The simplest way to describe what jailbreaking is is to say that it involves hacking your iPhone to liberate it from any restrictions that Apple has placed on it.
The iPhone has problems. Apple likes to trumpet it as a masterpiece of modern engineering, but it's far from perfect. Developers have created apps that fix many of the issues with the iPhone, but for one reason or another, Apple won't approve them for the App Store. Jailbreaking will allow you to install these 3rd party apps on your iPhone, whether Apple likes it or not.
Cydia and Installer are the unofficial "App Stores" of the Jailbreak world. Developers create apps and tweaks and different utilities and upload them to these package managers, which organize everything into categories. The differences between Cydia and the App Store are the lack of an app approval process, and the lack of access limits on the iPhone software - i.e. you can do things Apple did not design the iPhone software to do.
Why Jailbreak iPhone?
First)Remove all restrictions on your phone. You paid for it after all. Shouldn't you have control over your device? Want to create custom apps? Want to design custom icons? Install custom wallpaper? Install an "adult" theme that Apple would shy away from? Done.
2 - You're joining a club. There is an entire subculture or counterculture (whatever you want to call it) that is huge into the whole open source, free technology movement, and they love hacking the iphone.
3)Unlock iPhone. To unlock your iPhone and use it on any carrier, you must first Jailbreak your iPhone. Some of the Jailbreak solutions below also allow you to unlock the iPhone, though unlocking is generally beyond the scope of this tutorial.
Cons
One)Apple engineers, for the most part, do not restrict functionality just to be "dicks". They do it because certain features aren't ready for launch yet, and are still in a testing phase. Example: Multitasking. You can turn on multitasking once you jailbreak your phone. However, it will drain your battery very quickly. They shut it off so that they wouldn't have to field calls from customers complaining about short battery life.
2)Jailbreak could (maybe?) brick your iPhone. "When someone develops something for an Apple product and that development isn't sanctioned by Apple, you run the risk of it not working as it should, conflicting with the device itself, or just all-around bricking that iPhone," warns Chris Pirillo, who prefers not to Jailbreak his iPhone because "my iPhone just works already."
3)Every iPhone update from iTunes disables Jailbreak. Every time Apple comes out with an update for iPhone, they find a way to prevent hackers from cracking the code again. Hackers then scramble to Jailbreak the iPhone again and release the new methods. That means if you like to download Apple's iPhone updates, you are going to have to figure out each time how to Jailbreak your iPhone yes again. Do you really want to play this cat and mouse game?
4)Jailbreak voids your iPhone warranty. If your iPhone is bricked because of Jailbreak, or if your iPhone has another problem and it happens to be Jailbreaked, your warranty becomes void. I once saw a sign at the Genius bar of The Falls, Miami Apple Store that warned customers not to Jailbreak iPhones or they would void their warranties. Harsh.
The iPhone has problems. Apple likes to trumpet it as a masterpiece of modern engineering, but it's far from perfect. Developers have created apps that fix many of the issues with the iPhone, but for one reason or another, Apple won't approve them for the App Store. Jailbreaking will allow you to install these 3rd party apps on your iPhone, whether Apple likes it or not.
Cydia and Installer are the unofficial "App Stores" of the Jailbreak world. Developers create apps and tweaks and different utilities and upload them to these package managers, which organize everything into categories. The differences between Cydia and the App Store are the lack of an app approval process, and the lack of access limits on the iPhone software - i.e. you can do things Apple did not design the iPhone software to do.
Why Jailbreak iPhone?
First)Remove all restrictions on your phone. You paid for it after all. Shouldn't you have control over your device? Want to create custom apps? Want to design custom icons? Install custom wallpaper? Install an "adult" theme that Apple would shy away from? Done.
2 - You're joining a club. There is an entire subculture or counterculture (whatever you want to call it) that is huge into the whole open source, free technology movement, and they love hacking the iphone.
3)Unlock iPhone. To unlock your iPhone and use it on any carrier, you must first Jailbreak your iPhone. Some of the Jailbreak solutions below also allow you to unlock the iPhone, though unlocking is generally beyond the scope of this tutorial.
Cons
One)Apple engineers, for the most part, do not restrict functionality just to be "dicks". They do it because certain features aren't ready for launch yet, and are still in a testing phase. Example: Multitasking. You can turn on multitasking once you jailbreak your phone. However, it will drain your battery very quickly. They shut it off so that they wouldn't have to field calls from customers complaining about short battery life.
2)Jailbreak could (maybe?) brick your iPhone. "When someone develops something for an Apple product and that development isn't sanctioned by Apple, you run the risk of it not working as it should, conflicting with the device itself, or just all-around bricking that iPhone," warns Chris Pirillo, who prefers not to Jailbreak his iPhone because "my iPhone just works already."
3)Every iPhone update from iTunes disables Jailbreak. Every time Apple comes out with an update for iPhone, they find a way to prevent hackers from cracking the code again. Hackers then scramble to Jailbreak the iPhone again and release the new methods. That means if you like to download Apple's iPhone updates, you are going to have to figure out each time how to Jailbreak your iPhone yes again. Do you really want to play this cat and mouse game?
4)Jailbreak voids your iPhone warranty. If your iPhone is bricked because of Jailbreak, or if your iPhone has another problem and it happens to be Jailbreaked, your warranty becomes void. I once saw a sign at the Genius bar of The Falls, Miami Apple Store that warned customers not to Jailbreak iPhones or they would void their warranties. Harsh.
About the Author:
Before you purchase anything online, make sure you check out the author's excellent writeup, completely free, on how to find the best jailbreak applications, and, also, his blog about the best jailbreak applications. Free reprint available from: Jailbreak Software - To Jailbreak or Not to Jailbreak?.
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