iPhoneInterface hack gets you inside the phone

Hot on the heels of the activation hack, iPhone enthusiasts from the irc.osx86.hu channels #iphone-talk and #iphone-mac have deepened the cracks in the Apple device's armor by creating an application called iPhoneInterface, a Windows and Mac tool which allows you to manipulate the phone's state, fiddle with launch services, and interact with the iPhone's filesystem. With the new app, you will have the ability to scan the device's file structure, create and remove folders (which should open doors for those not feeling the sync options), and start iPhone services. Plans for a public server are underway, so fasten your seatbelts.

Update - The hack is officially available (Windows only right now) for your ever-lovin' pleasure, so get it here.

[Thanks, Chris V]

[Big @ Jul 6th 2007 10:04AM]

I already know how to hack the the iphone...

...to pieces with an axe.

[Sean @ Jul 6th 2007 10:29AM]

How many times do us readers have to read that same joke over and over again?

[Sean @ Jul 6th 2007 10:48AM]

Okay, how many times do "we" have to read that over and over again?

Besides, who are you to judge my grammar when you can't even use proper capitalization or, for that matter, proper spelling of the word "grammatically?"

[tekdroid @ Jul 6th 2007 10:11AM]

yes, but will it play FLAC and Ogg Vorbis?
http://flac.sourceforge.net
http://www.vorbis.com

[engadget.mlc @ Jul 6th 2007 10:35AM]

It already does... Safari is an open software development platform, after all...



In all seriousness, are we going to see a PSP-style iPhone hack/patch/hack/patch/hack face-off?

[John @ Jul 6th 2007 10:37AM]

Who cares. Both formats are useless. gb2 Winamp

[schlomo @ Jul 6th 2007 10:54AM]

I'll have to check it out tonight since I'm at work, but this seems very interesting since it's based on 10.5/AppleTVOS. We just might be able to add codecs, etc... provided they're compiled for the ARM...

[Big @ Jul 6th 2007 10:45AM]

"us readers"

is that grammaticaly correct?

[Andrew @ Jul 6th 2007 10:44AM]

We all knew it was coming. We all knew that even Mac couldn't keep us out of their precious insides. Or...maybe they made it easy because they want us to hack it! So that we'll void warranties, and then they'll remotely detonate all iPhones, and the hackers will be left with nothing!

Or maybe not.

I hope that this could possibly enable some third-party apps. Who knows? Surely they'll be available by christmas.

[JT_X @ Jul 6th 2007 3:23PM]

I love it when people refer to Apple as "Mac".

[Chris @ Jul 6th 2007 10:55AM]

The whole, acsess directories/folders thing, would lead me to believe that free/custom ringtones are very close to becoming a reality.

Woot on my first story.

[Shaflugi @ Jul 6th 2007 11:39AM]

Wow, you can't even put your own (free) ringtones on the iPhone without hacking it? That's just stupid.

[nikster @ Jul 6th 2007 11:58AM]

It's one of the more bizarre limitations of the iPhone. Lack of MMS is the other one.

Either they are or were planning to roll out ringtones for sale on iTunes - which is basically a license to print money - or they didn't get it together for some other reason. I suspect the former. There's some sort of money-making scheme behind that, either planned by AT&T or by Apple.

Hail to the iPhone hackers - I will get one as soon as it's sim-unlocked.

[bengoldberg @ Jul 6th 2007 10:54AM]

Can A2DP be the first hack? Please?

[mustharshid @ Jul 6th 2007 12:07PM]

What about the good ole cut-and-paste?

[Randavance @ Jul 6th 2007 11:14AM]

One small step for man.

One giant leap towards being able to run an SNES emulator.

[CowboyGA @ Jul 6th 2007 11:33AM]

"Plans for a public server are underway, so fasten your seatbelts."

Can someone explain the purpose of this? I feel as though I'm missing the potential this has.

[everrette powell @ Jul 6th 2007 4:12PM]

doom emulator

[Bachus @ Jul 6th 2007 11:36AM]

Apple's popularity making it too big for its britches? Suddenly their lack of exposure will no longer keep their OS safe. As an avid psp homebrew user (i treat it more like a umpc than a game system) i'm quite entertained by the history about to repeat itself here... patch, firmware hack, more usability, patch, firmware hack, etc, etc.
get it unlocked and add in some (non-web-app) missing features and i'll toss my Wing out on the streets.

[derSkw @ Jul 6th 2007 11:40AM]

Next thing will be gcc for iphone, then a terminal, tinyX, angstorm, x11, kde/gnome, ubuntu, compiz, ... harr harr

and after 100²³²³ hacks you'll be able to dail via terminal rofl

:D

[Andrew ? @ Jul 6th 2007 11:40AM]

After they find out how to unlock the phone, Apple will probably just tell everyone how to unlock it and provide developers codes for creating third-party apps. Just like when they waited to release the Intel Mac/Windows access right after someone had figured out how to do it.

[muk @ Jul 6th 2007 12:16PM]

All part of The Plan..

[Stephen Lang @ Jul 6th 2007 12:18PM]

This is different than console hacking. Apple makes its profit on hardware, not software. So most types of hacking here are a non-issue for Apple.

Just like they don't really care that much that it's easy to copy songs off an iPod, or hack ATV to play other types of content, etc. If it sells more boxes, no big.

[jaysins @ Jul 6th 2007 12:42PM]

They do but if people are able to unlock their phones then they may have to start releasing updates to patch the phone. I am unsure if this is part of their deal with at&t but it very well could be and end up costing apple some money.

Also, while this will add a ton of functionality to the iphone and make it a lot more viable for power users and such, it could compromise it's security. Think blue snarfing, jacking etc and even viruses via email. If nothing else it will be interesting to see what the enthusiast community comes up with, how it is exploited by those less ethical and what apple does to stop both parties. Ahem... "Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!"

[eas @ Jul 6th 2007 3:13PM]

Actually, Apple is expected to be getting a nice piece of the service revenue from AT&T (and the carriers they align with in other regions.

[TorontoGuy @ Jul 6th 2007 12:41PM]

Look, I can do everything that the iPhone can do with my 3 year old PDA. I can make phone calls, text, surf, get my email, watch movies, listen to music, watch a slideshow as well as use Word, Excel and Powerpoint..it is more secure AND I can replace the battery myself. Why would I bother with the iTrinket?

[The Man @ Jul 6th 2007 12:53PM]

Did your mom hug you when you were a kid?

[pinchies @ Jul 8th 2007 9:43AM]

It's mainly not about the features alone, but the integration between them, and the "mac" ease-of-use (IMHO...)
You don't buy a samsung phone for ease of use, but some people still buy them, so perhaps you don't value these things as much as some. (Quicksilver addicts?)

[booyaka @ Jul 6th 2007 12:42PM]

Maybe now iPhone owners can hack their phone into doing productive things that recent phones have been able to do since the new century. Like sending picture messages. LOL!

[Common Core 2 Duo!! @ Jul 6th 2007 1:02PM]

You guys forgot to post link:

http://unlockediphoneforsale.com/2007/07/iphone-hacking-news-update-iphoneinterface-tool-nearly-out/

[Avi @ Jul 6th 2007 1:06PM]

Perhaps these are better

www.megaupload.com/?d=XY4UHTGG
http://rapidshare.com/files/41288277/iPhoneInterface.zip
http://devices.natetrue.com/iphone/iPhoneInterface.zip
http://oregonstate.edu/~bettse/files/iPhoneInterface.zip

I would still advice clicking the link above but its giving me problems everytime i try

[Teck @ Jul 6th 2007 4:21PM]

woot for dedicated peeps :)

[I.E @ Jul 6th 2007 2:14PM]

Ok but how do i get into the phone cos....

"Apple has released what it will cost to replace the battery in the iPhone, and consumers might be a bit put off. Replacement is a tricky ordeal, as the battery is apparently soldered into the device. The service will cost $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, plus an optional $29 'loaner iPhone' rental. A consumer advocacy group sent a letter to Apple complaining that this information was not made public before iPhone's release since the cost of the battery replacement is so high. Even reviewer Walt Mossberg, who is usually very kind to Apple, was quoted as saying 'some of them might be waking up now, wondering who they got in bed with.'"

[fontendet24 @ Jul 6th 2007 2:43PM]

Anyone know - does the bluetooth module inside the iphone can be modified (by hack) for translate music to bluetooth headphones???

[Neeko @ Jul 6th 2007 2:55PM]

LETS FACE IT. Everyone who already bought the IPHONE is an early adopter who doesnt really care about buying products for their functionality. They basically get caught up in HYPE and buy b/c of the GLITZ and multitouch thingy. So there not gonna care about replaceing a battery WHICH def shouldnt die after a years worth of FREAKIN charging. And then offer sum BULLSHIT LOANER/REAPIR svc. APPLE acts like there doing you a favor..I cant think of any other company that has these types of rules.. But hey its APPLE and you gotta be a fanboy to buy it...AND WE KNOW FANBOYS DONT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ALL MIGHTY APPLE...AND LORD JOBS.LOL

[Darnell @ Jul 6th 2007 3:52PM]

@iPhone haters

Engadget will continue to post iPhone related news. Your rants won't stop them, nor will it stop those interested in the phone. On a related note, your hate adds to the total comments. If you casually glance to the right of the page you'll notice that the most viewed/commented posts are iPhone related. That means you add to the hype.

Now imagine if half of the comments were hate. If those people didn't post, then you'd have half the number of comments. It may just slow down the posts because it isn't as popular.

Then again, there would still be 2x as many comments for the iPhone. Haha.

[vandergoes @ Jul 6th 2007 5:15PM]

Fake Iphone unblocked announcement:
http://excphones.com/oscommerce2/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=28

[ben @ Jul 6th 2007 9:49PM]

The iPod Linux team should get on this right away. IDOOM!