Of all mobile operating systems, Apple’s iOS is generally seen as the most restrictive and closed one. Apple’s design philosophy for the operating system is that preventing the user from messing with its more intricate settings also prevents them from potentially messing something up and damaging the device. On the other hand, Apple also have a fondness for protecting the privacy of their users and they claim that the tightly locked-down state of iOS is a good way to make sure that users don’t accidentally reveal more than they should from their private data.
Until now, tech-savvy users who wanted to regain the lost control still had an option – the procedure of jailbreaking a phone was designed to unlock its full potential. It involves using custom-made software developed by the community, which often exploits a security flaw in the operating system to allow the user to circumvent Apple’s restrictions.
And with each new iOS release, people are once again waiting for a corresponding release from the jailbreaking community. Usually it takes a while for the developers to crack the latest security features of the system, but they have usually managed to pull through so far. But now, with the arrival of the latest editions of iOS 9, the situation has changed a bit.
It looks like jailbreaking has been made significantly more difficult in the new version of iOS, and Apple have put a lot of work into the security of the system. Currently, efforts to develop a jailbreaking solution have produced questionable results at best, and some members of the community have been getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of a jailbreak tool. At this point, some have started to question if they are even going to get the tool in the future at all.
Reports are indicating that Apple have really tightened their grip on the system’s security with this version. It might be the case that they have finally found a good fix and there will be no more loopholes for rooting an iOS device in that case. The situation has always been like a game of cat and mouse where crackers had a slight advantage, but that might not continue in the future.
Would it be a smart move by Apple if it’s true though? A large part of the community enjoys jailbreaking their devices and there is probably some argument to be made about how this benefits the popularity of iOS on the market. The situation could definitely change if Apple were to lock down the OS more tightly.
On the other hand, there are some arguments in Apple’s favor. We just recently saw a new piece of malware targeting jailbreakers which compromised private data on users’ devices. The issue has mostly blown over at this point, but it still left a sour taste in the mouths of those who like to tweak their devices. And more importantly, it was a good example of how jailbreaking isn’t safe by default and there are indeed some problems that users need to be careful about.
There are also some suggestions from the community that Apple could resolve the situation and still keep their users safe by releasing their own tool that does the job. That way, everyone will know exactly what they are doing with their devices when jailbreaking them. It will also help ensure that users don’t have to wait before upgrading to a new iOS version, as they will no longer need to wait for a new tool to come out first.