Can you port Siri to any iOS device by restoring an iPhone 4S backup?

Ever since Apple announced that Siri would be exclusive to the iPhone 4S, hackers have been chomping at the bit to port the AI voice assistant to older devices. The jailbreak community has released several hacks, including one, Spire, that is the product of some of the most notable developers on the scene.

If a recent report is accurate, however, the whole process may have been sitting under our noses for months. An iPod touch owner supposedly set up his device by restoring from a backup he had made from an iPhone 4S. After restoring the device, he was shocked to see that it had Siri installed.

Any Siri port is going to need live validation tokens from an iPhone 4S in order to connect to Apple’s servers. Apple added the extra layer of security, which needs a new 4S token every day or two, to make it more difficult for hackers to port Siri. It has worked quite well, as it won’t likely ever be possible for users to simply download a Cydia jailbreak app and get full Siri functionality.