fairplay-decrypt

EthanArbuckle/fairplay-decryptReviewed by AI

Radar found strong risk signals in this project. It stays visible so you can read the evidence, but it is left out of rankings and recommendations.

What it does

fairplay-decrypt is a command-line tool that takes an App Store app file (IPA) and writes a copy without Apple's FairPlay encryption, so the program inside can be opened and inspected. It is for people who study how iOS apps are built. You need macOS or Linux with Python 3.9+, and a 16-byte credential from the Apple account that owns the IPA; the included code pulls that credential from a jailbroken device, and building it on macOS needs Xcode and ldid. Removing copy protection is restricted or illegal in several countries.

How easy it is to install

D · terminal, several tools or a specific graphics card · macOS

macOS D
Linux D

macOS and Linux are both D: the README asks you to install Python 3.9+, create a virtual environment, install the cryptography package and then run decrypt.py in the terminal, and there are no releases to download (GitHub releases: 0). Before any of that you need the 16-byte credential, which the credential-retrieval part takes from a supported jailbroken device, and on macOS building that part needs Xcode and ldid.

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Numbers on GitHub

Stars: 2,296on Oct 31, 2026
Downloads: —all releases
Growth: +118stars in 5 days

Stars over time

Facts

Runs on: macOS, Linux
You need to install: Python
To build from source: Python
Disk space: 100 MB–300 MB · estimate
Accounts or keys: None
Cost: Free · Free and open source: the repository has a LICENSE file with the GNU GPL v3 text and GitHub reports the licence as GPL-3.0. You still need an Apple account that owns the apps and a jailbroken device to obtain the credential.
License: GPL-3.0 (Copyleft)
Last update: Oct 30, 2026

Risk signals (4)

Highremoves apple copy protection
This is the whole purpose of the project. Description: "Offline FairPlay App Store IPA decryption with independent key derivation". README: "The decryptor uses each IPA's SINF and SUPF records to derive page keys, decrypt its encrypted arm64 pages, and clear `cryptid`." FairPlay is Apple's copy protection for App Store apps. Apple's terms forbid getting around it, and many countries have laws that restrict getting around copy protection, even for apps you paid for.
AI review
Attentionrequires jailbroken device
README: "[Credential retrieval](credential-retrieval/README.md) gets it from a supported jailbroken device and writes `credential.bin` to the chosen output directory." Jailbreaking turns off parts of the iPhone's own protection and can void the warranty.
AI review
Attentionhandles apple account credential
README: "Decrypt FairPlay-encrypted apps using a 16-byte credential for the account that owns each IPA", saved as the file credential.bin. That file is tied to your Apple account, so anyone who copies it can decrypt apps bought with your account.
AI review
Attentionvery new and unfinished packaging
Created on 2026-10-19 with the last push on 2026-10-30, and 0 GitHub releases. The whole project is .github/, .gitignore, LICENSE, Makefile, README.md, core.py, credential-retrieval/, decrypt.py and requirements.txt — scripts you run by hand, with no installer and no packaged version, yet it already has 2286 stars and 353 forks.
AI review

Evidence is shown in its original language.

What Radar could not check

Whether the tool really decrypts current IPA files, and whether the credential retrieval works on today's iOS versions and devices.
What the credential-retrieval code does on the jailbroken device, and whether credential.bin or any app data is sent anywhere — we did not run or fully read the code.
Whether using it is legal where you live, even for apps you bought.
The real disk space needed: the checks give a rough estimate of 100 to 300 MB, and decrypted IPA copies add to that.
Whether the GPL-3.0 licence in the repository covers everything inside credential-retrieval/.