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Cydia's App Store For Jailbroken iPhones Shuts Down Purchases (iphonehacks.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the costs-and-security dept.

Cydia, the App Store for jailbroken devices, is shutting down purchases as its creator moves to shut down the store entirely in the near future. "Cydia's creator Saurik made the announcement on Reddit after a bug was discovered in the platform that may have put user data at risk," iPhonehacks reports. "This bug prompted Saurik to clarify the issue and reveal that he has been planning on shutting down Cydia for quite a while now." From the report: The founder clarifies that the bug only puts a limited number of users at risk who are logged into Cydia and browse a repository with untrusted content -- a scenario which Saurik has strongly advised against right from day one. Plus, he also says that this is not a data leak and he has not lost access to PayPal authorization tokens. Coming to the harsh reality, Saurik says that he has been looking to shut down Cydia Store before the end of this year. The reports of a data leak have acted as a catalyst to bring the timetable further up. There are multiple reasons as to why he is looking to shut down the service including the fact that he has to pay for the hefty hosting bills from his own pocket.

Saurik has already gone ahead and shut down the ability to buy jailbreak tweaks in Cydia. This means that one can no longer use the Cydia Store to buy jailbreak tweaks on a jailbroken iPhone. On the bright side, Saurik does intend to allow users to download jailbreak tweaks that they have already paid for. Saurik will also make a more formal announcement about the shutting down of Cydia sometime soon. Do note that this change relates only to Cydia Store and not Cydia the installer which is used to install tweaks on a jailbroken device. The latter will continue to work as usual.

40 comments

  1. Samsung Finally Gets Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Time for Slashdot to start praising the lack of a headphone jack now that their beloved non-apple phones are finally dropping the obsolete jack.

    OH how the tables have turned.

    1. Re: Samsung Finally Gets Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are 100 high end android phones with headphone jack for each samsung.
      Kill yourself, stupid alarmist.

    2. Re:Samsung Finally Gets Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On their middle-of-the-road line. Their flagship (upcoming S10 included) has the headphone jack. Looks like they might be making it a "premium" feature now that it has become a somewhat unique feature...

    3. Re: Samsung Finally Gets Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's only one model without the jack and it's only available in China.

  2. Did it even work after 2013? by kriston · · Score: 1

    Did it even work after 2013? I jailbroke a few iPod Touch devices and the Cydia "App Store" never really worked. I guess it worked at some point in iPhones, but not in iPod Touches.

    --

    Kriston

    1. Re:Did it even work after 2013? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did it even work after 2013? I jailbroke a few iPod Touch devices and the Cydia "App Store" never really worked. I guess it worked at some point in iPhones, but not in iPod Touches.

      I remember it sort of working on my iPhone 3g, back in 2011.

      After that there were plenty of Android phones available, so there really didn't seem to be any need for jail breaking anything.

    2. Re:Did it even work after 2013? by nawcom · · Score: 2

      Yes, it did work after 2013. No issues that I experienced. If Cydia didn't work correctly then the jailbreak app which installs Cydia with it was faulty somehow. I remember a couple times where it didn't initially work and redoing the jailbreak would fix it. I've lost interest in it probably since iOS 11 but I actively jailbroke before then.

    3. Re:Did it even work after 2013? by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      Yes, it did work after 2013. No issues that I experienced. If Cydia didn't work correctly then the jailbreak app which installs Cydia with it was faulty somehow. I remember a couple times where it didn't initially work and redoing the jailbreak would fix it. I've lost interest in it probably since iOS 11 but I actively jailbroke before then.

      Same here. Jailbreaking allowed me to add functionality, such as notifications on the lock screen, that iOS lacked. As iOS matured, there was no longer a compelling reason to jailbreak and the hassles of keeping a phone jailbroken as iOS was updated were no longer worth it. Enthusiasm has waned for jailbreaking, as referenced in TFA and by the noticeable absence of articles in Apple centric websites speculating when the lasted iOS jailbreak would be available and announcing it when it happened. As a result, maintaining an app store for such devices became a money losing proposition.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  3. Re:THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOLL by Pitt64 · · Score: 0

    no pittsbugh love, eh the pats

  4. Let 'em crash by Stormwatch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    iPhone users are a weird bunch. They knowingly choose the more restrictive platform, then try to find workarounds, rather than choose the platform that is more open in the first place. To quote one of the greatest movies ever: "they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash."

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
    1. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      iPhone users are a weird bunch. They knowingly choose the more restrictive platform, then try to find workarounds, rather than choose the platform that is more open in the first place.

      So 2008, when Cydia was created. iPhone ran a full unix userland and toolset.

      Your options were Microsoft Windows phone, which ran Microsoft software for a few minutes before locking up and needing rebooted.

      Then there was blackberry, which was less than steller without a multi tens of thousands of dollars per year exchange addon.

      Android didn't exist.

      Let me guess, you are a Microsoft fanboi, claiming they are open?
      Or you just don't believe anyone should use phones by running Android that doesn't exist and won't for a number of years?

      Or just a standard Apple hater because they are successful? Perhaps all three?

    2. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Windows CE/Mobile/Phone is more open than iOS. Say what you will about the OS, but if you could code windows apps, you could just as easily code Windows CE/Mobile/Phone apps and install/distribute the app however you pleased, with no need for an "app store" middleman to steal a percentage of your sales.

    3. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I take it you probably never actually used/ran a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server)? There were no ongoing costs after actually acquiring the software and per device licenses. I ran one for several years many jobs ago.

      When you consider the productivity benefits of it back in the day it was far worth its licensing costs. Not so much today, since just about every platform can sync for free.

    4. Re:Let 'em crash by Stormwatch · · Score: 0

      Yes, I understand that was justifiable back then. But I'm saying, if you buy an iPhone TODAY, you can't really complain much. Its restrictiveness is well-known, so you buy one accepting that as part of the package. If you want openness, you just go and get an Android -- which has long ceased to be an inferior option.

      (Also, you fail to mention Symbian. It never made a dent in 'Murica, but was king in Europe until early 2011.)

      --
      Circumcision is child abuse.
    5. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, I understand that was justifiable back then. But I'm saying, if you buy an iPhone TODAY, you can't really complain much. Its restrictiveness is well-known, so you buy one accepting that as part of the package. If you want openness, you just go and get an Android -- which has long ceased to be an inferior option.

      So let me get this straight.

      When Cydia started, when the iPhone was one of the most powerful systems after jailbreaking, because we did so makes us "a weird bunch"?

      Now today, when that isn't the case anymore, and the entire jailbreaking scene has moved on to better things, to the point even Cydia and it's infrastructure is shutting down, that makes us "a weird bunch"?

      Absolutely no one is complaining about how restrictive iPhone is today. In fact all of the powerusers aren't buying iPhones today. They aren't jailbreaking. Even the infrastructure to do so is being closed down due to being of less use.

      Why does that make us a weird bunch?

      Would not the weird thing be to continue needlessly running the cydia repos that aren't being used?
      Or continuing to jailbreak iPhones when better options exist?

      I just can't place at any point in time, now or then, any aspect that is weird and not completely expected and sensible.
      Your insult towards the old cydia group and those that use it "being weird" sounds exactly that, a hateful insult for no reason.

    6. Re:Let 'em crash by YaseenHussain · · Score: 1

      I am using Jazz Whatsapp Package On iPhone

    7. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iPhone users are a weird bunch. [...]

      That's because they're gay.

    8. Re:Let 'em crash by Powercntrl · · Score: 2

      If you want openness, you just go and get an Android -- which has long ceased to be an inferior option.

      Openness on Android just means more businesses are able to vie for your money and/or personal information. Most smartphone manufacturers lock down the bootloader to prevent you from modifying the OS, and some (Samsung's phones sold in the USA comes to mind) don't even allow you to unlock it.

      Even if you do unlock your bootloader and root your phone, Google's SafetyNet API necessitates all sort of nasty hacks to retain any semblance of usability, since these days many apps refuse to run in an insecure environment. If you want your smartphone to "just work", chances are, you're not going to be hacking it anyway. iOS has workarounds for side-loading apps, so the difference between walled gardens is academic at this point. The battle for an truly open mobile OS has been lost.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    9. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice straw man. Sure is ugly! Let's kick it down!

    10. Re:Let 'em crash by sad_ · · Score: 1

      I'm not aware on the whole jailbreaking thing works on iphone, but from the summary it appears you even have to pay for it?
      weird bunch doesn't even begin to describe the iphone users.

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
    11. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Android users are a vacuous bunch. They ignorantly exclaim how Android is superior to iOS. They willfully ignore that most of the cheap Android handsets rarely receive OS updates. They ignore that the Google Play Store is full of Chinese spyware, adware, and other ripoffs. That is not to say that Apple's App Store is perfect. When a refund is in order, the App Store makes that process straightforward. In contrast, refunds from the Play Store are not a foregone conclusion.

      And the biggest lie of all? They ignore that Android is the greatest project Google ever developed, it is their ultimate tracking device. The information Google collects to fuel their advertising company to ever increasing revenues is brilliant.

      Some of us find that creepy. But, Android users embrace it. To each their own.

    12. Re:Let 'em crash by Highdude702 · · Score: 2

      Have been jailbreaking iphones for years now(seriously worthless otherwise) and have never paid for a single app/program through cydia or otherwise.

    13. Re:Let 'em crash by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Well for some reason people wants the best of both worlds. The closed nature of Apple, gives you a safe environment to work in, and the Apple App Store Apps are on average better quality then what Google has to offer, plus you have a good selection. Now there are a lot of apps the will not be on the Apple Store often many of them are actually very powerful and useful tools, but seems to step against Apples Rules.
      I don't see it weird that people want a superior device for most of their usage, with the ability to add some features that they normally can't get.

      Also being early on most people were use to OS X Platform, which was more open then Windows.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    14. Re: Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even without changing the system rom, Android lets you change the interface with launchers and install programs from outside the app store, and the store itself is less restrictive than Apple's.

    15. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Android --- no updates ever? Check!

      Viruses/malware? Check!

      Pre-installed unremovable garbage like Facebook apps? Check-a-runey!!

      What's not to love?

      I'm not actually a iPhone fan, but you have to be half an idiot to realize that the iPhone offers some big advantages, with the more restrictive part being a big disadvantage.

      There is not one "best" phone platform.

    16. Re:Let 'em crash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Pre-installed unremovable garbage

      If you buy from carriers like a fool, rather than buy from independent stores or straight from the manufacturer and pick brands that keep the system "stock" (unchanged from Google's design and free from garbage apps).

  5. Re: THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    I don't agree with SuperKendall on a lot of issues. But the fact that he's attracted a slanderous nazi asshole cyberstalker tells us he's been speaking some truth to power.

  6. not a data leak data leak? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly explained it's people using entrusted repos.

    He explained it's not a data leak, yet author calls it a data leak?

  7. Tautology 101 by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Saurik has already gone ahead and shut down the ability to buy jailbreak tweaks in Cydia. This means that one can no longer use the Cydia Store to buy jailbreak tweaks on a jailbroken iPhone.

    So removing something from sale means you can't buy it? Glad we cleared that up.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  8. Are you really that naive? by Brannon · · Score: 1

    ...as to believe that the Cydia crowd in any way represents a cross-section of iPhone users? Generous estimates put the number at something like 0.3%.

    So 99.7% of iPhone users have no interest in jailbreaking their phone--they just want something that works. My microwave is also a pretty restricted platform--I'm okay with that.

  9. No, it's not - I stop malware in most all forms! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: I've proven @ least a DOZEN antivirus wrong on that note a few times (Especially FALSE POSITIVE PRONE antivirus, full of bugs/security issues & slowdown + resource hogging excess complexity leading to their exploitation that REALLY ARE a problem).

    Your ridiculous LIBEL & LIES are just that - totally ridiculous.

    * For someone "peddling filth" as you FALSELY CLAIM I am?

    Hey - I do extremely well @ it & the program became quite popular much to my surprise (of MANY I've done since 1995 publicly over the decades, this one surprised me MOST on how well it did).

    YOU WISH YOU WERE ME - & you might be able to do the SAME if you weren't such a waste of life TROLL!

    APK

    P.S.=> Hence WHY I am porting it to MacOS X very soon (getting a Mac-Mini on the 21st to go MULTIPLATFORM/"savoir faire IS everywhere" @ last - shouldn't take long @ all I hope - the jump from Win32/64 to Linux wasn't all that bad so this should be fairly quick to port to Apple)... apk

  10. thanks to the jailbreak by ennis99 · · Score: 1

    myself I never paid for an application thanks to the jailbreak ____________________________________________________ https://www.icloudcentral.com/ https://tweakbox.mobi/ https://getappvalley.com/