Jailbreaking iOS 4.3.1 with PwnageTool 4.3

PwnageTool and Redsn0w have been updated, and both allow jailbreaking a range of iOS devices without tethering. This walk through covers PwnageTool 4.3, with another covering Redsn0w to follow. The main difference between the two apps is the method of jailbreaking. PwnageTool makes a custom Firmware file that iTunes puts onto the device. Redsn0w jailbreaks a device after iTunes has installed a standard Apple Firmware.

Before starting a jailbreak using PwnageTool or Redsn0w you need the correct firmware for your device. I used a great guide at iClarified that links to every iPhone firmware that has been released. My iPhone is a 3GS so the firmware I wanted was the 4.3.1 (3GS): iPhone2,1_4.3.1_8G4_Restore.ipsw. Once downloaded and placed on my desktop I launched Pwnagetool 4.3.

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iOS 4.2.1 Jailbreak released

New Firmware, New Jailbreak. Following yesterday’s release of iOS 4.2.1, redsn0w 0.9.6b4 is now available to jailbreak it. There are some conditions attached, so best read the post at the iPhone Dev Team Blog before attempting the jailbreak.

Another thing to remember is that this is still beta software, so may not work as expected. I followed the instructions the app gives to enter DFU mode, but found redsn0w stopped at the waiting for reboot screen. I got around this problem by putting my iPhone 3GS into DFU mode manually before running redsn0w, then pressing the power button when redsn0w stopped at waiting for reboot.

Once Jailbroken, there are a few more issues. SB settings isn’t currently working for me, and crashes springboard when I try to use it. No doubt this will be quickly fixed, but for now just remember this is new software, so either wait for the jailbreak ecosystem to catch up or enjoy the ride.

Update 25th November – Cydia updated SBsettings Toggles today, and SBsettings is now working perfectly with 4.2.1 on my 3GS.

iOS 4.2.1 released today with free Mobile Me Find My Device

The release of iOS 4.2.1 is imminent, and the surprise is that with it comes the first free Mobile Me feature. Find My iPhone is now available to all iOS users without paying a Mobile Me annual subscription, and is easily set up from an iPhone/iPad/iPod using an existing or new iTunes account. Here’s a quick walk through of the steps using an iPad.

JailbreakMe.com for iOS4 (and 3.2) devices

The iPhone Dev Team has announced that jailbreakme.com is now live offering a Safari based jailbreak for iOS4 devices, as well as iPads running 3.2.1. Their blog post states the site will jailbreak iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads so it may work with older software versions but details are a little scarce at the moment.

The screenshots above and below show the simple jailbreaking process on my 3.2.1 iPad which now has Cydia installed as well as the marvelous iFile.

iPad Jailbreaking and strange fixes

In the name of research my iPad has been jailbroken using the Spirit app. There hasn’t been much of a need for jailbreaking as the settings app sits in the expanded six place iPad dock, and provides much faster access to settings than the iPhone equivalent. SBsettings is now installed on the iPad, but Winterboard currently has some issues on the iPad. Changing the theme on the iPhone makes it look much better, but the iPad supports wallpapers and the apps look way better without any fiddling so the appeal of theming is much reduced.

There’s not much to report on the jailbreak, it’s just as simple as the recent iPhone attempt and results in Cydia on the iPad desktop. There’s a warning in Cydia that not everything works on the iPad yet, and some iPhone software may cause a crash that needs a software restore to fix.

Trying the iPad’s iPod app yesterday resulted in an instant crash that I initially thought may be related to the jailbreak, but posts on the Apple support forum showed the issue is not uncommon. The unlikely fix of launching the Videos app before the iPod app actually worked for me so all is back to normal.

Spirit jailbreak released

A new jailbreak named Spirit has been released for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Supporting firmware 3.1.2, 3.1.3 and 3.2 on the iPad, the new jailbreak is untethered so not connection to a computer is needed to perform a hardware reset.

Spirit has been tested on my 3Gs and appears to be working fine on a fresh restore of 3.1.3. There isn’t really much to report, the app shots above are all that is shown during the jailbreak. Cydia is installed as part of the jailbreak but is currently unavailable with an error message due to the huge volume of traffic from newly jailbroken devices.

What’s new in iPhone OS 4

Apple today unveiled many of the new features of iPhone/iPod/iPad OS 4, with the disappointing news that some of the features will only be available on the current generation of iDevices. More on that later, the new features were dominated by the seven chosen for attention:

Multitasking

There wasn’t much chance of this being left out if Apple wanted to stay competitive with Google’s Android platform. New API’s are provided to allow apps to run as background services until resumed. Background apps can allow control from the lock sceen, and display notifications. There are seven background services available:

• Background Audio
• Voice over IP
• Background Location
• Push Notification
• Local Notifications
• Task Completion
• Fast App Switching