Installing on nonjailbroken iOS

Installation of UTM on nonjailbroken iOS - Updated on 12/10/2023

Looking to update UTM on your nonjailbroken device? Go to this page.

Compatibility

You need atleast 1GB of storage available to install UTM. Virtual machines will use more storage, so ensure you have enough.

This is the key for the below charts:

✔️ = UTM will fully work without tethering ⭕ = UTM must be launched tethered or you must use UTM SE (slow edition) ♻️ = You can jailbreak to use the (much easier) jailbroken iOS instructions 🗿 = TrollStore is supported (see the TrollStore section)

iPhone Compatibility Matrix:

iPad Compatibility Matrix:

UTM - Tether

If your combination of device and iOS version got a ⭕ in the above compat matrix, then you will have to use this method or UTM Slow Edition.

This is because UTM uses JIT to provide a decent level of performance, and enabling it requires some special treatment.

Jitterbug

Jitterbug is created by UTM's developer which you can use to launch UTM with tethered JIT. BluDood on the UTM Discord server has created an easy to follow guide, which you can find here: https://guides.bludood.com/utm/tethering-utm/jitterbug/initial-setup. Just follow the steps, and you should be up and running in no time.

AltJit

You can use AltStore's AltJit to launch UTM with JIT, see AltStore documentation for more info on this.

Xcode

Attaching a debugger to UTM manually with Xcode on a Mac is always an option.

UTM - No Tether

You must ensure that your specific configuration of device and iOS version got a ✔️ in the above compat matrix. If they do, then great!

  • Download AltServer from https://altstore.io/ and install AltStore onto your device

  • On your iOS device, head over to the GitHub Releases, select the latest non-beta version and then download the UTM.ipa asset.

  • Open AltStore on your iOS device, tap 'My Apps', then tap the + (plus) icon on the top left.

  • Find the downloaded UTM.ipa file and select it. AltStore should now sideload the app.

  • If the process is successful, you will see UTM on your homescreen.

Note that you will need to re-sign UTM every 7 days if you use a free Apple Developer account. Users with a paid developer account only need to re-sign every 365 days.

UTM Slow Edition - No Tether

UTM SE (Slow Edition) is a version of UTM that uses TCI and can run on the latest version of iOS on any device without tethering. The catch is that UTM SE can be 9-10x slower than regular UTM, so use regular UTM if you can!

  1. Download AltServer from https://altstore.io/ and install AltStore onto your device

  2. On your iOS device, head over to the GitHub Releases, select the latest non-beta version and then download the UTM.SE.ipa asset.

  3. Open AltStore on your iOS device, tap 'My Apps', then tap the + (plus) icon on the top left.

  4. Find the downloaded UTM.SE.ipa file and select it. AltStore should now sideload the app.

  5. If the process is successful, you will see UTM SE on your homescreen.

Note that you will need to re-sign UTM SE every 7 days if you use a free Apple Developer account. Users with a paid developer account only need to re-sign every 365 days.

Jailbreak?

If your device got a ♻️ in the compat matrix, this means you can jailbreak it. Jailbreaking is the iOS equivalent of rooting an Android phone which gives you full control over the OS, ability to install themes, add 'tweaks' which can add or change functionality in the OS, and most important of all for UTM, install any app from any source with full capabilities.

The catch

Security is reduced, which in some rare cases has ended up in jailbroken phones getting infected with malware that spy on your data or even brick the phone, requiring a full wipe and restore from a computer! Additionally, due to the reduced security, most banking apps, most money apps (PayPal, Cash App, etc), some popular multiplayer games (PUBG Mobile, Apex Legends Mobile, Super Mario Run, Pokemon GO, etc), some social apps (Snapchat), and other apps will refuse to function or ban your account if you jailbreak your device due to aforementioned security concerns. There are tweaks to bypass jailbreak detection in some apps but they might be finnicky, buggy or not work and might get your accounts limited or banned. This is a risk you must take if you jailbreak your device.

Overall, jailbreaking is still somewhat popular because of the massive customization and freedom. This freedom is what allows UTM to run untethered on iOS devices on any jailbreakable iOS version. It can also allow features that are simply not possible in stock iOS, like USB passthrough.

If you would like to learn more about jailbreaking your device, you can visit this website.

Once you have jailbroken your iOS/iPadOS device, you can follow the 'Installing on jailbroken iOS' instructions.

TrollStore

TrollStore is a tool which uses a codesign bypass plus a CoreTrust exploit to permanently sign any app with any desired entitlements.

As such, it lets you get JIT with no tethering on any device running iOS 14.0-17.0, and lets you use virtualization on M1, M2, and A16 devices running iOS 14.0 through 16.3.1.

You can install TrollStore by following these instructions.

Once TrollStore is installed, follow these steps:

  1. On your iOS device, head over to the GitHub Releases, select the latest non-beta version and then download the UTM.HV.ipa asset.

  2. Open the downloaded UTM.HV.ipa file with TrollStore, and it should install the app.

  3. If the process is successful, you will see UTM on your homescreen.

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