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PwnageTool 3.1.4 for iPhone OS 3.1.2 now available

by TJ Luoma Oct 14th 2009 at 7:00AM

The ever-determined band at iPhone Dev have updated their "PwnageTool" to include the 3.1.2 release of the iPhone software for iPhone 2G/3G/3GS and iPod Touch 1G/2G (note that the iPod touch 3G is NOT supported).

Jailbreaking, which is different than "unlocking", allows different applications to be run other than the ones available at the App Store, and also allows for some additional functionality such as background process for third party applications. I assume that those who are interested in jailbreaking are already familiar with it enough to know what the 'dangers' are.

For the idly curious, I highly recommend that you check out the webpage and think about whether you really need the functionality it offers. Notably, this will not allow for things like internet tethering on a carrier that doesn't officially support it. The iPhone Dev folks suggest that you remain at 3.0 until a hack for that is developed.


While I haven't followed jailbreaking since the official App Store, I admire the persistence which the group of programmers attacks the closed iPhone system, finding their way in through various flaws that they are able to detect. I don't advocate jailbreaking and I don't dissuage people from it, assuming that they understand the risks. But as someone who knows a little about programming (emphasis on "a little"), I think it's interesting to watch.

This situation has been referred to as a "cat and mouse" game, where each release of the iPhone OS closes whatever hole the iPhone Dev team has used to get in, only to have subsequent holes found. One could even make the argument that the iPhone OS might be better off because of the iPhone Dev folks who work hard to discover these flaws which might otherwise go unreported. Do I ever imagine a day when the game ends? No. As long as there are restrictions on the iPhone, there will be people who look for a way around them. Apple could open up background processing for third party applications and approve every application submitting to the App Store and there would still be those who would want something else: full local access to the filesystem, for example.

Fortunately for me, I don't have any pressing "need" for jailbreaking. I wish that I could have access to the Google Voice applications which were yanked from the App Store, but overall I'm fairly content with what Apple offers. But for those who want more, the iPhone Dev team has spent a lot of hours to make this available. Happy jailbreaking.



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The ever-determined band at iPhone Dev have updated their "PwnageTool" to include the 3.1.2 release of the iPhone software for iPhone...
 

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meego

Hi there...

I love this Jailbreak... it works perfectly on my "iPhone Classic" it's funny that I have 3.1.2 on it with 80% of the 3G s functions...

But I got it on my other iPhone "3G S" and it's not working for some reason... It installed "Cydia & Icy" and that's all... can you guys tell me what could the problem be?

January 06 2010 at 1:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
now4real954

I was perfectly content with using my phone as is...but when I saw that the Geohot had jailbroken 3.1.2 I thought what the hell

I can always go back...but I don't want to now...omg the difference in experience is phenomenal...

backgrounder for instance...love it
qtwitter...insanely easy to use
SBSettings...a godsend
Categories...PERFECTION
and of course
Winterboard...my god...I have MYphone now not just an iPhone

just love it

November 01 2009 at 2:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bernice

Hi, does anyone know if the IPhone 3g 3.1 firmware 05.11.07 will ever be able to be unlocked? Thanks in advance!

October 27 2009 at 7:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to bernice's comment
Patrick Williams

Does anyone know where I could find the google voice app?

October 15 2009 at 1:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan Woods

You're one of the exceptions, writing iPhone Apps in languages other than ObjC is definitely what I would call bleeding edge. Adobe's ActionScript 3.0 to native iPhone App compiler, amongst similar efforts with Java, Scheme and C#/.NET aren't exactly something most users would need to do.

If you're writing programs in these languages, you could probably be able to Jailbreak your iPhone yourself without resorting to using PwnageTool. You would also know the risks of disabling security features of the iPhone.

Making it easy for average consumers to Jailbreak their iPhone is opening up the platform to Viruses, Piracy of commercial products and Usability issues.

When a moron at work comes to me complaining that their Jailbroken iPod Touch is behaving funny, and they want me to fix it for them, you can imagine what I would say. When that moron is a Departmental Manager, you can imagine what I would like to say to them, but can't.

October 15 2009 at 6:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Dan Woods's comment
madhurdutta

I have to Jailbreak in order to unlock my iPhone 3GS which is still not officially launched here, even though it was supposed to way back in Aug.

Can someone tell me whether Ultrasnow works with 3.1.2 on 3GS.

October 15 2009 at 8:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan Woods

This is what annoys me about Technology Bloggers who encourage people to Jailbreak their iPhones.

Back before the App Store, Jailbreaking was the only way to get enhanced functionality into an iPhone.
With iPhoneOS 2.x, someone could excuse Jailbreaking if they had a hardware accessory that they needed. This limited the amount of people who *had* to Jailbreak to a small subset of Hardware Hackers.
With iPhoneOS 3.x, the only people with a reason to Jailbreak are bleeding edge Hackers and Pirates. Bleeding Edge Hackers shouldn't need automated tools to Jailbreak.

October 14 2009 at 7:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Dan Woods's comment
hh

Your comment is fairly shortsighted. Perfectly legitimate reasons for jailbreaking my iphone are numerous, eg
- running the Python programming language to use my self written clinical software
- using the storage capacity on the iphone as external disk
- running a web server on my iphone during tutorials for my students on an ad hoc wireless network
The list continues. What mattes is that this device is mine, I paid for it, and as long as I don't violate the aw I can bloody well do with it whatever I please (at least in my country of residence) and not just what corporate big brother "allows" me to do.
Competition is a fine thing - while I appreciate many offerings of Apple's app store and especially it's convenience, I find the restrictions and lack of competition suffocating.

October 15 2009 at 4:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
p64

I Jailbroke (jailbruk?) my phone a while ago, then found it to get pretty sloppy, slow, and at times altogether unstable. This was before OS 3.0.

I've been considering, for some time now, going back in and doing the process all over again.

Would anybody know if, since the 2.x days, the process has been fixed, or these kinds of issues have been resolved? I know that I'm not the only one who noticed this, especially when legitimately downloading apps from the app store.

Like many, I'm not jailbreaking my phone to steal apps, but rather to be able to fine tune the inner workings of the phone itself. I'll still pay for apps, but if I can't download them, it gets kind of frustrating.

October 14 2009 at 4:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tanya

This post gives a very negative impression of the JB community. I wonder why that is. While you may be happy with the App store offerings, I find it tough to see how you've made an informed decision on the necessity to JB if you haven't tried it. Iv been JB on and off for some time, just depending on my mood. I find the phone much more to my liking when it's free of it's 'shackles'. And the process is almost foolproof at this point. Just be sure to back things up b4 you do anything.

I used to get some pretty useful info from TUAW re the JB movement via Erica Sadun and a couple others. I must say that her insight is sorely missed. Was this a conscious decision on the part of TUAW to cover JB less. If so, I'd love to know why that is.

October 14 2009 at 12:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tony G.

I jailbroke my iPod Touch last night just to be able to use GV Mobile again (Sean Kovacs' Google Voice app), because the official version that I had from the App Store pre-#applefail stopped accepting my login credentials. Certain other things, like MobileMusicPlayerFlip and SBSettings, make me wonder why I waited so long to come back.

October 14 2009 at 12:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Maxwell

Yes, you are correct to say: "Jailbreaking, which is different than 'unlocking'". But - jailbreaking seems to be necessary for unlocking. I would be very happy to have an unlocked iPhone that is not jailbroken (that is, for less than the $800 or so buy.com and other sites charge).

October 14 2009 at 12:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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