Jailbreaking takes a hit as Cydia "app store" shutters

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited December 2018
The end may be nigh for iOS jailbreaking as the Cydia Store officially shut down this week, depriving a once thriving community of an important app distribution platform.

Cydia App Store
Cydia App Store logo | Source: Technology News World


Creator Jay Saurik made the announcement in a Reddit thread on Thursday, confirming the demise of the jailbreaking community's main app store.

At its peak, Cydia was able to support a small team devoted to its upkeep, but that time has long passed. Recently, Cydia has made next to nothing for Saurik, instead costing him thousands of dollars a month, not to mention his mental well-being.

"The reality is that I wanted to just shut down the Cydia Store entirely before the end of the year, and was considering moving the timetable up," Saurik said on Reddit.

Saurik was already planning on shutting down Cydia, but a recent security flaw was discovered, potentially putting logged in users at risk. This caused prominent jailbreak developers such as Nullpixel and Andy Wiik to issue statements urging users to remove their PayPal info from their accounts.

"I think he made a good decision for his own health" Andy Wiik said to AppleInsider, adding he thinks the community will continue to live on.

While it is no longer possible to make purchases through Cydia, the repo itself will still be around, allowing users to download previous purchases or make purchases through third-parties.

Additional details will be forthcoming from Saurik with more details on what the future holds for Cydia as well as its rise and fall.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    noraa1138noraa1138 Posts: 31unconfirmed, member
    Sad, but hardly surprising. The latest iOS to be jailbroken was 11.4 beta 3 - and that actually only happened recently. The likely hood of iOS 12 being jailbroken at this point is fairly slim, and it certainly isn't going to happen any time soon. For better or worse, jailbreaking isn't nearly as necessary as it was in iOS' early days. Apple has added a number of features that were popularized by various jailbreak tweaks, and for the vast majority of users it simply isn't worth the hassle and security implications that come with jailbreaking.
    racerhomie3williamlondonredgeminipasaareknetmageravnorodomjbdragondocno42watto_cobraMindRight
  • Reply 2 of 35
    payecopayeco Posts: 581member
    noraa1138 said:
    Sad, but hardly surprising. The latest iOS to be jailbroken was 11.4 beta 3 - and that actually only happened recently. The likely hood of iOS 12 being jailbroken at this point is fairly slim, and it certainly isn't going to happen any time soon. For better or worse, jailbreaking isn't nearly as necessary as it was in iOS' early days. Apple has added a number of features that were popularized by various jailbreak tweaks, and for the vast majority of users it simply isn't worth the hassle and security implications that come with jailbreaking.
    I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone since iPhoneOS 1 but as you mentioned, Apple pulled some features popularized from the jailbreak universe. Probably most notably the first major overhaul of the notification system which serves as the foundation of notifications to this day. I do worry that maybe without the jailbreak community it will negatively impact the future of iOS by cutting off a a well of ideas.
    edited December 2018 williamlondonredgeminipawatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 35
    caladaniancaladanian Posts: 380member
    payeco said:
    noraa1138 said:
    Sad, but hardly surprising. The latest iOS to be jailbroken was 11.4 beta 3 - and that actually only happened recently. The likely hood of iOS 12 being jailbroken at this point is fairly slim, and it certainly isn't going to happen any time soon. For better or worse, jailbreaking isn't nearly as necessary as it was in iOS' early days. Apple has added a number of features that were popularized by various jailbreak tweaks, and for the vast majority of users it simply isn't worth the hassle and security implications that come with jailbreaking.
    I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone since iPhoneOS 1 but as you mentioned, Apple pulled some features popularized from the jailbreak universe. Probably most notably the first major overhaul of the notification system which serves as the foundation of notifications to this day. I do worry that maybe without the jailbreak community it will negatively impact the future of iOS by cutting off a a well of ideas.
    I do like what Apple is introducing with „shortcuts“ => if they go further this way they open up for customisations, tweeks and smart combinations without compromising security. :)
    netmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 35
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    Sorry, but the Cydia store was an iOS8/9 thing and now represents < 1% of the jailbreak acrtivity. It has minimal sales volume, and there are several newer and other sales mechanisms that work (while dispersed). Look at the “feature list” of pre-iOS 12.1.2x vulnerabilities to understand that there is exactly zero coincidence with the future of jailbreaking
    edited December 2018
  • Reply 5 of 35
    osmartormenajrosmartormenajr Posts: 287member
    I was honestly unaware that jailbreaking was still a thing... damned app thieves!
    williamlondondocno42watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 35
    starflyerstarflyer Posts: 18member
    I just want access to the Nike and Hermès faces on my Apple Watch.
    1983watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 35
    racerhomie3racerhomie3 Posts: 1,264member
    starflyer said:
    I just want access to the Nike and Hermès faces on my Apple Watch.
    You can do that if you have a Mac with Xcode installed. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 35
    redgeminiparedgeminipa Posts: 555member
    I haven’t felt the need since iPhoneOS 4.2.1. The risks and upkeep just weren’t worth it.
    edited December 2018 boxcatcherbb-15tokyojimudocno42watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 35
    boxcatcherboxcatcher Posts: 267member
    redgeminipa said:
    I haven’t felt the need since iPhoneOS 4.2.1. The risks and upkeep just weren’t worth it.
    Exactly.  There were some legit reasons to jailbreak in the early days ... struggle to imagine what the point (besides theft) is now.

    I'd take that back if, for a developer, Jailbreaking enabled lower-level access to APIs.  For example, I'd love to be able to play with the IR dot projector + sensor used by FaceID.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 35
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    Getting Apple’s latest security updates have been 1000x more important than avoiding the “Apple Tax” from the App Store (or other Mods).

    If I wanted to play Russian Roulette with my security I’d use an Android device... 
    dedgeckobb-15wonkothesaneericthehalfbeechiawatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 11 of 35
    TrueNorthTrueNorth Posts: 21member
    You're misusing the word 'shutters'.
    williamlondonnetmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 35
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    Most here don’t have the slightest idea what jb is about - and how it still pales stock iOS. Never mind - keep safe in the walled prison ehh.. garden
    edited December 2018
  • Reply 13 of 35
    andrewc2andrewc2 Posts: 1member
    Your article just like Engadet's who quoted you is completely inaccurate. All that was shutdown is the ability to purchase apps. Cydia still very much works and is online for downloading free jailbreak apps.
    netmage1983
  • Reply 14 of 35
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,523member
    osmartormenajr said:
    I was honestly unaware that jailbreaking was still a thing... damned app thieves!
    I used to jailbreak my phone, primarily because features that really ought to have been in iOS were missing at the time. A key example of this would be the personal hotspot feature that we take for-granted as an obvious feature today, but was annoyingly missing from iOS until 2011.

    As iOS matured and holes in the feature set were slowly filled the need for jail breaking your phone have fallen away.
    netmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 35
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,358member
    starflyer said:
    I just want access to the Nike and Hermès faces on my Apple Watch.
    Yes!


    racerhomie3 said:
    You can do that if you have a Mac with Xcode installed. 
    And I would, if I knew how!
    1983watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 35
    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG Posts: 968member
    I have a pet theory that Apple released Night Shift because they found some data suggesting that many or most jailbreaks were for F.lux. 
    edited December 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 35
    napoleon_phoneapartnapoleon_phoneapart Posts: 548member
    I just like my 5-column home screen and dock. I also like the obtrusive stock volume HUD being gone. That's the main reason I'll continue to jailbreak. If Apple would only open up the system to a little UI customization, I think a lot fewer people would bother with jailbreaking.
    1983docno42Latkowatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 35
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,710member
    Jailbreaking was a novelty that simply wore off. 

    Sure it was fun fun to tinker. But that’s all it amounted to. 

    And then you were we’re stuck with a vulnerable device that was a pain to update. 

    Most have realized that that the iPhone is best the way Apple designed it to work. Tinkering is best done elsewhere. M
    surprised Cyrus was ever able to support a staff. Not surprised that they can’t make it as a business. 
    edited December 2018 williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 35
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    If you want good security stick with Apple’s stock interface. If you to tinker with customization with a little less security there’s Android. Jailbreaking on an iPhone is very niche and an irresponsible thing to do. 
    edited December 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 35
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    I know Jay (lives nearby) and about 2 years ago he told me that Cydia was doing great. Times change. I used to jailbreak long ago to broadcast a hotspot until carriers clamped down on it. 
    edited December 2018 watto_cobra
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