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It’s now possible to jailbreak an iPhone using an Android phone

Published Mar 4th, 2020 10:42PM EST
iPhone Jailbreak
Image: Zach Epstein for BGR

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It’s 2020, but some iPhone and iPad users still want to jailbreak their devices. The good news for them is that despite how sophisticated and secure iOS might have become, it can still be jailbroken. Even iOS 13 can be cracked if you’re looking to install apps on your device that haven’t been allowed in the App Store.

The way you would normally go about jailbreaking your iOS devices was relatively simple. You’d need a special program installed on your Mac or Windows computer which would jailbreak the device connected to said computer via a Lightning cable. But because it’s 2020, you can now do all of that using an Android phone instead of a PC.

Mind. Blown.

Scratch what I said before about jailbreaking. Actually performing the task with an Android device is a good enough reason for jailbreaking an iPhone just to see if it works. Mind you, however, we’re not suggesting anyone jailbreak a device using the tools ou there. Bad things can happen when jailbreaking or rooting a device, and you should only go forward with the process if you’re comfortable performing them in the first place. In that case, you probably already know about the risks involved, and there are quite a few.

Speaking of rooting, you’ll need to root your Android phone before you use it to jailbreak the iPhone, which means you’re in for two similar procedures. Then again, if you’re the kind of person who jailbreaks his or her devices, you probably have root access to your Android phone already. On top of that, you might need a USB-C to micro-USB adapter to hook your iOS device to the Android phone if a standard Lightning-to-USB-C device won’t get the job done.

As Cult of Mac explains, the jailbreak that works on Android is called Checkra1n, which is still in beta. It only works as a tethered jailbreak, which can be something of a problem. You need to jailbreak the handset every time you reboot it, though that’s why doing it with an Android handset might come in handy. Still, being unable to boot or even reboot your iOS device unless it’s connected to an Android phone isn’t exactly ideal.

The reason Checkra1n works on Android for certain iOS devices running iOS 13 is that the tool has support for both macOS and Linux — a Windows app is supposedly coming soon. You can read everything about the entire process over on Reddit, where you’ll also find a tutorial for using this new jailbreak.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.