Types of Jailbreak: Discover what you didn't know about jailbreaking

 Types of Jailbreak: Discover what you didn't know about jailbreaking. You've been jailbreaking your iDevices. But do you know all the different types of jailbreaking? And how is one different from the other?  We are going to answer all these questions for you. 

Each jailbreak type or method works in a different way and below, we have listed the main types of jailbreak and how they work.

Jailbreaking

Jailbreaking is the process of exploiting the flaws of a locked-down electronic device to install software other than what the manufacturer has made available for that device. 

Jailbreaking allows the device owner to gain full access to the root of the operating system and access all the features. It is called jailbreaking because it involves freeing users from the ‘jail’ of limitations that are perceived to exist.

The term jailbreaking is most often used in relation to the iPhone: it is considered the most ‘locked down’ mobile device currently on sale. 

Early versions of the iPhone did not have an app store, and the iOS interface was considered more limited for users than it is today. 

Types of jailbreak

We have four different types of jailbreak:

• Untethered Jailbreaks
• Semi-Untethered Jailbreaks
• Semi-Tethered Jailbreaks
• Tethered Jailbreaks

1. Untethered jailbreaks

This type of jailbreak does not necessarily require a computer. Everything required to enter the jailbroken state is contained on the iPhone. Rebooting away from a computer does not affect the jailbreak. 

Untethered jailbreaks can be considered the holy grail of all jailbreaks. They only require the exploit to be run once either via a website or a computer.

The downside to an untethered jailbreak is that if something goes wrong, it could very well result in a bootloop requiring you to restore your device via iTunes or Finder (macOS Catalina or newer). The likelihood of this happening is low but is indeed possible.

A few examples of untethered jailbreaks are p0sixspwn and Pangu9.

2. semi-untethered jailbreaks

This jailbreak works by running the exploit through an app on the device itself. The app, however, must be resigned every 7 days if sideloaded with a standard Apple ID. Utilities like AltStore, ReProvisionFix, and AltDaemon make this process far easier.

semi-untethered jailbreaks have been the most popular type of jailbreak in recent years. This type of jailbreak requires an exploit to be executed every time you reboot or turn off your device.

Due to the nature of how the exploit is applied, these jailbreaks are easily removable through their respective app.

A few examples of semi-untethered jailbreaks include Odyssey, Chimera, and Electra.

3. Semi-Tethered jailbreaks

Semi-tethered jailbreaks are very similar to semi-untethered jailbreaks, however, the exploit must be run using a computer rather than using a sideloaded app.

Due to requiring a computer to re-jailbreak after every reboot, most choose to use a semi-untethered jailbreak instead.

An example of a semi-tethered jailbreak is checkra1n.

4. Tethered jailbreaks

A tethered jailbreak requires the iOS device to be plugged into a computer when turned on. If the iPhone is not plugged into a computer and booted with special software, the device will not enter a jailbroken state.

Because of this, these tend to only be used by jailbreak developers getting ready for a newer version of iOS.