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 Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 15:27 Post subject: [iOS] iOS Piracy |
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Hi all,
just wanted to create this thread as I recently started diving into the iOS piracy scene, and it's way better than I thought it would be!
I always thought you need a jailbroken device, which for me would defeat the purpose of having an iphone, when I can only use outdated OS. But it is actually super simple to use pirated Apps on the latest iOS. I think this has to do with the things Apple had to implement for the EU DMA, but not sure.
Anyway, all you need to do is install sidestore via a PC. That will already allow you to install "custom" apps, however with a limit of 3 at the same time, and sidestore already counts as one of them. However, if you install Livecontainer as an app in sidestore, you can simply drop as many apps in Livecontainer as you want.
It's really that easy. Biggest issue for me right now is finding good sources for apps. There are quite a few .ipa sites, but the quality (not every download works in sidestore/livecontainer) and specifically selection of apps is quite limited. So if you are looking for specific apps, getting the actual files can be the biggest challenge.
Still, this came as a nice surprise to me and I thought I would share 
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
- Albert Camus
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73761
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 15:57 Post subject: |
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There are some edge cases where resigning IPA could lead to technical issues, but those would be quite the corner cases.
How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions.
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 16:12 Post subject: |
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| LeoNatan wrote: | There are some edge cases where resigning IPA could lead to technical issues, but those would be quite the corner cases.
How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
I haven't looked into IAPs yet. There seem to be some cracked versions of apps around, which then (I think) include the IPAs. But as for spoofing an IAP to get certain services or unlocks or ingame-currency I think a jailbreak is required. I remember when there were jailbreaks for the latest iOS versions (10+ years), back then at least you could completely spoof the in-app purchase and get any benefit you wanted. But in the meantime Apple might have also fixed that.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
- Albert Camus
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 16:15 Post subject: |
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| LeoNatan wrote: | | How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
Interesting. I have never spend money on a appstore/playstore app. Are there even any apps worth paying for? Let alone subscriptions.
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 16:32 Post subject: |
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| Photish wrote: | | LeoNatan wrote: | | How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
Interesting. I have never spend money on a appstore/playstore app. Are there even any apps worth paying for? Let alone subscriptions. |
Nowadays there are many games worth playing which you can buy with a single purchase. Tons of older games have been ported to ios, and there are also newer release which are co-released for mobile which work great on mobile. Mobile gaming is quite good by now in my opinion, with also retro emulators being available easily until PS1 included.
As for those stupid gacha games or endless TD clones, wouldn't touch them with a stick.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
- Albert Camus
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73761
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 19:25 Post subject: |
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| Photish wrote: | | LeoNatan wrote: | | How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
Interesting. I have never spend money on a appstore/playstore app. Are there even any apps worth paying for? Let alone subscriptions. |
Apps yes. Subscriptions? Almost none. It's like cancer. Everything is a "*AAS" now and everything is worse for it. But to each their own. It's obviously successful, or we wouldn't have seen this model rise in the last ten years or so. With gaming it's even worse with all the microtransaction garbage. I don't play on my phone, but the Apple Arcade subscription is nice get games without all the micro crap. There you go, another subscription, and it's fixing a problem that should not even exist in the first place.  |
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73761
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 19:27 Post subject: |
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| bringiton wrote: | | LeoNatan wrote: | There are some edge cases where resigning IPA could lead to technical issues, but those would be quite the corner cases.
How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
I haven't looked into IAPs yet. There seem to be some cracked versions of apps around, which then (I think) include the IPAs. But as for spoofing an IAP to get certain services or unlocks or ingame-currency I think a jailbreak is required. I remember when there were jailbreaks for the latest iOS versions (10+ years), back then at least you could completely spoof the in-app purchase and get any benefit you wanted. But in the meantime Apple might have also fixed that. |
Jailbreak is not enough without a crack. These days Apple has backend API where developer can verify that a receipt from the client is a genuine one and still valid against Apple records. So you'd need to crack that whole mechanism to fool an app. With a jailbreak, you can inject all kinds of your own code into any process, but still, since it's not a system API on the client, you'd need a bespoke injection for every app that verifies receipts (which is all of them these days). |
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73761
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 19:32 Post subject: |
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BTW, if you pay Apple for a developer account (99$ for 1 year), you get a lot less restrictions that these "stores" have. Your resigned apps will run longer than one week, you can install unlimited number of apps, etc.
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 20:51 Post subject: |
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| LeoNatan wrote: | | Photish wrote: | | LeoNatan wrote: | | How does that method deal with in-app purchase? I assume those aren’t handled and aren’t supported, which is very limiting in a modern world where all apps are basically subscriptions. |
Interesting. I have never spend money on a appstore/playstore app. Are there even any apps worth paying for? Let alone subscriptions. |
Apps yes. Subscriptions? Almost none. It's like cancer. Everything is a "*AAS" now and everything is worse for it. But to each their own. It's obviously successful, or we wouldn't have seen this model rise in the last ten years or so. With gaming it's even worse with all the microtransaction garbage. I don't play on my phone, but the Apple Arcade subscription is nice get games without all the micro crap. There you go, another subscription, and it's fixing a problem that should not even exist in the first place. |
The thing with SaaS is not only revenue. I work for an IT company and the biggest interest is the valuation from Shareholders. Normal IT company? Something like 12-15x EBITDA company value. SaaS company doing the exact same shit? Suddenly 20-22x EBITDA value.
It doesn’t make sense and it not sustainable, but that’s the investment business in a nutshell.
| LeoNatan wrote: | | BTW, if you pay Apple for a developer account (99$ for 1 year), you get a lot less restrictions that these "stores" have. Your resigned apps will run longer than one week, you can install unlimited number of apps, etc. |
True. But I’m not buying apps for $99 a year so it does not pay for me. This is more me playing around with this because I can and have an interest in pirating things, not necessarily saving money.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
- Albert Camus
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LeoNatan
☢ NFOHump Despot ☢
Posts: 73761
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Mon, 12th Jan 2026 20:55 Post subject: |
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Eh, I don't think what you wrote applies to the types of apps I am talking about. I mostly do not bother with enterprise of VS-funded software. So the apps I mentioned before are all indie one to ten people shops, no shares to speak of
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