While much of today’s jailbreak-centric news revolves around iOS & iPadOS 13 and 14, every so often an older jailbreak tool gets an update that benefits end users on older firmware versions.
Today offers a rare example of the above sentiment after the Phoenix semi-untethered jailbreak tool for 32-bit devices running iOS 9.3.5-9.3.6 received an update to version 6 — the first in almost half a year.
We recognize that most jailbreakers aren’t on iOS 9 anymore, but it’s still important to highlight changes for those who are. That said, of this tool update affects you, then you’ll probably want to know about it.
Citing the official change log, Phoenix v6 introduces the following changes:
- Revamped bootstrap installation to use libarchive instead of GNU tar
- Inlined /bin/launchctl into the Phoenix binary to prevent codesigning issues from sideloading
Version 6 of the Phoenix jailbreak is recommended for all existing users and is available at the official phoenixpwn.com website.
It’s worth noting that because this is a semi-untethered jailbreak app, it will need to be sideloaded. Unfortunately, Cydia Impactor is only working for users with paid developer accounts and AltServer/AltStore only works on handsets running iOS 12.2 or later.
Installing the Phoenix jailbreak app is best done through a signing service, although finding one with a signed certificate at any given time can be a hassle. The most reliable way to sideload the Phoenix jailbreak would be with Xcode, which is a macOS-only process. Our tutorial showcasing how to sideload the unc0ver jailbreak with Xcode will also work with the Phoenix jailbreak — you would just substitute the unc0ver.ipa file with the Phoenix.ipa file for all the steps.
For those wondering, Phoenix supports 32-bit devices including the iPad 2/3/4, iPad mini, iPhone 4s/5/5c, iPod touch 5th generation as long as they are running the supported iOS 9.3.5-9.3.6 firmware.
64-bit device users on iOS 9.3.5 should check out the new kok3shi jailbreak instead.
Are you still using a jailbroken iOS 9 device, or have you evolved with the times? Let us know in the comments section down below.
