Jailbreaking

Apple has released iOS 6.1.3 which fixes the lock screen security bug, and improves the Maps app for users in Japan. It is unknown at this time if the update patches the evasi0n jailbreak. This means users with jailbroken devices should avoid the update until we learn more. All other iOS users can navigate to Settings > General > Software Update, or connect their devices to iTunes to upgrade their devices.

The evad3rs' Twitter feed has been quiet since the release, and the official evasi0n website has not been updated to reflect it supports the new firmware.

UPDATE: Evad3rs member MuscleNerd issued this warning to jailbreakers via Twitter: "IOS 6.1.3 is out. Jailbreakers stay away! There's no coming back to 6.1.2 JB even if you saved blobs (except iPhone4 and ipt4g."

Cydia administrator Jay Freeman told Forbes nearly 7 million iOS devices were jailbroken using the evasi0n tool since it was released on Monday morning. That makes evasi0n the most downloaded jailbreak of all time. Freeman said Cydia has received visits from 5.15 million iPhones, 1.35 million iPads, and 400,000 iPod touches running the evasi0n hack.

Forbes points to the increased number of iPhones on the market as the cause of evasi0n's popularity, but Freeman believes people just want to experience the freedom of jailbreaking.

"Smart phones have become more and more popular, but they've maintained a closed experience that makes it difficult for people to get what they want,” said Freeman. “Therefore people have needed to turn to jailbreaking to fill the gap.”

There is now a simple fix for the Weather app bug being caused by the new jailbreak tool evasi0n. Jailbreakers can grab the official patch under the “Changes” section of Cydia. If you do not see the UIKit Tools package under Changes, just try refreshing the page, and it should appear.

While evasi0n was a success with over 100,000 downloads in the first 10 minutes of its release on February 4th, it also crashed Apple’s stock Weather app on the iPhone. Thankfully the evad3rs, who released the jailbreak, quickly identified the problem and fixed it.

The official iOS 6 jailbreak entitled "evasi0n" is now available for all iOS devices including the iPhone 5 and iPad mini. The jailbreak works with any Apple device capable of running iOS 6 or iOS 6.1, except the third-gen Apple TV. You can now download the Mac OS X, Linux or Windows versions for free from the official evasi0n website. This new jailbreak comes courtesy of an all-star jailbreaking team known as the evad3rs.

Here are three simple rules you should follow before jailbreaking your device:

- Backup your iOS device using iTunes or iCloud before using evasi0n. This way you are sure to never lose any data if something wrong happens.

- Please disable the lock passcode of your iOS device before using evasi0n. It can cause issues.

- Be patient while the jailbreaking process is running, don’t start iTunes or Xcode in the meanwhile. The best is to not touch the computer until the end of the jailbreaking process.

Unlike previous iOS releases, iOS 6 has been a tough nut to crack. However, pod2g has taken a break from developing apps to work on a solution with fellow iOS hacker planetbeing. This is great news since pod2g announced in September that he was not working on an iOS 6 jailbreak.

On Friday, planetbeing tweeted that the pair had made more progress:

Made some nice progress today with @pod2g. I think I'll try to reward myself with a nap. :)

— planetbeing (@planetbeing) January 19, 2013

Pod2g responded by announcing they had discovered two new vulnerabilities, but said they're still far away from a public release:

. @planetbeing oh yeah! 2 new vulnerabilities in a day, chance was with us. But we still miss that initial code execution for a public jb :/

— pod2g (@pod2g) January 19, 2013

Update: Dream Jailbreak is a confirmed fake! After two days of hilarity, Dream JB's iOS 6 Jailbreak led to a Rick Roll.

The @dreamjailbreak rickroll is why you shouldn't even consider JB claim til there's non-debunked video, or surprise release..not hype

— MuscleNerd (@MuscleNerd) December 13, 2012

DreamJB was intended as a social experiment. In the matter of a mere week, over 20,000 people followed this Twitter.

— Dream Jailbreak (@DreamJailbreak) December 13, 2012

The jailbreak community anticipated the greatest Rick Roll in internet history, but they got a dodgy jailbreak video instead. An unknown hacker calling himself "Dream JB," promised the world he would deliver an untethered iOS 6 jailbreak for all current iOS devices on December 22. The jailbreak community instantly smelled scam since he is not associated with any known dev team, and has chosen to remain anonymous. To prove he's legit, Dream JB promised video proof today that his jailbreak does work. After a long day of hilarious tweets calling him a fake, Dream JB delivered the first of two videos showing off his mysterious Dream Jailbreak.

There are already hundreds of YouTube comments questioning the authenticity of the video, and the well known iOS hacker chpwn already called it a fake on Twitter:

@DreamJailbreak Nice try, but aren’t you supposed to make the fake at least somewhat believable? It’s more fun when it’s not so obvious.

@DreamJailbreak (A tip: iOS boots to the lock screen, not the home screen. You only get that animation by exiting an app made to fake it.)

A mysterious and unknown hacker calling himself (herself?) "Dream JB" is promising to release an untethered iOS 6 jailbreak for the iPad mini, latest iPad and iPhone 5 on December 22. Dream JB is not associated with any known dev team, and has said he will deliver video proof of the jailbreak via Twitter on Wednesday. If true, the new untethered jailbreak will support all current Apple devices running iOS 6.0.1. This includes the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2 and beyond, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 4th generation and beyond.

Most jailbreakers only use jailbreaking tools from proven sources such as the iPhone DevTeam, or Absinthe creator pod2g. And not surprisingly, a large portion of the jailbreaking community is calling Dream JB's untethered jailbreak a scam. No one knows for sure if Dream JB will actually deliver a safe untethered iOS 6 jailbreak this December, but it will be interesting to see if his promised video actually materializes, and the jailbreaking community's reaction tomorrow.

Google Search is getting rave reviews, and side-by-side comparisons have shown Google's voice assistant is much faster and sometimes more accurate than Apple's Siri. Jalbreakers who would like to kick Siri to the curb can do so by downloading the NowNow jailbreak utility from the BigBoss repo in Cydia. NowNow allows you to replace Siri by launching the Google Search app with an Activator function. To do so, just download the utility, locate the NowNow option under Settings and tap Activation Methods. You can then select the function you would like to use to activate the Google Search app. To replace Siri select "Short Hold" under the Home Button options. Holding the Home Button will now bring up the Google Search app instead of the Siri screen.

JailBreakMe developer Comex (aka Nicholas Allegra) has parted ways with Apple after interning for the company for over a year. Comex tweeted the news on Friday: "So… no point in delaying. As of last week, after about a year, I’m no longer associated with Apple."

When asked why, Comex responded that he forgot to re-up with Apple by failing to reply to an email. Allegra also told Andy Greenberg of Forbes he does not plan to return to the jaibreaking community, and that his split from Apple did not end badly:

"When I asked Allegra what he plans to work on now, he said he’ll focus on his work at Brown, and doesn’t foresee working on new jailbreaking tools for iOS any time soon."

The iPhone Dev-Team has released redsn0w version 0.9.15b1. The update brings a lot of changes for restoring to older firmware. It also now includes Cydia for the tethered iOS 6 jailbreak on A4 devices. iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 owners can learn how to jailbreak their devices running iOS 6 by clicking here.

The changelog has a lot of information. The Dev-Team suggests visiting the comments section on their blog if you're confused or have any questions. This is also where you can get the download links for redsnn0w v.0.9.15b1.

"We realize there’s a lot of info in this post. If you’re at all confused about things remember to visit our comments section, with our very helpful user base and moderators like dhlizard, Frank55, 41willys, and slavakulikoff."