Jailbreaking

As expected Apple has stopped signing iOS 5.0.1 with the release of iOS 5.1. If you own a jailbroken device you should not update to 5.1 because it breaks both the Corona untether and the Absinthe exploit. The Dev-Team warned both veteran and amateur jailbreakers about the dangers of upgrading on Wednesday.

iPhone 4S and iPad 2 users who did not heed the warning won't be able to downgrade back to 5.0.1 even if they did save their SHSH blobs. People with earlier devices and saved SHSH blobs can downgrade with the assistance of geohot’s limera1n exploit. There is also a tethered jailbreak for non-A5 devices if you really have the urge to get to 5.1.

I'm not sure updating to iOS 5.1 is worth losing your untethered jailbreak, but non-A5 users can sacrifice their freedom if they want to. iPhone 4S users should avoid 5.1 if they want to keep their jailbreak. However, non-iPhone 4S owners can keep their devices jailbroken by downloading redsn0w 0.9.10b6. This version is a tethered 5.1 jailbreak for non-A5 devices.

A tethered jailbreak requires that your device is plugged into a computer whenever turned on. Untethered jailbreaks offer the freedom of not using a computer every time your device reboots. Most jailbreakers prefer untethered to tethered. Since iOS 5.1 doesn't offer anything worth losing your untethered jailbreak over I would suggest avoiding it entirely. However, if you are dead set on getting to 5.1 read on for the Dev Team's warning and instructions.

Siri9000 is a useless but fun jailbreak tweak that transforms Siri into HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Hal icon is easily installed by downloading the tweak from the Big Boss repo, and activating it from WinterBoard. Getting the Hal 9000 sound effects to work takes a little bit more effort.

I should warn you that the tweak does not convert Siri's voice into Hal's. It only changes the Siri start up sound to a few Hal quotes from the movie ("Good evening Dave", "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"). To activate the Hal 9000 sounds you will have to know how to transfer files on your iPhone with SSH and have OpenSSH installed.

Have you ever wanted to launch Siri without using the home button? The new jailbreak tweak SiriBoard adds an icon to your iPhone's SpringBoard so you can launch the voice assistant from your home screen. I prefer the app to holding down the home button because it only requires that you tap the icon. It also gives you two options to access Siri rather than just one.

The popular Siri tweak AssistantExtensions has received an update. The Jailbreak FAQ Addon gives Siri the ability to answer your jailbreaking questions. Reading Siri an error message will prompt her to explain the problem and offer a fix. The addon will even answer questions about iTune errors that you may encounter while updating.

If you are new to AssistantExtensions it is available for free in the BigBoss repo. The Siri tweak adds built-in custom conversations, the ability to add your own Siri questions and responses, and it even teaches Siri to launch apps and search for YouTube videos.