Grant Paul (@chpwn) announced on Twitter yesterday that he will not be updating Spire to support iOS 5.1.x due to the fact that Apple does not host decrypted copies of Siri for iOS 5.1. This means that devices running the newly jailbroken iOS 5.1.1 firmware will not be able to run Siri unless Apple releases an official version of Siri.

Paul seems to be ambivalent about Spire’s unavailability. On Twitter he described his creation as “a ton of work, didn’t work for most users, almost always opened users up to data theft, and an *endless* stream of support requests.” In short, Spire was a cool idea for a mod, but was also a headache that was plagued by technical limitations.

One consequence of Spire’s unavailability will be the effect it will have on AssistantExtensions tweaks. AssistantExtensions is a method of patching custom voice commands into Siri’s interface. Without downloadable Siri capability, any AssistantExtensions tweaks will no longer support hardware other than the iPhone 4S.

Paul has clarified on Twitter that he has absolutely no way of porting Siri to unsupported devices in iOS 5.1, legal or otherwise. (At least until it’s possible to decrypt the sourcecode for iOS 5.1.1.)

The takeaway message: if you rely on Spire for AssistantExtensions, don’t update to iOS 5.1.1 (or downgrade back to iOS 5.0.1).

The good news is, we still have an alternative to Spire called Spite. The Spite 3.0 Cydia tweak works on the iOS 5.1.1 firmware and is compatible with all iOS devices including the new iPad. We will update the Spite 3.0 tutorial soon, stay tuned.

Updated: We have complet the how-to install Spite 3.0 on iOS 5.1.1, head on over here to check.

via ijailbreak