First-Gen HomePod Jailbroken Using ‘Checkra1n’

More than two years after its release, the first-generation HomePod has finally been jailbroken.

According to a new report from 9to5Mac, coder L1ngL1ng and the Checkra1n team have jailbroken the original HomePod for the first time. It’s currently “partial” support limited to the command line, but it could have ramifications for HomePod enthusiasts.

In the Tweet below, we can clearly see a screenshot of a macOS Terminal window in which the command line text suggests successful access to the HomePod in question via a secure shell (SSH) connection. Notably, the command line text also indicates that this is a first-generation HomePod (identified as AudioAccessory1,1,) and not Apple’s new HomePod mini (which would be identified as AudioAccessory5,1).

Hello Homepod, meet checkra1n.

Huge thanks to @DanyL931 for helping to get this running. pic.twitter.com/FjH7253RFR

— L1ngL1ng (@_L1ngL1ng_) November 19, 2020

There’s no word on if or when the new version of Checkra1n will be released to the public, but if and when it is, the update will open the door to folks who want to hack Apple’s smart speaker.

Jailbreaks could let hobbyists add music, smart home and voice services Apple doesn’t officially support, for instance. They could also extend the Bluetooth functionality to let you use the HomePod as a simple wireless speaker for Android and other platforms that are generally off-limits right now.