When Apple closes the firmware signing window for iOS 8.3, users wishing to downgrade (or upgrade) to iOS 8.3 won’t be allowed to do so. Instead, you’ll have to settle for whatever firmware Apple is signing, which is usually the latest and greatest out there.
When that happens, it’s quite probable that it could spell the end of jailbreaking for a while—remember we just got out of a significant lull.
With this in mind, the ability to downgrade back to iOS 8.3 is very desirous for would-be jailbreakers. While there is no confirmed downgrade ability just yet, there are some things that you can do to ensure that you have the best chance to downgrade should that ability arrive.
This is accomplished by saving your iOS 8.3 SHSH blobs.
To save your SHSH blobs and prepare for a possible iOS 8.3 downgrade, you’ll need to use TinyUmbrella to do so. I’ll show you how in this post and video.
Step 1: Download TinyUmbrella from our downloads page
Step 2: Run TinyUmbrella
Step 3: Connect your iOS device (it doesn’t have to be jailbroken!)
Step 4: Wait as TinyUmbrella fetches and saves your 8.3 blobs
TinyUmbrella saves your SHSH blobs into a single file. To find that file, you’ll need to go to the following locations:
Mac: ~/.tu/.shsh
Windows: C:Users~.tu.shsh
You can leave those files in place, but I advise you also to back them up on something like Dropbox. Again, these files have no real use at the moment, but they can be key assets if and when a downgrade arises in the future. From the rumblings I’ve heard, the possibility of that is very real.
But you better act fast, as once Apple stops signing iOS 8.3 it will be too late to retrieve your iOS 8.3 blobs.
To learn more about the ins and outs of TinyUmbrella, be sure to check out our detailed overview.
What do you think about saving your SHSH blobs? Do you think it’s a waste of time, or are you optimistic about future iOS downgrading?
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