The release of an easy-to-download method of opening up the iPhone to third-party applications prompted almost 150,000 downloads of the software in three days.
The iPhone of an anonymous CNET employee now has a few third-party applications, thanks for the AppSnapp installer.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Our friends over at iPhone Atlas spoke with Nicholas "Drudge" Penree, one of the programmers of the AppSnapp "jailbreak" application, who provided the number. AppSnapp was released Sunday to allow iPhones and iPod Touches running the latest version of Apple's iPhone firmware to run third-party applications. Penree thinks the 144,000 downloads of the program reported since Sunday translates into around 100,000 devices that are now free to run applications developed outside of Apple.
Apple and hackers have been playing a cat-and-mouse game over the screen real estate on the iPhone almost since the day it was released. Apple CEO Steve Jobs initially told developers that the iPhone would be closed to native application development, saying that Web applications would be the initial venue onto the iPhone. That didn't sit well with many developers who were captivated by the promise of the iPhone's touchscreen interface and built-in accelerometer.
Hackers then managed to develop several methods of getting outside applications onto the iPhone only to be thwarted by Apple's OS X 1.1.1 software update. That erased all third-party applications from the iPhone, and caused all kinds of problems for people who had used the jailbreaking software to download applications in order to unlock their iPhones from AT&T's network.
Apple is clearly worried about unlocked iPhones. Chief operating officer Tim Cook offered an unsolicited estimate last week that 250,000 iPhones have been purchased with the intention of unlocking them, and the company recently enacted a credit-card only policy and a two-iPhone limit for sales through its stores with the goal of discouraging unauthorized resale.
But Apple knows just how much demand there is for third-party application on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Earlier this month, Jobs announced plans to release a software developer's kit for both devices by February of next year.
That SDK will pave the way for safer and more reliable iPhone and iPod Touch applications. Some security experts are worried about the security implications of the fact that all iPhone applications run as root, while others feel it's a question of priorities at the moment.
Still, the only way to get applications to run on the iPhone or iPod Touch is to take advantage of a security flaw (which the AppSnapp folks did take the time to patch for everybody), and that's far from ideal. As always, only install things on your iPhone or iPod Touch that are coming from sources you trust.
Third-party applications for the iPhone won't be released until early next year, but there's an easy-to-install new jailbreaking application out this week if you can't wait.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog, source of much of the details behind The Great iPhone Hack 2007, brings news of the release of the AppSnapp installer, which bypasses Apple's OS X 1.1.1 update in order to let iPhone and iPod Touch users put third-party applications on their devices. This appears to be one of the simplest jailbreak applications yet released for the 1.1.1 update; the others involved lots of complicated steps or additional scripts to open up the iPhone.
A new iPhone jailbreaking application has been released that's relatively simple to install.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The iPhone hacking saga lost a little steam last month when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company would release a software developer's kit for the iPhone in February of next year. Uncertainty around Apple's plans for third-party applications on the iPhone spurred numerous projects to open up the iPhone, which also allows iPhone users to unlock their phones from AT&T's network.
In fact, the AppSnapp folks claim their software activates iPhones that have another carrier's SIM card installed. Last week, Apple estimated that 250,000 iPhones were purchased with the intention of unlocking them from AT&T's network. The company struck back in early September with the 1.1.1 update, and was able to make unlocking really difficult as well as deter future unlocking attempts by "bricking" unlocked iPhones that installed the software update.
With four months between now and the expected release of the SDK, it's very likely that Apple will have at least one more software update for the iPhone that could very well wipe out these jailbreaking efforts, and perhaps once again brick the phones. If you go ahead and install AppSnapp, understand that you probably won't be able to get service for your iPhone if you walk into the store with AppSnapp installed and a problem for the Geniuses. You might be able to do a factory restore to get AppSnapp off the phone and just install it after you're done with the service, but be forewarned.
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