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Editors' Pick| Mar 4, 2020, 12:30pm EST |

This Is How You Can Hack An Apple iPhone Using An Android Device

Kate O'Flaherty

You can now jailbreak your iPhone or iPad even on iOS 13 with an Android device using the Checkra1n ... [+] tool.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

You can now jailbreak your iPhone or iPad with an Android device using the Checkra1n tool. Running on the Checkm8 bootrom exploit, the beta Checkra1n jailbreaking tool works across Apple devices running iOS 12.3 and above and is the first to be able to crack iOS 13 .

Checkra1n currently runs on MacOS, with Windows support to come further down the line. However, it is also the first jailbreaking tool to work with Linux–and it's this that allows it to work on Android devices with some additional tweaks.

The ability to perform this jailbreak using your Android device was first demonstrated on Reddit in a video. Instructions are included in the post.

Why would you jailbreak your iPhone using an Android device?

The main advantage of the ability to jailbreak on an Android smartphone or tablet compared to a MacBook for example is convenience. It means you can more easily jailbreak your phone while you're out and about or travelling, for example. But you would of course need to carry two smartphones or tablets around with you.

Jailbreak at your own risk

Jailbreaking is the domain of people who know what they are doing, such as security researchers. The practice does not come without risks because it opens up your smartphone to all sorts of vulnerabilities. Jailbreaking voids your warranty; you will no longer be eligible for iOS updates and many users end up bricking their phones completely.

Meanwhile, this method of jailbreaking using an Android device has its own unique issues: For example, you must have root access to the Android device you use to perform the jailbreak, and there is a bigger chance of things going wrong if you don't know what you are doing.

Jake Moore, cybersecurity specialist at ESET says: "Every time you jailbreak your phone there are risks attached and this "on-the-go" process seems to amplify that risk rather a lot."

In addition, it should be noted that Checkra1n is a tethered jailbreak. Therefore, if you do decide to use it, you need to run Checkra1n every time you reboot your Apple device.

It's also worth noting that Checkra1n only works on the iPhone 5s through to the iPhone X, so it won't crack the iPhone 11.

Should you jailbreak your iPhone?

Viewed by many as a "walled garden," the closed Apple ecosystem means iPhones are pretty secure devices. Apple is also making the effort to lead in security in privacy with multiple moves in iOS 13, so it seems a shame to take away many of those protections if you don't need to.

Should you jailbreak your iPhone using an Android device? It depends who you are, and why you want to do it. Many experts say no: Moore wonders whether the pros of jailbreaking functions "really outweigh the constant risk of bricking your device."

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Kate O'Flaherty