Jailbreak (Apple)

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Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to run unofficial code on their devices bypassing Apple's official distribution mechanism, the App Store. Once jailbroken, iPhone users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia and Icy.

Jailbreaking is distinct from unlocking, which is the process by which a mobile device is made compatible with telephone networks it was not specifically licensed to be used with.

Contents 1 History 2 Devices 3 Software used 4 Legal Issues 5 iPhone Dev Team 6 References

[edit] History

The first jailbreaking method was released on July 10, 2007, which initially was meant to provide a way to use custom ringtones.^[1] On August 6, 2007 the first third-party game was released for the iPhone and iPod Touch.^[2]

On October 10, 2007, about 3 months after the original iPhone was released, another method to jailbreak the iPhone was discovered. Apple and hackers then engaged in a battle to patch up security holes and to exploit them. Hackers eventually released a tool to permanently jailbreak iPhone OS 1.0.

On the release of iPhone OS 2.0, the iPhone Dev Team released PwnageTool, a jailbreaking application that used a graphical user interface.

In January 2009, the iPhone Dev team commenced work on jailbreaking the iPod Touch 2G.^[3] "redsn0w lite" was the code name for a tethered iPod Touch 2G jailbreak, and in April, redsn0w 0.1 was released.

On March 10, 2009, the untethered jailbreak was released for the iPod touch 2G utilizing an exploit found by the Chronic Dev team, and developed with the help of iPhone Dev Team member "planetbeing". It was released as a rough patch, and was not implemented into a GUI until next month, when planetbeing made "redsn0w" based on QuickPwn sources.

On March 17, 2009, Apple announced the release of iPhone OS 3.0.^[4] Three months later, the iPhone Dev Team released PwnageTool 3.0 and redsn0w1 0.7.2, which allowed users of the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch running the OS 3.0 to be jailbroken on both Macs and PC computers.^[5]

On July 3, 2009, Geohot (George Hotz) released a jailbreak application for the iPhone 3G S. Four days later, the iPhone Dev Team also released their own jailbreak app.

[edit] Devices

Device	Jailbreakable	Jailbreak first available	Comments
iPhone	Yes	July 10, 2007
iPod Touch 1st Generation	Yes
iPhone 3G	Yes	July 20, 2008
iPod Touch 2nd Generation	Yes [6]	March 11, 2009	First device to use the 24kpwn exploit
iPhone 3G[S]	Yes	July 3, 2009. [7]	The "24kpwn" exploit used in the iPod touch 2nd Generation is still present in the iPhone 3G[S] bootrom.[8][9].

[edit] Software used

Software Name	Platform	Jailbreaks	Firmware	Publisher
QuickPwn (scrapped with 3.0 and replaced by redsn0w)	Windows, Mac and Linux	iPhone, iPod Touch 1st Gen, iPhone 3G	2.0 - 2.2.1	The Dev Team
PwnageTool	Mac	iPhone, iPod Touch 1st Gen, iPhone 3G	2.0 - Current	The Dev Team
Quick Freedom	Windows	iPod Touch 2nd Gen	2.2.1 - current	Dancool999
redsn0w 0.3	Windows, Mac and Linux	iPod Touch 2nd Gen	2.2.1	The Dev Team and Chronic Dev
redsn0w 0.8	Windows, Mac and Linux	iPhone, iPod Touch 1st Gen, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch 2nd Gen, & iPhone 3GS	3.0	The Dev Team and Chronic Dev
PurpleRa1n	Windows and Mac[10]	iPhone 3GS	3.0	Geohot

[edit] Legal Issues

The legality of jailbreaking an iPod or iPhone remains unclear, particularly in the context of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. As part of the 2009 DMCA rulemaking, the Electronic Frontier Foundation asked the US Copyright Office to recognize an exemption to the DMCA to permit jailbreaking in order to allow iPhone owners to use their phones with applications that are not available from Apple's store.^[11] In response to this, Apple has filed comments opposing this exemption, and indicating that they do consider jailbreaking to be a violation of copyright (and by implication prosecutable under the DMCA). A ruling on this proposed exemption has not yet been made, but a decision is expected sometime later this year.

[edit] iPhone Dev Team

The iPhone Dev Team is a group of hackers in the iPhone OS community who have developed many hacking (jailbreaking) and unlocking applications for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod touch devices. These applications provide owners with the ability to sidestep the limitations placed on devices by the manufacturer, allowing for activities such as deep customization and SIM unlocking. redsn0w 0.1 and 0.3 are tools that jailbreak the iPod touch second generation on the 2.x firmware.

Redsn0w 0.7 is a tool that jailbreaks the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch first/second generation on the 3.0 firmware. It is able to unlock the baseband of the iPhone 1G.^[12] Redsn0w 0.8 is able to jailbreak the iPhone 3G S.

Yellowsn0w is a tool that unlocks the 02.23.00 baseband of the iPhone and the iPhone 3G on the 2.x firmware. The tool unlocks the "baseband" code that controls what carrier networks the iPhone can normally connect to.^[13] It was released in June 23, 2009

PwnageTool 3.0 was released on on June 19, 2009 and jailbreaks the iPhone and iPhone 3G under the 3.0 firmware.^[14]

[edit] References

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