Cydia Substrate

Modernize the Cydia app’s user interface a bit with cyder

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 7, 2019

There’s obviously a lot of controversy over Cydia vs. Sileo because the latter has been designed with a modern iOS aesthetic in mind. But those who prefer the tried and true Cydia over something that’s relatively young in comparison can still take advantage of jailbreak tweaks to make Cydia better.

One such release that grabbed our attention as of late was cyder by iOS developer CreatureSurvive, which brings a plethora of modern features to the official Cydia app by way of Cydia Substrate. Obviously, this means it only supports pre-A12(X) devices, but it’s worth checking out if you happen to have a supported handset in your possession.

Should I jailbreak with Chimera, Electra, or unc0ver?

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 2, 2019

In case you’ve been living under a rock, there are now three major full-fledged jailbreak tools floating around in the wild: Chimera, Electra, and unc0ver. So which one should you be using?

Answering this question is challenging, and given the seemingly volatile state of the jailbreak community at the time of this writing, I’ve been hesitant to answer it; but I think it’s finally time, especially since folks now have more choices to pick from than ever before.

Disable Cydia Substrate or Substitute in specific apps with UnSub

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 1, 2019

Some App Store apps throw a fit when you jailbreak your device or when they’re tampered with by third-party tweaks, so if you happen to be jailbroken, what can you do to resolve this problem and mitigate issues with these types of apps? We're glad you asked.

UnSub is a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Nepeta that aims to make your pwned handset less prone to these kinds of issues. It does this by letting you disable Cydia Substrate or Substitute-centric tweak injection for specific apps, such as those that might exhibit adverse reactions.

Pwn20wnd confirmed to be working on Substitute for A12(X) devices with unc0ver

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 27, 2019

Just last week, Saurik advised the jailbreak community not to hold its breath for an A12(X)-compatible Cydia Substrate, but that doesn’t mean that team unc0ver won’t release a full A12(X)-compatible jailbreak; in fact, the contrary appears to be true.

In the absence of Cydia Substrate on A12(X) platforms and with little or no indication that it’ll ever be updated to support them, hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd embarked on a new challenge – one that involves implementing an improved Substitute for A12(X) handsets specifically while continuing to use Cydia Substrate for tweak injection on pre-A12(X) devices.

Electra Team and Pwn20wnd issue status updates regarding the A12(X) jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 26, 2019

Despite the unforeseen bombshell that Saurik recently dropped on the jailbreak community regarding the much-anticipated Cydia Substrate update for A12(X) devices, this hasn’t stopped talented hackers such as those from the Electra and unc0ver jailbreak teams from devising workarounds to ensure that the community gets its cake and eats it too.

The unc0ver jailbreak is perhaps the most impacted jailbreak from the ordeal, as Electra uses Substitute instead of Cydia Substrate. And for that reason, we consider the following words from hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd be to be somewhat significant given the times we’re in:

Pwn20wnd releases unc0ver v3.0.0 to the public with significant improvements

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 26, 2019

Hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd published the official release of unc0ver v3.0.0 to GitHub on Friday, officially bringing the tool of out its beta stages. The move came shortly after the release of unc0ver v3.0.0 beta 51, which brought with it a small number of changes.

Pwn20wnd announced both of the updates Friday afternoon via Twitter:

Pwn20wnd considers refining Substitute for the unc0ver jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 19, 2019

Saurik delivered a Twitter-based Tropicana speech on Friday regarding the state of Cydia Substrate for A12(X) devices, and from what we can tell, its release is anything but imminent; in fact, there’s no telling if it’ll ever be released. Not only is Saurik getting tired of updating Cydia Substrate, but Apple made things more difficult in A12(X) by adding new logic and challenges.

Prominent members of the modern jailbreak community are now responding to Saurik’s words of wisdom, beginning with unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd:

Saurik to jailbreak community on A12(X) Cydia Substrate ETAs: ‘Knock it off’

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 20, 2019

If you’ve been following the jailbreak community as closely as I have recently, then you’ve undoubtedly witnessed a lot of denigration between Cydia Substrate naysayers and Substitute naysayers. Some are fed up in waiting for Cydia Substrate to be updated with A12(X) support, prompting many to harass Saurik for a release date and motivating others to take a different approach to jailbreaking entirely.

In response to much of this mud-slinging and toxicity, Saurik took to Twitter Friday morning to bend the jailbreak community over his knee and give it a good spanking. It’s not very often that Saurik makes a public appearance on Twitter, but when he does, it’s almost always a home run:

Pwn20wnd says Saurik plans to update Cydia Substrate for A12(X) devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 26, 2019

Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak tool supports all versions of iOS from 11.0-12.1.2, and it supports most iOS devices. The lone exception to the latter part of that statement is that A12(X) devices are only partially supported, which means Cydia and Cydia Substrate won’t be installed on those handsets (yet).

Just last week, Pwn20wnd shared what he still needed to complete the full A12(X) support for unc0ver, and while one of those components has since been completed, the community continues to wait for the other.

Pwn20wnd updates Unrestrict library, bringing us one step closer to a full-fledged A12(X) jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 4, 2019

Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak tool supports all iOS versions from iOS 11.0-12.1.2 and most iOS devices in between, but it only partially supports A12(X) devices at the time of this writing because of reasons that we outlined in a piece published earlier this week.

Two of the most significant roadblocks that have prevented a full-fledged A12(X) jailbreak from surfacing are that Cydia Substrate needs to be updated with compatibility for these devices and that Pwn20wnd still needed to update Unrestrict library for sandbox patches on arm64e devices. Fortunately, the latter is no longer a problem as of today.

Pwn20wnd shares what’s left to complete A12(X) support for unc0ver

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 1, 2019

Hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd first introduced ‘partial’ A12(X) device support for the unc0ver iOS 12 jailbreak tool just under three weeks ago, but as most of the jailbreak community already knows, full support for A12(X) devices won’t be possible until Saurik first updates Cydia Substrate with compatibility for arm64e devices.

In a short spiel Monday afternoon, Pwn20wnd took to Twitter with a small status update for those still wondering about the status of the A12(X) jailbreak:

Give Cydia an App Store-inspired makeover with CydiaXIStyle 2.0

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 30, 2019

Cydia has endured a lot of criticism over the years from the jailbreak community because of its seemingly out-of-style user interface and lack of modern aesthetics. Such criticisms have given rise to third-party alternatives, such as Sileo.

But in case you forgot, Cydia as a platform is entirely customizable ever since Jay Freeman updated the Cydia Substrate framework to allow for Cydia-centric jailbreak tweaks. With that in mind, iOS developer iOSNJB took to the drawing board to produce a new release called CydiaXIStyle 2.0.