If you want the most from your iPhone, you’re going to have to “jailbreak” to escape the subjugation of Apple’s App store
AT FIRST, the prison doesn’t seem so bad. The guards treat you well. The other inmates are cordial. The prison cell itself is stylish and modern. But before long the walls begin to close in and you begin contemplating cutting through the bars.
Welcome to iPhone-catraz.
This is a place where the warden, Steve Jobs, calls the shots. You play by his rules or else. He decides what you can – and can’t – load onto your iPhone. He limits your choices to serve his own goals. He is the master of your destiny and your precious phone.
But it’s your phone! Why should you have to play by Warden Jobs’ rules? Who does he think he is anyway?
Fortunately, there is a way out: jailbreak. This is not to be confused with unlocking your phone, which is something you do if you want the freedom to change operators. Jailbreaking is the artful hacking of the iPhone’s firmware so you can, to give one example, finally shoot video.
Apple authorities are adamant that jailbreaking is a direct violation of Apple’s warranty. Scofflaws will tell you that jailbreaking is risk free and they may be right.
“Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized programs on their iPhones,” says Katie Cotton, vice president of Apple’s Worldwide Corporate Communications. “Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone’s warranty.”
For many, it’s worth the risk. Jailbreaking spells freedom. Once you’ve broken your iPhone, you can install just about anything you want on it. That means some of the best apps ever conceived for the device – apps so good that the official App Store won’t sell them because they are a threat to Apple’s own software. (See “Five Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone.”)
Sleepers.net is one of many sites dedicated to helping jailbreakers. They provide “how to” instructions, develop outlaw applications, make recommendations on what to install, as well as providing warnings on what not to install. (Apple’s store vets all its apps, but things aren’t as honest in jail-broken land: you could be downloading a malicious application.)
The support within the jailbreak community is strong and it’s spearheaded by some of the cleverest techno-wizards you’ll never meet: the iPhone Dev Team, a secret group of hackers. They take pride in punching holes through the restrictions Apple has built into the iPhone – restrictions that protect Apple’s source of application revenue via their App Store.
It usually takes these techno-wizards (along with support from hackers around the globe) just days to break through the security Apple implements with each firmware upgrade. Jailbreaking tools – known as Pwnage (pronounced ownage) – were made available just five days of the 3G iPhone first hitting the streets. All these hacking tools, including the popular QuickPwn, Pwnage 2.0 and WinPwn 2.5, can be found on the “official” webpage of the iPhone Dev Team, wikee.iphwn.org.
The bad news: the jailbreak procedure requires tech-savvy. The easiest solution for us in Hong Kong is to take your iPhone to one of the many hacker shopping arcades around town. Asking around at the usual haunts, like 298 Hennessey Road, the Wan Chai Computer Center or the Sincere Podium in Mongkok, will quickly find more than a few shops willing to perform the operation. If you haven’t yet bought an iPhone, several shops are now selling brand new, unlocked phones, which they’ll happily jailbreak on the spot for you. And, yes, this is perfectly legal.
Not only will you be able to install anything, you can also pimp up your phone like never before – just imagine unlimited customization options. You can even run multiple applications in the background (without a jailbreak you can’t run anything in the background).
However, installing new apps without the App Store is also a bit of a trick. For that, you’ll need a little helper app called Cydia. Cydia has become part of the QuickPwn kit, and therefore standard on most jail-broken phones. Cydia is like the unofficial App Store, where everything is free. The name comes from a type of caterpillar that has proven to be a problematic pest for pear and – ahem – apple trees.
There are a lot more bugs and glitches in your new free world. The worst-case scenario in first generation iPhones was known as “bricking” – a crash so bad that your beloved device became a worthless brick. But those sorts of crashes are rare these days. And anyway, you can always restore your phone to its original settings. (You did remember to back-up your iPhone before hacking it, right?)
Performing a restore will return you to your original imprisoned version. But this is what makes the whole procedure so risk free. No matter how much you might have mucked around under the hood, a restore will put you straight back in your iPhone-catraz cell.
Everything will appear just the way it was before you escaped, with the guards none the wiser.
Five Reasons To Jailbreak Your iPhone
Everything will still work as normal
You’ll still be able to access and use the App Store and iTunes. All the existing functionality will still be the same, plus a whole lot more.
Freedom to customize
You can install Winterboard, the ultimate customization tool. There are thousands of compatible themes floating around for customizing the “real” background on your iPhone including icons, bars, keyboards, alert buttons, battery images and much more.
Freedom to take great pictures
The iPhone’s camera is basic, but Snapture (www.snapturelabs.com) changes all of that. This app has features for capturing and editing your photos, including geo-tagging, multi-shot, delay timer, level aid, zoom and quiet mode.
Freedom to record video
Cycorder has video recording quality
ranging between 6-15fps. For better recording quality with this app, you’ll need to be in a well-lit area. You can play your videos on your iPhone or download them to your computer.
Freedom to run applications in the background
Last.fm builds a sharable social profile of your musical likes and dislikes. It’s a welcome addition to any iTunes lover’s collection. It needs to run in the background in order to “scrobble” (build your music profile) – something not possible without jailbreaking.
