Today Apple officially released the latest version of iTunes (8.2). Anyone who is familiar with jailbreaking should be well aware that now is a time to wonder, will the cat and mouse game continue? It seems like it has but @MuscleNerd claims it is unintentional on Apple’s part.
Today’s iTunes 8.2 update changes the way your computer talks to the device. This affects things like QuickPwn and PwnageTool when they try to identify what’s connected. Also, ssh over usb breaks due to same reasons. Fixes are in the works but for now avoid 8.2
So if you are planning on jailbreaking anytime in the near future, be sure to avoid this latest version of iTunes until the fix is made available to the public.
Stay tuned as TiPb will bring you the latest updates as they become available.
Confession: Jeremy can’t believe we’re posting this, but after a bunch of forum questions, email queries, and a mini Twitter ’splosion, we figured we’d put this up as a public service message to the Jailbreak community.
First: don’t panic.
Second: those strange little black icon badges that have suddenly popped up on your Phone, Email, iPod, and perhaps other apps? Yeah, that’s because you installed Backgrounder, and that’s how Backgrounder shows you which applications, built-in or user-enabled, are currently running background tasks (multitasking).
Good news for Mac OS X-based Jailbreakers! After having to resort to using powered USB hubs or patching in older versions of files to work around a bug in 10.5.6 that prevented DFU mode from being recognized, the iPhone Dev-Team dropped a note a Twitter to give 10.5.7 the all-clear:
The new 10.5.7 Leopard update is safe. In fact it’s more jailbreak-friendly than 10.5.6, since the DFU-mode bug is gone.
So no nasty cat-and-mouse-game shenanigans this time around, and even a slight improvement over the previous — unintentional — round.
Only one thing left — figure out what to do with all those now-redundant USB hubs…
The iPhone Dev-Team has posted a few words regarding Jailbreaking the 3.0 software:
Because there are so many beta releases, we couldn’t possible refine, test, and release both PwnageTool and QuickPwn for each of them. That’s why we’re waiting until the final release. You may have seen other “hijacked” versions of QuickPwn out there, but all of them are buggy, none of them work on OSX, and almost everyone who uses them reverts back to 2.2.1 (because none of the useful jailbroken apps (Qik, Cycorder, and others) work on 3.0 yet).
Now this does not mean you currently can not Jailbreak 3.0 because you can, it’s just that the Dev-Teams software is not fine-tuned for the iPhone beta software. If you do decide to Jailbreak the 3.0 beta you will run into some issues. The biggest issue, as stated above, being a lot of the applications available via Cydia will not be compatible with 3.0. It is also important to note that if you ever want to unlock your iPhone 3G, you need to avoid the 3.0 software altogether unless and until the Dev-Team provides a safe jailbreak path.
So our advice to the Jailbreakers of the world: have some patience. When the final build of 3.0 drops sometime this summer you will be able to Jailbreak your iPhone 3G.
(The only way Apple could prevent a Jailbreak does not rest within the software, rather the hardware. As for Jailbreaking the next generation of iPhone, only time will tell, we are sure Apple will make it interesting…)
Back in February we brought to you the story about Apple saying that Jailbreaking your iPhone is illegal. Granted that was in response the (Electronic Frontier Foundation), and their filing an exemption request for Jailbreaking iPhones. (See the AIPLA Quarterly Journal’s article on this from last week). Well this past Friday Apple’s head of marketing, Greg Joswiak, faced off against Fred von Lohmann, the EFF’s copyright guru and a plethora of Copyright Office officials. The topic? Jailbreaking…
Apple is opposed to the proposed Class #1 exemption because it will destroy the
technological protection of Apple’s key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone™ device
itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone, resulting in copyright
infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects,
adverse effects on the functioning of the device, and breach of contract. The proponents of the
exemption have also not satisfied their burden of proof of showing harm to non-infringing uses
of the copyrighted works protected by the technological protection measures on the iPhone. In
addition, because Congress has already explicitly addressed circumvention for interoperability in
Section 1201(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),4 the Copyright Office should
not create interoperability exemptions outside that statutory structure, at least without a clear
showing of specific and significant harm, which has not been put forth here.
The way we see this is that Apple is against Jailbreaking for the simple fact that it can and will cost them money. Common sense will tell you that Apple does not get any money from iPhone users if they do not use the App Store for installing applications and they also run the risk of legit App Store apps being pirated, which we have already seen. So TiPb can see where Apple is coming from but at the end of the day, if you purchase an iPhone or any other device for that matter, it is yours to do with what ever you’d like.
For a complete rundown of all the shenanagins that took place this past Friday be sure to check out Wired.com’s Jailbreaking Showdown.
Efiko Software, the developer behind which we remember fondly for providing much needed UI relief to our old Palm OS devices, has produced a very interesting looking quick tweeting application for Jailbroken iPhones called qTweeter.
It works almost magically: just wipe your finger down from the very top status bar in an application and a quick Twitter window slides down and the keyboard slides up to overlay your screen. If you’re in iPod and want to tweet the music you’re listening to, if you’re in Safari and want to tweet a link you’re reading, a quick button press auto-fills the details in your tweet for you.
It can alternatively — or simultaneously — update your Facebook status as well.
This means no exiting one app, launching another, waiting for load, waiting to launch entry dialogs, etc. when you want to tweet something. Just drag and go.
These kinds of apps show that, even post iPhone 3.0, until Apple surfaces more API’s and figures out how to allow better cross- and multi-app functionality while retaining security, there’ll still be a vibrant community of Jailbreak developers — and some amazing software to go along with it.
Available for trial on Cydia, and can be unlocked fully via donation.
Hackers vs. hackers. FreeHacks vs. AdHacks vs. PaidHacks. Jeremy covered the state of iPhone piracy yesterday, and while the argument over apps rages, the Jailbreak and potential unlock sitch could become just as confusing. Witness the Dev Team’s Cat. Bag. Mouse. post which warns against using “unofficial” (according to the Dev Team) versions of, er, the unofficial (according to Apple) iPhone jailbreaking QuickPwn:
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE UNOFFICIAL QUICKPWN RELEASES IS THAT IF YOU USE THEM, YOU WILL KILL YELLOWSN0W, POSSIBLY FOREVER. That’s because QuickPwn, by its very nature, requires you to already have accepted Apple’s official IPSW, along with its baseband update. If you do that, you will (possibly forever) lose your ability to software-unlock your iPhone 3G.
As to what the Dev Team itself is up to… check out the rest of their post.
Remember that Apple patent for biometric and other advanced authentication schemes we mentioned yesterday? Well, Engadget took a closer look and it seems like the artwork used in the patent features none other than a few of everyone’s favorite Jailbreak apps, including Installer, SMBPrefs, and the iWood theme.
So is Apple trying to sneak in some Jailbreak patents, or did a crafty draftsman just do it for the lulz?
Wow, so I’m guessing you are all probably really sick of hearing about the 3.0 software. Ok, I really don’t believe that but you never know. So how about some jailbreak conversation? You say you’re still on the fence on whether or not to jailbreak your iPhone even after ourTop 5 Must Have Jailbreak AppsPart 1 and Part 2? After reading this you should have hopefully made your decision one way or another. So buckle up and I will take you for a ride… on the wild jailbreak side.
***All of the following apps can be downloaded via Cydia on your Jailbroken iPhone.
The iPhone 3.0 software release day this summer may be a sad one for the little iPhone Pirate. Will we still need jailbreaking? As Rene has already pointed out, yes you will be able to jailbreak iPhone 3.0 but just how many of you will be abandoning this process all together? We’ve given you our Top 5 Jailbreak Apps and 5 More Jailbreak Apps. Now Apple has seemed to satisfy most, if not all of your iPhone needs with the 3.0 software, it may be bit premature to cast jailbreaking into the darkness just yet. Some of the reasons being:
No themes
Categories and folders
Tethering, still no sign of this coming anytime soon from AT&T.
Lack of options for things such as ringers and tones.
On screen notifications
Video recording
Yes, we all know that things may change from now and the time 3.0 is released but the above list has a bleak outlook in terms of Apple tossing them into the mix anytime soon. How many of you will still be jailbreaking when iPhone 3.0 drops?
