Yifanlu just announced that HENkaku was updated to revision 3. This version brings, among other things, Firmware spoofing, which gives us back to the PSN, for now.

PSN Support is back – Install VHBL now!

VHBL (PSP Homebrew launcher on the PS Vita) requires you to install a (legit) PSP game to your PS Vita as part of its installation process. Although several techniques have been found to do this on firmware 3.60, the easiest way (and how it was initially described in our installation guide) is to download and install a PSP game or Demo from the PSN. To do this, you’d typically need to be on the latest PS Vita firmware. Update 3.61 technically “broke” this technique (again, other solutions exist), but with this new release of HENkaku, you should be able to access the PSN, download a PSP game, and install VHBL.

Do it now, not later, as it is unknown how long the spoofing technique will work.

This is also the opportunity to buy and download Vita/PSP games you badly want from the PSN, as well as update your PS+ licenses if you renewed your PS+ recently!

As an important note, Yifanlu recommends to not access the PSN on a Henkaku-enabled PS Vita. I’ll second this recommendation. Although this is now technically doable, keep in mind that this would give ground for Sony to ban your account or your console from the PSN. Nobody’s been banned for using a hacked PS Vita in the history of the console, but HENkaku opens way more doors than ever before, so Sony might decide to take action if they fear hacked PS Vitas put their network at risk.

HENkaku revision 3 – what else is new?

The latest HENkaku update does not only bring PSN access, but also update blocking (to avoid update your console by mistake), Vitashell 0.8 (which was released a few hours ago by TheFloW), and Safe homebrew support.

Safe homebrew is a great way to categorize homebrews as “safe” and “unsafe”, unsafe homebrews being the ones that could potentially access critical parts of your system. This is Team molecule’s response to the recent releases of dangerous homebrews that formatted people’s memory sticks. HENkaku users will now know at install time if a homebrew was compiled with options that lets it access critical parts of the system (unsafe) or not. Disclaimer: all homebrews that have been released so far for HENkaku are categorized as unsafe, as the option to restrict them did not exist until now.

Yifanlu’s article on this release covers much more details in depth, so I suggest you give it a read. In particular, he has some details about the ongoing KOTH challenge and some recent controversy about his stance on piracy.

Download HENkaku revision 3

To get the latest version of HENkaku, just reboot your PS Vita and point your browser to the official site henkaku.xyz

Source: Yifanlu on twitter