Latest Version of iBooks Refuses to Work with Jailbroken iPads and iPhones
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The latest version of iBooks released last week, dubbed iBooks 1.2.1, looks like any other app update: it introduces a couple new features, and squashes a couple bugs. However, one new unadvertised feature seems to have made its way into the app as well, as iBooks now refuses to work on jailbroken iOS-powered devices. As reported by Social Apples, iBooks is now able to flag jailbroken devices, and refuses to allow its users to open books downloaded from the iBookstore, even if rightfully purchased.
Attempts at preventing jailbreaks are nothing new, as Apple quietly introduced a new jailbreak detection routine with the launch of iOS 4 in mid 2010. However, only a handful of iOS apps used it, and it was even believed that the routine was eventually abandoned after the iOS 4.2 update (click here for more details).
Apple never really enforced the jailbreak detection routine anyway, given that the U.S. government eventually decided to legalize jailbreaking, right after the launch of iOS 4. After all, the routine never proved to be effective, as it did not prevent the introduction of new jailbreak methods. Since last week, it looks like Apple came back on its decision to abandon the use of jailbreak detection mechanisms, and iBooks seems to be the first Apple-branded app to actually enforce them.
To detect jailbroken devices, able to run unsigned apps, iBooks simply tries to run some unsigned code to find out whether the device is jailbroken or not. If the routine runs successfully, the device is flagged as jailbroken, and iBooks users are greeted with the following message:
At this point, we’re not sure whether Apple will limit the use of the jailbreak detection mechanisms to iBooks, or if the company plans to expand it to other apps (Apple-branded and/or beyond). Nonetheless, it is clear that Apple is taking steps to deter users from trying to jailbreak their device.
