# libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice

A cross-platform protocol library to communicate with iOS devices

Repository: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libimobiledevice
Homepage: https://libimobiledevice.org
Language: C
License: LGPL-2.1
License Family: copyleft
Topics: ios, protocol, library, c, lockdownd
Last push: 2026-06-10T07:52:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 86, release rhythm 19, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4949, "days_push": 84, "days_rel": 327, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 8133, forks 1530 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:13.811259+00:00)

## What it is
A cross-platform C library that implements Apple's native protocols for communicating with iOS devices over USB and Wi-Fi, without requiring jailbreaking or Apple's proprietary libraries. It bundles command-line utilities and Python bindings for managing apps, backups, filesystem access, device info, and many other device services.

## Use cases
- access iPhone filesystem from Linux
- back up and restore an iOS device without iTunes
- install and manage apps on an iPhone from the command line
- retrieve device information and diagnostics from an iPad
- take screenshots from an iOS device screen
- simulate GPS location on an iPhone
- relay device syslog and crash reports
- manage contacts, calendars, and notes on an iOS device

## When to choose
- you need to interact with iOS devices from Linux, Windows, or macOS without iTunes
- you want to automate iOS device management in scripts or CI
- you need a jailbreak-free, open-source implementation of Apple device protocols
- you're building an application that needs programmatic access to iPhone/iPad services

## When to avoid
- you only need to sync media and prefer a polished GUI like iTunes or Finder
- you need to communicate with non-Apple mobile devices
- you need a high-level managed-language SDK without writing C or Python bindings

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: sdk, file-system, developer-tools, cli
- domain: cross-platform, developer-tools, apple-ecosystem
- platform: windows, c, python, cli, cross-platform
- tags: ios, apple-devices, usbmuxd, lockdownd, no-jailbreak, protocol-implementation, iphone, ipad, device-management, automation, linux, macos, android

## Member repositories
- libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:13.811259+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:29:51.186466+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:13.811259+00:00, sha 223adfa8ba62)
  - homepage: https://libimobiledevice.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.174794+00:00, sha 60fcaebea5c7)
  - site_page: https://libimobiledevice.org/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.184067+00:00, sha 1b452d9b50b7)
  - site_page: https://libimobiledevice.org/docs/libimobiledevice/latest (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.185889+00:00, sha 8ba54f9669f4)
  - site_page: https://libimobiledevice.org/docs/libplist/latest (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.187639+00:00, sha 3b4edf3de103)
  - site_page: https://libimobiledevice.org/news/2025/10/30/ideviceinstaller-1.2.0-release (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.189470+00:00, sha d1228f7d98c9)
  - site_page: https://libimobiledevice.org/news/2025/10/24/docs-updated (fetched 2026-08-29T08:28:36.191088+00:00, sha 7bee0e8863bd)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.