Software

Apple halts downgrades from iOS 13.2.3 by unsigning iOS 13.2.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ December 2, 2019

Apple systematically stops signing older mobile software releases as newer ones become available. Given the company’s track record in this regard, it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the matter that Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.2.2 Monday evening, a move that effectively averts firmware downgrades from the newer iOS 13.2.3 that Apple released approximately two weeks ago with miscellaneous bug fixes.

There are two primary reasons why someone would want to downgrade their firmware in the first place, with the first being to revert back to an older version of iOS after a new release breaks functionality or introduces unwanted bugs, and the second being to restore the device to a jailbreakable firmware after a software update patches the necessary exploits used by a tool.

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Checkra1n v0.9.6 now available for public testing with an extensive change log

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 27, 2020

If you’ve been testing the checkra1n public beta jailbreak on any of your iOS devices since the tool’s availability for public testing made headlines almost three weeks ago, then you’ve unquestionably noticed the sudden stall in frequent tool updates.

As it would seem, the checkra1n team has been hard at work in crunching bugs and improving the jailbreak’s stability, and that brings us to the latest update. Checkra1n team member Luca Todesco took to Twitter Sunday morning to announce the availability of checkra1n v.0.9.6, the latest in a long line of public beta releases for avid jailbreakers who wish to take advantage of the powerful checkm8 bootrom exploit:

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New tfp0 POC encompasses iOS 12.4.1 & 12.4.2 on ‘all iOS devices since A12’

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 28, 2019
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

Good news for jailbreak hopefuls who aren’t presently able to take advantage of the brand-new checkra1n tool due to having too new of a device: there’s a new tfp0 proof-of-concept in town.

Citing a blog post first shared by Twitter user @ZecOps this Thanksgiving, the new tfp0 POC affects iOS 12.4.1 and 12.4.2, and this potentially opens the door for existing semi-untethered jailbreaks like Chimera and unc0ver to implement support for two new versions of iOS on all iOS devices since the A12(X) variety:

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Understanding untethered, semi-untethered, semi-tethered, and tethered jailbreaks

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 21, 2019

If you’ve been poking around in the jailbreak community for as long as I have, then you’ve undoubtedly witnessed a plethora of different jailbreak types. Among the most popular in this community are untethered, semi-untethered, semi-tethered, and tethered, each of which exhibit different attributes that every jailbreaker should be aware of.

We understand that some are new to jailbreaking, but even those who’ve been around as long as I have might have some confusion between the different types. For this reason, we’ve compiled a quick guide to help everyone understand what each of these different jailbreaks are and how they behave.

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Bring useful iPad features to the iPhone with ipadify

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 21, 2019

If you’ve ever used an iPad before, then you should already know that it sports handy capabilities that can’t be had on the iPhone or iPod touch — at least not on a stock device, that is.

With the help of a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called ipadify by iOS developer Guilherme Rambo, you can port several of the iPad’s premier features to smaller handsets, including native picture-in-picture video viewing and the ability to side-load iPad-only applications like Photoshop.

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Saurik says Cydia Impactor “Xcode 7.3” error fix could come mid-December

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 19, 2019

Saurik made a rare public appearance on Twitter Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of Cydia Impactor and a particularly frustrating error that users have been experiencing since Apple pushed some of its latest software updates for Mac and iOS.

More specifically, Saurik talked about an error in which Cydia Impactor would tell users that they needed to upgrade to Xcode 7.3 when they were trying to side-load a pertinent jailbreak app, such as Chimera, Electra, or unc0ver. That message looked something like this:

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Trouble jailbreaking with checkra1n? Try this…

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 15, 2019

If you’re anything like me, then you’re ecstatic about the release of the checkra1n jailbreak. It’s an exciting development that utilizes @axi0mX’s checkm8 bootrom exploit to facilitate software liberation on handsets ranging from the iPhone 5s to the iPhone X. Moreover, it’s the first public jailbreak to support iOS 13.

But it’s difficult to ignore the elephant in the room here, and that’s the sheer number of public beta testers that have reported challenges getting into DFU mode and jailbreaking, citing common issues such as Error-20 and failure to boot jailbroken.

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Apple unsigns iOS 13.2, hindering downgrades from iOS 13.2.2

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 14, 2019

Apple stopped signing iOS 13.2 Thursday evening, a move that inhibits iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners from downgrading their handset’s software from the latest iOS 13.2.2 release.

It’s common practice for the Cupertino-based tech company to unsign older software sometime after a newer gets released. Doing so facilitates (sometimes involuntary) software upgrades, which ensures that the majority of iOS device users take advantage of the latest new features, bug fixes, and security improvements.

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Checkra1n tv jailbreak now available for the Apple TV (4th Generation)

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 27, 2020

Much of this past week’s news has been all about the newfangled checkra1n jailbreak for certain iOS devices affected by the checkm8 bootrom exploit, but was anyone wondering about the progress on support for Apple TV? If you answered ‘yes’ to that question, then wonder no longer.

It would now seem that an official fork of the checkra1n jailbreak tool dubbed checkra1n tv was soft released as a public beta on the checkra1n team’s official website Wednesday evening. The news was shared first by Apple TV jailbreak mastermind @nitoTV on Twitter:

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