Apple’s e-reader app iBooks received an update last week, boasting a fairly typical set of changes: better stability, better layout, and a connection to AirPrint. But according to some reports, this latest version can cause problems for those trying to open e-books on jailbroken iPhones.
According to Social Apples, the iBooks app will no longer launch on a jailbroken phone: “Today marks a new realization for me as a jailbreaker: Apple deliberately crippled my device.”
That might sound a little melodramatic, but for those who have paid for books via iBooks and have jailbroken their phones, it’s more than a little frustrating. Jailbreaking, after all, is not illegal. And while it does void your warranty, you can always reinstall the latest iOS to “un-jailbreak” it.
By jailbreaking a phone, you allow it to run unsigned code – that is, code that Apple hasn’t approved. If you try to run a Cydia app on an un-jailbroken phone, for example, it won’t launch.
Interestingly, it appears as though Apple has protected iBooks with a variation of this strategy. According to iPhone (jailbreak) developer Comex, “It seems that before opening a DRMed book, iBooks drops an improperly signed binary, tries to execute it, and if it works concludes that the device is jailbroken and refuses to open the book.”
Presumably, Apple has instituted these measures to both protect the DRM content of its books and to discourage jailbreaking. However, as there are other places to get e-books (with and without DRM restrictions) and as jailbreaks are constantly responding to these measures, it’s likely that this isn’t the last stand – from Apple or from the jailbreaking community.
