We'll soon find out what's in store for iOS 13 at the WWDC 2019 keynote on June 3. In the meantime, there's no shortage of improvements and new features on our iOS 13 wish list. And now, one developer has managed to come up with a very, very interesting hack that may or may not hint at broader Lock screen changes that could be in the works.
Those who’ve been closely subscribed to the jailbreak scene as of late might’ve noticed the sudden stereo silence from team unc0ver following the release of the Electra Team’s Chimera jailbreak for iOS 12.0-12.1.2, but don’t be fooled. Pwn20wnd still works on the unc0ver jailbreak to this day, but he doesn’t push updates as incrementally as before.
In a Tweet shared just this morning, Pwn20wnd said he’s been working on significant updates for both the unc0ver jailbreak tool and Cydia itself. Specific details regarding those updates aren’t yet known, but we do know that they should make things discernably faster and improve system stability:
The Electra Team released an updated version of the iOS 12-centric Chimera jailbreak tool on Friday, bringing it up from version 1.0.4, which was released last week, to version 1.0.5 with some notable bug fixes and improvements.
Update: There've been several reports that this update causes a problem with A12(X) devices. We recommend holding off until this is addressed. The update was pulled shortly after release due to these circumstances. We expect that this will change soon after the problem is addressed.
A Tweet was shared via the Electra Team’s official Twitter account early this morning to announce the update:
The talented Liang Chen of security research group KeenLab has once again flexed his hacking prowess this week after showing off what is believed to be the first-known jailbreak demonstration to support iOS 12.2.
Chen’s video demonstration, which has been published on YouTube, demonstrates what appears to be an iPhone XS Max running iOS 12.2:
The Electra Team officially released its Chimera jailbreak for iOS 12.0-12.1.2 on Monday and became the first jailbreak team to release a full-fledged jailbreak supporting A12(X) devices. But as you might come to expect, an initial release is almost always followed with updates to help iron out the kinks.
The Electra Team pushed two consecutive updates for the Chimera jailbreak overnight, dubbed versions 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 respectively. Electra Team member nullpixel announced the first update, and the Electra Team announced the second via Twitter:
In addition to the unc0ver jailbreak by Pwn20wnd, iOS 12 users have the option to use the Chimera jailbreak by the CoolStar-led Electra Team.
It’s worth noting that the Chimera jailbreak does not support Cydia or Cydia Substrate, and that it instead uses Sileo and libhooker as a part of its Procursus bootstrap for package management and tweak injection. That aside, it is the first public jailbreak tool to officially support A12(X) devices.
The Electra Team has spent the past few weeks hyping up its Electra12 jailbreak for iOS 12.0-12.1.2, and as it would seem, the wait is finally over as of Monday night.
Say hello to Chimera, an entirely new jailbreak tool developed and released by the CoolStar-led Electra Team with native support for all iOS 12.0-12.1.2 devices, including the pesky A12(X) variety.
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.
Hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd shared some reassuring comments with the jailbreak community via Twitter Thursday afternoon, elucidating that Cydia as a package manager wasn’t dead and that third-party developers besides Saurik (such as team unc0ver’s Sam Bingner) can still maintain it.
If you didn’t already know, the Cydia package manager is open source, which means that anyone can view its source code and update the software so long as they adhere to the license:
The unc0ver jailbreak tool for iOS 11.0-12.1.2 was updated on Tuesday to version 3.0.1 as an incremental update from the previous release, which spent several months evolving over the course of 50-something beta updates.
Pwn20wnd announced the update via Twitter Tuesday afternoon, noting that unc0ver v3.0.1 contained important bug fixes in addition to miscellaneous improvements:
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:
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: