Jailbreaking, or the process of removing limitations on Apple's iOS operating system, has become a veritable "cat-and-mouse" game between the manufacturer and hackers.

"A team releases a working jailbreak for the most recent version of iOS to the public. Apple moves to eliminate the exploit that made the last jailbreak possible, releases a new version of iOS, and stops 'signing' previous jailbreakable versions of iOS, meaning they can no longer be installed on devices. Rinse and repeat,"  Cult of Mac reports. 

In order to get the upper hand in the race -- if only for the given hacker's 15 minutes of fame -- the Chinese group TaiG has now gone so far as to jailbreak an iOS version that has not even been released yet, Gizmodo notes. The 8.2 version of iOS, which is still in beta and only available to developers, has been "free(d) from Apple's shackles," the website says. In the process, the Chinese-based outfit also jailbroke iOS 8.1.1.

The release of that current version only happened a few weeks ago; up until then, a jailbreak known as "Pangu" had been effective, but Apple eliminated that option, Today's iPhone says. Taig's new innovation, however, is capable of removing limits from iOS 8.0 through 8.1.1.

The new jailbreak tool requires a Windows PC and some knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, but there are plenty of websites and YouTube videos that guide users who lack the necessary tech-savviness or language skills through the process. 

Meanwhile, whether or not the jailbreak will be released in English or made to work on a Mac has not been announced.

"The Jailbreak is one of the easiest Jailbreaks in recent times, and only requires users to disable Find My iPhone, disable the Passcode/Touch ID, and put the device in Airplane Mode," Today's iPhone reports.

Given the third-party keyboards and widgets available in iOS 8, there may be less and less need to trick Apple in the first place, Gizmodo points out. After all, the website warns, using "dodgy third-party software to jailbreak" may lead users to put their own devices at risk.