Should You Jailbreak Your iOS 7.1/iOS 7.1.1 Device With Pangu? – 7 Things to Consider

Should You Jailbreak Your iOS 7.1/iOS 7.1.1 Device With Pangu? – 7 Things to Consider by Anthony Bouchard

On Monday, a new untethered jailbreak tool called Pangu was released for iOS 7.1 and iOS 7.1.1. The tool works on all devices that can run the firmware, including the following:

  • iPhone 4
  • iPhone 4s
  • iPhone 5
  • iPhone 5c
  • iPhone 5s
  • iPad 2
  • iPad with retina display
  • iPad Air
  • iPad Mini
  • iPad Mini with retina display
  • iPod touch 5g

So the big question here is, should you jailbreak with Pangu? Here are some things to consider:

1. It’s Safe

First of all, Pangu is a third-party jailbreak tool from a band of China-based hackers that we’ve never heard of, but fortunately, well-known iOS hacker ih8sn0w has confirmed that the tool is malware-free and will not attempt to install any kind of spyware on your device. So it’s definitely not a dangerous tool to use in that respect.

2. It’s Not in English

Since it was created by hackers in China, the interface is not in English and it is hard to follow. The interface looks messy and has a bunch of randomized characters on it, but you can just barely make out a jailbreak button, and a checkbox, and some pictures to help you through the jailbreak. Luckily, we put together this guide on how to use Pangu, so even though it looks like it’s in another language, you can still get through to using it.

3. You Need to Manually Opt Out of a Piracy Store

Pangu will attempt to install a third-party piracy application on your device alongside Cydia, but you can opt out of this option byun-checking the option before you proceed with the jailbreak using the jailbreak tool. Because you can opt out of this option, we can recommend this jailbreak to you without regret – please exercise responsibility and do the right thing!

4. iOS 7.1.2 is On the Horizon

You should also consider that iOS 7.1.2 is coming out soon, and Pangu reportedly already has code that should be ready to jailbreak iOS 7.1.2 when it’s out. iOS 7.1.2 is an upcoming firmware release that will fix an issue with e-mail attachment encryption and a Lock Screen bypassing glitch. Since this update is right on the horizon and Pangu is expected to be compatible with this update, we would recommend waiting until iOS 7.1.2 is released before you even attempt the jailbreak, that way you’re on the latest jailbreakable firmware (assuming that it CAN be jailbroken, of course).

5. No Mac OS X Support Yet

Another thing to consider is that the tool is Windows-only at this point in time, but a Mac OS X tool is coming out soon. If you’re using a Mac without Windows installed somehow, then you’re obviously going to HAVE to wait, but if you want, you can also run a virtual machine or use Bootcamp to perform the jailbeak with Pangu, like we did.

6. Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

As with any jailbreak release, you can expect some bugs. This is the initial release of the jailbreak, so we can expect that the jailbreak may have some glitches that can cause your device not to perform as expected. So far, the jailbreak seems pretty stable, but there have been a small number of bugs, like the jailbreak not working the first time, or issues with stock applications crashing.

7. Not All Jailbreak Tweaks Are Ready Yet

iOS 7.1 and iOS 7.1.1 are different from the iOS 7.0-7.0.6 builds of iOS, and because of this, many dependencies and jailbreak tweaks are not yet compatible with iOS 7.1. or iOS 7.1.1. There have been a number of interface changes, as well as under-the-hood changes that may break the functionality of several of your favorite tweaks. We recommend waiting for developers to get updates out before installing your favorite tweaks to ensure that you don’t experience unwanted SpringBoard crashes, or other issues.

Overall, we think the BEST thing to do would be to wait and see if iOS 7.1.2 will be jailbreakable with Pangu, but we think that the jailbreak is solid. It worked great for us, and many of our readers have also written their testimonials and results in the comments of our guide, which can be read at this link.

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Legally Blind Photographer Takes Impressive Photos With Help From iOS Accessibility Features ( there are photos from singapore )

 

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Luis Perez is legally blind and has been diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (tunnel vision), meaning he has less than 10 degrees of vision. However, that has not stopped him from becoming an accomplished photographer thanks to the many accessibility features provided in iOS.

Perez is an Apple Distinguished Educator who works on showing how technology can help empower those with disabilities. He even holds workshops at different Apple Stores around Australia.

In an interview with TechGuide, Perez says he relies on features like VoiceOver, Zoom, and Invert Colors — all which help him take great photographs.

I use VoiceOver – it can tell me the number of faces, their size and the distance and so on, he says. So even if I was completely blind I could still take a really nice photo. I use that to listen to some of the controls on some of the apps that I use.

He also explains how he uses Zoom and Invert Colors.

Zoom allows you to magnify what’s on the screen – that’s probably the one I use the most.I still have some central vision and that magnifies the screen so I can see it more clearly.

[Invert Colors] gives you a high contrast mode because I have a problem with my disability with light and that makes it a lot easier for me to see the contrast in the scene, Perez says.
But then I also take a lot of photos. That’s the beauty of digital – you can take a lot of photos and find one that’s good and then share them with everybody.

Perez is also an author of en eBook called A Touch of Light which highlights some ways to learn accessibility features on iOS. You can listen to his entire Podcast interview here in episode 98.

You can see some of Perez’s photographs on his Instagram account – http://instagram.com/lfp1211

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