Absinthe 2.0 Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 is Released!

Just a brief and quick note, the latest jailbreak, Absinthe 2.0 has been released to jailbreak iOS 5.1.1 on the following devices:

iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak for pre-A5 devices released: RedSn0w

If you have been following the development on the iOS jailbreak community, you would probably know by now that the untethered jailbreak has been released for iOS 5.0.1 for all iDevices (except for iPhone 4s and iPad 2). Few hours right after the release announcement, I jumped in immediately to restore my iPhone 4 (which was on iOS 4.3.2) and jailbreak it. Dev-team has release the latest RedSn0w tool (version 0.9.10b2) that includes the exploit to jailbreak the iOS 5.0.1.

There are some pre-requisites before you try and jailbreak your iDevice. Click on for more...

Transition from iOS 4.x to iOS 5 and Jailbreaking

I have recently made a transition from iOS 4.x to iOS 5 on my iPhone 3GS and I can say it wasn't a particularly smooth sailing journey. Of course we're talking about jailbreaking it as well. My plan was to do this:

1. Sync & backup iPhone 3GS with iTunes
2. Fully restore iPhone to iOS 5
3. Jailbreak iOS 5 with redsn0w
4. Install AppSync 5.0+ from Cydia
5. Restore from backup to iPhone with iTunes.

Sounds easy right? Wrong! Now usually when after I sync and backup the iPhone before an upgrade of the firmware, I will do a backup of the backup first so I can do it again if I screw it up. I have written an article on how to do this before and you can see it here: [Restoring from a backup for iPhone, jailbreak or not!]

Restoring from a backup for iPhone, jailbreak or not!

Here's a myth that most people believe, "You cannot backup or restore a jailbroken iPhone". The fact is, you can. And yours truly have done it a million times (over exaggerated of course). I personally do not use AptBackup, PKGBackup or any Cydia apps to help me backup my apps' settings and data. iTunes can do all that for you. What does that mean? It means that not only are you able to backup your iPhone's settings, the legitimate apps and its data (and settings), but you will be able to also backup your Cydia apps' settings. I will tell you how...

redsn0w untethered Jailbreak for iOS 4.3.1 on the iPhone & iPad

I'm always asked this question by my friends, "Hey dude, is the iPhone iOS 4.3.1 jailbreak out yet?" ever since iOS 4.3 was released. Finally, the Dev-team have released the latest jailbreak for the iOS 4.3.1. What more.... it is an untethered jailbreak. The tethered jailbreak was released earlier but I would always refrain people from using it. Imagine you are out and either your battery drained or you need to reboot your iPhone after a Cydia app installation or you have a non-responding phone which needed a hard boot? With a tethered jailbreak, you'll be running around like a headless chicken.

Jailbreak iPhone iOS 4.2.1 with Greenpois0n RC5 without restoring

Finally, if any of you that have been camping out waiting for an untethered jailbreak for your iPhone on iOS 4.2.1, the wait is finally over. The iPhone 3GS with new bootroms and the iPhone 4 only had a tethered jailbreak using the RedSn0w tool up until now. I have since been using RedSn0w 0.9.6 RC8 and have been in tethered hell. Every reboot whenever without any PCs (or Mac) around would be devastating! Any updating of Cydia apps that requires a reboot and you better have RedSn0w at hand... But Greenpois0n RC5 has finally been released and it is an untethered jailbreak solution.

Jump in for more...

HD Video wallpaper for iPhone

Up till now I have not even considered having an animated wallpaper on my iPhone. I remember all my old Sony Ericsson and Samsung phones have those cool animated wallpaper features. As I got to find out from Redmond Pie, Android has built-in support for the animated wallpapers ever since version 2.1 of their OS. Well, iPhone fanboys, no need to envy as there is now a solution for you too so that you can show off your iPhone 4 on the retina display with an animated wallpaper. Behold the vWallpaper jailbreak app. Yes you heard me right, you would first have to have a jailbroken iPhone. For the rest of the story, follow this link to Redmond Pie on how to install it.
Demonstration video after the jump...

Why I think the iPhone iOS4.01 firmware sucks

Recently the official Jailbreak for iPhone iOS4 (firmware 4.0 and 4.01) has been released (go to http://jailbreakme.com) and I decided that it was time I upgraded by iOS 3.1.2 firmware on my iPhone 3Gs. Prior to upgrading, my phone's specs were these:

• iOS 3.1.2 (iPhone 3Gs with old bootroom)
• Jailbroken with Blackra!n. 
• Installed Cydia software that make my iPhone Springboard more simple to use:
• SBSettings
• Winterboard
• Lockinfo (with Twitter and Lock Weather plugins)
• Backgrounder
• Circuitous
• Five Column Springboard
• Five Icon dock
• Infinidock
• Pogoplank
• OpenSSH
• BiteSMS
• AppSync 3.1
• Activator
• Multiiconmover

Jump In....

New Blackra1n RC2 jailbreak from Geohot for iPhone

I jailbroke my iPhone 3GS on firmware 3.1.2 last month using the Blackra1n software by Geohot. Everything was smooth sailing for me, but I do understand many people went through a lot of problems with their iPhones. Mainly because of the different versions there are (i.e. 2G, 3G, 3GS with different firmwares as well). Well, Geohot has released version 2 of the Blackra1n jailbreak method which hopefully solves many of your problems.

Here is the update list:

• Fixed 3G issues
• Tethered jailbreak for 3.1 OOTB ipt 8GB and new 3GSes
• Fixed Icy issues
• Both Windows and Mac
• If you used RC1 with success, no need to rerun

Note the last one. IF YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY JAILBROKEN YOUR IPHONE USING THE FIRST VERSION, YOU DO NOT NEED TO JAILBREAK AGAIN WITH THIS VERSION!

Sorry I had to SHOUT that.... some people just don't understand it :)

If you're looking for a step-by-step guide (I'm not gonna write one since so many are already available on the net), go here for a pretty good guide: iPhone Download Blog and you can download the blackra1n executable here: BLACKRA1N.

Please note though that this jailbreak method (blackra1n) DOES NOT UNLOCK YOUR PHONE. So if you need to unlock your iPhone, do not use this method.

iPhone/iPod Touch future owners take note, Apple is breaking Jailbreak!

It seems that Apple is going all out to stop all jailbreaks on their iPhones and iPod Touches. This excerpt from iClarified says it all :-

Apple is now shipping the iPhone 3GS with a new Bootrom that is not vulnerable to the 24kpwn exploit.

The iBoot-359.3.2 started to ship last week. A screenshot posted by Mathieulh shows the new version number.

MuscleNerd from the iPhone Dev-Team has confirmed that the loss of the 24kpwn exploit would mean a normal jailbreak would be impossible for the time being.

oh oh, from what @cpich3g + @Mathieulh have found so far, a normal untethered JB may be in jeopardy in brand new 3GS units

For the time being we would suggest locating old stock or refurbished units. Hopefully, the dev teams will be able to find another exploit for the new bootrom.

Well... fortunately i've got my iPhone already. But for those looking forward to get their iPhones and jailbreaking them, better hope you're not getting one of these new ones. But I'm sure the genius hackers out there would probably find a way around it again.... you'll just have to wait a little longer if Apple does what is said above.

Owned 2 iPhones 3Gs in as many weeks (and OS ver 3.1)

I just got my new iPhone 3Gs from Maxis last Sunday and this week I have another new one. Well, I still only have one, the second one being a replacement from my first one (from last week). Why you might ask? The first one went kaput and I sent in for repairs on last Saturday and got a replacement on the recent Monday. The iPhone was beyond repair (thanks to the car lighter USB port which I used to charge it). The moment I plug it into the car lighter outlet, I could feel the heat on the iPhone and the next thing I know the iPhone's battery was draining like 1% every 30 seconds. By the time I send it to Maxis center, it was already drained out and the 'experts' there couldn't start it up (and they can't check whether I jailbroke the iPhone too!! Lol...) so they deemed it irreparable. I was told the replacement would probably arrive in another 2 to 3 weeks due to shortages in supply and also the fact that they had to get it from Singapore (I suppose Singapore's Apple is the regional office). Great! I waited 2 weeks for the iPhone and now I gotta wait another 2 weeks minimum.

However I was pleasantly surprise when 2 days later (Monday) I received an SMS from them saying that my iPhone has been repaired and ready for collection. Two thoughts came to my mind.

1. Maybe they found out it can be repaired and so replaced the circuit board and voila! But I had mixed feelings with this thought. What if the battery unit is not slightly defficient now because of the draining??
2. Maybe they were able to start the phone and found my phone has been jailbroke before and decided to void my warranty... that would be crap!

Anyway, when I arrived to pick up the unit, I was told that it was a replacement unit... imagine my relieve when I heard that. But I am really surprise that they have the replacement in little more than 2 days only. And it is actually just one day if you minus the Sunday as it is a non-working day.

Now that I have the new iPhone, i'm not going to use that darn car lighter USB anymore. Learnt my lesson. Maxis though, do not need to know about this (or there goes the warranty). Ok... off to jailbreak my iPhone now!!!

Ok... Apple has just announced the latest iPhone OS ver 3.1. It has little enhancement over the previous ver 3.01 but nevertheless still an enhancement. Jailbreakers do not attempt to upgrade yet as it would probably remove all your settings and Apps. As for myself, I'm not so hyped about this ver 3.1 OS. There isn't really any enhancement that I would REALLY want that I would sacrifice my jailbreak and upgrade the OS. So if you can wait, just hold horses and wait for ver 3.1 jailbreak before upgrading.

Here is a list of some of the enhancements:

• Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos
• iTunes U content organization
• Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store
• Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store
• Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
• Option to Save as new clip when trimming a video on iPhone 3GS
• Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on (this one sounds funny, why would bluetooth improve Wi-Fi performance?).
• Remotely lock iPhone with passcode via MobileMe
• Use Voice COntrol on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets (Should have been here all along!).
• Paste phone numbers into the keypad
• Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features on iPhone 3GS
• Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
• Improved Exchange calendar syncing and invitation handling
• Fixes issue that cause some app icons to display incorrectly

As you can see, no bluetooth file transfer between bluetooth enabled devices yet. If they had enabled that, it would be something that would entice me to upgrade. Anyway, to catch more about the updates go to http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/. You can update it via your iTunes (did I mention iTunes is also being upgraded to ver 9.0?). iPod Touch users can also update your OS to ver 3.1 for free!