iPhone OS update bad news for jail breakers

Tom Manners

Tom Manners is now a freelance journalist, previously full-time at MyBroadband from 2009 to 2010. Tom focuses on cellular technologies, gadgets, mobile phones and broadcasting....

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Although the latest iPhone OS update features a number of bug fixes including better accuracy for the battery level monitor on the device and security patches to guard against malicious MP4 and TIFF files it brings with it bad news for jail breakers. 

Popular jail breaking tools such as Redsn0w, Blackra1n and PwnageTool are not currently compatible with iPhone OS version 3.1.3. By upgrading devices to the new OS users will be risking the possibility of having their iPhone network locked. 

The vast majority of iPhone jail breakers have unlocked their devices in order to use it on another network. Across the globe several mobile service providers have exclusive rights to distribute the iPhone and therefore ensure via the device’s firmware that it will only operate on that network. 

Although jail breaking can be potentially risky many users do so in order to have freedom of usage on their iPhones.

Following the OS update the jail break community quickly warned users not to upgrade, advising them to wait until widely used jail breaking tools are updated.