Shed any light on jailbreaking?

[Youngwolf]

Hi all, I currently have the iPhone 3G, 16G, White.

Don't have much knowledge on all the tech side of stuff but the fact that you can 'jailbreak' your iPhone interests me. I would just like to know why you would jailbreak the iPhone and what advantages it has over a standard iPhone...but are there any drawbacks?

I've hears things like being able to video record, block unknown calls and basically design the whole iPhone...what other cool stuff can you do and is it easy to actually 'jailbreak' and is it safe?

Sorry for so many questions but help would be much appreciated!
Thank you

[blueeye]

Hi all, I currently have the iPhone 3G, 16G, White.

Don't have much knowledge on all the tech side of stuff but the fact that you can 'jailbreak' your iPhone interests me. I would just like to know why you would jailbreak the iPhone and what advantages it has over a standard iPhone...but are there any drawbacks?

I've hears things like being able to video record, block unknown calls and basically design the whole iPhone...what other cool stuff can you do and is it easy to actually 'jailbreak' and is it safe?

Sorry for so many questions but help would be much appreciated!
Thank you

As far as I'm aware Jailbreaking allows you to:

Use apps that aren't vetted by Apple
Use any network (not just O2 [UK] or AT&T [US] et cetera)
Have the hood thing at the top which is simply convenient (allows you to switch bluetooth, wifi, 3g &c. on and off easily)
Install themes on your iPhone/iPod touch
Develop your own apps for the iPhone and then install them w/o paying apple for the right to use your own stuff.
Send/receive via bluetooth and lots of other things I'm sure (e.g. record video before the 3GS was video enabled).
Crack iPhone apps (if that floats your boat).


I'm sure there's lots more that I've missed out. I'm not aware of jailbreaking being "unsafe" and I know a lot of people who have done it. It merely voids your warranty and Apple won't like you anymore... I think...

[Youngwolf]

Wow...so if it's that brilliant and you can do so much more stuff for the money why doesn't everybody do it.
How do you actually do it then, someone would have to do it for me as I don't have the confidence to do it myself, probably cock the whole thing up!! Lol
Thanks

[daflake]

Jailbreaking does not allow you to use other networks, unlocking does.

Lots of people don't do it because it voids the warranty. The good news is that you can reverse it and put the original software back on if you need to.

[Moi un Mouton]

Agree with all the above.

It gives you lots of control over your phone. When i first did it, it was because I wanted to unlock the phone onto another network, and because I wanted to make it look different to other people's.

After that, there were always lots of new good things to do - custom SMS tones, apps that Apple didn't provide, etc.

However: if you have kept your phone up to date, you will now be on version 3.1, and right at the moment there isn't a jailbreak for that version. The Dev Team is working on it and there should be at sometime in the future.

PS there are lots of step-by-step tutorials that we can point you to that make it easy to do it yourself. And it IS easy.

[Youngwolf]

Brilliant...well, when jailbreaking becomes available for 3.1 I shall seriously consider doing it.
What happens when new updates come out but you have a jailbroken iPhone?
Thanks

[darngooddesign]

What happens when new updates come out but you have a jailbroken iPhone?

If you want to keep your Jailbreak you have to wait until the Dev Team, the main group that develops all the hacks for the iPhone, says its ok to update. So you do not get to update right away.

No one is forcing you to just don't press update. You don't even have to download the new Apple updates right away as you can download them later.

[Mystikal]

He has a 3G not a 3GS so he can jailbreak. He just has to downgrade (tutorials everywhere).

[bytethese]

He has a 3G not a 3GS so he can jailbreak. He just has to downgrade (tutorials everywhere).

If he has a 3G why would you downgrade? 3.1 is jailbreakable with latest Pwnage Tool for 3G. You only need to downgrade a 3GS from 3.1 to 3.0 to jailbreak, if your ECID is on file. :)

[jimmy83]

If he has a 3G why would you downgrade? 3.1 is jailbreakable with latest Pwnage Tool for 3G. You only need to downgrade a 3GS from 3.1 to 3.0 to jailbreak, if your ECID is on file. :)

What's this ECID file? I would like to jb my 3G on windows, iam on 3.1. Can I do so yet?

[MikePA]

The odds are against anyone who can't take the time to read threads about jailbreaking being successful actually jailbreaking their iPhone.

[Moi un Mouton]

What's this ECID file? I would like to jb my 3G on windows, iam on 3.1. Can I do so yet?

You can't jailbreak a 3G on 3.1 with Windows yet.

However you can downgrade it to 3.0 and then jailbreak. Here's how:
http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/09/how-to-downgrade-iphone-os-3-1-to-3-0-for-iphone-2g-3g-3gs/

[jimmy83]

You can't jailbreak a 3G on 3.1 with Windows yet.

However you can downgrade it to 3.0 and then jailbreak. Here's how:
http://www.ihackintosh.com/2009/09/how-to-downgrade-iphone-os-3-1-to-3-0-for-iphone-2g-3g-3gs/

What a tool Iam I meant to say iam only on iPhone OS 3.0 atm dunno why I wrote 3.1 :rolleyes:

[ViViDboarder]

There is no redsn0w for 3.1 yet. This means you cannot jailbreak any 3.1 phone on Windows without getting a Custom IPSW from a User and using that to restore your phone.

Downgrading is uncessary unless you have a 3Gs, which is the only phone where 3.1 has not been jailbroken (I hear this is also true with the latest gen iPod Touch).

So it IS possible to jailbreak a 3.1 3G on Windows, you just need the IPSW to do it.

[jimmy83]

There is no redsn0w for 3.1 yet. This means you cannot jailbreak any 3.1 phone on Windows without getting a Custom IPSW from a User and using that to restore your phone.

Downgrading is uncessary unless you have a 3Gs, which is the only phone where 3.1 has not been jailbroken (I hear this is also true with the latest gen iPod Touch).

So it IS possible to jailbreak a 3.1 3G on Windows, you just need the IPSW to do it.

Ok thanks, I will wait until the offical redsn0w software comes out and use that.

Do you know why its taking longer than normal?

[noah82]

The odds are against anyone who can't take the time to read threads about jailbreaking being successful actually jailbreaking their iPhone.

This is soooo true! If you can't take the time to find and read the jailbreaking threads, you are probably not going to have the knowledge and ability to jailbreak.

[Mystikal]

If he has a 3G why would you downgrade? 3.1 is jailbreakable with latest Pwnage Tool for 3G. You only need to downgrade a 3GS from 3.1 to 3.0 to jailbreak, if your ECID is on file. :)

Yeah but 3.1 fails. It shuts down like mad. Totally unstable.

[Hunts121]

I have a 3G and I think I'm one of the few people who has no issues with 3.1 or the 3.1 jailbreak. My battery life is great and my phone seems more responsive with this 3.1 JB unlike some others in the past. I wonder if they've tweaked mobile substrate a bit lately.

However, my girlfriend has a jailbroken 3.1 3G and hers is an absolute trainwreck. I had to restore it to 3.0. Battery life was absolutely terrible and it froze a lot. Really odd since mine works fine.

[instaxgirl]

I have a 3G and I think I'm one of the few people who has no issues with 3.1 or the 3.1 jailbreak. My battery life is great and my phone seems more responsive with this 3.1 JB unlike some others in the past. I wonder if they've tweaked mobile substrate a bit lately.

However, my girlfriend has a jailbroken 3.1 3G and hers is an absolute trainwreck. I had to restore it to 3.0. Battery life was absolutely terrible and it froze a lot. Really odd since mine works fine.

I had horrible battery life and some serious issues with safari with 3.0 (jailbroken and stock) so I upgraded to 3.1 as soon as it was out (giving up my precious jailbreak :(). I've since jailbroken it on 3.1 as well and my phone's also more stable than it was on 3.0 :)

Ok thanks, I will wait until the offical redsn0w software comes out and use that.

Do you know why its taking longer than normal?

Redsn0w normally comes out a little later than Pwnage Tool. I guess the Dev Team favours macs. This time it could also be because jailbreaking the 3GS is taking some time.

Incidentally OP, I also think that jailbreaking improves your phone :)