14 DAY TRIAL // Jailbreak developer iH8sn0w informs via Twitter that Apple’s iOS 5 beta expires on August 4, 2011 leaving devices with unauthorized developer access prone to getting automatically locked down.
The author of sn0wbreeze, iH8sn0w issued a tweet this past weekend that read “To those wondering, iOS 5 (BETA 1!) will expire on August 4, 2011.”
Developers who have a registered account with Apple are not affected. By paying the $99 annual fee, they are entitled to download the latest beta of iOS or Mac OS X when made available.
This will be the case with iOS 5 later this summer. The August 4 expiration date basically stands as confirmation that at least a second iOS 5 beta will emerge by then, with the final version of the software scheduled for fall 2011.
However, the situation isn’t so rosy for those who downloaded the iOS 5 beta IPSW from the web, applied it onto their devices and tricked the software into displaying the Springboard, effectively bypassing the developer authorization process.
And yes, there are many out there who are playing around with iOS 5 betas while not paying the $99 fee to Apple.
However, as iH8sn0w suggests, there’s still a price to pay - the possibility of ending up with a bricked device.
As such, those who used the VoiceOver tweak to run a non-authorized iOS 5 beta are advised to carefully downgrade their firmware version in the days leading up to August 4, if they want to have a working device.
iOS 5 was announced at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference which focused entirely on software innovations.
The mobile OS powering iPhones and iPads is set to add 200+ new features that build on the success of iOS versions before it.
Apple has not provided an exact launch date for the shipping version of iOS 5, but did confirm that fall 2011 will see it released to the general population.