Mobile Catcher: Jailbreak Your iPhone/iPod Touch in 9 simple steps

The iPhone-dev team has recently released a QuickPwn tool that enable users to jailbreak iPhone and iPod Touch without having to reformat the whole unit. If you have not jailbroken your iPhone/iPod Touch, thinking that it is a difficult process, here is where you can learn to jailbreak your unit the easy way.

The QuickPwn is available for both Windows and Mac platform. There is a difference though. The Windows version of QuickPwn supports any 2.0.x firmware while the latest Mac version only supports 2.0.2 firmware. If you are using a Mac, you will have to upgrade your unit to the latest 2.0.2 firmware before you can use the QuickPwn tool.

The following tutorial will teach you how to jailbreak your iPhone/iPod Touch on your Mac. The step for Windows will be the same.

Some points to note;

1) This tutorial is illustrated with an iPod Touch and assumed that you have already upgraded your firmware to 2.0.2.

2) If you have not, simply connect your iPhone/iPod Touch to your iTunes and select the ‘Download and Install’ option when it prompts you to upgrade your firmware. Make sure that your iTunes is of version 7.7 and above.

Step 1:

Download the QuickPwn for Mac from the iphone-dev site . This is a torrent file. So make sure you have a torrent client (such as Transmission) to download the program.

Step 2:

Connect your iPhone/iPod Touch to your iTunes and perform a backup sync. Even though the jailbreaking process is relatively safe and shouldn’t break any data, it is still better to do a backup and safe guard your data. Sometimes, you just can’t trust technology.

Step 3:

Once you have sync with iTunes, quit iTunes completely. This will prevent iTunes from interfering the jailbreaking process. Unzip the QuickPwn_1.0.0.tbz using Archive Utility to a convenient folder (say your Desktop). Do not use any other decompressing application. You should see this red icon with a pineapple.

Step 4:

Double click QuickPwn to open it. A warning screen will appear. Once you are WARNED, click OK to continue.

Step 5:

QuickPwn will now attempt to identify your iPhone/iPod Touch unit. If you have not connected your iPhone/iPod Touch via the USB cable, do it now.

Step 6:

Once QuickPwn successfully identifies your unit, it will ask if you want to receive update on startup. There is no harm in doing so, but if you are uncomfortable with application running in the background, then choose No.

Step 7:

QuickPwn will now scan your Mac for the 2.0.2 firmware that you have downloaded and automatically build the jailbreak firmware. There is nothing for you to do in this step. Just let the application run on its own.

Step 8:

Once the custom firmware is built, you have to switch the iPhone/iPod Touch to DFU mode (aka Restore mode) so that QuickPwn can modify your unit’s firmware. Make sure you have closed your iTunes completely. Follow the onscreen instructions to set your unit to DFU mode. (This can be rather tricky. You might have to try a few times to get it to DFU mode)

First, turn off your device by pressing the Power button for 3 secs and slide the slider to the right to power it off.

Now, hold the power and home button together for 10 seconds.

Release the power button and continue to hold the home button for another 10 seconds.

Your iPhone/iPod Touch will now be in DFU mode. If it fail to reach DFU mode, unplug and reconnect your unit to your Mac and repeat the above procedure again.

Step 9:

QuickPwn will now send the modified firmware to your unit. There is nothing to do in this step except to wait.

Once it is done, it will show the reboot warning. At this moment, don’t touch anything on your iPhone/iPod Touch. Let it run and reboot itself. It will take around 3-5mins. Just be patient.