Apple removes Stefan Esser's jailbreak detection app over privacy concerns

The iPhone maker has pulled off i0n1c's jailbreak detection app from the App Store citing privacy violation.

Renowned iOS hacker Stefan Esser aka i0n1c's jailbreak detection app has been pulled off the App Store after Apple detected an anomaly when the accessibility features is enabled.

The iPhone maker reportedly sent an email to i0n1c stating that the app was removed for the following reasons:

2.19: Apps that provide correct diagnostic or other inaccurate device data will be rejected.

22.2: Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations or use names or icons similar to other Apps will be rejected.

The app known as 'System and Security Info' is designed to check if your iPhone has been remotely jailbroken or if Cydia is installed on the device or if there is a malware infection on the device.

Using this app, one could precisely pin-point which jailbreak tool has been used to gain unauthorized access to the device. Given the app's utility value, it soon became the top paid app in the App Store.

However, Apple's biggest concern with the app arises from its ability to display the process list for all the services running secretly on the device, which is a serious privacy violation.

Quite interestingly, i0n1c points out that several diagnostic apps in the App Store are still using the same APIs which were used by his jailbreak detection tool, but only his app was taken down from the online store.

The reason for Apple's rejection of the app does not seem to be quite convincing as the hacker had already submitted an update or fix for the issue with the accessibility features.

i0n1c's stance is further strengthened by the users claim that they "should have rights to know what is running on their own device".

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