While iOS jailbreaking has slowed down recently due to a decreased demand combined with a more secure operating system, it has nevertheless been an exciting week for the community. A recently released iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak exploit discovered by Ian Beer just a few days ago has also been confirmed to work on Apple TV 4K running TvOS 11.x.
iOS 11.1.2 Jailbreak Exploit on Apple TV
LiberTV developer Jonathan Levin tweeted out a confirmation of this exciting news:
“Congratulating unparalleled paragon of hacking @i41nbeer for a truly marvelous, clean exploit which also works (*confirmed*) on TvOS 11.x and the Apple TV 4K! My #Jailbreak #Toolkit will be expanded to support this platform as well – and #LiberTV will finally get its update”
It has been an extremely productive week when it comes to unlocking the full potential of recent iOS devices. The iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak exploit was the first major breakthrough for the updated operating system, and it comes on the tail of the development of a sort of “semi-jailbreak” for iOS 10.3.2, Houdini. Jailbreaking activity has definitely died down, but the high levels of recent progress from the community — especially from Ian Beer and Jonathan Levin — likely means that we could soon see a full iOS 11 jailbreak released to the public.
LiberTV, the Apple TV jailbreak developed by Jonathan Levin, will finally be getting an update to support tvOS 11.x running on the company’s latest hardware. However, it was recently revealed in a tweet that any current jailbreak will not be untethered. “there will not be another untethered JB in [sic] foreseeable future until a major code signing 0-day blows.”
The main benefit behind the iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak exploit when applied to LiberTV for Apple TV 4 is the ability to run unsigned code and inject libraries. However, it’s unlikely that it will ever offer support for Cydia or Cydia Substrate.
The Future of the iOS Jailbreak
Although there’s no current news on when this update will roll out, it will likely be sooner rather than later. With how quick progress has happened after such a long period of downtime, the momentum of these recent successes may propel the jailbreaking community forward. With new motivation to fully take advantage of the iOS 11.2.1 jailbreak exploit. Ian Beer, Jonathan Levin, and the community at large will be working diligently to provide users with more control over their devices.
However, despite this recent progress towards a jailbreak, support for jailbroken iOS devices is not nearly as robust as it used to be. With the recent shuttering of ModMyi and ZodTTD/MacCiti, even if we were to have a new iOS jailbreak, the options for installing new apps and features may be much less expansive than they were previously. However, if faith in the jailbreaking community and jailbreak adoption is to surge once again, it’s likely we’ll see some sort of alternative pop up to replace these custom repositories.
At the end of the day, the fact that the iOS 11.1.2 jailbreak exploit works on Apple TV is an exciting revelation that moves yet another restrictive Apple device towards a more open and customizable experience. Let’s hope that a full jailbreak is soon to follow.
