Apple have reportedly once again made the work of jailbreak developers more challenging, as the latest 10.2 beta for their iOS has apparently added some extra features that lock it down even more securely. At the same time, the company has been trying to balance these developments by adding new official features to the system, some of which were previously only available through a jailbroken device.
The recent beta is actually one of the most major updates to hit the operating system, and it saw the addition of multiple new features, such as an improved lock screen, more customization, more features in Photos, as well as yet another revision to the design of some apps like Apple Music.
The operating system now supports a special “emergency call” feature, accessible by tapping the home button five times. This allows the user to easily call emergency services without having to open the device itself, although it currently doesn’t work everywhere in the world.
We expect to see it rolled out in full capacity sooner or later though, possibly once the current version gets out of beta. In the meantime, those who’re waiting for a new jailbreak tool to get full access to their devices may be disappointed to learn that there are no current rumors of a solution on the horizon.
Quite on the contrary, there are reports from the jailbreak scene indicating that Apple have actually made it even more difficult to crack the system now, and we’re not sure if we’re even going to see any of the major groups putting any serious effort in the current version.
Instead, they might choose to wait for Apple to bring the OS out of its current beta, although that might take a while. On the other hand, Apple also seem more interested in exploring their operating system with public betas, which is not a bad move in many regards as it allows them to iron out issues more thoroughly before bringing the system to the public.
They’ve also been working on making iOS even more secure than before, so it’s questionable if jailbreak developers will even be able to find a successful solution in the upcoming versions that easily. Right now, there is a lot of speculation in the community that the game of cat and mouse might be coming to an end, as Apple have really managed to tighten their grip on the operating system.
Is that ultimately a good thing though? For Apple themselves, it obviously is. This achieves their goal of controlling their operating system more tightly, while it also makes it more secure for their less experienced users. It’s true that there’s been a significant attention on jailbreak users by developers of malicious software, so it makes sense that Apple would want to make it more difficult to break through the OS.
It will be interesting to follow the development of iOS in the coming months, as it’s very likely that the scene will change significantly. By the time Apple are ready to roll out iOS 11, they could have come up with a solution that completely blocks jailbreaking.
If they do decide to go down that path though, they should definitely think about expanding the range of features in the operating system with a little more input from their users. After all, one of the main reasons for people to jailbreak their iOS devices is to get access to certain exclusive features that are normally not available.