Apple iceberg

Apple iceberg is an iceberg chart topic. A text version, "An iOS/Apple Iceberg" by melissaisnotokay, is hosted on IcebergThreads, where it had 1,007 views as of 29 October 2026.

The IcebergThreads author describes it as: "this iceberg mostly covers iOS/Apple related stuff, proposals are welcome."

Entries reflect the chart authors' choices and are not verified fact.

Tiers

Tiers and entries from the IcebergThreads version. Notes after a dash are shortened from the author's explanations.

Layer 1

• Apps – general apps, like youtube and whatnot.
• iPadOS
• macOS
• AirPods
• AirTags
• Liquid Glass
• Jailbreaking
• Recovery Mode
• DFU Mode – burned into the hardware
• Apple Intellegence
• iCloud
• Cydia
• Sileo
• Dynamic Island
• Face ID
• Touch ID
• Apple Pencil – "Who wants a stylus?"
• System Apps – stuff like settings, app store, you name it.
• Siri
• Sideloading – you have to resign the apps every week usually with a PC/Mac, and you're limited to 3, unless you use something like TrollStore which does not have these issues
• iPhone
• iPad
• iPod (touch)
• Emulators – apps like delta and dolphinios
• Green bubbles – when the person you're messaging isn't using an iPhone
• AirPlay
• USB-C
• .ipa – basically the ios equivalent of an apk file
• Headphone jack removal – they love removing stuff
• Apple Pay
• Apple Music
• Steve Jobs
• Steve Wozniak
• Tim Cook
• Craig Federighi
• John Ternus
• Home Screen
• Lock Screen
• iOS – the operating system on apple's ifones, duh.
• iOS 27's new Recovery Mode – its more user friendly and has a couple of options you can use to try to fix your device
• iOS vs Android – the only (relevant) mobile OSes
• Wireless charging
• iPhone Duo – foldable iphone!!!

Layer 2

• Cydia is older than the App Store
• Prototype devices
• Fake iPhones running Android
• Samsung making fun of (and copying) Apple – they made fun of apple for removing the headphone jack, and then they did it as well, same with other stuff
• Bendgate
• SHSH Blobs
• Downgrading – although its usually tethered (or untethered if you have SHSH blobs and whatnot).
• geohot – guy who unlocked the iphone and made a couple jailbreaks
• iPhone Dev Team
• saurik – guy who made cydia
• Bendgate
• checkm8 – bootrom exploit for A5-A11 devices
• checkra1n – semi tethered jailbreak that uses checkm8
• Internal Apps
• AirTag Stalking
• /var/jb – folder used by rootless jailbreaks for tweaks
• Rootless Jailbreaks – jailbreaks that don't store tweaks to the rootFS, because of SSV lol
• iBoot – bootloader
• Misaka
• TrollStore – (permanent) on-device IPA installer for certain versions
• iOS apps running on macOS – apple silicon macs only*
• Security Research Device
• SpringBoard – iOS's graphical UI
• Jailbreaking is dying – multiple reasons why
• TSMC
• Pangu Team
• Dopamine – jailbreak for 15.0-17.3.1/18.7.1/26.0.1 (depending on device)
• NathanLR – a semi-jailbreak for 17.0
• Discrimination against Android users – self explanatory, often seen in the US
• Threat notifications – regarding spyware like Pegasus
• Developers prioritize iOS over Android – a lot of developers seem to prioritize developing apps for ios over android
• PojavLauncher – use amethyst instead
• LiveContainer
• Antennagate
• Apple chargers suck
• Apple Explained
• iFixit
• Apple slows down older devices – planned obsolescence moment
• Copying from others – you know, the usual
• Lockdown Mode
• Genmoji
• Orange iP17 Pros turning pink
• StikDebug – removed from the app store
• Always-on display
• iSheep
• iDescriptor
• 3rd party Discord clients – enmity (EoL)/unbound, kettu and such
• Scott Forstall – former SVP of iOS until 2012-2013, likely because jobs wasn't around to save him from the apple maps controversy. known for the skeuomorphic design in iOS 1-6
• Cheyote – a jailbreak that would've supported ios 15.0-15.1.1, cancelled in spring 2023 (probably because dopamine made it obsolete)
• IDownloadBlog
• Cowabunga
• MacDirtyCow
• KFD – (landa/smith/physpuppet)
• Secure Enclave Processor (SEP)
• Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE)
• Secure Page Table Monitor (SPTM)
• CAPlayground
• Cyanide – Tweak runner for iOS via DarkSword
• Daemons
• usbliter8 – bootrom exploit for A12-A13 devices (including variants)
• Tata Electronics breach – this breach leaked some information regarding the iPhone 18 and whatnot
• FairPlay – DRM
• Relaxin – vibe coded (roothide) jailbreak based on dopamine, supporting 17.0-17.3.1
• Roothide

Layer 3

• mainrepo RAT
• The iPhone killed the iPod
• "Get WiFi Anywhere You Go"
• iPod Touch users had to pay for updates – until like iOS 4
• Cellebrite
• PurpleRestore – internal tool used by apple for flashing iOS devices, not very useful without apple's internal vpn
• PreBoard.app
• AirPhone 4 – fake iphone that ashens reviewed
• Leaked iPhone 4 Prototype
• touchHLE
• Startup Chime on iPhones – first added in the ip14
• Apple Intellegence controversy – they literally got sued for false advertising lol
• iAmRich – the most expensive iOS app, at $999 in 2008, only 6 bought it and it was removed not long later
• SwitchBoard
• Pegasus – spyware used by governments on individuals
• Fortnite – it wasn't on the app store for a while because of payment stuff
• Bootloops
• iOS Malware – rare but exists
• Corellium
• 32-bit app support – axed in ios 11 and on A11
• Samsung parts
• App name exceptions – an app name normally needs a minimum of 2 characters except twitter (X) lmao
• Kernel Panics
• Baseband
• /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application – basically where some non-essential app data is located (like caches or save data in minecraft)
• /var/containers/Bundle/Application – basically where the internal files for apps are located (aka essential files)
• Project Sandcastle – lets you install android on A10 devices
• tvOS is based on iOS – except 1-3 on the first gen apple tv
• Darwin – what iOS and macOS are based on
• Steve Jobs prank called Starbucks – also the first public call from an iPhone
• 9:41
• Verbose Boot – shows text on screen while booting
• iPhone 12 problems in France – radiation related, eventually fixed
• Husk – lets you run android apps via emulation or a translation layer
• GTA Car Tracker – its just trollhelperota
• Linux running on an iPhone – usually via checkm8
• Adobe Flash
• SSV – this is why rootless exists
• IPSW – used for device firmwares
• Calculator on iPads – was finally added in iPadOS 18 :/
• Product Red
• Twitter for iPhone/Android
• Jailbreak detection
• MDM
• "iPhone is disabled" – get the passcode wrong too many times and you gotta connect to itunes :/
• Apollo – third party reddit client for ios, discontinued because api stuff
• SSH Ramdisk – on older devices*
• sudo launchctl reboot userspace – reboots everything but the kernel (iirc) so you don't have to rejailbreak
• UTM – lets you run virtual machines
• iGun
• iCloud Activation lock
• recoveryOS – on ip14 and newer
• Scarlet
• "Reloading Data" – fucking cydia
• Nugget
• viphone – iphone VM, requires a mac (not an emulated iphone)
• The weather app wouldn't show "69" – this was supposedly fixed like in like 14.6 and later?
• Cyberflashing – also known as airdropping random people obscene images, and probably why apple limited "Everyone" to "Everyone for 10 minutes"
• Operation Triangulation
• No device in Lockdown Mode has been hacked – at least for now, claimed by apple themselves
• Apple updating apps for developers – nothing new is added, just fixes and such
• iOS Repo Updates
• Inferno
• Crashing an iPhone with a Flipper Zero
• Virtual Mac on iPad
• iOS 7 waterproof hoax
• WeWorm
• FomoPeek – crypto stealer that was allowed onto the app store
• Cryptex/TSS server-side bug – privately used in cryptsn0w, no longer works as it was a server side bug and apple patched it not long after it became public info

Layer 4

• Liquid Glass looks worse on older devices – deliberate choice by apple, maybe because liquid glass runs like ass in general
• "Man sues Apple claiming iPhone turned him gay"
• "Fake" iPhones that run iOS – basically an older iphone in the body of a newer one, so not really fake?
• iOS running on a Nintendo Switch
• Applesauce – emulates 32-bit ios games using touchHLE and HyperHLE
• Pangu7 bootloops in the dark – supposedly because of a sensor issue
• Jailbroken Apple Store iPhones – back in like 2010 people would walk into an apple store and jailbreak the phones on display with jailbreakme
• iOS on QEMU – either QEMU-iOS or other projects like the one by eShard
• iOS 19.0 build 23A257a – an early build of iOS 26
• Broken SSV seal brick – only seems to affect arm64e (A12+) devices, not sure if fixed yet
• LibrePods
• Cycada – attempt at running ios apps on android
• turdus merula – (un)tethered downgrader for (some) iphones
• "Whats a computer?" – infamous ipad ad
• Mexico is the biggest user of Pegasus
• Jailbreaking an iPhone with another iPhone – requires a jailbroken device
• OpeniBoot
• Unix epoch brick – aka the infamous 1/1/1970 brick from years ago, can be fixed by removing the battery
• Apple Maps launch
• Flappy Bird's removal – because of addiction
• Custom Bootlogo – only really possible on like the first iphone
• iCloud bypassing
• Touch ID doesn't work with corpses – some say it still works as long as its been under 48 hours since the person's death
• "Hey Siri, where can I hide a dead body?"
• Onboard Blobs – shsh blobs for your current version
• Cryptex1 – rip downgrades on a12+ devices
• Domino's Miku
• Panels – wallpaper app by MKBHD
• Geode – geometry dash mod loader
• I Got No iPhone
• Nintendo Switch Calculator – that $10 calculator on switch that definitely doesn't look like the ios 6 calculator
• iOS 7 on iPod Touch 4G
• iOS 18 eye tracking
• iOS 18.4 downloading apps bug – on ios 18.4 there was a bug that would download random apps for some reason?
• You aren't supposed to close your apps – only if it's stuck/bugged or something, even said so by craig federighi
• 0-day exploits
• BlueBubbles
• iPhones in space – NASA recently allowed it lmao
• Miitomo – use kaerutomo
• Steve Jobs didn't let his kids use iPads – if only more people did this...
• DarkSword – exploit chain for 18.4 - 18.7
• Coruna – exploit chain for 13.0 - 17.2.1
• DexLoom – an apk runner for ios, still a WIP
• Onboard OTA Blobs require a BootROM exploit – in order to use, dumping them may also require a pc
• LightSpy – spyware
• iOS 19.0 build 23A5234w – the earliest build of iOS 26 (that is also available)
• iOS version codenames – ex: iOS 26's codename is Luck, although versions 1.x-11.x have multiple codenames for different versions.
• Fake Pokémon Yellow app – the one from 2012
• Diags
• SparkKitty/SparkCat – malware
• Hermit – spyware
• LiveExec32

Layer 5

• Jon Prosser – guy who got sued for leaking iOS 26
• macOS running on an iPhone – not via utm*
• Unofficial GTA 5 port
• tvOS on an iPhone
• Jailbreaking Drama – in the community there were some instances of drama
• Hacking a Switch with an iPhone
• Always-on shutter sound – in countries like japan and south korea the shutter sound cannot be muted even on silent mode, because nonconsensual photography
• Hidden movie apps – there are some apps which are actually movie apps in disguise, although they eventually get removed
• ICEBlock – ios-exclusive app for reporting locations of ICE agents, removed from the app store cuz of trump admin
• Yellow iPhone 14 on 16.3 – for whatever reason it requires it's own trollinstallerx version
• SeaShell
• Multiplayer doesn't work on sideloaded Minecraft – unless you use livecontainer or trollstore
• The iPhone could've had an Intel chip – luckily it didn't happen
• Villains don't use iPhones – because apple said no
• Apple v FBI
• Apple wants you to use iCloud storage – the idea is that they intentionally have low storage so you end up paying for icloud storage
• XcodeGhost – malware
• ES File Explorer on iOS
• Sideloading detection
• Apple can remotely disable stolen devices – usually whenever a store gets looted
• Emoji implication – fruit
• iOS 26 Simulator
• Online DRM tweaks – mfw a tweak stops working because the dev moved apartments and nobody could use it in the meantime
• Kawendra Zpax – fake virus seen on tiktok and such
• /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ProgressUI.framework/ – the second bootlogo which can be changed on 14 and older, will appear after the first one which can't be changed
• iPadOS on an iPhone
• iMessage bug that bricked your device – fixed in 12.3
• Doom running over iBoot
• Einstein – newton os emulator for ios and macos
• 25PP – chinese cracked app store, installed if a checkbox was ticked on pangu7
• PanguTeam's unreleased jailbreaks – they've had jailbreaks for newer versions/devices but they never get released
• iBoot exploits
• AirDrop vulnerability
• Minecraft: Story Mode – a couple archives exist, containing the game and the episodes + season 2
• The time picker is finite – in the clock app, the time picker (when setting an alarm) has a start and end, you just need to scroll far enough
• Claude.md in the Apple Support app – they later pulled the version that had this from the appstore so you cant downgrade to it, credit to @Little_34306 (v5.13)
• Nanshan 1A282j – The earliest (known) build of iOS (with a build number)
• NOR/SysCfg bricks – this cannot be fixed with a DFU restore*
• Year 2038 problem

Layer 6

• The reason there isn't any good emulator/compatibilty layer – supposedly
• Jeff Bezos phone hack
• Cameraless iPhones – seems to be for places like nuclear plants or military bases
• KilliOS
• "Acorn OS" – used on iphone prototypes
• Fugu14 on arm64 devices – in theory it could be installed via checkra1n according to linus, not 100% sure on this one. (not LTT)
• Glowing Apple logo on iPhones – unofficial hardware addon
• In-app purchase cracking
• Really obscure apps – kinda vague, but essentially just random/weird apps with barely any downloads
• Fake StikDebug movie app – i wonder how apple even allowed this
• Nintendo Today source code – nintendo forgot to remove the ios version's source code in the app, removed in a later update
• “”:: – crashes springboard if typed in app library or settings app search
• A certain Brazilian food app
• com.apple.countryd – determines the user's real country via several indicators like GPS and MCC
• Notchless iPhone – seen in ted lasso
• Biden's presidential shield – during his presidency he was seen using an iphone with a golden seal, allegedly having "special modifications to increase security"
• iOS running on an Android device – some have got this to work recently (as of october 2026)
• Coruna was built for the US government – likely
• NitroKey
• geohot's evasi0n7 writeup
• Banking apps using sandbox escapes to detect TrollStore – against apple's rules and supposedly illegal in some countries
• iCaughtU – tweak for catching thieves?
• nekoTroller – an unreleased web installer for trollstore on some versions, albeit it only worked on the iP7

Layer 7

• Apple's Ecosystem – you cant escape it!!!!
• colorfulst0rm – some have compared it to a certain island often visited by rich people...
• Lost apps
• Backdoors
• Apple iNDIGO – iOS Native Devices in Government Operation*
• iMessage isn't really that safe
• iCloud CSAM detection
• "Launch iPhone SE on MIUI 11" – no idea how true this is
• I-Soon leak – some connections with PanguTeam
• The very first iOS tweak may be lost – the ringtone one*

See also

• Iceberg chart
• Mobile games and apps iceberg
• File types iceberg

Sources

• IcebergThreads version: melissaisnotokay. An iOS/Apple Iceberg. IcebergThreads. 17 January 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.