Avid jailbreak fans have long been stuck on the iOS 10 update with no signs of working jailbreaks releasing for the public anytime soon. Following the footsteps of prolific iOS hacker Luca Todesco, another iOS cyberpunk with Twitter handle @ijapija00 has demoed another successful jailbreak on iPhone 7 Plus running iOS 10.1 in his YouTube video.
According to the hacker, the new jailbreak is confirmed to work on iOS 10.1.1 as well. Since iOS 10.1.1 is the latest of Apple's public iOS releases comprising new security patches, this could be deemed as a vital breakthrough in the history of jailbreaks.
Although Apple has been constantly trying to block all known exploits in iOS software with subsequent security updates like the kernel patch protection (KPP), the iOS 10.1 jailbreak apparently runs on a single unpatched exploit that's considered to be "stable".
The new jailbreak gains precedence given the fact that the KPP implementation is known to cause instability issues with unrefined jailbreaks. With the Cydia Substrate yet to receive any compatibility support for the latest iOS 10 update, it becomes imperative to implement a substitute library that can replicate the services of Cydia.
According to iDownloadBlog, @ijapija00 has used some Cydia Substrate alternative to enable jailbreak tweaks to run without the need to update the Cydia services to work on the newest operating system.
On the downside, there is some scepticism with the way the new jailbreak has been demonstrated on the video as the hacker has failed to reveal the iOS version via Settings > General > About section. Instead, the hacker has chosen to use a third-party system query app to reveal the software version, which is not the norm or the standard being followed with official jailbreak demonstrations ahead of their final public release.
Furthermore, it is ascertained that the new iOS 10.1 jailbreak is semi-untethered, which requires a specialised jailbreak app to run on the device's Home screen to unlock jailbreak access after each reboot. Unlike the tethered version, you don't have to connect your phone to the computer to perform the jailbreak.
Like several other unreleased developer-only jailbreaks, this one is unlikely to see the day of light in the jailbreak community. The hacker admits that he is unwilling to take the burden of risk and responsibility in releasing a public version of the jailbreak as it involves a lot of work for just one person.
Here is the full explanation on why the jailbreak won't see the day of light as cited in the YouTube video description:
The major reasons for this not being published are:
1. Cydia Substrate is patched by replacing a library that loads the tweaks into the system. If we would have a un-patched Substrate for 10.x then I maybe would consider twice about this. But as long as it's patched and I don't own it, there'll be not releases!
2. As a single developer, I don't want to be responsible for other people's devices, if they break or lose something. I neither don't have the time to help people having problems with the jailbreak process itself.
3. Also, this jailbreak is stable sometimes and sometimes not. That means that it's mostly used for testing tweaks or for private use and is NOT ready to be released at all!
Meanwhile, the only hope for a public release of iOS 10 jailbreak has come from the prolific hacker team Pangu and TaiG. While the latter have remained silent about their impending jailbreak releases lately, the former has clearly hinted that they would eventually roll out the public release of the jailbreak for iOS 10/10.1.
