So you’ve had your iPhone or iPod Touch for a while now but you still haven’t done anything to it that Apple didn’t want you to. Why should you jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch? I will go over some of the advantages and disadvantages of jailbreaking as well as some of the potential pitfalls.
*UPDATED* 7 of the latest reasons to Jailbreak on 3.1 Firmware
Winterboard
This is probably how your iPhone or iPod Touch looks without jailbreaking. There’s a generic black background that makes sure it doesn’t stand out from the millions of iPhones out there. The only time you see your wallpaper is the unlock screen for a split second before you actually start using your iPhone. Winterboard is perhaps the most popular reason people jailbreak their iPhones! The iPhone jailbreak will allow you to customize your springboard through the jailbreak-only app Winterboard! You can download themes (there are tons of them out there) to make your iPhone look like this.
Or even this…
You can change everything from the sounds to the unlock screen sliders to the keyboard itself but only if you jailbreak the iPhone or iPod Touch! A definite Advantage.
The possibilities are pretty endless here.
Categories
If you’ve had your iPhone for a while, it can get pretty messy. Your apps are all out there on your springboard and you will have to sift through the various icons to find the app you need. With the Categories app, you can organize all your apps into folders!
The advantages of categories is that it can clear up the app clutter on your springboard and make it easier to find the apps that you need.
Backgrounder
Backgrounding is a highly anticipated update feature that has yet to be added by Apple. Steve Jobs has stated that they are working on implementing it but they would like to get it right the first time so it wasn’t part of the firmware 2.2 update. Luckily, if you jailbreak your iPhone or iPod Touch you have access to the backgrounder which will provide the service. The disadvantage to this app is that you will have to watch which apps you have running or else you can slow your iPhone or iPod Touch significantly. This service is especially useful for instant messenging apps like AIM.
Modem
Ever wanted to use your iPhone’s 3G connection on your laptop? You won’t be able to download torrents but you can definitely get some work done with the modem app. The name is iPhonemodem and it makes tethering a reality. We’ve had some trouble getting the 3G to work but there are some people out there who have successfully tethered their iPhone’s 3G connection to their computers. Once again, another advantage to jailbreak!
Games
Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod Touch will open up a new world of games. Developers who have become fed up with Apple’s draconian app store rules brought their talent into the third party arena and there are some wonderful games available. The NES emulator will enable play of old school NES games. There’s also a Playstation emulator and tons of ported games like Doom!
Unlock
If you wish to unlock your iPhone (for use with other carriers besides AT&T here in the U.S) some time in the future when the iPhone-dev team release their soft unlock, you will have to jailbreak your iPhone 3G first. Remember though, don’t update to firmware 2.2 if you want to unlock!
update: As of January 2nd 2009, the iPhone Dev team have released an iPhone 3G unlock and it actually only works with firmware 2.2 so ignore this unlock warning! Check out the iPhone 3G unlock tutorial.
Update: Here is the iPhone 3GS unlock tutorial.
Disadvantages
We get a lot of people asking us the disadvantages to jailbreaking the iPhone or iPod Touch. After all, it seems too good to be true? There is a very very slim chance that you can brick your iPhone or iPod Touch (which basically means rendering it unresponsive). But those are usually fixed by doing a reset (press and hold the home and sleep buttons at the same time). You can then reinstall firmware 2.2 and try again. Doing the research might set you back 20 minutes or so and the whole process might take another 15 minutes. If you ever take it back to Apple for warranty, you probably don’t want them to see that you’ve jailbroken it so you might spend another 10 minutes doing a firmware restore through iTunes to set your iPhone or iPod Touch back to its original settings.
Overall
In the end, the advantages far exceed the disadvantages and jailbreaking is a very useful process. In a sense, jailbreaking will untie the hands of your iPhone or iPod Touch and allow it to be used to its full capabilities. It also opens up a whole new world of functionality. Do the research and see if its right for you, we definitely think it is! Check back next week when we will go over the entire process step by step. It should be noted that jailbreaking the iPod Touch and jailbreaking the iPhone are similar processes which achieve most of the same goals. Check out the iPhone vs iPod Touch article to determine which one is best for you!
-Derek
January 4th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Hello, I was just wondering if jailbreak can bypass the iPhone activation?
January 5th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Hey thanks for your awesome videos & reviews! I have a silly little question. What is the name of that background that has those animated characters running around in the sunset? piggyback question, the xmas tree lights, so I can install that next xmas. =]
January 5th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Jailbreak will not allow you to use other carriers if that’s what you mean Ars. I found the background using the backgrounds app from the app store and I got the “christmas lights” theme through cydia. You will need winterboard.
January 11th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
how do u install games after downloading the NES emulator?
January 25th, 2009 at 4:48 am
But then how are you gonna pass the activation screen on the iPhone 3G that let you only to do emergency call? iTunes won’t let me activate the iPhone 3G 2.2 as I don’t have a valid sim card.. SHould’nt there be a place where quickpwn asks you if you are a legit user and then ask whether you want to activate or not? (hacktivation)
February 20th, 2009 at 2:23 am
just doing project about iPhone
:D:D
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:45 am
I have my iphone 3g since its release in june, here in portugal, after a week a jalbroke it and i don’t regret it. Today i have on it many apps from cydia, some very usefull like backgrounder, hclipboard and many others, i even found a way to put every appstore apps i want saving in the same folder an access its files with another app (like airsharing). this can be done just by creating a shortcut with the name “documents”, making the app think its saving in its own directory… Use winscp to do that…
Cheers from portugal.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Hi,I’ve just both my IPHONE 3G so its not possible to jailbreak version 2.2.1. So any Idea to make it possible?
March 31st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
i bought an iphone 3g that was already unlocked from a store in dubai(united arab emirates)…. is it safe for me to jailbreak???
plz comment fast!!
tqvm!
April 8th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
coolios
April 14th, 2009 at 8:45 am
i Have an i pod touch 7G version 2.2.1 am i able to jail break my i pod? and whats the best way to go about doing so as in what do i need to dl ?
April 27th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
There is no iPod Touch 7G.
April 29th, 2009 at 6:04 am
sounds nice.
May 1st, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Okay, I was just wondering when you jailbreak you’re iphone 3G if you get a LANDSCAPE keyboard.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:10 am
I will be getting my Iphone 3g any day now. If I jailbreak it will I still be able to use itunes to sync ringtones I make and also Outlook calendar/contacts? Or do I do it without iTunes? If so, how do I do it.
Thanks,
Marc
May 21st, 2009 at 7:14 am
you guys r Freakin Amazing u know that! Only an idiot would think you would get fined $250,000 for jailbreaking your ipod/iPhone which technically is only software so it will not break your device. Some people are so Naive.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:21 pm
hey! i just jailbreak my phone, but bad thing it wasnt succesful to me. my iPhone 3G. got broked down, and it even been restored. so all of my files was los but luckily i have bak up on my iTunes.
i really want to jailbreak my phone but, i dont want the same thing to happen again. what am i supposed to do?
terribly NEED HELP!
please!
June 4th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Ja21
First things first. Go to QuickPwns OFFICIAL homepage and download the latest version and the Firmware if you are not up to date.
2nd I was helping a friend recently and we ran into issues. Later we found that when using Windows 7 we were getting compatibility issues. Switched to Vista and even XP and both worked great first time. Cheers!
June 6th, 2009 at 4:58 am
thanks, ill just try if it works the second time around. well, i downloaded the QuickPwns and also the Firmware. by the wat im using a Windows XP computer. is the latest Firmware 2.2.1 or is there another latest version than that? sam2 to the QuickPwns.
please inform me right away.
thanks so much for the help.
:]
June 15th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I have resently jailbreaken my iPod touch and iPhone with 2.2.1 program and using utube just type in “jailbroken steps” that east to do u only need 3 programz to download. I love getting The free apps an all and changing the page names are very helpful and I am on my iPhone now!!
June 18th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Mi, My question is, if I jailbreak my iPod touch, will the apps I bought from apple still work?
June 19th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Great thread! I see the 3.0 OS is now out – do you know if jailbreaking will be possible for this version?
June 28th, 2009 at 3:58 am
I think it’s useless to jailbreak your ipod touch. People tell me to jailbreak my ipod touch because we play various games, and those gameboy/NES games and bla bla bla. Who wants to play gameboy games in your ipod touch anyway? I have a hacked psp and I can play 10 times better looking games in my psp and some GBA games. If you like playing games then buy a psp, ipod touch is for music.
And that modem thingy that can connect your ipod touch to PC can be done without jailbreaking it. Just set up an wireless ad hoc connection in your laptop and you can share your internet with your ipod touch. And you can also freely download Yahoo messenger application from itunes app store too.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:39 am
SO this guys is actually tryng to say tht just to make desirable changes to the “Black Background,” v shud jailbreak our little darlng iPod. Y? is the background soo irritating or wat?? I dont see much advantage into jailbreaking the iPod jst for Backgrounds. Not worth it.
July 18th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Too true. Jailbreaking opens up so many more opportunities t for you’re device, it’s brilliant.
-Rule of thumb-
If adding any type of software to a pretty badass piece of electronics to make it even more badass is possible, it’s probably illegal or punishable.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
The only question I have, while all this seems really simple is, will this work with AT&T users? I’ve read there are special ways to do it if you are. Supposedly you can’t do it the normal way. As this true? I ask only because I have heard people will jailbreak and then not get any service after the break. If I do have a problem, do I just restore from itunes? Thanks alot guys.
July 28th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Hi, guys, I’m REALLY not a techie at ALL, and this probably sounds totally retarded, but: will jailbreaking my iPhone restrict me from downloading any Apple iTunes apps/music, etc??
July 30th, 2009 at 1:25 am
hey you guys, why jailbreak your ipod/iphone, you have all the features you need and you only jailbreak for different themes and 3rd party apps.if your ipod gets screwed when it is jailbroken, your warranty might be void.
Just keep your ipod/iphone fresh and clean it has everything you need!
August 11th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Jailbreaking is nice, I’ve pimped up my phone. No other phone in the world is similar to mine
August 11th, 2009 at 7:47 am
im guessing jailbreak doesnt work so well on the iphone 3gs
August 11th, 2009 at 7:48 am
j-r, you know that if it messes up your itouch just delete refresh and start over… duh
August 11th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
is this illegal?
August 18th, 2009 at 8:47 am
hey I have a 2g 8gb iphone and I want to know how I can update my iphone to 3g
August 20th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
sonson lolz… your so cute with your dumb questions……………. lolz
and to the little kids that think this is illegal… hahaha your cute too… why would it be illegal? You payed for the damn thing…
Thats like saying i bought a laptop and overclocked my proccessor or installed a different os….. of course it isnt illegal.. its yours do whatever you want with it.
August 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 am
What files do u need 2 download if u want 2 jailbreak ipod touch 2g??
September 11th, 2009 at 8:04 am
hii.. i got iphone 3g black, from china.. which is v1.0.0 [v_version].. some icons in the phone are in chinese language, can i replace them with english?? plz reply me..
September 13th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Hello i wanted to know if i jailbreak my 8g itouch can i get free music from the itunes store for free? And what about videos? How do u convert them on to the itouch? And will jailbreaking it let me have free movies aswell? Or is it just for games
And background apps? Thanks
September 30th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Hi, i just got this unlocked/jailbroken iphone 3gs and need to know the following:
1. Whats the difference between unlocked/jailbreak?
2. Can i still use itunes to download free app and sync? if not, where can i
d/l free app?
3. Where can i get the info of firmware version on my iphone?
4. how can i get an update firmware for my unlocked iphone?
Thank u for ure info
September 30th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Hi, forget question #3 above. Its 3.0.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
On the new ipod Touch, with software version 3.1–is it true that there is DRM encoding such that if someone were to accidentally try to download copyrighted material, that the ipod would prevent such downloads? Not sure what all file types this might apply to. If anyone knows, thanks for explaining it.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Fuck u
October 13th, 2009 at 1:31 am
does it works slower after jailbreak??
October 16th, 2009 at 6:58 am
fuck it fucker u nearly screwed my newly bought itouch
October 18th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
@angered: No, you idiot. YOU nearly screwed your new iPod Touch because YOU didn’t do it right. *eyeroll*
October 27th, 2009 at 2:52 am
thx. really good info. i wasnt sure bout jailbreaking and didnt realise how easy it was to get rid of the break. you convinced me well.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Greats share thanks.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Ok now not only i have jailbroke my ipod touck but i have also hacked it to do w/e i want with the apps as in being able to make evry thing on pocket god how i want.From the little people making them have like a hundred ppl to expanding the island but off the subject of pocket god i basicly made it to where i can do what i want in the games but when i first jailbroke my ipod touch and still as it is jailbroken i have had no problem with it all the games work fine and nothing has messed up on it.It also depends on witch ipod toucch is becuase a friend of mine had the 8 gb ipod touch and it made after a while all of the apps scramble up and everything he could access half of the alps at all but he also hacked it to where he wouldnt have any problems with it thank you.
email me at Thisisfake2256@hotmail.com
Thank you for reading this……
October 30th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
What software is this and where do you get it?
November 1st, 2009 at 12:09 am
Hey dude my ipd touvh gone. CAnt do anthing.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
i recently jailbroke my ipod touch . can i still update my ipod software and it still be jailbroken ?
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Jail broken will slow down your ipod touch and iphone no matter how many space you have on your item, if you try to send it back with the warrinty sometimes they wont give you another one back
November 4th, 2009 at 5:09 am
my aunt stays in us she is comming next month bck 2 india so if i get a itouch form there would dere b any problem of updating or jailbreaking or unlocking etc…. in india
November 13th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Is it legal to jailbreak your Ipod. Can someone break into your Ipod if you do?
November 15th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Hi.
What will be the disadvantage of updating from 2.2 to 3.0 software version in an unlocked iPhone?
Will I face any defect to the normal phone flow? Will the phone get locked automatically after update?
November 17th, 2009 at 11:01 am
The worst they can do is disable your signal, this means that jailbreaking an iPod touch will not be punished but on an iPhone you can loose sinal perminently, so I advise not on an iPhone but on an iPod there is nothing stopping you. If you do it on an iPod, the worst they can do is restart your iPod, on which case all you have to do is sync you iPod and all will be as it was.
November 21st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
i jailbroke my ipod touch recently, and then it went weird so i decided to restart it. will anything happen if I update it?
November 25th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I’ve never hacked or modified any computers, or my iPod touch in my life, but I would love to start, I’m really interested in it, do you have any pointers on how I can get started?
December 9th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
to everyone who thinks jailbreaking your ipod touch is useless, you are an ignorant person who obviously has no individuality. really, who wants to have the exact same thing as everyone else? im getting the ipod touch 3g, and im gonna change the way it physically looks (spraypaint the back, glue plastic tribal designs to front) and im gonna jailbreak it. i don’t even like apple anyways, just ipod touch is the best mp3 player on the market right now.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
hey if i jailbreak my ipod touch can i return it to the store i got it from or will they not acceptet any more?
December 19th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
what software did you use to jailbreak your iphone? blackra1n?
December 20th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I would like if some1 can do that 4me I live I’m mi Livonia
December 27th, 2009 at 6:53 am
wow………….. how can u guys take yourselves seriously when u r sitting on your mush butts writing figgin harry potter book length reviews on jailbreaking an i touch/phon. u guys need to get a life
December 28th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
i did this and it crashed my ipod, i restored it but 15$ worth of apps that i bought using wifi last night are all gone, is their anyway to get them back? and i want to know why mine crashed
December 30th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
ducking idiots.. Google that fucking shit!!!!!!!
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Are you completely sure you can erase all traces of jailbreaking by doing a software restore if you have to take it back for warranty? And, if it makes it undetectable by your computer or iTunes, what then?
January 3rd, 2010 at 3:30 pm
this question has been asked loads of times but knowone has answered it.
please answer me.if i jailbreak my ipod touch can i still use apps and the apple app store? answer a.s.a.p
January 6th, 2010 at 7:44 am
Hey ive nevr had anything hacked or jailbreaked or whatever it is you do call it. but i wanna know how so sombody anwser…NOW!!
P.S: (i dont know why i submit these questions noone anwsers anyways)
January 6th, 2010 at 7:45 am
Dont be FReakin Cheaters BUY THEM!!!!
January 10th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Apple holds you hostage on every point of view. At least this is a breath of fresh air even though i bricked it a few times (STAY AWAY FROM 7×7 springboard!). Although there is a learning curve, with a small effort (the fear of apple and its users) you will appreciate it very much. I hate itunes because I have to use it to delete and add music and photos which keeps my ipod touch hostage to itunes. Applications allow you to delete files at will while using your ipod or iphone! The only thing not provided with cydia is a new music player that frees you from any program in particular (even copy trans). I want to plug in my ipod, create folders and dump my files without Itunes to complete the separation but it is still the best program to upload your images. But now, an unnecessary fiddling with apps trying to find one that DOES NOT REQUIRE 3.0 UPDATE menu make me want to take my ipod and chop it half with a samurai sword and I will not blow 10$ on something worthless. I can always use my pc.
Install Cydia. Get more possibility.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Hi I’m deciding weather or not to jailbreak
my iPod touch. Please send me an email if you have ever jailbroken and your iPod has got screwed up chris_honda_51@hotmail.com thanks.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:04 am
I did a jailbreak on my Ipod Touch becuase I wanted to see if I could use it with Rhapsody to Go or Napster to Go. In its original state, the Itouch is not compatiable with either of these services. Does anyone know if when you jailbreak, it changes the non-compatiability scenario?
January 14th, 2010 at 10:53 am
hey
all i wanna know is i hav a ipod touch 3g 32gb and i am wandering when i jailbreak it will it delete all of my music,videos and apps because my itunes isnt working
plz reply =]
January 15th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I think its totally useless because like Prads said, IPod is for Music you don’t even need a beautiful background or anything. If you want to play game and have a beautiful theme and background, buy a PSP, you’ll have all this.
January 17th, 2010 at 3:47 am
Not worth it I’m keepin my touch nice and clean
January 26th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Can you also get songs for free? How do you get the free apps? 0.0
January 26th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
jailbreaking does actually void the Apple warranty.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
dude i used blackra1n.com an my touch still isnt jail brocken icant fugrie out how to do this
January 29th, 2010 at 10:50 am
i tried it once and it completely bricked my phone. then the restore wasnt working so i did not have a phone for 2 days. ive seen it work for others but it did not work for me.
February 5th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
The iPod et al keep a log of firmware updates for troubleshooting purposes. Wiping the device doesn’t dump the log, and it can be used to void the warranty (though they will sometimes honor it if there’s also a hardware problem if you’re not a jerk).