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General Does Apple hate jailbreakers?

G

guitarmandp

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 21, 2012
418
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idownloadblog had a column and they argue that Apple does not hate the jailbreaking community.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/03/21/apple-doesnt-hate-jailbreak-community/

I think if Apple really didn't hate the jailbreaking community, they would let you downgrade to any version of iOS.

Lets be honest, only people who jailbreak would have any incentive to be on anything but the latest version of iOS? Because they don't want you to jailbreak. If I don't like Windows 8, I can install Windows 7. I think there is a very obvious reason why Apple will not let you go down from 6.1.3 to 6.1.2 and the fact that they have now made it so blobs are useless on iOS 6 tells you all you need to know.

I think Steve Jobs had the mentality "I know what our customers want, a lot better than our customers know what they want" and because of this philosophy which has been carried on through the Tim Cook era, Apple insists on controlling 95% of the user experience (I guess you can change a few things like the wallpaper, the order the apps are arranged it, what is on your dock). And I think that philosophy is probably true for the vast majority of people (My mom and dad who both have iPhones, I can't picture either of them downloading dozens of tweaks).

I think if Apple really embraced jailbreaking and used it as a "farm system for new features" they would purposely have some security holes, and leak them to somebody like POD2G and tell him "These are the holes, release your jailbreaking application and you have until xx/xx/xx before we patch them"
 
Yes and no. It's a love hate relationship as best described. Thanks to jailbreaking, the first 3rd party applications happened on the iPhone. It was Apple who adopted jailbreaking and turned it into the App Store.


However, Apple hates jailbreaking as it goes against their "walled garden" and "only they know whats best" approach.
 
It also hurts their chances with big business buyers. A lot of Apples work into making iOS secure is completely ruined when a person jailbreaks, like disabling the pass code while keeping all the data on the phone intact, thus making phones used for business much less secure. But no I don't think apple hates jailbreakers, in fact hackers are helping them quite a bit by identifying exploits for them to patch :p

Apple has embraced many ideas of jailbreakers, like the App Store ( said above ) and they even hired a cydia developer to help with the new notification system they introduced in iOS 5.
 
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They really should do a solution like googles nexus program where the bootloader is unlockable. Unlocking it wipes the device so any security worries aren't an issue either. Unlocking a nexus device is as easy as plugging in the phone, holding down power and both volume buttons and then typing the command "fastboot oem unlock" on the computer. Then the bootloader is completely unlocked and your free to flash any custom firmware or patches you want. No exploit is needed to gain root so security doesn't have to be compromised. Google also specifically provides the binaries so that the nexus devices have 100% functional custom aosp builds. CM10, aokp, and any other aosp rom are essentially as stable as the stock firmware on nexus devices.
 
When their OS is jailbroken, it's like the evaders are beta testing their security. (Like google offers $$$ to anyone who hacks their system because it closes a loophole and future proofs their system)

So I think apple likes it, and besides something tells me a lot of Apple employees jailbreak their devices anyway.
 
acorntoy said:
It also hurts their chances with big business buyers. A lot of Apples work into making iOS secure is completely ruined when a person jailbreaks, like disabling the pass code while keeping all the data on the phone intact, thus making phones used for business much less secure. But no I don't think apple hates jailbreakers, in fact hackers are helping them quite a bit by identifying exploits for them to patch :p

Apple has embraced many ideas of jailbreakers, like the App Store ( said above ) and they even hired a cydia developer to help with the new notification system they introduced in iOS 5.
Click to expand...

How does the ability to jailbreak make stock-standard iPhones any less secure?
 
I don't think they hate them. If they did they wouldn't have hired a bunch of them.
But they have to keep their OS secure so they will patch security holes.
I still think they get many ideas and feedback from the JB scene and from many popular cydia packages.
 
I'd love to be a fly on Apples I.T wall when their guys are reviewing the new tweaks that are out.

Tim Cook asking his people why they haven't developed that tweak/app before the jail-break Dev's did !

:rolleyes:
 
bandofbrothers said:
I'd love to be a fly on Apples I.T wall when their guys are reviewing the new tweaks that are out.

Tim Cook asking his people why they haven't developed that tweak/app before the jail-break Dev's did !

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I highly doubt Tim Cook spends more than 12 seconds a year thinking about jailbreaking

----------
rgarjr said:
Apple gets free consulting from iOS hackers that sniff out these holes from their software, so no they don't hate 'em.
Click to expand...

"free consulting"? "Free Consulting" would be nice if you were a successful small business, but Apple is one of the richest companies in the entire world.
 
guitarmandp said:
I highly doubt Tim Cook spends more than 12 seconds a year thinking about jailbreaking
Click to expand...


How do you get to that assumption friend ?

If I thought something was damaging my company/product in anyway then I sure would give it more than "12 seconds a year thought"


:D
 
rgarjr said:
Apple gets free consulting from iOS hackers that sniff out these holes from their software, so no they don't hate 'em.
Click to expand...

Right, that's another way to test their software to be secure.
But I think that it is not Apple that is hurt most. Carriers are.
 
Apple will block every vulnerability in iOS, proactively and reactively, until jb is no longer possible.

Hate? No.

It's business. Not personal.
 
Lets be honest

One of the main reasons people jailbreak their devices is to install apps that they have not paid for. You can argue that the reason is to innovate and take control of your own device but the bottom line is theft. Apple protects its app devs and it's own bottom line by securing their devices. I'm sure I'll receive hate for this but it's true.

Perhaps we should make this a poll.
Would you still jailbreak your device if it did not allow you to install Apps that are for purchase only, but did let you install non-Apple-certified apps that were free. As well as letting you customize your user experience.?
 
malikai said:
One of the main reasons people jailbreak their devices is to install apps that they have not paid for. You can argue that the reason is to innovate and take control of your own device but the bottom line is theft. Apple protects its app devs and it's own bottom line by securing their devices. I'm sure I'll receive hate for this but it's true.

Perhaps we should make this a poll.
Would you still jailbreak your device if it did not allow you to install Apps that are for purchase only, but did let you install non-Apple-certified apps that were free. As well as letting you customize your user experience.?
Click to expand...

This has been talked about many many times.
Some do JB just to steal apps but not everyone.
There's many people that like to customize their device and install their favorite JB hacks instead.
 
dhlizard said:
They do not, after all the hackers and jailbreak community provide numerous ideas for popular tweaks/add-ons which subsequently get added to Apple's newest firmware.

Quite the opposite.
Click to expand...

If it's quite the opposite then how come Apple doesn't let you downgrade?
 
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