Only a few weeks after the iPhone 4S was announced, hackers began trying to fully jailbreak the new smartphone and to also port the new voice assistant system, Siri, to previous generation iOS devices.
According to 9to5mac, developer Steven Troughton-Smith was the first person to port Siri to the iPhone 4, but the system was not functional since it required authentication with Apple servers, only the user interface was working.
Smith and Grant Paul, another hacker based in San Francisco, have now confirmed that they’ve found a workaround to the server side authentication issue, in the processes being the first to fully port Siri to the previous generation iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G.
The hackers say more versions are being developed to support other iOS devices, like the iPad.
Smith also said Siri would not be available for download on unapproved app stores, like in Cydia, citing legal issues. But, that is not to say other repositories available through Cydia won’t package the necessary files and make them available free of charge, illegally.
When asked how long it took Smith to find a workaround, he said, “It literally took no longer than 10 minutes to put all the pieces in place and perform our first test on my iPhone 4 [jailbroken], and it was an instant success.”
Thanks to Siri exclusivity, a new dual-core A5 processor, a full HD 1080p camera, availability with more carriers, among other features, iPhone 4S sales have been better than expected, selling more than four million units in the first weekend alone, according to Apple.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and if you’ve been able to hack Siri to your iOS device, please let us know.