EscapeOS

• Lists installed user apps through LocalDevVPN + pairingFile.plist in Documents. Search by name or bundle ID; A–Z letters on the right jump the list.
• Browses an app Data container (Documents, Library, tmp) after consuming a bad_query sandbox extension for that container UUID.
• Creates, previews, edits, and shares files in that container (share keeps the original name). Compress makes a zip of files and folders in the current directory. Tap zip, 7z, tar, gz, bz2, xz, lz4, lzma, or deb to extract; encrypted zip and 7z ask for a password. RAR is not unpackable. Select in the top right for multi-select Copy, Cut, Paste, Compress, Duplicate, and Delete. Copy Path / Copy Bundle ID put text on the system clipboard and show a confirmation.
• Exports a zip + manifest.json (SHA-256 per file) into Files → On My iPhone → EscapeOS → Backups, and restores that archive into the same app's current container.
• Reclaim ranks apps by cache/tmp size and can empty Safe buckets (tmp, Library/Caches, logs, splash snapshots). Session buckets (cookies, WebKit) are opt-in per app. Documents, Preferences, and Application Support are never reclaimed.
• Reset App Data on an app’s detail screen empties that app’s Documents, Library, and tmp. It does not touch Keychain or App Groups.

• Keychain
• Other apps' App Groups
• System paths (/var/mobile, parent container directories)
• The app's signed .app bundle (Data container only)
• iOS 15, 16, or 17 (the IPA will not install; MinimumOSVersion is 18.0)

The IPA will install on iOS 18.0 or later (MinimumOSVersion 18.0). Opening another app's Data container uses bad_query, whose upstream range is iOS 26.0 through 26.6.1, plus iOS 27.0 beta 4 only. Builds outside that list are unsupported, not assumed.

iOS 15, 16, and 17 cannot install this IPA.

On a compatible build above: phone + LocalDevVPN + Wi-Fi. No USB while using the app.

Also required:

• LocalDevVPN on default 10.7.0.1
• Wi-Fi on
• Pairing file from iPASide (Create keys / Place) or iLoader import. PC is only for minting and placing that file.

1. Install iPASide on Windows.
2. Sideload EscapeOS.ipa from this repo's Releases.
3. Trust the developer profile on the iPhone.
4. iPASide places pairingFile.plist automatically after sideload. To do it later: Settings → Pairing file → Place.
5. Unplug if you want. Install LocalDevVPN, connect it, leave Wi-Fi on, then open EscapeOS.

House Arrest is a PC → phone lockdown service. iPASide uses it to write pairingFile.plist into EscapeOS's Documents (same path as Files sharing). That is how the pairing file arrives. It is not a way for EscapeOS, running on the iPhone, to see other apps.

A sideloaded app cannot enumerate other apps or their Data containers by itself (LSApplicationWorkspace and listing /var/mobile/Containers/... stay blocked). EscapeOS therefore:

1. Uses the pairing file over LocalDevVPN to talk to installation_proxy as a trusted host, which is what fills the app list and each Data-container path.
2. Opens that container with bad_query so Documents, Library, and tmp are all reachable. House Arrest's usual VendDocuments is Documents-only, and only for apps that enabled file sharing.

Without the pairing file there is no app list and no container paths to open. Keep using iPASide Place (or import an iLoader file). The PC is not needed after that.

This tree is built with Theos against the iPhoneOS 16.5 SDK, deployment target iOS 18.0 (Linux clang). That IPA is what was verified on iOS 26.5.1. A Mac with Xcode 26 can relink against the iOS 26 SDK for Liquid Glass; see docs/BUILD.md.

export THEOS=~/theos
cd ~/apps/EscapeOS
make package FINALPACKAGE=1
# staged app: .theos/_/Applications/EscapeOS.app

After reinstall, place pairingFile.plist again from the PC: iPASide Settings → Pairing file → Place (House Arrest), or share the file in Files.

GNU AGPL-3.0. Third-party origins are listed in NOTICE: StikDebug adaptations (AGPL-3.0), jkcoxson/idevice (MIT), SWCompression / BitByteData (MIT), and forcequitOS/bad_query (no upstream license at adaptation time).