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Impatient non-developer - How safe are IOS 7 GMs found floating around the internet?

M

mrdm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 21, 2010
158
10
I'm not worried about bugs, stability or bricking the phone during the upgrade process (I can follow the instructions for manually updating). I'm more concerned about loading spyware or malware onto the phone by using images found from URLs in the multitude of tech site articles discussing the topic.

Does apple use a checksum or some other method to be sure the image hasn't been tampered with before it is installed on the phone? Is it possible for something to be loaded at the boot level before the image comes up? With how quickly IOS is jail broken these days it seems like these random images on the net might not be that safe.

Before I'm flamed beyond recognition and told to simply wait - just want to point out that I don't want to pay $99 for the developer id and also really don't want to wait until next week. Yes, I'm an impatient fanboy and proud of it :)! That said, if the general consensus/experience is that it is too risky I would wait.

Thanks for relaying any information or experiences....
 
Look at this way.. waiting 6 days might be painful for you, but not anywhere near as painful as if you mess up your phone.

Just wait. I'm sure you can find something to occupy your time..
 
Given the checks (with Apple) it all goes through during installation, I can't say I've even heard of a way for anything other than something official from Apple to be installed.
 
C DM said:
Given the checks (with Apple) it all goes through during installation, I can't say I've even heard of a way for anything other than something official from Apple to be installed.
Click to expand...

This. If it weren't the real deal, it wouldn't install.

Apple makes installing IPSW's their way or the not installing way.
 
I don't think there's anything to worry about installing the GM.

If a particular file on the internet was dodgy, then the users of that file would quickly comment on that file indicating that it was not to be downloaded.

Jailbreaks of iOS don't tend to arrive with x.0 releases, they're normally a few months after the x.0 release.
 
There's nothing wrong with using a ipsw from the internet I've only been a developer for a year and I did it all the time in the past, seeing as apple varifies the restores hash anyway
 
MarcusCarpenter said:
There's nothing wrong with using a ipsw from the internet I've only been a developer for a year and I did it all the time in the past, seeing as apple varifies the restores hash anyway
Click to expand...
Exactly. Now if it was in a zip, along with a file called Readme.exe (and I still used Windows) then I might be apprehensive. ;)
 
Well I had one link and it almost bricked the phone so I had to restore to factory settings and revert to ios 6. then got a better link and worked fine.

I didnt have loads to redo on the phone but what I had to do was made stupidly bluddy hard by Apple !

I finally get my ios7 GM installed and it says to restore from backup select setup as new phone then click restore from backup.... well when updated Itunes wont work without an update and I had no access to backup.

luckily notes and contacts etc got saved to icloud so I was ok.

but all in all the day started with a bad GM file so do be careful.
 
I found one that someone I follow on Twitter posted. It was from a guy with plenty of videos on YouTube, so I felt that was a least better than the equivalent of some noob showing up on here with a new account and posting links.

Back up your phone and give it a go if you want to. I had trouble updating each device the first time. My iPhone worked after I got the new iTunes beta. My iPad worked after I did it as a restore from scratch.

As for the people who say it can only be done the exact way Apple wants it, plug your device in. Open iTunes. Click the button to check for updates while holding down the option key. Notice how you get a window to choose a file? Yeah, Apple isn't THAT strict. It's just not labeled "THIS WAY TO NARNIA."
 
Nevaborn said:
Well I had one link and it almost bricked the phone so I had to restore to factory settings and revert to ios 6. then got a better link and worked fine.

I didnt have loads to redo on the phone but what I had to do was made stupidly bluddy hard by Apple !

I finally get my ios7 GM installed and it says to restore from backup select setup as new phone then click restore from backup.... well when updated Itunes wont work without an update and I had no access to backup.

luckily notes and contacts etc got saved to icloud so I was ok.

but all in all the day started with a bad GM file so do be careful.
Click to expand...

Considering the clarity and fluidity of your post.......i'm not surprised.

Installing these IPSW's are fine and it is VERY, VERY hard to brick your phone to a point of no return.
 
it's not really possible to install a "bad" IPSW to your phone. It won't work flawlessly with some trojan in the background. It'll either install or it won't.
 
troy14 said:
Considering the clarity and fluidity of your post.......i'm not surprised.

Installing these IPSW's are fine and it is VERY, VERY hard to brick your phone to a point of no return.
Click to expand...

thanks for being constructive, your a credit to the forum.
 
Nevaborn said:
Well I had one link and it almost bricked the phone so I had to restore to factory settings and revert to ios 6. then got a better link and worked fine.

I didnt have loads to redo on the phone but what I had to do was made stupidly bluddy hard by Apple !

I finally get my ios7 GM installed and it says to restore from backup select setup as new phone then click restore from backup.... well when updated Itunes wont work without an update and I had no access to backup.

luckily notes and contacts etc got saved to icloud so I was ok.

but all in all the day started with a bad GM file so do be careful.
Click to expand...
Not sure what happened there, but if iTunes did all the verifications in the beginning of the install and went ahead with the actual installation then the install file is fine. You can certainly run into issues as people sometimes can when it comes to all things computer related, but it would be more likely due to something other than some weird install file for iOS.

----------
Michael CM1 said:
I found one that someone I follow on Twitter posted. It was from a guy with plenty of videos on YouTube, so I felt that was a least better than the equivalent of some noob showing up on here with a new account and posting links.

Back up your phone and give it a go if you want to. I had trouble updating each device the first time. My iPhone worked after I got the new iTunes beta. My iPad worked after I did it as a restore from scratch.

As for the people who say it can only be done the exact way Apple wants it, plug your device in. Open iTunes. Click the button to check for updates while holding down the option key. Notice how you get a window to choose a file? Yeah, Apple isn't THAT strict. It's just not labeled "THIS WAY TO NARNIA."
Click to expand...
Of course you can manually select the image file for install, but it still goes through verification with Apple as part of the installation (right at the beginning at least), so something that wouldn't be exactly what Apple provided and still supports for the device you are using wouldn't even go through to the actual installation.
 
C DM said:
Not sure what happened there, but if iTunes did all the verifications in the beginning of the install and went ahead with the actual installation then the install file is fine. You can certainly run into issues as people sometimes can when it comes to all things computer related, but it would be more likely due to something other than some weird install file for iOS.

----------

Of course you can manually select the image file for install, but it still goes through verification with Apple as part of the installation (right at the beginning at least), so something that wouldn't be exactly what Apple provided and still supports for the device you are using wouldn't even go through to the actual installation.
Click to expand...

I dont know why it went screwy with that version. The second though worked like a charm. If only I had done that first would of saved me a world of hassle.
 
So let me get this straight. The GM is the final version and when .0X updates come out, anybody on the GM build will be able to OTA directly to them?
 
Zmanbaseball2 said:
iOS 7 GM is not upgrade able over OTA but will be once public release comes for iOS 6 users.
Answer your QS?
Click to expand...

That wasn't his question.

Masands, yes, the GM is the exact same as the public release. When 7.0.1 is released, you can update to it just the same as you would if you hadn't installed the GM and waited for public release on Wednesday.
 
Last edited:
Tyler23 said:
That wasn't his question.

Masada, yes, the GM is the exact same as the public release. When 7.0.1 is released, you can update to it just the same as you would if you hadn't installed the GM and waited for public release on Wednesday.
Click to expand...

thanks for answering the question.
 
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