What Does “Jailbreak” Mean?
So many people enjoy using their phones for a variety of purposes. Some just use their phones for calling, others text too. Some use them for email to keep in touch with clients. Millions of college and high school students use their phones to communicate with friends on facebook while they are on the go. These are all great uses, and if this is all you care to do with it… jailbreaking is not for you.
Some people decide to take it further. They download Apps that help them be more productive or they play games on their iPhone. Some pay a little extra money and use their phone to “tether” to their laptop, effectively turning their mobile devices into a 24 hour traveling WiFi hotspot! Some use their devices for traveling, using GPS, and Google Maps to guide them to their destination when they are in a crunch. Some use their iPhones to FaceTime (video chat) with other people with iPhones and Macs around the world whenever they are near a WiFi hotspot! For the people who are happy with these things, and don’t need anything else out of their devices… jailbreaking, is not for you either.
Then there are those people… those millions of people around the world… that just aren’t happy yet. They are the tinkerers, who strive for individuality at every turn. They are the ones who demand access to the hidden functions and tweaks that nobody else knows about. They are the people who want everything out of their device, and want it to be the best in the world. They are the people… who buy the latest iPhone, and look to jailbreak it before they even sync it for the first time!
For the new people here, or perhaps the returning people who haven’t ever heard of jailbreaking before, there are a few things you’ll need to know about it that may or may not affect your decision to do it or not. These facts of jailbreaking are not difficult to understand, but this article is quite lengthy and bulky. It will tell you EVERYTHING you NEED TO KNOW about entering into the jailbreak world. When you finish this article, I want you to feel comfortable with your decision, whether you do it or not. My goal here is to increase your knowledge on this matter, so that you can be better prepared, and so that you know a trustworthy guy to go to when you have questions later.
“The History Of Jailbreaking”
Not totally complete:
To better understand why people do what they do, it’s important to gain a basic knowledge as to how people began doing it, and why. For that, let’s take a quick break and talk about how jailbreaking came about.
The first jailbreaking method was released on June 27, 2007 and made it easy to stay on AT&T and use an iPhone. Consequently, Apple locked their iPhones to the AT&T network in the United States. Three months after the initial jailbreak, another method was discovered, which led to a cat and mouse game between Apple and hackers to patch and exploit security holes.
In February 2008 an Italian computer hacker named Zibri el Fontu found a very important key inside the iPhone. In fact, it was so important that this is the same key which then led to all the jailbreak methods up to today. Zibri himself coded and freely distributed “ZiPhone.” Upon the nearing release of iOS 2.0 (previously iPhone OS), a hacker group called the iPhone Dev Team released a jailbreaking application named “PwnageTool” that used a graphical user interface to jailbreak 2G and 3G versions of the iPhone, and the first generation of iPod Touches then available. The iPhone Dev Team, and another very similar group known as the Chronic Dev Team have been, and will continue to be huge contributors to the jailbreak scene.
When iOS 3.1.2 came out, the hacker responsible for the first iPhone unlock, George Hotz, more popularly known today as “Geohot,” discovered a bootloader exploit (a hole in the security of the actual hardware of the phone) that allowed him to create and release one of the simplest known tools ever to hit the jailbreak scene: “blackra1n.” It was as simple as connecting to the computer, and hitting the button that said “make it ra1n.”
In February 2010, Apple released iOS 3.1.3 with a security patch that’s essential purpose was to block the security breach that Geohot had discovered. This blocked jailbreak’s once again. However, most iPhone and iPod Touch models could be downgraded, and many did in order to obtain a jailbreak with blackra1n.
In April 2010, George Hotz (Geohot) announced that he was working on another jailbreak that would lead to many happy people who had been waiting a long time to get their fix. However no exploit was released for several months, and Geohot announced his retirement from the jailbreaking scene in July, leading some to speculate that the exploit had been ‘hype.’… It wasn’t hype.
On July 25, 2010, the Library of Congress ruled that jailbreaking was explicitly exempted from provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In this ruling, it stated that jailbreaking was a LEGAL act, and that it was acceptable to alter a mobile phone that had been legally purchased. The device belongs to the consumer, and is subject to whatever the consumer wishes to do with it.
On October 10, 2010, in a surprising comeback, his voice was heard again, and he released his tool, “Limera1n” which he had been talking about back in April! The Dev team had been preparing to release their “Greepois0n” software already, but Geohot had beat them to the release date, using an entirely different method of jaibreak then the Dev team. This was a shocker to the hacking community, and as quickly as possible, the Dev Team pushed back their release date slightly, and used Geohot’s method in their “Greenpois0n” tool. By implementing Geohot’s exploit (the hole in the software I was referring to earlier) they were able to save their own exploit for another time. If they would have used it, Apple would then have two holes that it would be aware of, and would then patch up. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.
Now, as iOS 4.2.1 has been released for iPhone, the Chronic Dev Team has released Greenpois0n RC5, a recreation of their Greenpois0n tool that will allow the jailbreak of iPhones on both the AT&T and Verizon network, iPod touches, and iPads… all running the most up to date firmware (as of this article).
… time to catch our breath… let’s take a short break, and come back in a few minutes… okay?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G9fkvBzzQE[/youtube]
Okay… now that you’re impressed as hell how awesome that bird was, we can get back to the jailbreak talk!
That is a very compressed history, but it covers a few primary players in the jailbreak scene, and gives you a brief overview as to how long this has been going on. It really is a game of cat and mouse, and although Apple continues to patch up all the loose ends that hackers discover, they have been unsuccessful in stopping a jailbreak thus far. In fact, the hacking community will be able to get through for a long time to come, as they currently have many exploits on the back-burner that have yet to be used.
So that about wraps up the history lesson, now on to the main point of this article. I’d like to answer a few questions that I commonly see and hear when ever I discuss jailbreaking with people. The majority of iPhone owners have never heard of jailbreaking before, so I’l start with the basics, and work my way up to the more complex parts. Knowledge is power, so without further adue, Let’s get started with a little Q & A in the next section.
“What is Jailbreaking?”
This is likely the most common question people ask when they first discover the hacking world. They often hear the word from people on facebook, on tech blogs, on a facebook or Google ad, or from their friends. What they don’t often hear, is a proper definition, and a proper account of what it really means to jailbreak the device. I’m not talking about a literal definition, but a definition from the standpoint of a person who does it.
Some people will tell you bad things about the iPhone, and about jailbreaking. What you should take from that is likely somewhat true. Nobody is completely wrong. However, those people who blatantly say “Don’t do it! It’s dangerous! It’s bad,” are likely quite misinformed, and are always people who have never done it themselves. This is the equivilent of taking advice on Skydiving from somebody who has only seen it once on a disaster show on TV. They do not understand the process, the effects, and they don’t understand the facts that are needed to make a judgement. Now… you will have that knowledge, and can judge this for yourself.
Jailbreaking is the act of altering the operating system (or firmware) of a device so that it has the ability to accept properly formatted, third-party software. It releases the iPhone from the restrictions that have been imposed on it by it’s creator. In the case of the Playstation 3, the creator is Sony Computer Entertainment. In the case of the iPhone, it’s Apple, Inc. A jailbreak is an invasive act that, done by the user/owner of the device (e.g. You). To describe it further, with as little bias as I can do, jailbreaking unleashes the true power of the device, and allows users to customize it however they see fit.
This process is also 100% reversable. If a user decides they don’t want it later, they can easily remove it with iTunes, using a process Apple already recommends to it’s customers who have issues with the phone.
Now I know that was a mouthful, so I’ll break it down even more: A jailbreak is a easy, quick, 100% reversible activity that lets the iPhone do more than Apple allows it to do.
“Why Do People Jailbreak?”
As stated earlier in the opening section, jailbreaking isn’t really for everyone. It’s only for people who want to do something with their device that it cannot (or isn’t allowed to) do. Believe it or not, even though the iPhone is widely known as the best phone on the planet, there are a variety of things that the iPhone cannot do out of the box. Jailbreaking the iPhone solves that issue for those interested in enhancing the device. Examples of this are things like:
- “Tethering” their internet connection from their phone to their computer, without paying a huge sum of money to their carrier to do it.
- Customizing the default system’s aesthetics (icons, transitions, keyboard, system sounds) to anything that they want.
- Enabling features that would otherwise not be available (FaceTime over their 3G network, download files larger than 20MB anytime)
- To unlock their iPhone for use on another carrier (We’ll talk more about this later).
While those things do seem like pretty big things, some people will not care about any of them. They like the simplistic look of the phone, and are happy with the sounds that it makes. They are satisfied with their carrier, and have no need to unlock the phone, and they never have a need to use their phone’s internet from their laptop. Lots of people don’t even use FaceTime (and not just older people either). The people who want features, such as the ones listed above (and an ungodly amount of things that haven’t been named), can only achieve them by way of jailbreaking. This is what pushes people to do it so often, and it’s why this word has become so popular.
So that’s a brief rundown of why people decide to jailbreak. As you can see, there are a ton of benefits to be considered from this simple hacking process. Like all good things though, it doesn’t come without at least a few risks. The jailbreak world isn’t a perfect one, and that’s what I’ll try to explain in the next article.
“What Are The Risks Of Jailbreaking?”
It wouldn’t be fair of me to put this whole rundown on jailbreaking here without disclosing both sides of things. While I can honestly tell you as a veteran on the scene things will happen that you won’t expect, for the most part… they are small. In this section, I’ll be telling you about the risks involved in the jailbreak process. We’ll look into the most common issue people have, and the best ways to prevent and/or solve these issues effectively. I’ll try to speak in layman’s terms to the best of my ability, but in some cases that will get difficult. If you are unfamiliar with any of the technical jargon I use and would like further explanation, please let us know on our facebook page, and I’ll correct any confusion that I have caused you. With that introduction out of the way, let’s chat for a bit about risks. We’ll get the big ones out of the way first, and then work into the little ones:
Risk #1: “The Brick”
“The Brick is the most dreaded risk of all, and it’s why I start with it first. Essentially, “bricking” an iPhone is doing exactly what it sounds like you are doing… you are making your iPhone into a very expensive brick (or paperweight). It is when the device is so screwed up that it refuses to even turn on anymore!
Now that I have your attention, let me give you the good news: THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE, and it almost always caused by things a user did, even though they had no idea what they were doing. They started tinkering with code, opened terminal and typed in commands they didn’t understand, or the most common thing: Deleted things in Cydia or on the root directory of their iPhone that were not meant to be deleted (or even seen before). It sounds complex, I know, but avoiding this problem couldn’t be simpler! “If you don’t know what it is, leave it alone!” That basic and essential rule will save all of the headaches of bricking your iPhone, and will allow you to enjoy and feel safe about the process most often.
Following the guides provided by HotTips! is a simple and safe way to insure you do not have this happen. Our guides are designed to be simple to follow, and directed primarily at those with no experience at all. To be safe, if you are ever confused, or want additional information, just write to us on our facebook page, and we will answer your questions, and guide you through everything step-by-step.
Risk #2: “Crashes”
“Crashes” refer to when the phone ceases all operations, and restarts the software part of itself without you asking it to. It’s essentially the phone panicing and starting over. This is a common issue with jailbreaking, but is not a huge deal for those that are used to being able to customize all aspects of their iDevice.
The important rule to remember with jailbreaking is that less is more almost 100% of the time. The iPhone is designed to run very smoothly and efficiently with a low-weight operating system. The phones built -in software doesn’t bog down the processor. With the jailbreak, adding a lot of tweaks, themes, MobileSubstrate modifications, custom sounds and icons, and maybe even a video wallpaper, you now have the ability to add a bunch of cool personalization to your device… at the expense of usability. Glitches and unsmooth operation are common in the jailbreak world, but only to those who want to get everything at once. The greediest man in the world, often ends his life penniless.
THIS LIST IS NOT COMPLETE! WE WILL BE ADDING TO IT SHORTLY. As we said before, in the first article… this is a comprehensive and constantly updated list. If you still see this text, and BLUE TEXT above… then we aren’t finished with it just yet. Stay tuned!
What Are SHSH Blobs?
It is something that is mentioned a lot throughout every jailbreak tutorials and other jailbreak-related news. “Make sure you save your SHSH Blobs before you update” is something you hear everywhere (or, read everywhere I guess). This process of saving SHSH Blobs is crucial to everyone who jailbreaks, so it’s important you understand why you should save them, and understand what they are.
An SHSH Blob is basically what Apple uses to verify the version of iOS you are running. That’s why we tell you to save your SHSH Blobs before upgrading your firmware on your iDevice. Otherwise, once Apple stops signing older firmware, you will not be able to restore to an older firmware if you need to. Accidental updates happen all the time, but you can easily undo that update, if you have your SHSH Blobs saved.
That is unless you managed to save your SHSH Blobs with a program like TinyUmbrella. Doing so will allow you to trick iTunes, into thinking you are running an older version.
It’s necessary to have a signed copy already saved in order to trick iTunes. The way the system is set up, your SHSH Blob is device specific. It uses the ECID (Exclusive Chip ID) of your individual device, along with a challenge key, as part of the authentication process with Apple.
Because that key is static (doesn’t change), and you’re using the same ECID, it is possible for you to save your own SHSH blob for later use. It can then be used to downgrade your iDevice if you accidentally update your firmware especially if there’s no jailbreak available. There is nothing worse than updating, and losing features!
How Do you know if they are saved?
You can save them by following THIS GUIDE.
You’ll see the firmware versions you have them saved for when you open TinyUmbrella and ask it to do it’s thing. Also, if you have your phone jailbroken already, the front page of Cydia will show you as well, in GREEN letters:
I hope this explanation is enough to give you a rough explanation on the importance of saving SHSH Blobs for your iPhone. I’ve heard Apple reps tell customers that it’s “not possible” to downgrade, because software updates permanently changed the device. This is a total lie to their faces. This method proves you can. It’s not that it’s not possible, it’s that Apple says you aren not allowed. Why listen to them though? Why let Apple tell you what you can and can’t do with the phone you paid all that money to own? …. Exactly.
MORE to this article coming soon… this will have to do for now. Be sure to like, this via facebook using the button at the top, and share it with your friends and other people you see asking “What is a jailbreak?”
