redsn0w

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.

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."

The Dev Team released redsn0w version 0.9.12b2 on Friday. The update fixes the iPhone 3GS iBooks issue, and gives users a rocky-racoon injection option.

From the Dev Team's website:

"Update #1: Starting with version 0.9.12b2, redsn0w will now explicitly ask users with limera1n-able devices whether they want to inject rocky-racoon using the DFU ramdisk method, or the backup/restore method (the ramdisk method is better for those with lots of media on their device that would create very large backups, and it’s required for those with unactivated iPhones). If you’ll always want to use limera1n, you can select that in the Preferences pane. It also fixes an iBooks issue on old-bootrom 3GS iPhones, and provides more useful error messages when things go wrong.”

The Dev Team has released redSn0w version 0.9.10b8b which brings only a minor bug fix. According to the Dev Team blog, the "0.9.10b8b update to redsn0w makes the zip files more compatible with the native Windows explorer (which doesn’t like leading slashes in the filenames)." The previous version released a few weeks ago helped users take advantage of the popular SAM unlock method.

In the meantime, the jailbreak community is closer to releasing an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1. Currently only A4 and A5 devices on iOS 5.0.1 and lower are jailbreakable. A4 devices can upgrade to iOS 5.1 but they will have to go tethered. Hopefully there is an untethered solution for all iOS devices right around the corner.

The iPhone Dev Team quietly released redSn0w 0.9.10b7 for Mac and Windows on Friday. The new version features a few improvements like the addition of the Corona A5 untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Version 0.9.10b7 also includes a re-install feature for jailbreakers who accidently uninstall the untether, and it can pull your SHSH blobs from the Cydia Store when injecting an IPSW.

RedSn0w 0.9.10b7 also supplies new information about your device. For example the Dev Team blog says it lets you know "whether your iPhone 3GS has the vulnerable baseband boot loader, or whether your iPhone 3GS has the old exploitable bootrom." The Dev Team also noted that "the next new feature to be added will be built-in restore support, to provide an alternative to iTunes restores."

Thanks to pod2g and the iPhone Dev-Team it's now possible to jailbreak the iPhone 4 and all models of the Phone 3GS untethered. Although iPhone 4S and iPad 2 owners are still waiting for an A5 jailbreak, all iOS devices running iOS 5.0.1 with A4 hardware can now be jailbroken untethered. This includes the original iPad, iPod touch 3G and iPod touch 4G.

Using redsn0w to jailbreak is a straightforward process, and will install the Cydia app store on your device. This opens up a whole new world of tweaks and apps to improve your iPhone experience and customize operation. Be sure that before you proceed with the instructions, you have installed the iOS 5.0.1 firmware update.

Thanks to the hard work of pod2g the untethered iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak is finally here. He shared his exploits with the iPhone Dev-Team and Chronic Dev Team, and now there's a suite of tools for anyone running iOS 5.0.1 on a non-A5 device. This is great news for jailbreakers, however it also means that iPhone 4S and iPad 2 owners are still waiting for an untethered jailbreak.

First off, the redsn0w jailbreak tool has been updated to 0.9.10b1 on OS X and Windows. This new version of redsn0w requires iOS 5.0.1 installed on your device, and will jailbreak the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM), iPhone 4 (CDMA), original iPad, iPod touch 3G and iPod touch 4G untethered.

Apple is currently working on iOS 5.0.1 beta 2 to solve the iPhone 4S battery issues. As of now the new firmware is only available to registered developers, but iPhone Dev Team member, MuscleNerd, let us know that it still works with the current redsn0w jailbreak.

MuscleNerd tweeted: "The latest redsn0w will JB today's 5.0 1b2, but point it at either 5.0 or 5.01 IPSW for now. (Apple's being ruthless with betas!)"

The Dev Team recently released a tethered version of redsn0w for iOS 5. However, there is a simple solution to "semi-tether" your jailbroken device. The SemiTether package ensures you will not be stuck with an iPhone paperweight during a crash or unexpected reboot. You can read more about tethered vs. untethered iPhone jailbreaking here.

Developers are moving closer to an untethered iOS 5 jailbreak every day. Thanks to BigBoss, now you can protect your tethered iOS 5 jailbreak from making your iPhone unusable during a crash or unplanned reboot. The solution to the problem, known as a semi-tethered jailbreak makes it possible for the iPhone to come back up when you can't be near your computer for a full tethered boot.

There are some quirks to the SemiTether package, but having an iPhone that will start up is much better than one that just stays on the Apple logo. You'll still have to get back to your computer eventually to boot tethered for access to jailbreak apps and Cydia. Safari and Mail will also not be functioning when the iPhone is in a semi-tethered state.

Thanks to iPhone Dev-Team the redsn0w jailbreak tool is updated to jailbreak the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS running iOS 5. This is a work in progress designed to help app developers update their products for the latest firmware. As such, Dev-Team considers redsn0w a beta release and warns early adopters there may be lingering bugs in the firmware.

Before you go ahead and read the tutorial, be aware this does not apply to the iPhone 4S or iPad 2. Jailbreak solutions for these two devices are under development and have not been released. When it comes to the iPhone 4 and 3GS, most devices will require a tethered jailbreak.