The Great iPhone Hack, round 3
Two weeks to the day after Apple's iPhone software update wiped third-party applications from the device and disabled unlocked phones, the hackers have struck back.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog posted details of the iPhone Dev Team's latest effort, which once again opens the iPhone up to third-party applications and the ability to use it on any other GSM network than AT&T's. This appears to be a more substantial effort than the one posted earlier in the evening that exploits a vulnerability in a TIFF image file; you can bet that one will be patched fairly quickly.
The latest hack allows iPhone users who have already installed the OS X 1.1.1 update to revert their iPhones to the previous 1.0.2 update, "jailbreak" it for third-party applications, and then somehow update back to the 1.1.1 version without the cell door slamming shut. TUAW and iPhone Atlas have tested the latest hack and have declared that it works, assuming you have a certain amount of knowledge of the iPhone's command line interface.
We're not posting links to the actual files you'll need to make this happen, but if you're an enterprising fellow with access to the Internet, I doubt you'll have too much trouble. I downloaded the files, and in a readme file accompanying the patches and guide you'd need to jailbreak your iPhone, the iPhone Dev Team (or NerveGas, Pumpkin, Edgan, drudge, dinopio and asap18) actually posted a disclaimer: "The iPhone Dev Team disclaims any liability of damage to your iPhone as a result of following these instructions. While the instructions listed here are believed to be safe and accurate, there is always a possibility that your iPhone could be permanently damaged." Can you really sue somebody for providing you with a hack that damages your iPhone, even though you're violating your service agreement to install that hack?
Anyway, if you unlocked your iPhone and then installed the 1.1.1 update only to be left with a pretty paperweight, the iPhone Dev Team says their update won't fix your problem. However, the iPhoneSIMFree folks announced Thursday morning that as a result of the iPhone Dev Team's work, they're now able to not only unlock 1.1.1 iPhones but they are also able to unbrick those unlocked iPhones that fell silent after installing the update.
Where's Harold Lederman when you need him? Now that the iPhone hackers have figured out how to get past the latest update, which many thought was much more difficult to crack than the original software, the third round goes to them. I'll score it 10-9, but Apple's still in the lead going into the fourth round, by virtue of the 10-8 second round in which they knocked iPhone hackers to the canvas by disabling the unlocked iPhones. The first round, of course, went to the hackers.
So what has Apple got up its sleeve? With Leopard's release around the corner, many are starting to wonder if Apple might start to tire of this fight and figure out a way to let third-party application development onto the iPhone. It's pretty clear that Apple will be unable to completely fend off an army of determined hackers forever, but I think it is trying to find a way to allow third-party application development without letting people unlock their iPhones just yet.
In the meantime, if you really, really want third-party applications on your iPhone, understand that you might be forfeiting your right to future technical support. Those who previously hacked the iPhone were able to restore the factory settings before bringing it in for service, but it's not clear whether that's still an option with this latest update.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
service providers. The Hackers affect the mobile provider's
money stream and this can delay negotiations. If you want Apple
to spread the iPhone far and wide, then the hackers are acting as
spoilers. The IPhone is locked in to AT&T for just five years;
although, you might think that is forever, it is not.. The mobile
service providers need to make major upgrades to their systems
to provide improved service and speed which must be paid for.
No wonder that the mobile service providers ask for a lock in.
If Apple asks you not to update your iPhone and insists that you
take responsibility for it if you have changed the firmware, I'd
suggest that you listen.
1) Apple's contract with AT&T includes exclusivity - as previously noted. Being that as it is, they have to reasonably attempt to comply with that exclusivity by making sure the locking mechanisms work.
2) Its unlikely that Apple would maliciously attack phone users - it isn't "Apple vs consumers". Apple wants to sell as many iPhones as possible, its in their best interests. Similiarly though, if an exploitation of their locking mechanism is fixed pursuant to being compliant with their agreements with other companies and the fix causes your phone to stop working - you really can't be pissed off at Apple.
3) Were it a case of Apple merely wanting to "brick your phone" out of spite, I would agree that it would be distasteful - as you own your phone. However a phone's continued operation is contingent on a continual stream of updates and fixes and therefore if you break their service agreement you cannot expect there to not be consequences. In order to make that stream of updates viable, they need to guarantee a reasonably predictable runtime environment and they cannot do that if they consent to you hacking the phone. And the types of hacks these are - are the very definition of flaky hacks that are likely to leave your phone in an unpredictable state.
4) With that being said, do what you want with your own property.
As you said, Apple will surely fix the security hole, and re-brick all the un-bricked phones. Then hackers will figure out a way around that, and Apple will fix that hole, and then we'll start over for the fourth time. Meanwhile, how many people will continue to line up to download and install the hack, get bit by Apple, rinse, and repeat? How many times will they suffer through the process before they give up and stick with the delivered phone on the approved network?
A computer without third-party apps isn't going to do as well as one with third-party apps. But cell phone users aren't going to put up with losing their phone each time there's a patch. All Apple has to do is make sure each patch (or even every third patch) has some new must-have feature, and they win.
you read the stories coming out of the hacker group, then it was
bad code in the AnySIM application that was responsibile for the
iPhones being bricked, not Apple. They admit that their method
works on anything but AnySIM, but they accept no accounability.
The thing is once you get it working don't update it until there is an updated hack.
APPLE OPEN IPHONE NOW!
transmission, something breaks, and Toyota/Pontiac/etc. won't
fix it for free because I voided the warranty? Of course not...(any
sensible person anyhow)
If I buy a TV, and open it up, changing the brightness controls
so that it's brighter than the manufacturers default limits,
should the TV manufacturer honor the warranty and replace the
TV? Of course not.
These are all items that are designed with quality in mind, things
that give people value over the long run. The reason companies
have warranty policies is because they can't guarantee that your
impulsiveness to play mr. gadget-improver won't break their
product. In the few years I've used Apple products, I've come to
realize they have the same mindset. There's a reason they put
their warranty policies into effect, to ensure you have a quality
product that lasts.
One of the greatest advantages of the iPhone is that with a
simple firmware upgrade, the entire phone can become a new
product. The reason people wanted the phone so bad that lines
formed like crack addicts (even among the anything-but-Apple
fanbase) is not because it was advertised as an open phone, but
a great phone. I think it lived up to every facet and claim they
made. Will an SDK be released an Apple allow native programs to
be released, I'm sure they will. Should they do it now, probably
not. Apple has a few things up their sleeves they want to pull out
before that happens. Also, with hackers persistent as they are, it
does give Apple a chance to further secure the phone. The last
thing I want is some 3rd party developer to code a program that
in the background sends all my information to that programmer,
nor do I want a program that crashes/bricks my phone on a
whim.
Apple has a great product. It is your choice to void the warranty
and hack the phone, it is not any company's responsibilty to fix
the problems YOU create.
One last analogy. If I buy a dinner entree from a restaurant and
decide for the heck of it I want to add cyanide to the plate
because I think it tastes better, is it the restaurant's fault that
their plate killed me? If you answer yes to that question, please
take a lesson in logic and common sense, because your life is
going to be horrible without it.
It's fun to Modify things and then show them off to my friends.
And if anyone really cares about the stupid warranty, they can keep their boring iphone.
If you do brick your iphone, there is a good chance you can still recover it if you know what your doing.
Suppose, in the car analogy, that when you buy that Toyota or Pontiac your purchase only allows you to drive on specific roads if you want continued support. Or suppose the tv manufacturer only allows you to watch channels they have an arrangement with and blocks all other? Those analogys are much closer to the real argument here.
In today's society techies want a device that will be able to go beyond the original purpose. Apple, claiming to be the pulpit for these people, shoudl realize this, especially when one considers how they tout their computers and other devices to give the enduser greater freedom than the typical MS Windows user.
To make this claim then provide the iPhone (and iPod) in such a manner that they actually restrict the freedom of the users is not only counter-intuitive, it's plain dumb.
The folks at Apple should have made third-party arrangements before the iPhone ever stepped out the door. The Palm and the Berry are perfect examples of this. Right out the box you can install third party applications that allows you to alter the performance of the device to more closely reflect what was important to me.
When I worked construction I had a calculator program that afforded me greater access to the calculations that were specific to my world as well as easy way to compute angles and lengths without being a PhD in geometry.
this is where Apple stumbled (and stumbled greatly) in my opinion. Offering a reduced rate for a year if using AT&T but still allowing the device to be used on all networks would have been brilliant. I have no idea why they would limit it to a single carrier.
Until Apple wakes up and realizes that each end user is different from the next and will need the ability to tweak their devices to more accurately fit their individual needs products such as the iPhone will be forever relegated to the "cute but do I really need it" category.
You'd drive a reliable and dependable economy car while someone else would rather put time into tweaking it into a rice burner of doom. Different tastes for different people. You car analogy is flawed, in that this time people believed Toyota saw you weren't using their name brand fuel, so they killed your engine and gave it back to you (thats what most thought had happened).
As long as you understand the implied risks, there's nothing wrong with hacking your phone. Screw EULA's and the idea that a company can sell you something, and then force you to use it their way. As long as it doesn't affect other's service, there is no reason for Corporations to have the power to control consumers personal lives.
How is it most of America has been convinced that corporations should control how you use a product you purchase and legally own. The very people being controlled by that infectious idea run screaming to protect their precious company's leaching their wallets. Nobody explores the idea of an open market, where freedom reigns, consumers control their products their ways, and innovation and creativity reigns. Maybe google will give us a piece of that with the FCC auction, and all these telecom's who have stifled progress will come back to their humble roots and remember, "we the consumer are why you exist."
/rant off
On a high level, I do agree that if you do things to a product that breaks the warranty, the company who makes the product has no responsibility to fix/replace said product. The problem is that Apple has built in a limitation to the phone. AT&T comes handcuffed to the phone and no matter how good the iPhone is, if service is bad in your area or if you travel internationally, then the iPhone is not a feasible option for you unless you hack it.
Regarding the dinner analogy, again, not applicable to this situation. It would be like if you went to a restaurant and asked the waiter to prepare a dish without peanuts because of allergies. The waiter says that it can't be done because they have a deal in place with the peanut industry that requires peanuts to be in all meals. You order it anyway and decide to remove the peanuts by hand. When the chef sees you do this, he/she take it away from you.
However, if anyone can give me a compelling reason to move forward, I'll listen.
Anyone? Anyone?
BUT, I now followed iphoneatlas's instructions and got back my apps on firmware 1.1.1 - so I'm very pleased.
The MAIN reason I wanted the new firmware? Apple addressed an issue where bluetooth headset volume was too low. My Jabra headset had to be turned up all the way for me to hear anyone with it, and if there was background noise, it was still too quiet.
The new feature of it adding a period, a space, and capitalizing the first letter of the next sentence when you tape space twice is nice too.
would probably avoid the update. I think it came with a few bug
fixes too, but it was pretty stable before the update except for a
few glitches here and there. So far other than iTunes you
wouldn't be missing too much...yet.
I would be a little worried about what the future held though. I
think I would want to know that I could un-install whatever apps
I did install so that I could take them all off in the event Apple
adds something that I must have.
There is an erase all content and settings option in the general
settings section. General settings/Reset/Erase All Content and
Settings. Wipe it clean and then sync it.
Rumor has it that with the release of Leopard a lot of things will
be added or changed since the OS in the iPhone is Leopard
already.
But once you BUY a device, you should have a choice of how you choose to use it.
By the way, once you OWN your own phone, you can negotiate with the cell carriers for cheaper rates.
In 5 years this will become a moot point, your handset will work on WI-FI, and WI-FI will be everywhere. The cell-phone business model is going the way of the dinosaur.
I have an iPhone now. I don't see anyone being outraged over the fact that T-Mobile is the exclusive carrier of the Sidekick. I don't see lawsuits being filed for other companies that have exclusive phones... It's all stupid.
company like atnt... they pretty much lost me as a customer...
I'll just wait for something that is connected to a network that you
can make phone calls on...
The fact that hacking it away from Atnt domination is so popular
oughta tell Apple something...
- only AT&T by name
- by clsmithj October 14, 2007 3:16 AM PDT
- I really dislike AT&T just cause I know its really the crap cell phone service Cingular renamed since the SBC buyout.
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