As with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, there are plenty of hack-minded folks out there trying to push the boundaries of Apple TV, and although it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a jailbreak for Apple TV, many modders and devs have been trying, often in vain, to find exploits with Apple’s little black box. Yet while we cannot, unfortunately, report on a new jailbreak for Apple TV 3 just now, casual hacker David Schuetz has discovered a fairly cool "Add Site" feature, potentially enabling one to add custom sites to the home screen. Although it’s by no means a refined, or even immediately accessible feature, it is fairly promising, and you can check out the details after the break.
Having prodded around with the software, Schuetz discovered a really intriguing Add Site feature, and, if it were ever made public, would allow users to add their own sites and shortcuts right to the home screen. Of course, we suspect that the function is simply there for the benefit of Apple’s in-house development team as opposed to the end user, but it’s definitely a bit of an eye-opener.
Schuetz has managed to use the new-found technique to connect his Apple TV with his Raspberry Pi media server, and although it only works with firmware versions preceding the just-released Apple TV 6.0 firmware, it will be interesting to see if anything further can come of this discovery. But again, just to make it clear, this does not work on aforementioned Apple TV firmware at this given time.
For those looking to get involved, Schuetz has thrown up some useful information on a GitHub repo, which you can check out by following the source link at the end of this post.
With the older-gen, 720p Apple TV still commanding a premium on Internet auction sites like eBay thanks to its jailbreak-ability, the future of the Apple TV jailbreak certainly makes for bleak reading. Treats like XBMC and such are currently off limits to those picking up a new device from stores, and those looking for a more versatile set-top experience are invariably heading for the open-source alternatives currently available.
Still, Schuetz’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and perhaps, if more hobbyists decide to get involved with Apple TV, we may begin to see some real, tangible progress with regards to hacking it.
How about if someone treats us with some real apps on the Apple TV?
(Source: IntrepidusGroup)
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