'Evasi0n' iOS 7 Jailbreak Controversy Surrounding Piracy and Chinese Partnership

After the Evasi0n untethered jailbreak was updated for newer iPhones, iPads, and iOS 7.x earlier today, Cydia administrator Jay Freeman noted on his Twitter that he was not informed about a new version of the jailbreak before its release. Beyond that, he also reported that the new jailbreak automatically installs a third party app store named Taig which distributes cracked apps in China.

Following Freeman's comments, two tweets by developer i0n1c claims that the Chinese company Taig paid the Evad3rs development team "a big pile of money" to release the jailbreak in order to bundle its app store onto devices.

evasi0n_screen2
Now, the Evad3rs development team behind the jailbreak has posted an open letter to the jailbreak community on its website, trying to address the various concerns surrounding the method and emphasizing the safety and security of its users.

The team admitted that it was indeed approached by a company with an offer to include Taig with the jailbreak in China, feeling that it was "well-suited to meet the needs of users for the Chinese market." The team also notes that users are not locked into Taig, with the program giving users given the ability to uninstall the Chinese app store and install Cydia.

Also addressed was the speculation concerning the possible disclosure of exploits and methods to Taig:

Taig has never asked us to disclose our exploits to them, let alone sell them. We were simply asked to bundle their third-party app store in China in a similar way we bundle and distribute Cydia around the world as an additional App Store, and in a similar way to how previous jailbreaks like blackra1n have bundled non-Cydia stores.

Furthermore, the developers also claim that they were unaware that Taig contained pirated apps upon access, and say they are removing instances of piracy and that Taig had contractually agreed not to serve pirated apps. They say they "will continue to monitor this issue and work to resolve it completely" and that Taig will be removed if it can't be resolved.

Currently, Evasi0n is available for OS X and Windows as an untethered jailbreak.

Popular Stories

Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
maxresdefault

Apple Confirms Google Gemini Will Power Next-Generation Siri This Year

Monday January 12, 2026 7:38 am PST by
In a statement shared with CNBC today, Apple confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri that is slated to launch later this year. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. "After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative...
airpods pro 3 design

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware Update

Tuesday January 13, 2026 11:29 am PST by
Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30. Apple has a support document for AirPods firmware updates, and it indicates that the 8B34 update contains unspecified "bug fixes and other improvements." No other AirPods models received firmware updates today. How to install AirPods Pro...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Apple Is Expected to Launch These Four MacBooks in 2026

Friday January 9, 2026 8:17 am PST by
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. ...
maxresdefault

Google Gemini-Powered Siri Will Reportedly Have These 7 New Features

Tuesday January 13, 2026 7:52 pm PST by
Apple and Google this week announced that Gemini will help power a more personalized Siri, and The Information has provided more details. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. As soon as this spring, the report said the revamped version of Siri will be able to… Answer more factual/world knowledge questions in a conversational manner Tell more stories Provide...
fcp pcp iwork creator studio

Some Apple Apps Will No Longer Receive Every New Feature Without a Subscription

Tuesday January 13, 2026 10:50 am PST by
If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features. Apple said some "exciting new intelligent features and premium content" in Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and Freeform will only be accessible with a Creator Studio subscription. In the U.S., a subscription costs $12.99 per...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around nine months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

10 Reasons to Wait for This Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday January 8, 2026 2:56 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...

Top Rated Comments

impulse462 Avatar
157 months ago
This is a big blow to jailbreakers images. Majority of them don't engage/are against piracy. Whoever allowed this app into the jailbreak in the first place should be ashamed.

Furthermore, whoever does engage in piracy are pretty awful if you ask me. People spend a lot of time and effort to make apps/movies/music etc. If you can't be bothered to compensate developers or artists for their work, you should suck it up and live without their work.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ideal.dreams Avatar
157 months ago
I jailbroke my 5s earlier this evening but after I found out about all this I restored my phone back to stock iOS 7. It was foolish of them to sell out and ruin what was once a good thing. What I found really shocking was that they kept to themselves about everything. Saurik didn't even know about this and Cydia isn't even updated for iOS 7. Nor are the majority of the tweaks.

As I was going through my list of installed tweaks from previous iOS jailbreaks, I noticed that almost all of them were brought as features in iOS 7. The only thing I installed after jailbreaking today was MyWi, which I will happily live without until this situation gets sorted out. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in the way this was all handled.

Lol. Beyond sketchy.

Happily using stock, secure Android 4.4.2 on my Nexus 5. You guys have entered the shady world that Android has always been accused of. Nope, all is well here. If you want features and flexibility, get a Nexus 5 / Moto X. Life is great on this side. Android is beautiful and has come such a long way.

Careful out there. It's a scary world.

Enjoy having your information sent to China. Sounds fun!
You're taking an incident that has occurred ONE time over the many years jailbreaking has existed and generalizing it as one big reason to ditch the entire OS. That's like saying you bit into an apple and found it was rotten, therefore you should only eat pears from that point forward.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mKTank Avatar
157 months ago
They potentially jeopardized the possibility of the jailbreak for the final release of 7.1 because they rushed for money. Well evaders I hope you're happy with your money but you've practically single-handedly destroyed whatever trust was left within the jailbreak community and probably helped Apple fix the exploit by 7.1GM. Not to mention all of the fishy stuff your jailbreak seems to be doing with contacting Chinese sites: (just peruse through the mess: http://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/).

Great work guys!

----------

Lol. Beyond sketchy.

Happily using stock, secure Android 4.4.2 on my Nexus 5. You guys have entered the shady world that Android has always been accused of. Nope, all is well here.

Careful out there. It's a scary world.

I'm an Android fan just as much as you are but you're not really making a point here at all. This isn't some official thing that happened to iOS; it's a hack that you specifically have to go out of your way to install. There's nothing insecure about that.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inkswamp Avatar
157 months ago
Happily using stock, secure Android 4.4.2 on my Nexus 5. You guys have entered the shady world that Android has always been accused of. Nope, all is well here. If you want features and flexibility, get a Nexus 5 / Moto X. Life is great on this side. Android is beautiful and has come such a long way.
Not really. Android has come a long way in terms of Android, but it's nowhere near as beautiful and solid as iOS. Fact is that iOS is faster, more efficient and way more stable and secure. I'm not sure why flexibility is so desirable that you'd give up all those things.

BTW, I've owned Android phones. I'm not some Apple die-hard doing a knee-jerk defense here. You can go on and on all day long about how much more flexible Android is than iOS but at the end of the day, all that flexibility piled on top of an unstable, unpredictable OS that is more often than not difficult to deal with and near-impossible to update is meaningless.

And a lot of what Android fans brag about in terms of flexibility is really more about shoehorning Android into a desktop OS mold. I'd rather sacrifice some flexibility and instead have a world-class mobile OS that excels at what it does, while remaining secure and stable and effortless to update.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmh600cbr Avatar
157 months ago
everybody should just back off. [LIST=1]
* there is no hard evidence that information is being sent anywhere
* taig has been removed from the jailbreak
* saurik has admitted that he too was aware of taig and he did know about the jailbreak just not the release date
* THESE PEOPLE DESERVE MONEY
* they are donating all contribution to a good cause
* they work their asses off and do they make money? no! but the guys who make tweaks (and arguably work nowhere near as hard as the evaders) get paid!
* do you donate to them? probably you don't. who puts food on their tables.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Am3r1ca16 Avatar
157 months ago
Who cares if they got paid 1M. So much work and effort they put into the jailbreak why should they work for free?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)