Non-Apple app store Cydia shown on iOS 7, with caveats
Developers have managed to get a version of third-party app store Cydia up and running on iOS 7. But it seems far from done.
Popular third-party app installer Cydia, which predated Apple's own App Store, has been successfully installed on the latest version of iOS 7.
Redmond Pie shares screenshots of the software, which lets users download and install third-party software on their iOS devices without going through Apple's App Store, running on an iPhone 4 on iOS 7.0.2.
Now here's an important detail: So far it's only working on the iPhone 4, and using a version of the jailbreaking software aimed at Apple's older A4 chips -- not Apple's newest devices, which have proven to be more of a challenge. The jailbroken software is also experiencing some stability issues, iOS developer Cjori told the news site.
With that said, the effort marks an important milestone on the path to gaining deep access to Apple's system software and hardware features, which the company limits.
Apple's removed some of the allure of jailbreaking iOS devices with its last few major system releases. Many key things, like quick settings menus, multitasking, and updates to the general look and feel have been added over the years, but especially with iOS 7. Developers have also gained more access to system features and hardware.
Still, jailbreaking opens up devices so that users can install new software outside of Apple's store, something that's standard on Google's Android and other mobile platforms. That was enough to attract a lawsuit back in 2011, claiming Apple had created a monopoly -- a complaint that was dismissed in August.