Sébastien Page

Sebastien is the Founder and Editor in Chief of iDB. Once a BlackBerry user, Sebastien instantly fell in love with the iPhone when it was first announced in 2007. Shortly after, he decided to start sharing his knowledge of the iPhone and its nascent ecosystem, which led to the creation of this blog. Sebastien currently owns 14 iPhones, 4 iPads, a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a MacBook Air, 2 Apple Watches, 3 Apple TVs, countless HomePods and AirTags as well as a few pairs of AirPods.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3 with PwnageTool

Sébastien Page ∙ February 7, 2010

The Dev Team released PwnageTool 3.1.5 just a few hours ago. In this guide and tutorial, I will show you how to use PwnageTool to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3.

Before we get into the details, please make sure you read this article by the Dev Team. It will explain to you what you can and cannot do. It is a very important piece of information that you should not overlook.

If at any point in time you updated your iPhone to firmware 3.1.3, then you also updated your baseband to 05.12.01. If that's the case, you will be able to jailbreak by downgrading to 3.1.2 first, but you will not be able to unlock.

PwnageTool will jailbreak the following 3.1.3 devices:

iPhone 2G iPhone 3G iPhone 3GS (old bootrom) iPod Touch 1G iPod Touch 2G (old bootrom)

If you don't care about unlocking, RedSn0w is still an easier and quicker way to jailbreak.

Note that this tutorial to jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3 with PwnageTool is for Mac and Mac only. There is no Windows version of PwnageTool and they will most likely never be. If you don't have a Mac, ask around and see if a friend of yours can help you out and create a custom firmware for.

Again, please make sure you read the information given by the Dev Team. It will answer most questions you may have.

How to Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3 with PwnageTool

Step 1: Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer. If not, download and install it, then reboot your computer. Now make sure you backup your iPhone by syncing with iTunes, just in case something goes wrong.

Step 2: Download PwnageTool 3.1.5 and your iPhone firmware from our downloads page. Save these 2 files to your desktop.

Step 3: Launch PwnageTool. It should give you a warning message. Click OK.

Step 4: Select “Expert Mode”.

Step 5: Select your device then click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 6: If PwnageTool doesn’t automatically find the correct IPSW file, click “Browse for IPSW” and locate it (it should be on your desktop).

Step 7: You will now have several options. Choose “General” and click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 8: Under “General Settings”, you have the option to activate the phone or not. This is a very important step so please read carefully.

If you have a contract with an official carrier (such as AT&T in the US, or Orange in France, etc…), do not activate.

If you do not have a contract with an official carrier (ie. you want to unlock for another carrier), you have to activate. Then you will have to install UltraSn0w or BlackSn0w from Cydia in order to fully unlock the phone.

You will know you didn’t choose the right option if you don’t have signal after jailbreaking.

You don’t have to, but I suggest increasing the root partition size to somewhere around 700MB, just to be on the safe side. When you’re done, click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 9: You are now taken to the “Bootneuter settings”. All of them should be greyed out. Click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 10: You are now taken to the “Cydia settings”. From here, you may download packages so you don’t have to manually do it later. For example, you may download WinterBoard, which would be installed during the pwnage process. Let’s keep things simple and skip this step which is not necessary. Click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 10: You are now taken to the “Custom packages settings”. Make sure "Cydia" is selected.

Step 11: You are now taken to the”Custom logos settings”. You can choose to add the default logos (see below) or you can add your own logos. If you choose to add your own, make sure the images are not larger than 320 x 480.

Step 12: We’re almost done! You now have to build the custom IPSW. Click “Build” and click the blue arrow to continue.

Step 13: Save your custom IPSW to your desktop.

Step 14: PwnageTool will now start building your custom IPSW. Be patient… It can take up to 15 minutes.

Step 15: PwnageTool will ask you if your iPhone has been pwned before. If you’re not sure, just click NO.

Step 16: If your iPhone was previously jailbroken, you can skip to step 19. If your iPhone wasn’t already jailbroken, follow the following directions. If your iPhone isn’t plugged to your computer yet, plug it. Don’t open iTunes. If iTunes launches automatically, close it. PwnageTool will now deliver the payload.

Step 17: After successfully delivering the payload, PwnageTool will put your iPhone in recovery mode. Click OK.

Step 18: iTunes should pop up saying it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode and that you must restore. Click OK.

Step 19: We are going to restore your iPhone using the custom IPSW you built. In iTunes, hold the “Alt/Option” key and click “Restore” at the same time. DO NOT click “Restore” without holding the “Alt/Option” key! A dialog box will pop up and you’ll be able to choose the custom IPSW file you created that was saved to your desktop.

Step 20: Navigate to the “jailbreak” folder and select the custom IPSW we created.

Step 21: iTunes will now restore your iPhone using the custom firmware which could take a while, so relax. When done, your iPhone will reboot and you will now have a jailbroken iPhone.

That's it! Your iPhone 3.1.3 should be fully jailbroken, thanks to the good work of the Dev Team and PwnageTool.

In the future, make sure you do not update your iPhone firmware when there is a new one coming out. It will avoid many issues. Besides, these updates are very minor and useless. For what it's worth, I'm still on iPhone OS 3.0, and happy to be.

If you have any question or comment, please leave a comment.

iPhone News You Missed This Week

Sébastien Page ∙ February 7, 2010

In case you missed any of this week's articles, here is a summary of what was posted on the blog within the last few days. As usual, if you like any of these articles, please share them, tweet them, email them or whatever's clever.

RedSn0w 0.9 is out Installous is dead ContactFlow brings coverflow to your contacts RedSn0w 0.9.3 jailbreak allows tethering of iPhone 3.1.2 499 reasons to buy an iPad iPhone OS 3.1.3 is out Traveling with an iPhone: my experience in Bali Geohot not working on 3.1.3 jailbreak My thoughts about the iPad Adobe Flash and the iGeneration AndroidLock: a better lockscreen to protect your iPhone SnowBreeze unlock and jailbreak anyone? How to downgrade iPhone 3.1.3 to 3.1.2

How to Downgrade iPhone 3.1.3 to 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 31, 2010

As always when a new firmware is being realeased, there is always a few unlucky people who "accidentally" update or restore to the latest firmware, thus losing their jailbreak and unlock.

In this case, you'd usually want to downgrade your iPhone from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 simply by downloading 3.1.2 and SHIFT + Restore in iTunes so that you can choose your own firmware to restore to.

The problem is that Apple recently stopped signing all previous firmware versions making it impossible for you to downgrade.

Fortunately, Saurik has been smart enough to create a system to bypass Apple's signature and making it possible for you to downgrade from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2. To do so, you will need to have your SHSH on file. To see if it's on file, launch Cydia and look at the top. Mine says "This device has SHSHs on file for iPhone OS: 3.0, 3.1, 3.1.2".

If you don't have this, make sure you look for a link that says "Make my life easier" on Cydia. This will allow you to save your SHSHs.

This being said, downgrading an iPhone 3GS from 3.1.3 to 3.1.2 is easier said than done. It's actually a pretty painful process that I detailed in a tutorial a few month ago. I originally wrote this tutorial to downgrade from iPhone 3.1 to 3.0 but the steps are exactly identical (MuscleNerd confirmed this).

If you're one of those who need to downgrade your iPhone firmware, then check out my tutorial, or simply wait for the Dev Team to come up with a reliable jailbreak for 3.1.3. Something tells me PwnageTool is not too far ahead of us ;)

UPDATE: If you have an iPhone 3G, you can now downgrade from baseband 05.12.01 to o4.26.08.

UPDATE 2: This post is slightly outdated. Check out this page for the latest information about downgrading your iPhone.

Jailbreak & Unlock iPhone 3.1.3 with Sn0wBreeze? No, Thank You

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 22, 2017

The almighty Sn0wBreeze has been recently updated to version 1.4 and although it claims to help jailbreak and unlock iPhone 3.1.3, I recommend to stay away from this tool.

The problem with Sn0wBreeze is that only a very small amount of people actually get it to work. It's such a small amount that I've come to think that it's the creator himself who leaves comments here and there to make people believe Sn0wBreeze actually works.

In a Sn0wBreeze tutorial I wrote about a week ago, only one commenter got it to actually work, but then he had to face many other issues:

I still get a lot of glitches when installing third party apps as well as the apps from the App Store. Also, I’m getting a lot of problems with Cydia. The Big Boss Repo won’t show up no matter how many times I uninstall and reinstall, still the same problem.

Can Sn0wBreeze jailbreak and unlock iPhone 3.1.3? Maybe. Do I recommend it? No. MuscleNerd goes as far as suggesting to stay away from it.

For those of you daredevils who'd still want to give a shot at jailbreaking and unlocking with Sn0wBreeze, you will first have to download version 1.4 and look at the Sn0wBreeze guide I wrote (steps are exactly the same).

Have you tried Sn0wBreeze? Have you had it to work? Please let us know in the comments.

AndroidLock: A Better LockScreen to Protect Your iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ February 6, 2010

There are several ways to protect your iPhone by restricting access to it from the lockscreen. You can use the stock feature that allows you to set a password containing 4 numbers. You can use this hack to add an alphanumeric password, or you can use AndroidLock.

AndroidLock is a new application available in Cydia that brings Android's lockscreen protection to the iPhone. After installing the app, you have to activate it in the Settings.app. To do so, you first have to create a pattern and save it. Then, in order to unlock your iPhone, you have to connect the dots according to the pattern that you previously created.

On the example above, I have to go from bottom left to top right, then top right to top left, then top left to bottom right, in order to unlock the iPhone and gain access to the springboard. Obviously, you don't see the pattern until you have completed it.

I do think it's a great alternative to setting an alphanumeric password. However, the downside for me is that I can't really see the picture of iVan the dog anymore, which is the picture I have on my lockscreen.

As I am traveling quite a bit these days, thus increasing my chances of losing my iPhone, I have set AndroiLock to protect it. I created a simple unlock pattern that doesn't make it a pain in the butt for me to do, but it makes it very hard for a potential thief to figure out. That won't protect me from losing or having my iPhone stolen, but at least it won't be easy to access the data on it.

What do you think? It's a pretty nice mod, isn't it?

My Thoughts About the iPad

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

After giving you 17 reasons why the iPad sucks and 499 why you should buy one, I wanted to share with you what I really think about the iPad.

Underwhelming is the word

All throughout Steve Jobs' presentation of the iPad, I was waiting for the time I would be amazed and excited. Jobs always does a great job at giving me the chills for his products but this time, he failed to.

When the presentation was over, I really felt underwhelmed. I thought to myself: is this it? There had to be something I had missed. Some feature I had overlooked. No, that was really it.

Apple had failed to create excitement.

Netbook > iPad

Steve Jobs made it pretty clear that the iPad aimed at taking over the netbook market. However, I'm not convinced the iPad is better than a netbook at all. To be honest with you, I even felt offended when Steve Jobs called netbooks "cheap laptops". I am currently traveling with a netbook right now, and there is no way a giant iPod Touch would be half as useful as my netbook is. Really.

If all you do is going to Facebook and check emails, then yes, get an iPad because it will do that just flawlessly for you. However, if you're looking for a mobile device from which you can actually work (ie. save documents, create documents, extensive typing, video chat, etc...), then I believe a netbook still is your best bet.

I am not Apple's target market

I've come to the conclusion that I don't know who the iPad really is for. It is not for me, I know that. I am a computer power user. I need multitasking, I need Flash, I need to be able to save documents to my hard drive. But I might be blinded by how I see the perfect tech gadget, and what I believe is good for me probably is far from what Mom and Pops think is good for them.

If my Mom told me she wanted an iPad, I would gently explain to her that it might not be a good idea for the time being and that she might as well buy a $400 Lenovo netbook because she'll get much more out of it. The problem is that my Mom will be so excited about owning a device with a fruit on it that she probably won't listen to me anyways.

The iPad might be targeting these people: those who don't know enough, thus can be easily influenced by good marketing campaigns.

Do I NEED or do I WANT an iPad?

The reason why I'm so confused about this new device is probably because I haven't used it yet, but also because Apple hasn't managed to make it clear why I need an iPad. Apple is usually great at making me NEED things. 3 years ago, I was very happy with my BlackBerry Pearl, then Apple shows up with the iPhone. They made me NEED it, instantly. This has been also true for the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

Apple doesn't make me need an iPad right now. It hasn't hit the spot yet!

Will I buy an iPad?

Yes, I will buy an iPad. The main reason is that if I'm going to blog about it, I'd better know my stuff. It might also be convenient at night to check Twitter or my emails while watching TV on the couch. I'm a news junkie and I admit that an iPad will be much better to read the news from my RSS reader, which I usually do from my iPhone.

Oh and one more thing, my fiancee is very excited too, for slightly different reasons though. Here is what she said to me: "I think playing Bejeweled on this giant screen is gonna be awesome". She had a point. I started dreaming about landing giant planes on Flight Control, one of my favorite games, on this big iPad screen. Haha!

The future of the iPad

This is just the beginning. What Apple is giving us today has nothing to do with what they will give us in 3-4 years. They could very well give us all we want right now (more storage, Flash, video camera, etc...), but they have to start somewhere. They have to work on us and create the need for an iPad. This will take time but I am convinced that once Apple really unleashes the power of the iPad, it will be one of the most amazing and useful device ever made.

On the bright side, I know the Dev Team will be working day and night to jailbreak the iPad. Once they find an exploit and can inject their codes in there, the iPad will be on its way to kicking ass.

What's your point of view?

GeoHot Says “No Jailbreak For You”

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

When GeoHot talks, you listen because you never know what he's up to. Earlier today he gave some pretty disappointing news on Twitter by basically saying that there was no way to jailbreak the latest iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch models on OS 3.1.3, and that there was not much hope for an untethered jailbreak.

But we all know GeoHot and how he likes to be challenged. I'd bet you that he's dissecting OS 3.1.3 as we speak and looking for some exploit. That's what I think anyways.

In the meantime, the Dev Team has been working hard on redsn0w (see tutorial) and has found some workarounds to jailbreak older models.

Do you think GeoHot will show up and save the world again?

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience In Bali

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

My fiancee and I are at month #3 of our travels around South East Asia, and like I did with Australia and New Zealand, I'd like to tell you about my experience traveling with my iPhone in Bali, Indonesia.

Ignorance Will Kill Me

When I first arrived in Bali about 3 weeks ago, I didn't have much hope to get my iPhone hooked up to a local carrier. Sure my iPhone is jailbroken and unlocked but I thought that Bali would never be able to provide me with what I really wanted: 3G.

I was way too judgemental and didn't deem necessary looking into a pay-as-you-go plan. I simply assumed that Indonesia didn't have 3G. How stupid was I!

Then one day I met with the owners of the hotel we were staying at (Villa Bintang in Nusa Dua). It all started with me being curious about their computer set up. After exchanging a few words, I realized that they were French, so we kept chatting in French.

It turned out that Bamboo (the wife) owned an iPhone and couldn't figure out a few things with it. I told her that I knew my way around an iPhone and in 2 minutes, all her iPhone issues were just gone. I asked her if Indonesia had the iPhone and she said that they don't, but she had bought hers in France on her last trip back home. She also confessed that she had paid about $30 to unlock it.

So I asked her what service she used and she told me to get XL, one of the many carriers available in Indo. She advised that I'd go get a SIM card in one of these little shops across the street from the hotel.

Getting Hooked Up With 3G and Talk Time

I first went to the shop by myself and I asked the woman about a SIM card and Internet for my phone. She said she could give me a SIM card and talk time, but to get Internet on my iPhone, I would have to go to the company's headquarter in Denpasar, 30 minutes away. That sounded kinda strange so I asked her again and she confirmed that I needed to "activate" the Internet plan in Denpasar.

I didn't buy anything and I went back to the hotel to ask Bamboo about this. She explained me that these little stores don't want to deal with Internet for some reasons I didn't really understand. But she said that she would walk me through it.

Bamboo then came with me and helped me set up my plan. It just took a few seconds. We walked in the shop (note that there are literally hundreds of these in Bali), I paid about $2.5 for a SIM card and an additional $30 for 3 million pulsas (units).

After doing a quick manipulation on the phone - dialing *123# - and selecting an Internet package, I was all good to go. These 3 million units I bought for $30 actually got me 1.5GB of data.

I was surprised how quick it was. At no time I was asked for an ID or anything. It took about 2 minutes from the time we got in to the time we left, and this included me practicing my "thank you" in Balinese...

I was also suprised by the massive amount of data I had for about $30. 1.5GB is huge! That sure was a change from Australia where every MB costs you a fortune.

The Downside

Getting a SIM card and 3G in Bali sure is easy but I have to admit it's not as reliable as I would hope. 3G here is pretty slow and I noticed that it just disconnects every few minutes.

I tried tethering my iPhone over 3G on a few occasions but it just didn't do it. It would work for 2 minutes, then lose connection, then come back for a minute, then break up again, etc... I don't have the patience for this and when I really want to be productive, I don't mind paying $1 or $2/hour to access the web in an Internet Cafe (they are everywhere).

Conclusion

All in all, getting a SIM card in Bali was probably the most pleasant experience I had dealing with getting a phone plan. It was fast and cheap. Even though the network is not very reliable and makes me miss AT&T, I am still glad I got my iPhone hooked up with a local carrier. I can now tweet, check emails and read the news from almost anywhere on the island, which to me is priceless. After my lovely fiancee, my iPhone really is my best travel companion!

If you have experiences traveling with your iPhone, please share them in the comments. I always enjoy reading your stories.

Jailbreak iPhone 3.1.3

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 31, 2010

Hours ago, Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.3 and as usual in this case, I recommended that you do not update if you care about your jailbreak or unlock.

Turns out we have some good news from the Dev Team. It is currently possible to jailbreak the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch 1G running OS 3.1.3.

Update 1: [Don’t go near this if you have 3GS, newer ipt2G, or any ipt3G] Thanks to daring experimenters in the comments, we can confirm that yesterday’s redsn0w works for today’s 3.1.3 update for iPhone 2G. Just point it at the 3.1.2 iPhone 2G IPSW after doing update or restore to 3.1.3. So far we’ve only confirmed this for iPhone 2G. (Note that if this does work for iPhone 3G too, you can *only* use it if you don’t care about the unlock.)

Update 2: [Don’t go near this if you have 3GS, newer ipt2G, or any ipt3G] Can confirm that this method works for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 1G too. Don’t do it for iPhone 3G if you need an unlock though (really, don’t!). For older iPod touch 2G, we’ll need a small (1-character) change in redsn0w source.

What does that mean? It means that if you have an iPod Touch 1G, an iPhone 2G or an iPhone 3G, you can use RedSn0w to jailbreak your iPhone 3.1.3. If you care about ever unlocking your iPhone, DO NOT do this. Just wait and stay away from the update.

Here is what you have to do to jailbreak your iPod Touch 1G, iPhone 2G or 3G. First, update to the latest 3.1.3 firmware from iTunes, then simply follow the directions in my RedSn0w tutorial. Download the latest version of RedSn0w and when asked to choose for a firmware, make sure to choose 3.1.2.

This method reportedly works for jailbreaking the 3 devices mentioned above. It doesn't work for the iPhone 3GS and for other iPod Touches.

The Dev Team is currently working on it. I will update you as soon as we get more info. Make sure to check the jailbreak section for up-to-date information about jailbreaking.

UPDATE: This post is outdated. Check out our jailbreak section for the latest information about iPhone jailbreaks.

iPhone OS 3.1.3 is Out. Jailbreakers Beware!

Sébastien Page ∙ February 2, 2010

Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.3 just a few hours ago and it it is now available for download directly from iTunes or from our iPhone downloads page.

This is a very minor update, and to be honest, it's almost deceiving. If I had to give my opinion on this, I'd say that Apple released firmware 3.1.3 just to piss off the Dev Team, who released RedSn0w 3.1.2 jailbreak just days ago.

The "fixes and improvements" for iPhone OS 3.1.3 are as follow:

improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS resolves issue where 3rd party apps would not launch in some instances fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard

Additionally, Apple has updated the baseband from version 5.11.07 to 5.12.01 on the iPhone.

As usual when a new firmware update is released, it is recommended for jailbreakers and unlockers alike not to update their device. If you update to 3.1.3, you will lose your jailbreak and/or unlock.

More info will follow as it comes. For up-to-date news about jailbreaking, make sure to read our iPhone jailbreak section.

499 Reasons to Buy an iPad

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Since it was unveiled last week, there has been no shortage of reactions on why the iPad might just fail and how underwhelming this new product really is. I myself took a good stab at it and trashed the iPad with my list of 17 reasons why the iPad sucks.

After torching the iPad, I wanted to come up with an article praising it and showing what a great device it will be. The reality is that it is much harder for me to find compelling reasons to buy the iPad than it is to not buy one. So I forced myself and came up with these reasons to buy an iPad.

It's cool. You know it! having anything branded Apple is cool It's going to kick ass as an eReader (that's at least what everyone thinks) The gaming experience will be awesome It comes with 140,000+ applications The big screen equipped with multitouch. Like the iPhone, but better because it's bigger! The battery life is (supposedly) great It's carrier unlocked. You can potentially use it on any network There is no contract for the 3G plan (at least here in the US) 3G plan is actually cheap External keyboard support It will soon be jailbroken Priced at $499, it gives you 499 reasons to buy an iPad

That's everything I can come up with. If you're not an iPad hater, I'd like to hear your reasons why you'd want to buy an iPad. Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

RedSn0w 0.9.3 Jailbreak Enables Tethering of iPhone 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

RedSn0w has been very hot for the last few days. After releasing the beta version and testing it out for a while, the Dev Team officially released RedSn0w 0.9, which didn't contain the IPCC tethering hack that would allow tethering on iPhone OS 3.1.2.

It has now been fixed as the Dev Team updated RedSn0w to 0.9.3, which now includes the IPCC tethering hack. For those of you who have no idea what "IPCC tethering hack" means, here is more information:

It allows you to install cellphone Carrier Bundles that aren't officially signed by Apple. This lets you, for instance, install a Carrier Bundle that allows you to use your iPhone as a way to connect your PC to the internet (through your 3G cell connection). This hack is always installed on 3G and 3GS phones by redsn0w 0.9.3 (no selection is required). It isn't included at all in 0.9.2 (it's still in a trial phase). Note that carriers may not like you tethering behind their back so you do so at your own risk.

So by jailbreaking your iPhone using RedSn0w 0.9.3, you will automatically get the base for iPhone tethering, but you will still have to download the right MobileConfigs file from http://www.benm.at/help/help.php and install it, directly from your iPhone.

Note that this website has saved my butt many many times when traveling overseas. As a matter of fact, http://www.benm.at/help/help.php saved my butt just hours ago. I am currently in Thailand and the mobile carrier I am using doesn't allow tethering. I quickly visited BenM.at and downloaded the right MobileConfigs file, which allows me to write this article you are currently reading by tethering my iPhone (aka using my iPhone as a modem).

To get the tethering hack, you will have to jailbreak your iPhone using RedSn0w 0.9.3. It is available for download from here and here is my RedSn0w tutorial. For the latest information about RedSn0w, please check out this page.