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is there anything much useful I can do with an iPad 1? (not picture frame) (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have an iPad 1. I barely used it when it was given to me and then it more or less sat unused apart from the occasional booting to see if it still works every few years.

I'm fairly sure it would still work today though I haven't tried for about 3 years. Trouble is, it never got much use because when I got it from my Mum in 2012 it was already becoming obsolete and after about a year I couldn't do basic web browsing because almost every site just crashed whatever browser I ran, none of the apps in the app store would work anymore and the bookshelf app (think that's what it was called. Came with the tablet) I tried to use to make it basically an e-reader device stopped working. There were many similar issue I forget the specifics about but basically amounted to the hardware working fine but being mostly unusable even for old software.

I wondered if there were any good ways to make use of or generally rehabilitate this device. I had hoped there'd be a lot Linux options for something like this but it looks like the earliest model anyone made.any progress with was iPad 2.

Any suggestions besides picture frame?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jailbreaking allows full access, so you can sideload and there's an alternate app store called Cydia. Sometimes jailbreaking instructions will include installing it, or you may need to install it separately. You'll also need legacy iTunes. I haven't worked on anything quite that old but there are some YouTube tutorials still floating around.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh man I forgot all about Cydia, this is all taking me back. Thanks, this might be the more practical option. So basically I might hopefully be able to use it for the types of things it used to be used for but now can't, because of non functioning obsolete apps, by downloading alternate apps from Cydia after jailbreaking?

I guess the only kink in that plan is the security implications of connecting it to a network that people keep mentioning. Is it really at great risk just by being on the internet or do you need to actually do something like stumble across a website that tries to do something malicious?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The two big risks with jailbreaking are:

You're running an old operating system that's missing modern security updates.
Any app you install or website you visit has easier access to your root files, as opposed to the "sandbox" approach for a non jailbroken device.

I wouldn't recommend doing anything that requires your banking or personal info. This device should get its own apple account and if you need to pay for something, use a gift card. Only use jailbroken apps from trusted sources - after all this time, most sources that are malicious for older app versions should be easily identifiable with a little research. There is also iSecureOS which can check if you downloaded something bad or have a third party connected to your device.

The internet itself isn't a risk, it's what you do with it. Don't use your device for general web browsing, don't use the device outside of your home, don't use the internet after the device is set up, and use iSecureOS regularly to check the health of your device. As long as it is set up correctly and you're only using the iPad for one specific project, it should be fine.

If you have questions about how to jailbreak or where you can safely find apps, I'd recommend checking out https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/