Jailbreaking is something of a cat and mouse battle between those seeking the exploits to create the utilities, and the creator of the devices – Apple.
We’ve seen it time and time again. A person or dev team will release a jailbreak (case: 4.3.3 JailbreakMe 3.0 by Comex), and the fruit company will swiftly look to stop jailbreakers in their tracks with an impromptu update, usually released under the guise of "bug fixes" (in that case, iOS 4.3.4).
Just because there hasn’t been such a response with the recent batch of jailbreaks released in December (Corona) for A4, and January (Absinthe) for A5, that doesn’t mean Tim Cook’s security team isn’t aware and taking steps to protect any unauthorized goings-on. According to a variety of sources – as well as many iDevice users themselves, Apple is disabling use of Spire, the popular Siri port for unsupported devices.
Unlike the many clones and pretenders looking to essentially copy the format, Spire simply installs the necessary files of Apple’s voice-recognition utility, requiring a server host and a legit iPhone 4S certificate to leave users with an all-singing, all-dancing port of Siri. In order to prevent such treachery, Apple seems to have added a "SetActivationToken" which stops Spire right in its tracks.
As we’ve gratefully become accustomed to, though, the jailbreak masterminds have created a small fix to circumvent the issue – belittling Apple’s attempts. If your use of Spire has been purged by the Cupertino outfit, you can quickly and easily get it up and running once again. Simply to delete "com.apple.assistant.plist" using iFile as pointed out by iDownloadBlog (if you don’t have it, you really ought to), or your favorite desktop-based SSH utility such as DiskAid or iFunbox.
Despite the so-called Dream Team producing a fantastic couple of untethers for iOS 5, the cat and mouse is only at a recess point. iOS 5.1 is said to include some must-have Siri upgrades, and with new iPads and iPhones on the horizon, the cards will undoubtedly be in Apple’s hands once again.
We strive to cover every nook and cranny of the jailbreak scene as it happens, so stay tuned!
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