Popcorn Time Bypasses App Store With Expired iOS Corporate Certificates

Popcorn-time.se has released its iOS Installer, which allows users without jailbreak to install the illegal streaming service’s app on their iPhone or iPad. The installer appears to work with expired certificates from companies to put apps on employees’ devices.

Popcorn-time.se’s iOS Installer bypasses certificate verification by putting the iPhone or iPad in airplane mode during installation, preventing it from contacting servers to verify certificates, Wired writes.

The software works with a Windows computer, as was already clear on Tuesday. The download of around 35MB is an installation file for a Windows program, presumably written in Qt 5, with which the app can be placed on a device. Because after installation the necessary installation file is in a separate folder, it is obvious that users can also use the iOS Installer to install other apps from which they have ipa files on the device. A version for OS X will follow in a few weeks, the developers say.

The developers say to Wired that they expect a cat-and-mouse game with Apple. “We’re going to war with Apple on this. But when I see what kind of work they have and what installer updates they’re working on right now, we’re sure they’re ready for any obstacle Apple throws.”