Jailbreaking is the act of changing the iPhone (or iPad) software to remove the restrictions and limitations imposed by Apple. The principal limitation is that software can only be installed from the App Store. With a jailbroken phone you can install software from a rival to the App Store, and also manually using files downloaded from the internet.
Jailbreaking is different to iPhone unlocking. iPhones (like all mobile phones) that are sold as part of a contract are often locked to a particular network. This means that if you buy an iPhone from 02, for example, you have to use an 02 SIM card in it. The iPhone is locked' to that network. Unlocking the iPhone turns it from an iPhone that can only work on the 02 network to one that can work on any network. But you will still be running officially sanctioned iOS software, and still have the software limitations. (Unlocking is considered a breach of your mobile phone contract, incidentally.)
5 reasons to jailbreak your iPhone
1. It's your phone! You should be able to do what the heck you like with it
2. You can download your apps from anywhere, notjust from the App Store
3. You can use alternatives to the default apps in iOS, many of which have more functionality
4. You can customise your phone's look and feel to suit your personality, rather than being stuck with the far more limited options in iOS
5. You can tether your Mac to your iPhone and bypass your networks' Mobile Hotspot feature, which is often severely restricted and/or expensive.
5 reasons nottojailbreakyour iPhone
1. You'll invalidate your iPhone's warranty. Apple Store employees are unlikely to be sympathetic if something goes wrong.
2. Jailbreaking your iPhone will take you away from the safety of Apple's 'walled garden' and dump you into an exciting, but occasionally dangerous, hinterland filled good apps and bad apps, crashy apps and malware. A bit like being an Android user.
3. Your iPhone "just works" right out of the box. And brilliantly so. That's enough for the overwhelming majority of iPhone users.
4. Jailbreaking your iPhone is a cat and mouse game. Every update to iOS will break your jailbroken phone if you decide to update it. Or you may have to sit out and wait for an updated jailbreak to become available. That may take days, weeks or even months.
5. While being able to mod your iPhone to its very core sounds appealing, doing so can have unforeseen consequences. You may find that your iPhone crashes more often, that certain features and apps no longer work as they should and that your battery life becomes much shorter.
Is it safe to jailbreak an iPhone?
While your jailbroken iPhone isn't going to blow up in your hand - or break the whole internet - it may not work exactly the way you'd like. We cannot wholeheartedly recommend jailbreaking, and as a rule we wouldn't do it to our own phones. Jailbreaking an iPhone is the sort of thing done by
tinkerers. Put aside the moral arguments about who owns what (and who should pay for what) and you're left with the practical advantages of jailbreaking - being able to install blocked software and replace key services - with the disadvantages of jailbreaking - having a less secure system that's more error-prone.
What does Apple say about jailbreaking?
Apple is, as you might imagine, firmly opposed to jailbreaking. Apple frequently updates the iOS software to remove any jailbreak software from the iPhone, and is constantly updating iOS to prevent jailbreaking techniques from working. Part of this is to protect its commercial interests. Apple runs the software store so it wants you to keep using the store. And developers spend time making software and want to get paid. But there are other concerns: Apple wants the iPhone system to remain secure on the whole, and jailbreaking can threaten that. Apple identifies these concerns:
• Security: jailbreaking removes the security layers on your iPhone
• Instability: jailbreaking causes an iPhone to behave erratically
• Shortened battery life : jailbreaking apps and services may not run correctly which may drain your battery
• Unreliable voice and data
• Disruption of services: Services such as Visual Voicemail, Weather and Stocks have been disrupted. iCloud, Exchange and Apple Push notification all suffer (according to Apple) on a jailbroken devices
• Inability to update. Because Apple frequently removes jailbroken software in its updates, many jailbroken phones do not update. This can result it you running an out-of-date phone.
• Read: Apple Support: Unauthorized modification of iOS can cause security vulnerabilities, instability, shortened battery life, and other issues
Conclusion: Should you jailbreak an iPhone or iPad?
As we've hopefully spelled out above, there is plenty to be said for and against jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad. On the one hand, you'll be able to customize your device in ways you never thought possible, download far more apps, and even get ahead of the curve by enjoying features and functionality that Apple simply hasn't included in iOS yet. On the other hand, there are all kinds of - often very legitimate - reasons why you should just let your iPhone be, not least of which is the
danger of another security breach. It's a personal decision, but we would sign off by mentioning once again that at time of writing, no member of the in-house Macworld UK team runs a jailbroken iOS device. That may change in the future, and some of our freelance contributors and US colleagues, for example, see things differently. But it gives a fair idea of our overall feelings on the matter.
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