Evasi0n iOS 7 Jailbreak Controversy: Evad3rs Disable TaiG Chinese App Store Installation After Piracy Concerns

The Evad3rs developer team released their Evasi0n iOS 7 jailbreak on Sunday, Dec. 22, and the sudden release of the app surprised many following the iOS jailbreak scene, including instrumental figures in the iOS jailbreak community such as Jay Freeman (Saurik), the developer of the Cydia third-party app repository that has been bundled with almost all iOS jailbreak software in the past.

While those who were waiting eagerly in anticipation for an iOS 7 jailbreak for their iPhone 5S, 5C, iPad Air, iPad Mini and iPod Touch were surprised by the release, they quickly ran the Evasi0n jailbreak app only to be greeted by another surprise -- the inclusion of the TaiG, a Chinese third-party app store that has a somewhat dubious background with "allowing" pirated apps on their store.

According to several tweets from Saurik and comments from users of the Evasi0n iOS jailbreak, the TaiG app store appears to allow the piracy of apps normally available on the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) official App Store.

After news of the TaiG app inclusion in the Evasi0n 7 iOS jailbreak spread via Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and other social media sites such as Reddit, the Evad3rs developer team posted a lengthy letter explaining TaiG’s inclusion in the Evasi0n jailbreak.

An excerpt from the letter:

“Most of the concern surrounds the inclusion of the Chinese App Store TaiG. In the course of developing the iOS 7 jailbreak, we were approached by the company with an offer of partnership in offering TaiG bundled with the jailbreak in China. TaiG is a Chinese App Store written in Chinese. tailored and, we believe, well suited to meet the needs of users for the Chinese market. Users are not locked into TaiG. Cydia can also be installed and TaiG removed afterwards. It would be deeply hypocritical to remove choice from the user in the course of jailbreaking.” [sic]

While the TaiG app store deal with the Evad3rs team included a contractual clause that pirated apps are not to be allowed on the TaiG store, it’s clear that the TaiG app store had let some of the pirated apps slip through prior to the Evasi0n jailbreak release.

While the Evad3rs team has attempted to remedy the piracy problem in cooperation with TaiG since the Evasi0n iOS jailbreak release, the Evad3rs didn't exclude the possibility of removing TaiG from the Evasi0n jailbreak bundle.

“We will continue to monitor this issue and work to resolve it completely. TaiG will be pulled from the jailbreak if it cannot be resolved,” the Evad3rs development team said in the letter.

In response to the controversy, TaiG also posted a response on its website apologizing for the pirated apps that slipped through, while also stating its goal of filling in the jailbreak market gap in China. This response may have come a little too late.

As more details came out about potential piracy problems with TaiG, the Evad3rs team ultimately decided to disable the installation of TaiG remotely.

Do you think this Evasi0n and TaiG controversy will push iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch jailbreak users to other jailbreak developers in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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