Jailbreaking has a magic to it. It gives charm to device by bringing freedom. When Apple released in-app purchases for iOS apps including iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, it proved to be pretty much of a gold mine for developers. A hack for in-app purchases was present long back for jail broken devices, nevertheless, now even stock device users can purchase in-app content without having to pay.
A Russian developer nicknamed ZonD80 has devised a way to bypass Apple’s iOS In-App Purchase program and get the content for free. The video above shows the hack working using an “in-app proxy” which does not require the device to be jailbroken. The hack apparently works on all devices running iOS 3.0 to 6.0 at the moment.
You should be able to buy in-app content without having to spend a penny, however, the trick may not work with some in-app purchases which are region specific. Also, the trick may not work if the developer has baked in some kind of server side verification for in-app purchases. The developer has given three steps for the hack to work. First, you should install two certificates, and then you are expected to connect via a wi-fi network and change the DNS record. Now, you can go ahead with your app purchase, and tap on the LIKE button on the dialog that will appear, as opposed to Apple’s purchase confirmation prompt, when you try to perform an in-app purchase operation.
Below are the steps to the hack:
- Install two certificates: CA and in-appstore.com.
- Connect via Wi-Fi network and change the DNS to 62.76.189.117.
- Press the Like button and enter your Apple ID & password.
Using the above hack, you are actually stealing in-app purchase content from developers, which is kind of disturbing and is of course against developer’s terms of service.
With the settings above, your iOS device connects to hacker’s server which hosts all the required files and process for the hack to get working. In case you are wondering what information the hack transmits to hacker’s server, you may want to take a look at the list below:
-restriction level of app
-id of app
-id of version
-guid of your idevice
-quantity of in-app purchase
-offer name of in-app purchase
-language you are using
-identifier of application
-version of application
-your locale
The hack may not work with 100% of the apps out there as some developers do have some kind of server side verification in place, and the hacker himself suggests users “not to pirate AppStore apps”, despite of which he continues assisting users who are having trouble with certain app’s in-app purchases.
Alternatively, if you are okay with jailbreaking your iOS device, you can opt for an older and more efficient method. A jailbreak developer named ‘Urus’ had previously created a hack for in-app purchases and he was successful in his efforts. Hid method however requires you to have a jailbroken device. Urus developed a jailbreak app called ‘iAP Cracker’ which lets you circumvent the in-app purchases and get the in-app content for free. Assuming that your device is jailbroken, ‘iAP cracker’ can be downloaded using Urus’ repo on Cydia. Below are the steps that you need to follow in order to get it working:
1. Jailbreak your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with sn0wbreeze or redsn0w if you haven’t yet.
2. Open Cydia, go to ‘Manage’ > ‘Sources’> ‘Edit’ > ‘Add’ a new source: https://cydia.myrepospace.com/urus
3. Search for ‘iAP Cracker’ in Cydia and install it.
iAP Cracker is very simple to use and does not require any complex inputs from the user. The process is pretty straightforward. Once you install the app, all the paid in-app stuff can be bought for free. When you tap on the ‘buy’ button, you get the content straight away, which otherwise requires you to punch in your iTunes details and your default billing details get charged. When you tap on Buy, and if it asks for iTunes details, it means that something isn’t working and you may want to check the app itself. iAP Cracker works pretty fine with apps such as Angry Birds, Need for speed shift 2 and Office Plus. Again, it may not work with some apps which have server side check for in-app purchases.
We want you to proceed with the hack at your own risk, and we encourage doing so.