Problems jailbreaking iOS 9.3.3? Check these common mistakes

Pangu iOS 7.1.1

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard the great news about Pangu releasing an official jailbreak for iOS 9.2-9.3.3 over the weekend. Despite the fact that it’s what we call a semi-untethered jailbreak around here, it’s still a fully-functional jailbreak.

On the other hand, lots of people seem to be having some issues jailbreaking their devices, so we’ll be talking about some of the common errors you might be making so you can try again and get your device jailbroken; finally!

Problems jailbreaking iOS 9.3.3?

If you’re trying to jailbreak your device because you’re ultra excited, just like we were this morning when we pieced together a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial for Windows, then there’s a good chance you probably ran into some hiccups. It’s a brand-new tool, and that means there are some bugs that need to be ironed out, and probably will be in coming weeks.

Here are some of the most common things you need to double-check when jailbreaking your device(s):

If the jailbreak tool won’t open

Are you opening it in Windows?

The iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak is only available on Windows, not Mac OS X. If you’re trying to open the app on Mac, you will be disappointed because Macs can’t run .exe files.

Make sure to open the file on a Windows machine, whether it’s a Bootcamp partition, virtual machine, or even a PC that you have to borrow from the library or from a friend.

Did you close it recently?

We noticed that if you close the Pangu jailbreak tool on your PC, and try to re-launch it, it doesn’t ever seem to want to open back up again.

To fix this, you can actually just restart your computer and then try to launch the app again. After doing this, it would launch again without any issues, every single time.

Did you allow it access?

Later iterations of Windows are stricter on what kinds of software that you can launch on your machine to prevent it from being infected with viruses and malware. Because Pangu isn’t an established app developer under Microsoft, you should run the app as an administrator to give it elevated privileges.

In some cases, you may also need to allow access through some firewalls, including the one built into Windows itself. If you don’t, you will have connectivity issues.

If the jailbreak keeps failing to install Cydia

Are you jailbreaking a 32-bit device?

The Pangu jailbreak for iOS 9.3.3 does not support 32-bit devices like the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5c. This jailbreak is designed for 64-bit devices like the iPhone 5s and later only.

Some people have reported spotty support for the iPad Pro as well, so if you’re using an iPad Pro, keep in mind that you might experience some bumpiness until Pangu irons out this issue.

Are you running iOS 9.3.3?

I highly recommend updating your iOS device to iOS 9.3.3, rather than sitting on iOS 9.2 or some other firmware in between. First of all, it’s Apple’s latest firmware release, and that means you not only get all the latest and greatest features, but you also get the latest security fixes, including one that fixes a really nasty TIFF image exploit that could be used by malicious hackers.

By having the latest firmware installed, you eliminate any freak chance that the firmware version you’re running has some sort of bug that passed the jailbreak testers’ eyes prior to its release. So just do yourself a favor, and download and install iOS 9.3.3.

Did you prepare your device prior to jailbreaking?

With most of Pangu’s jailbreaks, it is suggested that you disable Find My iPhone and turn off your passcode prior to jailbreaking. Unlike previous tools, do not turn on Airplane Mode, because this jailbreak relies on an internet connection to verify a free certificate before the jailbreak can be completed.

Keep your internet connected while you’re jailbreaking your device, because this is an important step.

Is iTunes installed and trusted?

The jailbreak requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer. If you don’t you will need to download and install it prior to launching the tool.

Once you do, make sure to trust your computer from your iOS device and then trust your your iOS device through iTunes. If you don’t, they won’t be able to talk to one another over the Lightning to USB cable connection.

Are you leaving your device alone?

The jailbreak tool recommends that you don’t touch any buttons to multi-task on the device while it’s trying to complete the jailbreak process. Don’t run apps in the background or fiddle around with the device while it’s jailbreaking, because this can cause instability in the jailbreak process and cause it to fail.

Let it do its thing, and play with it later on, after the jailbreak is completed.

Follow our tutorial

This one seems like a given, but you wouldn’t believe how many people just dive into things without knowing what they’re doing. The Pangu jailbreak tool is currently in Chinese, and not English, so 90% of the people who visit this site can’t read what it’s trying to say.

Make sure to follow our tutorial so that you’re not clicking on the wrong buttons in the jailbreak tool itself.

If apps are crashing

Did you reboot recently?

It’s important to keep in mind that this is a semi-untethered jailbreak. What this means is that you have to re-run the jailbreak tool from the iOS device itself after every power off and power on that you perform on the device. If you don’t, Cydia will crash because it’s in limbo.

You can fix this by going through the proper semi-untethered jailbreak reboot procedure, which we detail in a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial. Make sure to open the correct Pangu app, because if you don’t opt out of the PP app store just before the jailbreak process, you’ll have two icons added to your Home screen.

Did your jailbreak goof up?

If you completed the jailbreak, but you saw prompts or warning messages that you wouldn’t normally expect to see following a completed jailbreak, then you might have crashing apps because the jailbreak process went completely wrong.

Sometimes when you see these error messages, Cydia and the other apps will install on your Home screen just fine, but when you try and launch them, you’ll quickly realize that the installation must have been corrupted because they won’t launch properly. Unfortunately, the only fix for this is to restore your device and try re-jailbreaking.

Are your tweaks compatible with iOS 9.3.3?

Alright, this one’s a given, but the jailbreak was just released and there was no warning ahead of time, so developers haven’t gotten to updating their tweaks for iOS 9.3.3 just yet. This means some instability is to be expected.

If you installed a jailbreak tweak that isn’t compatible with iOS 9.3.3 yet, then it could cause springboard crashes or app crashes that you otherwise wouldn’t expect. Most developers list the iOS compatibility in the Cydia description, so be sure to check it before installing tweaks, or take a peek at our iOS 9.3.3 tweak compatibility post.

Other problems?

Literally anything can go wrong when you’re hacking your iOS device to do something it wasn’t designed to do. If you’re having a problem that isn’t listed here, you can drop us a comment below and we’ll do our best to recommend suggestions, as will the rest of our knowledgeable reader base.

In many cases, you may end up having to restore your device and re-jailbreak it to fix major issues. On the other hand, some of the smaller issues may have been a minor oversight during the jailbreak process, or you may be forgetting to boot semi-untethered, whichever comes first.

How is the Pangu jailbreak for iOS 9.3.3 running for you? Share in the comments below!