This jailbreaking scene for iPhones has been declining in recent years. What used to be an excellent way to free up a rather restrictive operating system has fallen to the wayside as Apple continues to add requested features and beef up their operating system’s security. It’s been several months at this point without a real jailbreak, and while there’s not currently a viable option for the latest update of iOS, Houdini offers a sort of halfway iPhone jailbreak for iOS 10.3.2
Houdini
Houdini is a new iPhone app that is sideloadable via Cydia Impactor. It offers the option to install certain jailbreak features and programs to iPhones running 64-bit iOS 10.0-10.3.2.
Despite the valid point that jailbreaking may be dying out, it’s very unlikely the idea of freeing up your phone and adding new features and less restrictions will ever completely go away. It’s frankly a little premature to declare the death of the jailbreak. While an iPhone jailbreak isn’t nearly as easy to come across these days and those looking to further customize their phone are left without significant options, Houdini at least adds some semblance of a jailbreak.
While Houdini is installed via Cydia impactor — a popular program to allow your iPhone to install additional files, which is especially useful for an iPhone jailbreak — it’s important to remember that it’s not a full jailbreak itself. What it does do, however, is allow iPhone users to install certain operating system tweaks and adjust the theme of their phone without the need for a full jailbreak. For many people, a full jailbreak would be a much better alternative. For now this is probably the best bet out there.
Although Cydia is largely synonymous with the iPhone jailbreak, you won’t be able to install anything that requires Cydia substrate. The lack of this feature means that there’s no substrate safe mode, so if things go wrong you’ll likely have to do a full restore on your device. Despite the lack of a safe mode, the app is probably still worth downloading, as it’s been developed by a team with a proven track record.
Installation
Houdini will work with any 64-bit device that is running 10.x (excluding 10.3.3) and is relatively easy to install by using the process below:
- Download the .ipa file and Cydia Impactor
- Open Cydia Impactor and connect your iOS device
- Move the Houdini.ipa file onto the Impactor window
- Enter your Apple ID
- Go to Settings > General > Profiles and Device Management
- Click “Trust the New Certificate” and then open Houdini
- Touch start, and enjoy the new customizability of this semi iPhone jailbreak.
While it’s definitely disappointing that we still don’t have an iPhone jailbreak for the current iOS release, this at least offers some sort of increased customization for those who are running an older patch. It remains to be seen how fast, or even if, the iPhone X and iPhone 8 will be jailbroken. Unfortunately, with lower demand and as a more difficult process, we could be waiting a while.
