Now that the Dopamine v2 jailbreak has been released, many now wonder about the role that the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak” currently plays in the modern jailbreak community.
While it may be obvious that the full-fledged Dopamine v2 jailbreak surpasses Serotonin in terms of capabilities, it’s important to recognize that Serotonin plays an important role in the community today despite that fact, and that’s something we plan to unravel in today’s piece.
Dopamine v2 doesn’t kill Serotonin
To begin, let’s discuss what devices and firmware versions the Dopamine v2 jailbreak supports. Those include:
- iOS & iPadOS 15.0-16.6.1 on A9-A11 devices
- iOS & iPadOS 15.0-16.5.1 and 16.6 betas 1-4 on A12-A14 & M1 devices
- iOS & iPadOS 15.0-16.5 and 16.6 betas 1-4 on A15-A16 & M2 devices
As you’ve probably noticed, A15-A16 chip-equipped devices, which include devices in the iPhone 13 and 14 lineups, aren’t supported by Dopamine v2 if they run iOS & iPadOS 16.5.1 and later. Likewise, A12-A14 chip-equipped devices, which include devices in the iPhone XS lineup, 11 lineup, and 12 lineup, aren’t supported by Dopamine v2 if they run iOS & iPadOS 16.6 and later.
The hard stops at those firmware versions for certain devices are because of the Page Protection Layer (PPL) bypass used, which caps out at the device and firmware combinations above. The PPL bypass is what makes the full-fledged Dopamine v2 jailbreak possible, and without it, Dopamine v2 would be no different than the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak.”
Since Serotonin takes advantage of the Kernel File Descriptor (KFD) exploit and the puaf_landa method, it’s evident that this “semi-jailbreak” supports iOS & iPadOS 16.0-16.6.1. Serotonin also doesn’t require a PPL bypass because it isn’t a full-fledged jailbreak, so it works on all devices running firmware supported by both the KFD and CoreTrust exploits with no additional requirements.
This is, in fact, where Serotonin still shines. A15-A16 chip-equipped devices running iOS & iPadOS 16.5.1-16.6.1 can run Serotonin even though they can’t run Dopamine v2. Likewise, A12-A14 chip-equipped devices running iOS & iPadOS 16.6-16.6.1 can run Serotonin even though they can’t run Dopamine v2. This is because these device and firmware combinations are vulnerable to both KFD and CoreTrust.
Many of the same abilities, but not all
Having said all this, even though Serotonin isn’t a full-fledged jailbreak like Dopamine v2 is, it allows users on newer devices and running newer firmware to run jailbreak tweaks in apps and via SpringBoard by way of the Coretrust exploit in TrollStore. In many respects, this will feel just like a full-fledged jailbreak to the average user since average users are only jailbreaking for the jailbreak tweak usage.
We should add that not all SpringBoard-based jailbreak tweaks that work on a full-fledged jailbreak will work with the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak” and its SpringBoard tweak injection methods, and this has to do with how much more powerful a full-fledged jailbreak is.
It’s also worth mentioning that iOS & iPadOS 17.0 users can run jailbreak tweaks inside of apps using the RootHide bootstrap, but they won’t be able to run SpringBoard-based jailbreak tweaks since Serotonin doesn’t currently support iOS & iPadOS 17.0.
We felt it was important to discuss this fact because immediately following the release of Dopamine v2, many people began echoing the idea that Serotonin was an obsolete product. On the other hand, it’s not; it’s an important and still highly relevant stopgap for folks who continue to wait for a jailbreak on newer devices running newer firmware, and it’s particularly effective at what it does.
Sustainability
Here’s another fact: should a newer kernel exploit be discovered and released that supports iOS & iPadOS 17.0, the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak” should, in theory, be updatable to take advantage of it since Serotonin uses the same CoreTrust exploit that TrollStore does to achieve entitlements, and nothing more.
The same can’t be said about a full-fledged jailbreak like Dopamine v2, which would require not only another kernel exploit to pick up newer firmware support, but also another PPL bypass (or a Secure Page Table Monitor (SPTM) bypass for iOS & iPadOS 17.0 and later). That said, it’s easier to maintain a “semi-jailbreak” like Serotonin for newer firmware than full-fledged jailbreaks like Dopamine v2 (at least on firmware that the CoreTrust exploit supports).
Wrapping up
While those who can use the full-fledged Dopamine v2 jailbreak over the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak” should absolutely do so, the fact remains that Serotonin fills an important role in today’s jailbreak community by providing a way for a smaller subset of people who can’t use Dopamine v2 to install and use jailbreak tweaks. It’s also potentially upgradable with fewer requirements than a full-fledged jailbreak would be.
Are you currently, or have you ever before used the Serotonin “semi-jailbreak?” Or did you hold out for the Dopamine v2 jailbreak? Let us know why you made the choices you made in the comments section down below.