Cydia developer Saurik has confirmed that he is working on an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak.
Recently, it has become apparent that the jailbreak community working on iOS products is anything but flourishing. With tightened security and a lower demand for the ability to fully unlock an iPhone or iPad, an already questionably profitable endeavor has taken a major hit in terms of viability. It takes longer to discover and take advantage of security exploits, and as Apple adds more requested features, there’s quickly becoming less of a reason to seek out creative solutions to break through the defenses of the company’s restrictive operating system.
However, Saurik has recently confirmed that he’s currently working on an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak. This news comes on the tail of an announcement from Ian Beer of Google’s Project Zero, that revealed the discovery of an iOS exploit that allowed users to obtain root access. Cydia is a major player in the jailbreaking community, as one of the most popular alternative launchers in the industry. Despite lower demand and adoption, the fact that Saurik is charging full speed ahead with an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak gives us hope that there’s a future for the community after all.
iOS 11 Cydia Jailbreak Controversy
In a post on Reddit, Saurik announced his ongoing work and was met with a mixed reception by the r/jailbreaking community. Many people on the subreddit accused the developer of trying to monopolize the iOS jailbreaking market, after Cydia’s recent acquisition of Rock — another alternative iOS launcher.
“People need to understand that since 2010, when the last serious Cydia alternative (Rock) was gone, (Bought by SaurikIT), Saurik had an absolute monopoly here. He didn’t need to improve Cydia to keep people happy, since their only choice is Cydia. They couldn’t switch to anything else. That’s why since 2010 Cydia hasn’t seen any major improvements, new features, redesign, or anything new really. Cydia’s binaries are mostly compiled pre-2010…Cydia basically is a[n] 8-year-old application running on modern devices.”
In a rather heated response to naysayers, Saurik explained that his passion and progress on an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak — as well as the development of Cydia in general — had been hampered by constant criticism.
“The real reason I don’t enjoy doing any of this is people like you, who have decided a ton of conspiracy theories for how I make tons of money and am some evil and conniving business person trying to make a quick dollar instead of someone who has given up a lot–in both money I could have earned and relationships I could have had and well as projects I couldn’t have completed–so I could pour my time and energy into something I felt was really important…Every single one of my achievements ends up being tainted by the “he is only doing this for the money” thread, and every single time I have to explain yet again the same points”
The Future of the iOS Jailbreak
It’s clear that there’s a lot of passion and effort behind the progression of an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak, and that the community has largely become jaded due to a lack of significant progress. It’s important to note that jailbreaking is a largely thankless job, driven forward by inquisitive individuals’ desire to break a system down and open it up to more features and functionality for the general public. Saurik’s drive behind continuing to work on an iOS 11 Cydia jailbreak lies in the fact that he truly believes in what he’s doing. As long as we continue to have capable individuals with the philosophy that phones should be unlocked and less restrictive when it comes to customization and features, we’ll likely see the community continue to innovate far into the future.
With the recent shuttering of app repositories like ModMyi, the functionality of a jailbreak may be less impressive when compared to past releases. Still, there’s definitely something to be said for an unlocked phone that can be adjusted to suit the needs of the user. Where one repository falls, another will likely take its place. A lull in the iOS jailbreaking community had many people discouraged, but a recent jump in progress with Ian Beer’s discovery has renewed the motivation of many hopeful hackers. While the future of the iOS jailbreak is still uncertain, there’s clearly a dedicated team with a continued commitment to removing the restrictions of Apple’s operating systems.
