Jailbreak

Check out the most comprehensive jailbreaking coverage on the internet, including the latest news, apps, tweaks, and detailed tutorials about everything jailbreak.

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 61: You’ve been Orangered

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Episode 61: We talk about Geohot's latest work on the Galaxy S5, Cydia's big iOS 7 update, new jailbreak tweaks like Genie, MoreInfo, and Orangered for iOS 7, and tons of other quips, observations, and...singing...

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MoreInfo provides media search for Activator

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

iOS 8 might be stealing a little bit of the thunder from the jailbreaking scene as of late, but the community is still going strong. MoreInfo is a new extension designed for use with Activator, the useful jailbreak tweak for assigning gestures to trigger common iOS actions. It allows for a quick in-browser search of the currently playing song or movie, with support for multiple search engines and several customization options. A full rundown of the extension follows…

Geohot “makes it ra1n” on Android with a rooting tool for the Samsung Galaxy S5

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Geohot—a name that's virtually synonymous with iPhone jailbreaking—has taken up quite a few different ventures since departing from the jailbreak scene. He's dabbled in Playstation 3 hacking, and working at Facebook. He was even rumored to have been on the precipice of an iOS 7 jailbreak, but nothing formally materialized from him.

But yesterday, Geohot (real name George Hotz) made his name known on an even wider scale when he released a new rooting tool for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and other Android devices. The tool, which is called Towelroot, is a downloadable package that allows Galaxy S5 users to quickly root their devices. This is especially helpful for GS5 users on Verizon and AT&T, because those two mobile carriers lock the bootloader.

I've tried out Towelroot on my Galaxy S5, and it works just as described. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Hotz's past jailbreak tools. Check inside for all of the details.

Cydia updated with iOS 7 icon and redesigned interface

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 12, 2014

Cydia has received a major update this morning with several improvements. First and foremost, the app has received a long-awaited iOS 7 icon thanks to graphic designer Surenix. The package manager for jailbroken devices also gains a redesigned and better organized user interface, making it easier to manage repositories, see which packages you have installed and more. Read ahead for a full look at the update…

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 60: What’s on our iPhone

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Episode 60: Could Apple be opening up iOS even more than we initially thought? Sebastien Page and Cody Lee discuss the recent revelations concerning the potential iOS 8 Control Center customization and iOS UI themes. The guys also talk about the tweaks they have installed.

Genie unlocks your iPhone with simple gestures

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 10, 2014

On a recent article that I wrote, a reader was surprised after reading that I am generally disinterested by a lot of jailbreak tweaks. It might not make sense, given that I write for a blog that is consistently on top of covering the jailbreak scene. Allow me to explain: it's not that jailbreak tweaks do not pique my interest, but rather that some are simply too complex or cumbersome to provide a meaningful purpose.

That's not to discount the fantastic work that developers put into creating jailbreak tweaks. There are just as many good tweaks as there are less impressive ones. Genie is a new Lock screen extension that is a good example. Not only does it provide useful functionality for unlocking your iPhone, but it is a lightweight tweak that isn't dragged down by dozens of confusing settings or unnecessary features. Check it out…

Should you give up your jailbreak to upgrade to iOS 8 beta?

Cody Lee ∙ June 8, 2014

Since Apple seeded the inaugural beta of iOS 8 last week, we've been asked seemingly hundreds of times if the upgrade is worth giving up a jailbreak. As we all know, once you update past iOS 7.0.6 you lose the ability to jailbreak, and there's no way to downgrade.

Now, we already touched on this subject during last week's episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak, but given how popular the topic has been, we wanted to cover it in a post. It's not exactly the easiest question to answer, but I'm going to do my best to break down your options...

iOS 8 and the future of jailbreaking

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

It seems to be a recurring topic every year when Apple unveils a new version of iOS: did iOS 5 just kill jailbreaking? Will jailbreaking survive iOS 6? What’s left to jailbreakers with iOS 7? Did iOS 8 just make jailbreaking irrelevant?

These are some legitimate questions to ask, especially in regards to the fact that Apple, as you would expect, always adds new features to iOS, making jailbreaking a little less appealing. At least that's how it looks on paper, because in reality, it’s not so clear.

A few major online publications have already chimed in about how iOS 8 is making jailbreaking pointless, usually with no real understanding of what jailbreaking truly is about. So I thought it’d be a good idea to lay down some balanced thoughts about iOS 8 and the future of jailbreaking...

3 colorful iOS theme setups to check out

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated December 28, 2017

A few weeks ago, I shared three beautiful iOS theme setups for the iPhone. Judging by the amount of readers that left comments, including those that shared their own setups, I would say it was a resounding success. A few readers asked that we follow up with another similar post, so here we are with three more colorful iOS theme setups to go along with the summer season. The setups come from the /r/iOSthemes community on Reddit, and we've included the jailbreak tweaks and themes used where possible…

How to get Reddit push notifications on iOS 7

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

While there are several third-party apps that get the job done, I've never found Reddit to offer a solid mobile experience on its own terms. The company does not have a mobile optimized version of its website for Safari on iPhone, it does not provide an official app in the App Store and it does not deliver push notifications on iOS devices. But, things are about to get better. While Reddit is working on iOS and Android apps, the jailbreak community has made up for the lack of Reddit push notifications. Take a look…

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 59: iOS 8 and jailbreaking

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Episode 59: A discussion about the jailbreak tweaks implemented into iOS 8, the potential of an iOS 8 jailbreak, and the future of jailbreaking after iOS 8. We also round up some of our favorite features from iOS 8 with a jailbreaking perspective.

Early signs look good for iOS 8 jailbreak

Cody Lee ∙ June 4, 2014

Since Apple introduced iOS 8 on Monday, and released a beta version to developers, one of the top questions we've been asked here at iDB is: can it be jailbroken? As it stands now, there is no jailbreak for the current iOS 7.1.1 firmware.

At the time of this writing, I hadn't heard of anyone successfully jailbreaking their device on iOS 8, but early efforts do sound promising. Well-known hacker i0n1c says that the first beta 'doesn't fix anything,' and should be jailbreakable...