iOS 8

Pangu v1.0.1 brings bug fixes to this limited iOS 8 jailbreak

The Pangu Team has released an update  to their iOS 8 jailbreak tool which was released out of the blue earlier today. Although no clear changelog is available, Pangu v1.0.1 brings a few bug fixes, including one that might have caused users who successfully jailbroke their device with the initial version to lose their photos.

Although promising, Pangu v1.0.1 is still more of a tool for developers rather than end users. As we noted earlier today, the current version of Pangu doesn't install Cydia, which hasn't been updated to bring compatibility for iOS 8. It simply allows developers to test out their tweaks and update them for iOS 8.

Pangu jailbreak for iOS 8 – iOS 8.1 released

The Pangu team has released a jailbreak for iOS 8 - iOS 8.1 devices today, just about 35 days after the launch of Apple's latest mobile operating system. The download link for Pangu for iOS 8 was briefly available on the official Pangu website before being pulled a few minutes later.

Although this is great news for jailbreakers, it does come with a few strings attached that make this initial iOS 8 jailbreak release somewhat useless for the time being.

iKeywi brings awesome jailbreak keyboard features to iOS 8 [Video]

As you've probably heard, I've been less than impressed with the initial round of third-party keyboards to hit iOS 8. I understand a lot of the problem has to do with Apple, and iOS 8's overall bugginess, but not all of the blame is squarely on its shoulders.

Many of the third-party keyboards have an average implementation, and some of them are just plain bad. With that said, there are a few keyboards that have stood above the rest, as we outlined in our best iOS 8 keyboards post a couple of days ago.

But today, I encountered a familiar name when looking for new third-party keyboards to try. iKeywi, a name that will no doubt ring a bell if you've ever been into jailbreaking, is now available as an iOS 8 keyboard.

Needless to say, I immediately paid $0.99 for the privilege to download iKeywi, and I was mighty impressed by what I found. Folks, if you're at all familiar with some of the more popular jailbreak tweaks, then iKeywi should immediately jump to the top of your must-buy list.

Don't believe me? Think a tempered version of SwipeSelection (you can't select text, but you can move the cursor using swipes). And that's not where it stops. iKeywi adds a fifth row of keys to the keyboard interface, customized key text, customized output, the ability to show letter case, and more. Watch the video inside to see what I mean.

How to play Super Nintendo games on your iOS 8 device

Although there is no iOS 8 jailbreak, there is still a way to add a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator. Because Nintendo is missing the opportunity to make millions of dollars by releasing their games to the Apple App Store, people have turned to emulators for years. Since the iPhone was jailbreakable, it seems there was some way to play the old classics.

Thanks to a tip from @flawlessfox, whom you may recognize as one of the JailbreakCon organizers, we tested the SNES emulator "SiOS" and can confirm it works quite well, especially on the iPhone 6 Plus. Step inside for quick step-by-step instructions and you will be enjoying your favorite SNES games in about 5 minutes time. Yes, you read it correctly, there is no jailbreak required. 

PanguTeam confirms it’s working on iOS 8 jailbreak

Good news for those of you missing out on today's iOS 8 festivities in order to save your jailbreak, the PanguTeam says it's on the case. As part of a PSA yesterday to remind users to jailbreak while still possible, the team confirmed it has already begun work on hacking the new firmware.

Now before you go getting your hopes up, note that just because an iOS 8 jailbreak is being worked on, does not mean we will see one anytime soon. This is, however, more intel than we had a few days ago, and it may be pertinent to those deciding on whether or not to update to iOS 8.

iOS 7.1.1 untethered jailbreak burns two exploits

iOS developer iH8sn0w confirms that the just released iOS 7.1.1 untethered jailbreak burns through two exploits that could have potentially been used towards an iOS 8 jailbreak. I want to emphasize the word "potentially" in that sentence, because it is fully possible that Apple would have patched the vulnerabilities before the release of iOS 8 in the first place. But now, they most certainly will.

iH8sn0w says that the only exploits burned relate to code signing and the kernel, alongside the "syslogd chown" vulnerability that was already disclosed at the Black Hat hacking conference in August. Interestingly, the jailbreak also contains code that will make it compatible with iOS 7.1.2 once the software update is publicly released, which could be as early as this Friday… 

Should you give up your jailbreak to upgrade to iOS 8 beta?

Since Apple seeded the inaugural beta of iOS 8 last week, we've been asked seemingly hundreds of times if the upgrade is worth giving up a jailbreak. As we all know, once you update past iOS 7.0.6 you lose the ability to jailbreak, and there's no way to downgrade.

Now, we already touched on this subject during last week's episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak, but given how popular the topic has been, we wanted to cover it in a post. It's not exactly the easiest question to answer, but I'm going to do my best to break down your options...

iOS 8 and the future of jailbreaking

It seems to be a recurring topic every year when Apple unveils a new version of iOS: did iOS 5 just kill jailbreaking? Will jailbreaking survive iOS 6? What’s left to jailbreakers with iOS 7? Did iOS 8 just make jailbreaking irrelevant?

These are some legitimate questions to ask, especially in regards to the fact that Apple, as you would expect, always adds new features to iOS, making jailbreaking a little less appealing. At least that's how it looks on paper, because in reality, it’s not so clear.

A few major online publications have already chimed in about how iOS 8 is making jailbreaking pointless, usually with no real understanding of what jailbreaking truly is about. So I thought it’d be a good idea to lay down some balanced thoughts about iOS 8 and the future of jailbreaking...

Early signs look good for iOS 8 jailbreak

Since Apple introduced iOS 8 on Monday, and released a beta version to developers, one of the top questions we've been asked here at iDB is: can it be jailbroken? As it stands now, there is no jailbreak for the current iOS 7.1.1 firmware.

At the time of this writing, I hadn't heard of anyone successfully jailbreaking their device on iOS 8, but early efforts do sound promising. Well-known hacker i0n1c says that the first beta 'doesn't fix anything,' and should be jailbreakable...

15 jailbreak tweaks that iOS 8 made obsolete

Whenever a new iOS version is released, it is always interesting to reflect on which features Apple added to the software that were already possible by jailbreaking your device. iOS 8 took a lot of people by surprise, with several new major features as opposed to minor refinements. As a result, the software update rendered a lot of jailbreak tweaks obsolete going forward. But it also isn't all bad news for the jailbreak scene. Read ahead for a list of jailbreak tweaks on the chopping block and more…