak hasn’t yet been released, an update can kill an exploit that will delay a public jailbreak by months.

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 7.0.4, but did they break the possibility of an iOS 7 jailbreak? Are you safe to update?

The Forgotten iOS Device: Why You Should Make Apps For Apple TV

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appletv

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Brad Smith wants to encourage developers to explore the final frontier: making apps for Apple TV.

Smith, director of engineering at RadiumOne, spoke at AltWWDC about facing the challenges for this new territory.

“I like to think of it as the forgotten iOS device,” Smith said, showing a slide of Tom Dickson, who has blended every device from the Cupertino company — with the exception of the Apple TV.

New Tweak Activates Google Now On iOS Wherever You Live [Jailbreak]

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Google-Now-iOS

The Google Search app for iOS was updated earlier this week to bring Google Now to your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. but it seems that the service isn’t yet supported in all territories. As is often the case, however, the jailbreaking community has a solution.

GoogleNowEnabler is a new tweak that promises to activate Google Now on your iOS device no matter where you live.

Google Glass = Jailbroken

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That didn’t take long. Google Glass won’t be available to the general public for at least a year, and it’s already been hacked. For Apple’s iOS, “jailbreaking” refers to essentially rooting the OS to gain complete access. Developers can then use that access to create system-level tweaks that Apple won’t let in the App Store.

Android is a little different, because rooting the OS isn’t something Google discourages or combats. Since Google Glass technically runs on Android, it can be “jailbroken.” That’s exactly what Jay Freeman, better known as “saurik” in the iOS jailbreak community, has done. Freeman runs Cydia, the jailbreak app store for Apple devices, and today he turned his attention to cracking his Google Glass prototype.

After Interning At Apple, JailbreakMe Hacker Comex Heading To Google

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Apple’s iOS isn’t customizable like Android. To get to the core of the operating system, very talented hackers have to create what is called a jailbreak. One of the brightest and most prolific minds in the jailbreak scene has been Nicholas Allegra, better known as “comex.” Allegra created JailbreakMe, a web-based jailbreak tool that was used to crack multiple version of iOS throughout the years.

But for the past couple of years, Allegra has been quiet in the hacking community. The reason for his code of silence is the company he’s been working for. Apple hired him as an intern last year, and he left in October after failing to reply to a company email.

Now Allegra is going to bat for the other team. Yesterday he announced plans to intern at Google. He’ll start in a few weeks. One would assume he’ll be working on beefing up security for Android, but he ruled out the possibility on his Twitter. ” I don’t like it enough to ever want to hack it,” he said.

Source: Forbes

Saurik Doesn’t Have Much Control Over Cydia And That’s A Good Thing

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saurik

If you love jailbreaking and all the little tweaks that come with it, then you’re probably very familiar with Cydia. It’s the number one place to go to if you want to find hacks for your iPhone or iPad, but it also kind of sucks at the same time.

Cydia is massively unorganized and slow when there’s a rush to jailbreak. Most people want to blame its creator, Saurik, for its weaknesses, but in a recent discussion on jailbreaking, Saurik admitted those things bug him too, but there’s not much he can do about it.