It's been a couple of days since iOS 9.3 was released to the masses for download. Those looking forward to a potential jailbreak must do the following before it's too late.
Since iOS 9.3 has been released for quite a small time, the chances of Apple closing the signing window for iOS 9.2.1 are getting thicker with every passing minute. This means that you won't be able to downgrade to iOS 9.2.1 in the future, and you'll be stuck on iOS 9.3 for good.
- iOS 9.3 Jailbreak Status Update – Must Read For All Users
Today, we urge users (read: potential jailbreakers) to do a fresh installation of either iOS 9.2.1 or iOS 9.3. Why? Because jailbreak tools do not play nicely with over the air updated devices. If you have performed an OTA update, then the chances are high that the jailbreak would simply fail, and you'll be stuck with a device with a looping Apple logo screen. In that case, the only way out of the mess would be to restore to the latest firmware in the future.
You Never Know When Apple Might Stop Signing iOS 9.2.1, So Perform A Fresh Installation Now Before It's Too Late
So what should you do? Simply download the iOS 9.3 or iOS 9.2.1 firmware file, connect your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch to your PC and Mac, launch iTunes and perform a backup. Select your device from iTunes once you've backed up everything, and then click on the 'Restore iPhone' button by holding the left 'Shift' key (Windows) or the 'Option' key (Mac). Select the firmware file you downloaded (either iOS 9.2.1 or iOS 9.3) and let iTunes do its thing.
At this point you must be wondering - but there's no jailbreak, then why do a fresh installation of iOS beforehand? Exactly. There is no jailbreak, and it should be made abundantly clear at this point. But there's a chance that there might be one for either iOS 9.2.1 or iOS 9.3, so we highly recommend that users are well prepared beforehand.
If you aren't bothered about jailbreaking at all then you can simply discard the above guidelines, and move along with using your iOS device normally. And before you take off, especially if you're not bothered about jailbreaking, then we highly recommend users to stick to iOS 9.3 for all the performance enhancements and bug fixes that it brings to the table. Be it an OTA or a fresh installation, being on the latest version of iOS is the key to keep things fresh on an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch.
