Apple’s Siri speaker HomePod is said to have been jailbroken for the first time. This was announced by Twitter user L1ngL1ng at the end of last week, who, according to his own account, succeeded in doing this in cooperation with Checkra1n team member DanyL 931.

The only proof was a screenshot showing how someone logs into the HomePod as root via SSH. This is referred to by Apple as “Darwin HomePod 19. 3.0”. According to the picture, there are four apps in the application folder: “AirMusic”, “AirPodcasts”, “DiagnosticsService” and “SoundScapes”.

Original HomePod with A8 chip The device appears to be an original HomePod from 2018, not a HomePod mini. The identifier is “AudioAccessory 1,1”; on the HomePod, however, according to the developers, it is called “AudioAccessory 5.1”. From a technical point of view, the HomePod should definitely be jailbreakable. An Apple A8 chip from the iPhone 6 runs in the device, which can be cracked easily and forever using Checkra1n, as it contains bugs in the bootrom that cannot be patched by Apple.

Not On the other hand, it should have been quite easy to even reach the HomePod remotely and to get into the necessary DFU mode. How exactly this was possible – after all, the HomePod only has WiFi access as standard – has not yet been revealed. It is possible that the device first had to be disassembled in order to create maintenance access.

A HomePod with a jailbreak could do some offer interesting opportunities. HomePod OS is currently completely sealed off from Apple. The company determines which music services are possible outside of Apple Music, Bluetooth capabilities are only intended for HomeKit and the look of the small touchscreen LED screen on the top cannot be changed either. Siri is also specified – so you cannot address Google Assistant or Alexa via the HomePod by default.

The HomePod has a hidden 14 – Port that the hackers may have used to intervene in the boot process. Checkra1n itself is now available in a beta version 0. 12. 1, which “partially” covers the HomePod the command line supports. This is with HomePod OS 13 and 14 (audioOS) has been tested. (bsc)