The pursuit of an iOS 9.3.5 untethered jailbreak has been a decade-long saga for legacy Apple device owners . As of May 2026 , the landscape has finally shifted, providing users with a definitive way to permanently jailbreak their 32-bit devices without needing a computer after every reboot. Current Status: Semi-Untethered vs. Fully Untethered For years, the most popular tool for this firmware was Phœnix , a semi-untethered jailbreak. This meant that if your battery died or you restarted your device, the jailbreak would deactivate, requiring you to open the Phœnix app and tap "Kickstart Jailbreak" to re-enable your tweaks. However, new developments like the iocaste untether and EverPwnage have successfully bridged the gap, allowing users to convert a semi-untethered setup into a fully untethered one. Compatible Devices (32-bit Only) This jailbreak applies exclusively to 32-bit architecture. 64-bit devices (iPhone 5s and later) running iOS 9.3.5 cannot use these specific tools.
The Holy Grail of Legacy iOS: Is There an iOS 9.3.5 Untethered Jailbreak in 2024? Published: October 2024 Reading Time: 8 minutes In the world of iPhone modding, few phrases carry as much weight—or as much frustration—as "untethered jailbreak." For users clinging to vintage devices like the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 2, or iPad 3rd generation, iOS 9.3.5 represents the final, bloated curtain call for 32-bit Apple devices. It is slow, unsupported, and locked down. To make matters worse, for nearly a decade, the community has been chasing a ghost: a fully untethered jailbreak for iOS 9.3.5. But in 2024, does one actually exist? And if so, can you trust it? Let’s dissect the history, the reality, and the available options for liberating your legacy device.
Part 1: What is an Untethered Jailbreak? (And Why 9.3.5 is Special) Before we hunt for the tool, we must understand the terminology. A jailbreak removes Apple’s sandbox restrictions, granting root access to the file system.
Tethered: If you reboot your device (turn it off and on), it will not boot back into a jailbroken state. It will hang at the Apple logo unless you connect it to a computer and re-run the jailbreak tool. Nightmare for travel. Semi-Tethered: You can reboot into a stock (non-jailbroken) iOS state. To regain tweaks, you run an app on the device (like Dopamine or unc0ver ) without a PC. Semi-Untethered: Same as semi-tethered. Most modern jailbreaks (iOS 12–16) are semi-untethered. Untethered (The Grail): You reboot your phone, and it boots directly into a fully jailbroken state. No PC, no re-running apps. It just works . This is what iOS 9.3.5 users desperately want. ios 9.3.5 untethered jailbreak
Why is iOS 9.3.5 unique? It is the final version of iOS that supports 32-bit processors (A5, A6 chips). These devices have a different boot chain than 64-bit iPhones. Furthermore, iOS 9.3.5 patched the famous Pegasus spyware vulnerabilities—three zero-day exploits (Trident) that were used for a brief, glorious untethered jailbreak on earlier versions of iOS 9.
Part 2: The Hard Truth – No Official Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 9.3.5 Let’s cut through the YouTube clickbait. As of October 2024, there is NO public, stable, untethered jailbreak for iOS 9.3.5. Here is why: 1. The Exploit Landscape Untethered jailbreaks require a bootROM exploit or a persistent kernel exploit that survives a reboot. On 32-bit devices, the last great bootROM exploit was limera1n (iPhone 4 and earlier) from geohot. Apple patched that hardware hole with the A5 chip. The final untethered jailbreak for any device was Pangu 9 for iOS 9.0–9.1. iOS 9.3.5 killed the Pangu exploit. 2. The "Phoenix" Confusion Most google searches for "iOS 9.3.5 untethered jailbreak" lead to a tool called Phoenix . This is NOT untethered. Phoenix is a semi-untethered jailbreak. You install the Phoenix app via a sideloading method (Cydia Impactor or a signing service). After every reboot, you must tap the Phoenix app on your home screen and press "Kickstart" to re-enter a jailbroken state. 3. Developer Interest = Zero In the jailbreak community, 32-bit devices are considered "legacy." Developers have moved on to iOS 15–17, focusing on exploits like Fugu15 , KFD , and Dopamine . Finding an untethered persistence method for iOS 9.3.5 would require reverse engineering Apple’s boot mechanisms—a monumental task with no financial or reputational reward. 4. The Sock Port Lie In 2021, a kernel bug called "Sock Port" was discovered. Many fake websites claimed it would lead to an untethered 9.3.5 jailbreak. It did not. Sock Port allowed for tfp0 (task for port 0) but did not survive a reboot.
Part 3: The Best Available Options for iOS 9.3.5 Just because an untethered jailbreak doesn't exist doesn't mean your device is a brick. Here is what you can run. Option A: Phoenix Jailbreak (Semi-Untethered) This is the gold standard for iOS 9.3.5. The pursuit of an iOS 9
Developer: 1conan, tihmstar, Siguza Stability: Excellent Cydia support: Yes How it works: Uses a WebKit exploit to install the Phoenix app. After reboot, you run the app to re-jailbreak. Downside: The enterprise certificate used to sideload Phoenix revokes frequently. You may need a computer every 7 days (if using a free Apple Developer account) or a paid signing service.
Verdict: This is the closest you will get. Most users who say they have an "untethered" 9.3.5 jailbreak actually have Phoenix and have simply never rebooted their phone. Option B: kok3shi (For iOS 9.3.2 – 9.3.5 on 64-bit only) Wait—this is confusing. kok3shi is a semi-untethered jailbreak for 64-bit iOS 9.3 devices (iPhone 6s, 6, 5s). It does not work on 32-bit devices like the iPhone 4s or iPad 2.
If you have an iPhone 5s or iPad Air on 9.3.5: Use kok3shi. If you have an iPhone 4s or iPad 2: Use Phoenix. Fully Untethered For years, the most popular tool
Option C: Downgrade to iOS 8.4.1 or 6.1.3 (Untethered!) Here is the pro tip: You cannot untether iOS 9.3.5, but you can untether older versions on the same device. Because Apple still signs OTA update blobs for older devices, you can downgrade an iPhone 4s, iPad 2, or iPad 3 to:
iOS 8.4.1 (Semi-untethered via EtasonJB – not fully untethered) iOS 6.1.3 (Fully untethered via Legacy iOS Kit)