Evasi0n

Apple has released iOS 6.1.1 to fix a bug only affecting iPhone 4S devices. The iOS 6.1.1 changelog simply reads: "This update fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S". The over the air update was only sent to iPhone 4S owners. The update comes after European carriers such as Vodafone, had to warn users not to update to iOS 6.1 because of "difficulty in connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the Internet."

The good news is Apple did not patch the untethered evasi0n jailbreak in iOS 6.1.1. Planetbeing, one of the hackers who helped release evasi0n, tweeted that the jailbreak still works on iPhone 4S devices running iOS 6.1.1. Planetbeing added that the evad3ers will be releasing an updated version of the jailbreak which recognizes iOS 6.1.1 is supported.

My personal favorite jailbreak tweak of 2012 was SwipeSelection, and it's compatible with the evasi0n iOS 6 jailbreak. SwipeSelection is one of those tweaks you have to use to truly appreciate. It's a simple tweak that makes texting, taking notes and writing emails on your iPhone or iPad a lot much easier.

SwipeSelection allows users to drag one or two fingers across the keyboard of an iOS device to move the typing cursor. This makes editing text much easier by eliminating the need to tap the display of your device to delete or change letters. You can use one finger for a more precise cursor drag, or two fingers to move faster across the screen. You can also easily delete or copy entire sentences by holding the shift key and dragging your finger over the text you want to highlight. This is all demonstrated in the original concept video from Daniel Hooper posted below.

Now that the evasi0n jailbreak has arrived, the software is proving to be the most popular jailbreak in history. Any iOS device running iOS 6.0 - 6.1 can be included in the fun with a few simple steps. Once the Cydia jailbreak app store is installed, free and paid packages can be downloaded to customize your device and add functionality.

For those who have jailbroken their pre-iOS 6 devices in the past, evasi0n brings even more convenience and simplicity to the jailbreak process. The software comes to us from the evad3rs, developers who have already released two updates to evasi0n to incorporate improvements and bug fixes.

Cydia administrator Jay Freeman told Forbes nearly 7 million iOS devices were jailbroken using the evasi0n tool since it was released on Monday morning. That makes evasi0n the most downloaded jailbreak of all time. Freeman said Cydia has received visits from 5.15 million iPhones, 1.35 million iPads, and 400,000 iPod touches running the evasi0n hack.

Forbes points to the increased number of iPhones on the market as the cause of evasi0n's popularity, but Freeman believes people just want to experience the freedom of jailbreaking.

"Smart phones have become more and more popular, but they've maintained a closed experience that makes it difficult for people to get what they want,” said Freeman. “Therefore people have needed to turn to jailbreaking to fill the gap.”

There is now a simple fix for the Weather app bug being caused by the new jailbreak tool evasi0n. Jailbreakers can grab the official patch under the “Changes” section of Cydia. If you do not see the UIKit Tools package under Changes, just try refreshing the page, and it should appear.

While evasi0n was a success with over 100,000 downloads in the first 10 minutes of its release on February 4th, it also crashed Apple’s stock Weather app on the iPhone. Thankfully the evad3rs, who released the jailbreak, quickly identified the problem and fixed it.