Why did it take so long for an iOS 15 jailbreak to be released?

iOS 15 has been one of the worst iOS releases in terms of jailbreaking. One entire year passed without a stable jailbreak tool release, and even now with iOS 16 already available, iOS 15 remains one of the hardest versions to jailbreak.

There is, however, a reason why iOS 15 was notoriously hard to jailbreak, and it has to do with the major changes implemented by Apple starting with iOS 15.0. One of the biggest changes that hindered the jailbreak development was the introduction of a sealed ROOT File System.

This change meant that it was now impossible to remount the ROOT File System as Read / Write, which was a standard procedure on iOS 14 and below. This remount is not crucial for a jailbreak because the var partition used by the lesser mobile user is still available as Read / Write, but it now meant that jailbreak developers had to update their tweaks, tools, and techniques to place the jailbreak files in the var partition instead of the root one.

While this doesn’t necessarily sound bad, all tweaks built to this date were expecting to be loaded from somewhere in the ROOT File System. Moving all jailbreak files to the var partition worked, but now tweaks couldn’t run because their dependencies were in all the wrong places. This meant tweak developers had to rework their tweaks to load from the var partition. We call this the rootless approach, and it has nothing to do with the root user.

What is XinaA15 Jailbreak? (also known as XinA12 and XinA15 Jailbreak)

XinaA15 jailbreak is a rootless jailbreak developed by xina520 for all newer devices (A12+) running iOS 15.0 all the way up to iOS 15.1.1. If you remember Cheyote Jailbreak, the tool by the Odyssey Team / Coolstar that was in development back in July 2022 for iOS 15, XinaA15 Jailbreak is essentially the same thing, but this one was released.

Cheyote Jailbreak ended up being abandoned after Coolstar and their team could never get tweaks to work reliably on their jailbreak, but xina520 successfully fixed all the weird iOS 15 quirks and made XinaA15 jailbreak a fully functional tool that allows tweaks to work.

Many tweak developers have already updated their tweaks for iOS 15 and for the rootless jailbreak approach. While some tweaks are yet to be updated for iOS 15, many can already be installed.

Developer xina520 included Sileo and the Procursus Bootstrap with their jailbreak which makes it quite a modern tool built on a solid foundation. With iOS 15 Cydia is also officially dead due to some underlying changes that break the way Cydia works, but it matters less at this point as Cydia was in a state of disrepair and abandonment long before iOS 15 delivered its finishing blow.

Sileo package manager is a much more modern alternative to Cydia, it’s faster, looks better, and has way more features. While I understand the nostalgia and the reluctance to switch to Sileo, you should rest assured that Sileo does rise to the challenge very well and it might just become the new normal as all jailbreaks seem to include it by default nowadays.

Should I download XinaA15 / XinA12 Jailbreak? Is it safe?

While the jailbreak is currently a beta and it’s recommended to be careful as there are still some bugs to iron out, you can try it today and it might just work fine.

You will soon realize there are some tweaks that are yet to be updated to support iOS 15, but those that do work are performing incredibly well. The interface of the jailbreak is a bit cluttered and weird, but the tool works and that’s all that matters.

XinaA15 / XinA12 Jailbreak is by no means a fully complete jailbreak ready for the general public. It’s a developer beta, but if you are a bit careful the jailbreak is functional, and more and more tweaks are updated for it as days pass. It is a bit buggy and may have unexpected behaviors at times, but with enough patience, you may be able to use it without major issues.

So yes, you can use it if you are confident enough that you can risk some bugs here and there, just make sure the tweaks you install are confirmed working on this jailbreak to avoid major issues.

The test will be sent to plug-in developers first. Currently, only. 15.0-15.1.1 A12-A15 is supported pic.twitter.com/Y4KpU7IHoH

— 朱心浪 (@xina520) November 13, 2022

If you do not feel comfortable looking up compatibility tables and fixing various bugs, please wait for the final version which will have the bugs ironed out.

Download XinaA15 Jailbreak For iOS 15.0 – 15.1.1 For A12+ Devices (IPA)

Since this is a semi-untethered jailbreak tool, it is available in IPA format which you can sideload with your favorite iOS app sideloader like AltStore, Sideloadly, etc.

Do keep in mind that the IPA is currently a developer Beta which means it’s not posted on an official website for the jailbreak. In fact, an official website for it doesn’t even exist yet. There is a GitHub repository containing the compiled IPA file that is trusted in the jailbreak community. You can fetch the IPA from there.

DOWNLOAD XinaA15 JAILBREAK IPA (v1.1.6.2) (Xina APT)

Note: Please read the instructions and warning notes provided with each IPA release on the GitHub Page linked up above.

XinaA15 / XinA12 Jailbreak Compatibility Chart

If you are planning to download the IPA file for xina520’s jailbreak, here’s what you need to know about compatibility, both in terms of devices and iOS versions.

Supported devices:

• • iPhone 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 Mini
  • iPhone 13
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 Mini
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone SE 2020
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XS Max (China)
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XR

Note: The jailbreak also supports all iPads with A12+ chips.

Supported iOS versions:

• iOS 15.1.1
• iOS 15.1
• iOS 15.0.2
• iOS 15.0.1
• iOS 15.0

Note: The jailbreak also supports all the Betas of the above-mentioned iOS versions.

Frequently asked questions about XinaA15 Jailbreak

Q: Does this jailbreak support tweaks / tweak injection?

A: Yes, XinaA15 Jailbreak can load tweaks, many of which were updated for iOS 15 already.

Q: Can you uninstall this jailbreak if you want to?

A: Yes, there is an option to uninstall the XinaA15 jailbreak inside the application.

Q: Is this jailbreak working on iOS 15.2 or newer versions?

A: No. At this moment, the jailbreak does not support anything newer than iOS 15.1.1. While that might change in the future, currently it’s iOS 15.1.1 and lower.

Q: Is this jailbreak recommended for an absolute beginner who doesn’t know how to fix various jailbreak bugs and issues?

A: No. It’s best to wait for the public version which will be more stable.

Q: Does this jailbreak come with Cydia?

A: No. Cydia is dead and abandoned as of iOS 15. Sileo is a Cydia alternative that has been around for years, has more features, and works better. You may use Zebra too.

Other guides from iDevice Central

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• PaleRa1n Developer Jailbreak was Released for iOS 15.0 – 15.3.1 (Tethered)
• How To Run Linux on iPhone / iPad & How They Achieved This
• How to actually extend your iPhone’s Battery Life (Tips and Tricks)
• Unpatchable Apple M1 Chip Vulnerability discovered by MIT
• How to create a bootable Windows 10 USB Flash Drive on Mac
• iOS Jailbreak Downloads – Download Jailbreak Tools for All iOS Versions