- Ode to Gaolbreaking
Gaolbreaking for iOS devices is winding down. Alas, the art is dead. Here lies a great empire.
I remember the buzz online when unc0ver released. I remember the breakthrough that was checkra1n. I was on Windows 7 at the time, and it was one of my first times in a terminal. It felt exciting. I was a 1337 h4xØr pwning my devices.
It was hackery like gaolbreaking that got me into the more technical aspects of computer use. I remember spending long hours experimenting with tweaks and honing my troubleshooting abilities.
Unfortunately, the scene isn’t as vibrant as it once was. Apple has placed a focus on security, meaning fewer devices and releases are exploitable, and the drive to gaolbreak has become weaker. Android became a more polished experience as well.
Many of the features people once gaolbroke their devices for are now native parts of iOS. No longer do you need a tweak for dark mode or to place icons where you want on your screen. Less low-hanging tweak fodder means that ones which are released never see the same adoption and thus aren’t as financially viable.
The world changes a lot, the tech world even more so – if there even is such a thing as a distinct ‘tech world’ in this ever more dystopian-looking landscape. Titans of the scene have moved on, and the old empire is crumbling.
Gaolbreaking today dredges up the old. Link rot and tweaks lost to time. The old repositories are gone, and the Cydia store is closed. So very many tweaks and apps are stuck in limbo, and there is little incentive to fix the situation.
There are still new tweaks and releases, but the scene is small. I miss the old days of boundary pushing and the energy surrounding it.