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This is where responsibility comes in. The average Apple iPhone user has everything vetted for him or her in the Apple store. But jailbreaking requires your attention. Do your homework, ask questions, find out. Don't install shady repos, don't install apps or tweaks you can't find any information about, protect yourself.

And while Cydia's icon is ugly (to you) there is an app in there called xCon that can take care of your non-functioning problem when it comes to games and jailbreaking.

Agreed. Granted, the OP is asking here what is good/bad about JB. Chances are he/she will be doing no research :p
 
I don't deny that there are instances where jailbroken iPhones have been replaced/repaired by Apple. Maybe it comes down to the Genius who looks at your iPhone. IDK. I'm just reporting what Apple has stated. What Apple does is a different matter.

I had a free drink receipt from Starbucks once. It was two years old. Clearly marked on the receipt was the statement that it had to be redeemed within one week of issuance. I found that receipt about two years after the date it was issued while looking for something else. Starbucks honored it. They didn't have too, but they did. But that did not change the fact that the drink receipt was still void.

Perfectly valid point there, I hadn't seen it from that perspective
 
It does void the warranty. You were fortunate. But just because you were fortunate, it does not mean that this fact is wrong.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3743

TECHNICALLY it does void your warranty.

However, if a hardware issue is there preventing boot, then they can't tell it's jailbroken, so warranty is still in play. If it still boots, a simple DFU restore to stock iOS and then they can't tell it was ever jailbroken, so the warranty is still valid.

So in PRACTICE, you don't have to worry about your warranty. IF you take it in still booting and jailbroken, yes you are taking a chance.
 
I thought someone might latch on to that. I never said they would deny service. All I said was that it voids the warranty, which is what they are meaning when they talk about the EULA.

Again, just because they may or may not deny service does not mean that the warranty has not been voided.

But where does it say it "voids the warranty"? All it says is that they strongly advise against it, and it's possible that they'll refuse service (which depends on the issue, hardware or software, of course).

There is no absolute, no mention of voiding warranty. It's a myth that everyone just assumes.
 
But where does it say it "voids the warranty"? All it says is that they strongly advise against it, and it's possible that they'll refuse service (which depends on the issue, hardware or software, of course).

There is no absolute, no mention of voiding warranty. It's a myth that everyone just assumes.

If I remember correctly, it used to be in the EULA that warranty is voided. When courts determined that JB was NOT illegal, it sort of went hand in hand that a manufacturer's warranty cannot, therefore, be denied as a result of jailbreak unless it can be proven that damage occurred as a result of it.
 
But where does it say it "voids the warranty"? All it says is that they strongly advise against it, and it's possible that they'll refuse service (which depends on the issue, hardware or software, of course).

There is no absolute, no mention of voiding warranty. It's a myth that everyone just assumes.
For the iPhone 5, found here.

"This Warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries or protective coatings that are designed to diminish over time, unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by use with another product; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external cause; (e) to damage caused by operating the Apple Product outside Apple’s published guidelines; (f) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to an Apple Product that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (h) to defects caused by normal wear and tear or otherwise due to the normal aging of the Apple Product, or (i) if any serial number has been removed or defaced from the Apple Product."

I think the pertinent sections would be (e) and (g).
 
For the iPhone 5, found here.

"This Warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries or protective coatings that are designed to diminish over time, unless failure has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by use with another product; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external cause; (e) to damage caused by operating the Apple Product outside Apple’s published guidelines; (f) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to an Apple Product that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (h) to defects caused by normal wear and tear or otherwise due to the normal aging of the Apple Product, or (i) if any serial number has been removed or defaced from the Apple Product."

I think the pertinent sections would be (e) and (g).

All I am going to say is. I have never heard of a person going into the Apple store with a jailbroken iPhone, and the genius making their phone as voided warranty and can never be repaired under warranty. The only stories I have heard were people being told to restore to the latest iOS and come back. If you can find me a case were they denied a repair and voided a warranty because of a jailbreak then you have a case, but to this point I have not seen that.
 
All I am going to say is. I have never heard of a person going into the Apple store with a jailbroken iPhone, and the genius making their phone as voided warranty and can never be repaired under warranty. The only stories I have heard were people being told to restore to the latest iOS and come back. If you can find me a case were they denied a repair and voided a warranty because of a jailbreak then you have a case, but to this point I have not seen that.
Again. I am not denying that Apple has done repairs or replacements on or for jailbroken devices. All I am saying is that according to Apple it voids the warranty.

If Apple chooses to honor a warranty that they have said is void, that's on Apple.

Yet there are numerous threads here about the wisdom of restoring your iPhone to stock before taking it in to Apple for repair.

I am NOT arguing the fact that Apple won't repair it or replace it. The evidence that they will is there.

I am simply stating that according to Apple's own legal the warranty is void if you jailbreak.
 
Again. I am not denying that Apple has done repairs or replacements on or for jailbroken devices. All I am saying is that according to Apple it voids the warranty.

If Apple chooses to honor a warranty that they have said is void, that's on Apple.

Yet there are numerous threads here about the wisdom of restoring your iPhone to stock before taking it in to Apple for repair.

I am NOT arguing the fact that Apple won't repair it or replace it. The evidence that they will is there.

I am simply stating that according to Apple's own legal the warranty is void if you jailbreak.

Yes, but their wording is very clever. It doesn't state anywhere that warranty is voided
 
Again. I am not denying that Apple has done repairs or replacements on or for jailbroken devices. All I am saying is that according to Apple it voids the warranty.

If Apple chooses to honor a warranty that they have said is void, that's on Apple.

Yet there are numerous threads here about the wisdom of restoring your iPhone to stock before taking it in to Apple for repair.

I am NOT arguing the fact that Apple won't repair it or replace it. The evidence that they will is there.

I am simply stating that according to Apple's own legal the warranty is void if you jailbreak.

Well I guess you can say that, but it appears that is not the case. You listed the terms and pointed out E and G if I remember correctly. It said "if it is modified" maybe Apple no longer sees jailbreaking as modifying the iPhone enough to void the warranty? I understand what you are saying and back when I had a 3G and It was jailbroken. I was always scared that it would break and Apple would not fix it. It just seems that is not the case any longer.

I am not arguing your point, but I will say it does not say anywhere anything with the word Jailbreak in it. Now I know user is changing things with the iPhone when JB, but those specific words are not used.
 
Yes, but their wording is very clever. It doesn't state anywhere that warranty is voided
No, it does not. I for one however, will not be the test case that forces Apple to write into their legal documents the word void. Apple's pockets are vastly deeper than mine.

----------

Well I guess you can say that, but it appears that is not the case. You listed the terms and pointed out E and G if I remember correctly. It said "if it is modified" maybe Apple no longer sees jailbreaking as modifying the iPhone enough to void the warranty? I understand what you are saying and back when I had a 3G and It was jailbroken. I was always scared that it would break and Apple would not fix it. It just seems that is not the case any longer.

I am not arguing your point, but I will say it does not say anywhere anything with the word Jailbreak in it. Now I know user is changing things with the iPhone when JB, but those specific words are not used.
You're right. See my reply above.

Anyone who cares to test this and go the full legal rounds with Apple has my support.
 
No, it does not. I for one however, will not be the test case that forces Apple to write into their legal documents the word void. Apple's pockets are vastly deeper than mine.

----------


You're right. See my reply above.

Anyone who cares to test this and go the full legal rounds with Apple has my support.

Yea I know. My iphone 5 is not JB, and I have no need to. More power to people that do. It was just too much of a pain in the butt for me. Having to stay on an old version of iOS until the new one was JB. Then a week later there was a never version that was not JB. No thanks.
 
Why is the question of whether or not Apple will replace a JB iPhone or not even coming up? Just restore before going in and you're good. It seems like people just need something to argue about.
 
Getting in here before nonsense gets posted, let me explain what jailbreaking does...

Jailbreaking gives you root(superuser) access to the filesystem. End of story. There is NO negative affect from that AT ALL.

Under normal circumstances(not jailbroken), apps are "sandboxed". Basically, an app cannot do anything to actually mess up the filesystem overall, because they are running inside this "sandbox". This also means that apps cannot interact with each other in any real way. That's why there aren't themes or widgets or anything like that in the app store. They MUST run inside of their own "sandbox" in order to be approved for the app store.

Enter Jailbreak. Now you have root access, which allows you to interact with the filesystem in any way you wish. Widgets, themes, speedups, apps that can interact with any part of the filesystem, etc. etc...

HOWEVER, and this is where jailbreaking gets a reputation for being bad for your device, you MUST be careful about what you install. A lot of users who don't know better go a little crazy and install tons of things that may or may not be coded very well. Badly coded cydia items can crash the device and require a restore, and everything you install that uses Mobile Substrate WILL have an affect on battery life, for obvious reasons. It's an extra service running in the background.

I have an iPhone 4 jailbroken on 6.1.3, and I have probably 6 or 7 tweaks altogether installed. It gives me all the extra functionality I want, the affect on battery life is minimal to non-existent, and I have actually made my device have virtually NO lag.

My personal list of tweaks:
BiteSMS- Gives Quick Compose and Quick Reply for texting
Switchy- Advanced multitasking bar
Gridlock- Lets me put the icons any where I want.
Zephyr- Gestures instead of using the home button.
IntelliscreenX- Basically supercharged notification center
TetherMe- Allows personal hotspot from iPhone
OpenSSH- Gives me SSH access to my iPhone
*I installed iCleaner long enough to use it to strip all the nonsense, then uninstalled it

Terrific post!

I have no intention of jailbreaking my phone as I'm very non-dmanding and am perfectly satisfied with it as it is.

But your very clear and understandable explanation of jailbreaking really helped me better understand what it means. And written so clearly and in such understandable language, even a non-techie like me can better understand the process.

Thanks...:D
 
Whoa, didn't mean for this to turn into a "does this void the warranty" battle. FWIW, I know how to reset an iPhone (as long as it's similar to my iPod Touch or I can UTFG).

My question basically came down to, other than the presence of the Cydia app stores (and maybe others), could I basically jailbreak my phone and see zero effect at all if I don't install jailbroken apps?

And then build from there with the tweaks and personalization that JB allows?
 
Whoa, didn't mean for this to turn into a "does this void the warranty" battle. FWIW, I know how to reset an iPhone (as long as it's similar to my iPod Touch or I can UTFG).

My question basically came down to, other than the presence of the Cydia app stores (and maybe others), could I basically jailbreak my phone and see zero effect at all if I don't install jailbroken apps?

And then build from there with the tweaks and personalization that JB allows?

Yes. The jailbreak alone has no affect on your device outside the presence of Cydia.

WAIT! There is 1 thing. Do NOT use the "Erase All Content and Settings" option in Settings. It will cause a boot loop that will require a restore.

Other than that, everything works perfectly normal.
 
Yes. The jailbreak alone has no affect on your device outside the presence of Cydia.

WAIT! There is 1 thing. Do NOT use the "Erase All Content and Settings" option in Settings. It will cause a boot loop that will require a restore.

Other than that, everything works perfectly normal.

Haha for some reason I think I'd have avoided that without the warning :p

Thanks for your help! Sounds like jailbreaking to get 1 or 2 killer features is worth it
 
WAIT! There is 1 thing. Do NOT use the "Erase All Content and Settings" option in Settings. It will cause a boot loop that will require a restore.

The boot loop is only a problem on iOS 4 and below. Starting with iOS 5, pressing that option only appears to put the device in a boot loop. But when force restarting it via holding down both buttons, everything thing is still there. Same when wiping the device via Find My iPhone/iCloud.
 
The boot loop is only a problem on iOS 4 and below. Starting with iOS 5, pressing that option only appears to put the device in a boot loop. But when force restarting it via holding down both buttons, everything thing is still there. Same when wiping the device via Find My iPhone/iCloud.

Ha! Wasn't aware that that was fixed. Then again I've never needed to use that particular function. Still, I learned something new today.
 
The boot loop is only a problem on iOS 4 and below. Starting with iOS 5, pressing that option only appears to put the device in a boot loop. But when force restarting it via holding down both buttons, everything thing is still there. Same when wiping the device via Find My iPhone/iCloud.


security flaw right there.


i suppose i can disable the data partition wipe daemon then. i kept it on in case i ever need to remotely wipe the phone.

can anyone confirm this?
 
security flaw right there.


i suppose i can disable the data partition wipe daemon then. i kept it on in case i ever need to remotely wipe the phone.

Jailbreaking itself is a big massive security flaw. Hence why Apple is working hard to prevent it. Also, disabled daemons like that one do nothing. It doesn't make the phone start faster or free up resources. It simply does nothing.
 
At the bottom…emphasis mine.

"Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks iOS. It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of iOS is a violation of the iOS end-user software license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software."

Yes....MAY...not WILL. Scare tactics. There has not been one report in recent history of a warranty being voided because of a jailbreak.
 
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