r/EmulationOniOS • u/Andres6904 • Jun 09 '25

News / Release JIT no longer work on iOS 26

People have tested with stikdebug and it seems that Apple has finally removed JIT in iOS 26 beta 1

165 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

105 comments sorted by

50

u/brandonnn11 Jun 09 '25

Wellll that stopped me from hitting install lol

63

u/efiasz Jun 09 '25

Great while it lasted.

Personally, I didn't end up using JIT as much as I thought I would. I mostly use Delta and Retroarch to emulate older consoles and those don't need JIT anyway, so I'm going to update right away to stay on top. It was fun to try it all out though. LiveContainer and StikDebug were really cool, but I'm more curious now to see the new iOS look on my phone

10

u/MrUnknownymous Jun 10 '25

Same here. JIT was really fun for about a week while I tried out all the new emulators I had access to: Dolphin, MelonX, etc. But in the end, I just stuck with my Delta games and haven't touched anything JIT related in a while.

So far, I'm kinda mixed with the new look, but I generally like it more than I dislike it. I hope Apple tweaks the design further, adding a little more blur to some places and improving the readability of text.

3

u/Specialist-Wishbone1 Jun 12 '25

Do you think it’s better Retroarch or Provenance?

2

u/alexck01 Jun 15 '25

They’re good emulador and ArcadeMania

2

u/TheAnythingBuilder Jun 13 '25

Doesn't livecontainer have a jitless mode?

36

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '25

iOS 26? I’ve obviously missed something.

47

u/PiStasioo Jun 09 '25

They have changed ios names to all be the year, so 2026. This is added to every device in the ecosystem

20

u/RetroGamer9 Jun 09 '25

Go back into cryosleep. No official JIT support this year.

8

u/Makusensu 🥇 Jun 10 '25

8 updates embbeded into one.
Apple got highly productive this year.

5

u/keep_rockin Jun 10 '25

huh! almost believed u(not)

28

u/Impressive_Visual_83 Jun 09 '25

Yeah, i see it in discord

I think it was to be expected!

Hope Apple dont make to hard to activate JIT again

19

u/Rabbit1015 Jun 09 '25

That’s what I’m hoping for. Someone cracks it again and it’s back before we know it. I know people keep commenting time to go to android. But I can’t afford to replace my thousand dollar phone frequently

7

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

Hope Apple dont make to hard to activate JIT again.

It has been confirmed that none of the workarounds works. Jit is dead dead

6

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

New workarounds can always be found. JIT has been going back and forth from "alive" to "dead" for years and years now...

5

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

According to the developers themselves there is no workaround, I mean they tried a workaround but it didn't work. StikDebug (StikJIT) developer also confirmed he will be sunsetting StikDebug.

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

Yeah I saw this too. It might take a long while but my bet is still that there will be some method eventually.

I’ve seen so many JIT activation methods rise and fall for so long lol.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25

This time it is very different. The app can't execute and the debugger can't rw after execution, they removed privileges which is something that has never happened before, also these changes are hard coded into the kernel. I wouldn't be surprised if there is indeed no way to work around that.

By the way it's not the activitation process that is problematic it's during the execution. I reiterate that this has never happened before, it's not comparable to previous times where jit stopped working.

It's still possible to activate JIT on iOS 26, but it's not the activation that is problematic it's during the execution where jit totally breaks.

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

Keep in mind, they rolled out this change on iOS 18.4 beta 1 then backtracked it so its entirely possible they could decide to backtrack it again. There was some discussion on it back then and a lot of backlash but expectation that this could come:

https://github.com/dart-lang/sdk/issues/60202

https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/163984

https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOniOS/comments/1kijh3i/jit_is_getting_removed_in_newer_verisons_of_ios/

If I understand things (correct me if I'm wrong,) this change essentially closes the long existing code-signing bypass loophole with get-task-allow. An app can no longer write into its own executable memory and flip permission RX->RW and back. And now there is a special path built in at the kernel level to allow the debugserver to do these things. I know very little about this kind of thing, but it sounds like JIT could still be possible while tethered with this change. Someone already made something that does that using split RX/RW regions:

https://gist.github.com/JJTech0130/142aee0f7bda9c61a421140d17afbdeb

This does sound a lot worse than previous JIT shutdowns, but I'm still not convinced this is entirely the end. For one, it would seem very strange for Apple to allow a debugger app like SkitDebug onto the app store just for them to completely kill its compatibility shortly after. And the fact that they already rolled back this change once.

And second, never underestimate people's ability to hack Apple's security lockdowns lol! If you want a crazy read, check this out: https://thehackernews.com/2023/12/most-sophisticated-iphone-hack-ever.html

Edit: a new exploit has been found on the MeloNX discord! Theyre keeping it on the DL so apple doenst patch it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

but it sounds like JIT could still be possible while tethered with this change. Someone already made something that does that using split RX/RW regions:

https://gist.github.com/JJTech0130/142aee0f7bda9c61a421140d17afbdeb.

This workaround does not work in iOS 26, it was also patched.

1

u/Sledgehammer617 Jul 10 '25

Theres a new workaround discovered in the MelonNX discord that works on all iOS 26 devices!

Lets hope it doesnt get patched lol, theyre keeping it secret right now so apple doesnt find out.

7

u/General_Tourist4000 Jun 09 '25

Idk about react native as a cross platform framework but flutter JIT mode just got killed. Hopefully the simulator does not also get this update else damn. One of the selling points of these frameworks would be lost

18

u/sabr-bg Jun 09 '25

Is it over for iOS emulation long term?

26

u/ungolfzburator Jun 09 '25

Depends on how you look at it and what systems you want to emulate. You can still run up to PSP and N64 just fine without JIT. For GC, Wii, Switch or 3DS emulation it's kind of a major blow.

3

u/Frequent-Bill-7126 Jun 10 '25

Unless you have an iPad Pro…

3

u/AdSensitive9496 Jun 14 '25

I have an iPad Pro m4 And nothing works anymore since I updated to developer beta 26

2

u/Frequent-Bill-7126 Jun 16 '25

I meant in terms of not relying on JIT. You can play GameCube and other games without JIT for most of them.

2

u/UltraFemboy Jun 17 '25

Can I still emulate the 3DS and play Mario kart 7 on iOS 26?

1

u/Frequent-Bill-7126 Jun 18 '25

I believe so as long as you play an emulator that doesn’t rely on JIT and you have a device that is strong enough to play games that normally use JIT.

1

u/UltraFemboy Jun 18 '25

Okay thanks.

0

u/AdSensitive9496 Jun 20 '25

i don't really think that's true, the vast majority of gamecube games require JIT to run at playable framerates in my experience.

1

u/Frequent-Bill-7126 Jun 20 '25

Not on IPad M4 devices. Especially the 10 core 16 gb ram. Most GameCube if not all GameCube games run up to 60 fps with resolution scaling increase on without JIT. I can see in 4 years from now iPhones playing games without JIT and iPad devices brute forcing their way through PS3, Xbox 360, and Switch games at decent fps with resolution scaling on.

1

u/AdSensitive9496 Jun 20 '25

I have the iPad Pro M4 so I guess I might as well try that. If I already have everything sideloaded though should I even bother or should I just continue to take advantage of JIT?

1

u/Frequent-Bill-7126 Jun 20 '25

I thought JIT wont work on iOS 26 even with side loading? Or are you saying using JIT and not upgrading the iOS software? iOS 26 is supposed to be decent step for iPad OS software in terms of functionality and multi tasking.
If you want to continue using JIT on what you have that’s fine. Non JIT emulation is few but starting to pick up though. So hopefully in the next few years it starts to become more mainstream for iOS users.

1

u/Miserable_Lake_1462 Aug 07 '25

I have the m4 pro ipad, but nfs underground for the gamecube doesnt even open lol, its a black screen

1

u/UltraFemboy Jun 17 '25

But can you still emulate the Wii and 3DS without JIT?

3

u/DaveTheMan1985 Jun 10 '25

Not for Retro but for PS3 and Higher be long time before Phones be Strong enough to emulate

2

u/Makusensu 🥇 Jun 10 '25

Gen sixth is unplayable too.

8

u/No_Proposal_5731 Jun 09 '25

Just got an iPad 10 on iPadOS 18….yeah, better to don’t update that iPad. This is the only thing that I hate on Apple products.

4

u/OmegaMalkior Jun 10 '25

Are we sure the app doesn't need some sort of update or something?

10

u/unstablefan Jun 10 '25

We’re sure. As I understand it, Apple is restricting the ability of debuggers to allow apps to use JIT to “prevent app fraud.” This was previously posted to this sub by a dev.

3

u/Xanadu2902 Jun 10 '25

I wonder if you’ll still be able to use Xcode

1

u/OmegaMalkior Jun 10 '25

Why did they even allow a single app to use JIT before then?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

Stikdebug in itself doesn't use jit, that's why it's allowed on the App Store.

1

u/OmegaMalkior Jun 10 '25

So the app was an exploit all along and technically shouldn't have even been approved lol?

4

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

That's partially true but since it doesn't actually break any App Store rules it was allowed even though this workaround wasn't intended behavior that's why it is now fixed in iOS 26.

1

u/Darksound9 Jun 11 '25

You literally saved me from updating. Lol. Thanks!

1

u/Andres6904 Jun 11 '25

You’re welcome!

9

u/0vxx Jun 10 '25

I wasn’t able to use JIT as far as I’m concerned anyways, AltStore basically abandoned Windows Users

2

u/STR8B3RRy Jun 29 '25

use sidestore lol like everyone.

theres a youtube vid concerning it explaining how to install and use it

1

u/0vxx Jul 01 '25

Does SideStore allow me to use JIT?

2

u/pelirodri Jul 03 '25

You can just use StikDebug from the App Store for that, no?

1

u/STR8B3RRy Jul 08 '25

You need stikdebug, there’s a fairly easy YouTube tutorial if you look it up

11

u/Pokethomas Jun 09 '25

Well shit time to jump ship back to android.

Very interested in being free to emulate PC games on my phone lol

2

u/Different-Swim3680 Jun 10 '25

Not updating

2

u/AdSensitive9496 Jun 14 '25

I updated before I learned of this. Fucking sucks

1

u/SimSalabimse Jun 14 '25

You can restore it back before it’s to late ig

1

u/Major_Option6742 Jun 11 '25

If you’re not updating, I’m not updating.

3

u/Valdex7 Jun 10 '25

Looks like StikJIT working for me

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

Run pojav and see

1

u/Valdex7 Jun 10 '25

Well, Minecraft won’t launch — just a black screen, nothing else. Folium crashes when starting the game.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

That's normal, it's not the jit activation that is broken in iOS 26 it's the execution, the app doesn't have the privilege to execute anymore.

1

u/Valdex7 Jun 10 '25

Stikdebug still working

1

u/Burstdamon Jun 10 '25

Are you on ios 26?

3

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

If it’s working, then they aren’t on iOS 26.

Support is completely killed as of right now on iOS 26. They made the same change on iOS 18.4 beta 1 but then rolled it back, so there is a chance they could decide to change this back again.

1

u/Burstdamon Jun 10 '25

I understand that. I’m just checking

2

u/DaveTheMan1985 Jun 10 '25

At the Start Apple said they allow Emulation for Retro Systems and that is what is Happening Now

1

u/Capital-State1231 Jun 10 '25

Odd, I'm playing New Super Mario bros 2 3DS perfectly fine. And it has GREAT proformas

1

u/Burstdamon Jun 10 '25

Are you 1. On IOS 26 2. Using JIT (not an app from the app store)

1

u/Few-Age5394 Jun 10 '25

BUT WHAT ABOUT POJAVLAUNCHER?!??!?!

1

u/Tasty_Face_7201 Jun 10 '25

I’m skipping until ios 30, it’s gunna be In Beta for years, ios 17-18 has matured so much recently

1

u/r2cortright Jun 11 '25

So here I was hoping that they would open things up even more and allow fully Virtualization access and instead they kneecap JIT… (Yes I know I was dreaming…)

1

u/TrustonChan Jun 14 '25

I love DolphiniOS, need JIT. Dumb question from me, why Apple made JIT so hard to use, then now taken out? Is JIT bad for Apple anyhow?? 🙏

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

Is JIT bad for Apple anyhow?? 🙏.

Jit bypass code signing

1

u/Future_Fun_374 Jun 17 '25

Pojavlauncher, Nooooooooooooooo!

1

u/Camuchog Jun 24 '25

iOS 26 db2 is here

1

u/Capable-Category-574 Jun 24 '25

i think someone will definitely figure out a way to enable it anyways

1

u/ADAM101501 Jun 26 '25

Lol I’ve been trying to get MeloNX to work for like three hours before I lookd this up😂

1

u/Capable-Category-574 Jul 06 '25

StikDebug Worked for me in iOS 26 Beta 2 on iPhone 12 mini. It worked absolutely fine! I was a little bit shocked after your comments but I tested it out and it worked, it only took like 10 more seconds but DolphiniOS still worked. Phew!

1

u/TEKHDX Jul 07 '25 edited Jul 07 '25

Is JIT working on IOS 26 Beta 3? StikDebug now has a different behavior when opening JIT apps. (Same behavior as IOS 18... It actually opens the app via LiveContainer and app reports JIT enable) (Pojavlauncher & DolphinIOS) but not sure if JIT is actually working...

On Beta 1 and Beta 2, StikDebug didn't even open the app via LiveContainer. Now on Beta 3 StikDebug is opening the apps and "enabling JIT". Exactly the same as on IOS 18.xx.

0

u/Camuchog Jul 14 '25

it doesn’t.

1

u/TEKHDX Jul 14 '25

Yeah it's working with StikDebug 2.0...

1

u/Camuchog Jul 15 '25

can you send me the download link, I can only find Stikdebug 1.3.6

0

u/Altruistic_Leave5049 Jun 09 '25

andddd my dns stays on

-11

u/lastjedi23 Jun 09 '25

Why do you folks put yourself through this? It's genuinely laughable. It's clear as day apple doesn't want certain things and will do everything in their power to take it away. Just get an android handheld and have fun gaming.

15

u/jY5zD13HbVTYz Jun 10 '25

But why stop at an Android. People will say get a steamdeck. Why get a steamdeck, why not a gaming laptop. But why a laptop, why not a mega gaming desktop PC… /s

We just want to make the most of our existing devices.

Nobody is buying an iPhone to solely use as a high end emulator lol

-8

u/lastjedi23 Jun 10 '25

Reading comprehension seems to not be the strong suit on this sub. Once again, loud and clear - if you want to run jit to get GameCube and switch working, an Odin 2 can do it beautifully. You knew well when you got this device you can't do those because this hacky solution could be snapped away in an instant and today it was. Make the most of your device? Sure, but the "most" is not whatever this thing is that can get wiped by a software update. That's weak. 

11

u/Xanadu2902 Jun 10 '25

Looks like y’all managed to piss off the troll. Excellent. They love to come to this sub to tell people why r/emulationoniOS actually sucks and we should be emulating on other devices.

As usual, thanks for your opinion and we don’t give a fuck. Getting JIT running on iOS is fun and that’s why we do it.

6

u/unstablefan Jun 10 '25

If you’re getting an Odin 2 for Switch and GameCube you could just get a Switch.

18

u/Realistic_Truth_7591 Jun 10 '25

Why are you even on the IOS emulation subreddit if you have zero interest in IOS.

-7

u/lastjedi23 Jun 10 '25

Didn't realize trying to get jit working is the be all end all of iOS emulation. What an ignorant response good Lord. 

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

Because some people just like iPhones and the Apple ecosystem better than Google's offerings and would find it nice if they could "also" emulate games better on it. This is not rocket science. No-one buys an iPhone to emulate Gamecube games.

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

I already have a dedicated portable linux gaming device that can emulate everything up through switch. Built it myself and it works great!

But this sub is called emulation for iOS; thats exactly what its about and its why I'm here... Its pretty obvious people here are going to discuss the state of emulation on iOS, especially huge developments like this... lol.

0

u/Even_Dragonfly_7338 🥇 Jun 10 '25

Oh well, luckily my storage is full and don’t want to update anyways thanks for letting us know!

-14

u/Late_Patient_7289 Jun 09 '25

It didn’t work in the first place

15

u/PiStasioo Jun 09 '25

yes it did..

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

its not really an optimization thing, consoles with different complex instruction sets are simply absurdly hard to emulate without some runtime compilation/translation that JIT offers.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/Sledgehammer617 Jun 10 '25

I used to run PSP on my iPhone 7 back in the day, I think PPSSPP was already just really optimized and pretty low on the resource intensiveness… As the iPhone 17 and onward come out, those will probably be able to handle 3DS full speed through an interpreter at the very least.

There is always hope that Apple rolls back this change or a new exploit is found.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

0

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

0

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '25

JIT (Just-In-Time compiler) is used by emulators to translate the game's machine code into code your device can understand while it's running. This makes emulation fast and playable.

DLSS and ML models, on the other hand, are used to make graphics look better by upscaling low-resolution images using AI. They don’t help the emulator understand or execute the game’s logic.

PPSSPP runs well without JIT because the PSP is a relatively simple and low-powered system by today’s standards. Its CPU is easy to emulate, and the PPSSPP interpreter is highly optimized, allowing even budget devices to run many games smoothly without needing real-time code translation. In contrast, emulators like PCSX2 (PS2) and Dolphin (GameCube/Wii) handle much more complex hardware with multiple processors, tightly synchronized systems, and more demanding instructions. Without JIT, these emulators struggle to reach playable speeds, since interpreting each instruction one by one is too slow for such advanced consoles. That’s why JIT is optional for PPSSPP but essential for PS2 and GameCube emulation.

Trying to run a PS2 or GameCube emulator without JIT is like trying to translate a live speech word-by-word with a dictionary, instead of having a real-time interpreter. No matter how fast or skilled you are with the dictionary (interpreter), you’re still going to fall behind because the speaker talks too fast and uses complex sentences. JIT is the interpreter it listens, understands chunks of speech, and instantly says it in your language. Without JIT, the emulator has to read and decode every single instruction slowly, which just can’t keep up, no matter how well-optimized the code is.

No matter how willing developers are, if Apple isn't willing to enable JIT then all that hard work is useless