It looks as though the evasi0n jailbreak for iOS 6 and 6.1 and its huge success will come to a grinding halt in the coming days as Apple prepares to patch the loophole used by the developers behind the tool with an update to iOS 6.1.3.
It took a team of jailbreak experts 136 days to crack iOS 6 and create a jailbreak tool – the longest wait for would-be jailbreakers to date. Unfortunately, little over a month later and some 7 million downloads, evasi0n looks set to be blocked in the next iOS update.
Apple is currently seeding a second beta test version of iOS 6.1.3 to developers, who have reported that the evasi0n jailbreak tool no longer works on the software. It would seem that Apple has discovered how the tool exploits its software and has found a way to fix it, unfortunately.
The main purpose of the next iOS update will be to fix a more serious security problem that has been present since iOS 6.1. By exploiting this glitch a user can bypass the lock screen on any iPhone and gain access to contacts, pictures and messages.
Those currently using the evasi0n jailbreak will have to avoid the update and stay on iOS 6, 6.1, 6.1.1 or 6.1.2 in order to stay jailbroken on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
Whilst we’re sure the news will come as a pain to some, most experienced jailbreakers are familiar with Apple’s tendency to shut down jailbreak exploits quickly, and are used to staying on a certain version of software in order to remain jailbroken. By contrast, Apple has shut down other jailbreak tools in under two weeks in the past, so evasi0n has so far enjoyed a pretty long run.