Jailbreak: What is involved in advanced user access to iOS devices?

Mobile operating systems like Android or iOS give mobile device users powerful and secure default software solutions for everyday use of their smart­phones and tablets. Besides being tailored to users’ re­quire­ments and needs, they are also extremely easy to operate and manage.

However, high levels of con­veni­ence and security come at a price and man­u­fac­tur­ers restrict access to the file system by default. You can only install apps without the Play Store and App Store or uninstall pre-installed system programs if you break these locks. On Android, this process is called rooting. On iOS, it’s called a jailbreak. But what is a jailbreak and how do you perform it on various models?

Apple pri­or­it­ises security across all its devices, which is why the firmware and system software contain ap­pro­pri­ate security mech­an­isms. The man­u­fac­turer operates a closed-world model for its popular iPhones and iPads, which restricts user rights by pre­vent­ing access to the ad­min­is­trat­or account. Removing these barriers manually is called a jailbreak. This unlocking process is only possible with special software that modifies iOS. In most cases, you have to run it on an external PC.

Most of the iOS jailbreak solutions available are provided by the iPhone Dev Team developer group, who published Jail­breakMe, the tool that unlocked the first iPhone and iPod models in 2007. Later, the jail­breaks for the iPhone 4, 5 and 6 proved par­tic­u­larly popular. However, as of the release of iOS 10, interest in jail­break­ing has decreased sig­ni­fic­antly because the system software has closed most loopholes and added hardware pro­tec­tion mech­an­isms. The benefits of jail­break­ing devices for users now are re­l­at­ively small.

At first glance, iOS jail­breaks would appear to be wholly be­ne­fi­cial to users. After all, in principle, all they do is give ad­di­tion­al ad­min­is­trat­ive and app man­age­ment options. However, unlocking system access manually also brings with it a series of risks you must be aware of if you are con­sid­er­ing a jailbreak for your Apple device. For example, the unlocking process itself could damage the system, pre­vent­ing the mobile device from working properly af­ter­wards. It is extremely unlikely that Apple will take your device back if this is the case, which is generally the case for damage resulting from a jailbreak attempt.

Fur­ther­more, jail­breaks and the resulting access to ad­min­is­trat­or don’t just open the system up to you, but also to potential attackers. Un­pro­tec­ted app in­stall­a­tions not only make it easier for criminals to sneak spyware and malware onto your iPhone or iPad, it also allows them to do more harm with their tools. Another fun­da­ment­al problem of the hacked mobile devices is that if a new official version of iOS is published, you cannot install it, stopping you from using the latest features.

The key problems and risks of iOS jail­breaks are:

• The jailbreak process can damage the system and risks com­prom­ising the func­tion­al­ity of iOS.
• The system becomes more sus­cept­ible to malware and spyware.
• The potential for damage by malware and spyware is elevated.
• Guarantee and warranty claims may become void.
• You may not be able to upgrade to new iOS versions easily.

At first glance, iOS jail­breaks would appear to be wholly be­ne­fi­cial to users. After all, in principle, all they do is give ad­di­tion­al ad­min­is­trat­ive and app man­age­ment options. However, unlocking system access manually brings with it a series of risks you must be aware of if you are con­sid­er­ing a jailbreak for your Apple device. For example, the unlocking process itself could damage the system, pre­vent­ing the mobile device from working properly afterward. It is extremely unlikely that Apple will take your device back if this is the case, which is generally the case for damage resulting from a jailbreak attempt.

Fur­ther­more, jail­breaks and the resulting access to ad­min­is­trat­or don’t just open the system up to you, but also potential attackers. Un­pro­tec­ted app in­stall­a­tions not only make it easier for criminals to sneak spyware and malware onto your iPhone or iPad, it also allows them to do more harm with their tools. Another fun­da­ment­al problem of the hacked mobile devices is that if a new official version of iOS is published, you cannot install it, stopping you from using the latest features.

The key problems and risks of iOS jail­breaks are:

• The jailbreak process can damage the system and risks com­prom­ising the func­tion­al­ity of iOS.
• The system becomes more sus­cept­ible to malware and spyware.
• The potential for damage by malware and spyware is elevated.
• Guarantee and warranty claims may become void.
• You may not be able to upgrade to new iOS versions easily.

In recent years, Apple has con­stantly upgraded iOS and mobile devices hardware, making the pro­tect­ive mech­an­isms more soph­ist­ic­ated to prevent ac­tiv­a­tion of ad­min­is­trat­ive access. Besides, regular addition of new features has also con­stantly reduced the necessity or benefit of a jailbreak. Hackers reported suc­cess­fully hacking recent models like the iPhone 11, but that is only of interest to spe­cial­ists.

However, revisions of iOS and the device hardware have also had a fun­da­ment­al effect on the iOS jail­breaks that were in great demand, i.e. the jail­breaks of the iPhone 4, 5 and 6. Every time a new system and model version is released, the jailbreak measures also had to be adapted, which is why there is no uniform unlocking solution. For example, the jailbreak for the iPad 2 does not work for the iPhone 4, which is why you need different tools or pro­ced­ures for each device (if you have the expertise required and want to unlock the device in­de­pend­ently).

However, the standard approach using a jailbreak tool is always the same, re­gard­less of the device, model and iOS version.

1. Before per­form­ing the jailbreak, you should back up your personal data on your iPhone or iPad. Connect the device to a computer via USB and transfer your personal files or save them in your iCloud account.
2. After the backup, de­ac­tiv­ate the code lock or Touch ID, as this feature has to be de­ac­tiv­ated for the jailbreak process. To do so, open the settings and tap “Touch ID & Code”. Then deselect all activated lock mech­an­isms.
3. Now, connect the mobile device to a PC, which you need to install the software required for the iOS jailbreak. Allow this type of con­nec­tion if the iPad or iPhone displays a dialogue box prompting you to do so.
4. The fourth step is to find and download the right jailbreak programme for your Apple device and iOS version. You can choose between tools for macOS or Windows, though some of the pro­grammes are available for both systems.
5. After in­stalling the selected tool, start the jailbreak process and follow the remaining in­struc­tions. For example, some ap­plic­a­tions recommend that you do a fresh iOS install and/or activate flight mode to speed up the process.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.