With the new features added to the iPhone 3.0/3.1 Firmware updates, like MMS, Landscape mode, Search Spotlight, tether… (whoops), many are starting to question if jailbreaking is still needed. To that I give you the 7 reasons to jailbreak STILL.

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1) INTELLISCREEN

Intelliscreen is magic. Simple and plain, anything that can save me this much time in the day by updating me on everything important in my life without even leaving my lock screen is simply magic. I have my week forecast, my sports scores, my calendar, my emails, all organized neatly on the lock screen. I don’t need to unlock, go searching for the explicit app for the small tidbit of information anymore. Its all there on the lockscreen. For more info check out the Intelliscreen Review.

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2) Categories

The Categories jailbreak app has been around for some time now and for good reason. With the ability  to give organization to my springboard by putting apps into folders or “categories” to help navigation, it is a must. I know for me it helps me deal with my manic obsessive compulsive disorder of organization (kidding, kind of). Categories have come and gone as compatibility issues were a problem in the beginning of some firmware updates. Also known for causing instability in the past, this jailbreak app had a bad wrap. Now, with the add-on of Mobile Substrate the app has been running smooth ever sense. For more info on how to get this app, check out our Categories Tutorial.

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3) Tlert

Tlert, another Jailbreak app I do not know how I lived without before. Tlert is awesome in the way that I can respond to a text message from any app or even the lock screen as you can see in the image here. I can go in to landscape mode, I can change the colors,  the look of the comments. I can see the image of the person in the bubble. All this without having to keep switching to my SMS or even unlocking the screen. This app really makes Apple’s native SMS app seem prehistoric. Get with the times people, check out our full Tlert Review.

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4) Winterboard

Why Apple has not allowed us to customize our own iPhones yet is beyond me. Down with plain, black backgrounds and boring default icons! Use Winterboard to liven up your iPhone & iPod. With literally thousands of themes out there, there is a theme for everyone. If not, making one is really easy with theme generators around the web. Winterboard alone was a good enough reason for me to jailbreak my iPhone the first time around and I don’t regret it at all, in fact I thank Saurik for making such a great app and opening me to Jailbreaking.

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5) Appulo.us

First off, we want to say that we do not condone app piracy in any form. We know that the developers work hard on apps and deserve to be paid for their hard work. With that said, what Appulo.us is in there own words is “the solution to a flawed app store”. Meaning, if you will not allow us to test the apps in the iTunes AppStore before purchasing, well then Appulo.us will provide the full version of the app, free of charge. Yes – you heard right. You can find pretty much every app here FREE. This is for testing purposes of course and it is on the honor system that you will delete the app and purchase it from the Appstore if you enjoyed.  You can check out the Appulous Tutorial for more info .

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6) SBSettings

I see this jailbreak as more of a necessity. My friends complain and complain about the slowness of there iPhone/iPod and they don’t know why. The reason is because the iPhone/iPod has trouble clearing cache and fully shutting down apps when you are done with them. The result is a gradual slowing down of your device over time. Enter SBSettings with the ability to stop renegade apps and cache in its tracks. With SBSettings you can now see the system memory live as you free it up speeding up your device. Also SBSettings comes packed with many toggles for your battery killing tools like Bluetooth, Wifi, push notification etc.. Really convenient to have all these tools at the swipe of your hand. Check out this SBSettings Review for more info and install directions.

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7) MyWi

I saved the best for last . MyWi – you are my new hero. If you are tired of waiting for AT&T to allow tethering on the iPhone then here is a big reason to jailbreak. What MyWi does is take tethering to another level, making your iPhone into a Wifi hotspot to share with anyone you please – Laptops, Computers, Smartphones, Media Players. It works just like a real router. You name your network and have the ability to  add WEP security also to block out strangers. Shows up and down bandwith usage to track speeds. Also allows bluetooth and USB tethering in case you don’t like dealing with Wifi as it can fluctuate in speed. To get this app you will need to get it from the Rock your phone store. Click the link to get the store on your iPhone to get MyWi.

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