Many of our readers are familiar with the DelayOTA method of installing firmware updates on iPhones and iPads. This method allows users to upgrade to unsigned firmware from an older firmware for up to 90 days beyond the target firmware’s date of unsigning.
With the recent launch of TrollStore 2, which picked up support for iOS & iPadOS 15.5-16.6.1 and 17.0 at the end of of November, it seemed like an important moment to mention a hard deadline that iPhone and iPad users will have to cope with before the end of the day.
Today, December 19th, 2023 is the final day that iPhone and iPad users will have the opportunity to use the DelayOTA method to upgrade to iOS or iPadOS 17.0 from an older firmware. This is the latest firmware currently supported by TrollStore 2 — a well-received perma-signing utility that uses a CoreTrust bug to permanently sign sideloaded applications on-device with elevated privileges.
A word of warning, however: there is currently no installation method for TrollStore 2 on iOS or iPadOS 17 apart from already having it installed on older firmware beforehand and then following a convoluted device updating process that involves leaving an instance in your App Switcher during the OTA update.
The aforementioned installation method is both risky and infeasible for many. That said, if you do DelayOTA to iOS or iPadOS 17.0, be prepared to wait for a TrollStore installation method; this could take weeks, months, or perhaps longer. No one really knows.
We’d also like to caution that updating to iOS or iPadOS 17 also reduces your odds of being able to jailbreak in the future. Staying on the lowest possible firmware is always advisable to those waiting for jailbreaks, as updating to newer firmware closes security holes that could be used for exploiting Apple’s firmware. This is especially true as Apple continues to harden iPhone and iPad software security.
Having said that, users who are torn between TrollStore and jailbreaking have a difficult decision to make: updating via DelayOTA and potentially being able to install TrollStore in the future and decreasing their odds of being able to jailbreak, or staying on a lower firmware and not being able to install TrollStore and increasing their odds of being bale to jailbreak.
This isn’t an easy decision to make and you don’t have a lot of time to make up your mind. When the DelayOTA method to upgrade to iOS or iPadOS 17.0 stops working after today, it will no longer be possible to update from older firmware to iOS or iPadOS 17.0.
Generally, if you’re already jailbroken or already utilizing TrollStore on earlier firmware, then we would advise you to stay where you are so that you can continue to take advantage of it. That’s because if you update now, there’s no guarantee you’ll get these benefits back in the future.
The option to DelayOTA to iOS & iPadOS 17.0 should only be considered by those who aren’t already jailbroken or using TrollStore and can’t yet do either of those things on the firmware version they already have, as this would be a ‘nothing lost, nothing gained’ situation that merely leaves your status quo alone.
You can view some of our step-by-step tutorials showcasing how to DelayOTA below:
- How to DelayOTA upgrade a jailbroken device’s firmware with Dahlia
- How to update non-jailbroken iPhones and iPads to unsigned firmware with DelayOTA
We’re interested to see how many people are considering the jump to iOS or iPadOS 17.0 to attempt utilizing TrollStore 2 in the future, and additionally, how many people have already done so. Be sure to let us know in the comments section down below.