Complete newby, what is jailbreak and why

[megster]

does everyone seem to want it? I haven't purchased my ipad yet as they are out of stock at my local mac store.

And what is Cydia?

 

[saxon48]

does everyone seem to want it? I haven't purchased my ipad yet as they are out of stock at my local mac store.

And what is Cydia?

Cydia is the jailbroken version of the 'App Store'. The jailbreak process allows Cydia (or similar alternatives) to be installed, opening a near infinite range of customization possibilities for your iDevice.

I strongly recommend doing it. You will not be disappointed.

 

[megster]

So where would i go for directions to download jailhouse and Cydia?

 

[nagromme]

Definitely don’t do it unless you have a good reason—which means, probably, wait until iOS 4 comes to iPad (about 2 months away?) and then see if there is anything really major that your iPad won’t do without jailbreaking.

The answer for nearly everyone is: they don’t need to jailbreak. Very few people do—it’s a tiny (but fun) fraction of the larger user base.

And jailbreaking can (not always, but sometimes) lead to problems, from two main directions:

1. If you use jailbreaking to install modifications, those modifications occupy RAM. RAM can be tight—especially in iOS 4—and lack of RAM can lead to app crashes and slowdowns.

2. When an Apple update comes out, jailbreaking can interfere with the update or vice versa.

It also has the potential to add security flaws to your system.

Jailbreaking is a very cool “hobby activity” for people who like to tinker and don’t mind troubleshooting. I plan to JB my old unwanted iPhone now that I have a new one. But for most users, it doesn’t offer much.

What, exactly, do you want that jailbreaking will provide but iOS 4 won’t? Some specific app you need? Some specific customization you need? If you don’t know, save yourself the bother If nothing else, JB is a task to learn and spend time on... why bother if you don’t really need anything that it offers? You can always JB later when and if the need arises. Meanwhile, iOS 4 (which is on the iPhone now and coming soon to iPad as a free update) has a massive library of apps is highly customizable already. In fact, so is the current iOS 3—but you’ll like the multitasking that iOS 4 will bring.

I’d get used to your iPad as-is before I started messing with it

 

[saxon48]

So where would i go for directions to download jailhouse and Cydia?

Cydia is usually installed by default when you jailbreak.

I don't have an iPad, so I'm not sure the exact procedure to download it. Try searching on either Google or MRoogle. Make sure you enter your iPad's firmware when creating your query.

 

[mixvio]

Definitely don’t do it unless you have a good reason—which means, probably, wait until iOS 4 comes to iPad (about 2 months away?) and then see if there is anything really major that your iPad won’t do without jailbreaking.

The answer for nearly everyone is: they don’t need to jailbreak. Very few people do—it’s a tiny (but fun) fraction of the larger user base.

And jailbreaking can (not always, but sometimes) lead to problems, from two main directions:

1. If you use jailbreaking to install modifications, those modifications occupy RAM. RAM can be tight—especially in iOS 4—and lack of RAM can lead to app crashes and slowdowns.

2. When an Apple update comes out, jailbreaking can interfere with the update or vice versa.

It also has the potential to add security flaws to your system.

Jailbreaking is a very cool “hobby activity” for people who like to tinker and don’t mind troubleshooting. I plan to JB my old unwanted iPhone now that I have a new one. But for most users, it doesn’t offer much.

What, exactly, do you want that jailbreaking will provide but iOS 4 won’t? Some specific app you need? Some specific customization you need? If you don’t know, save yourself the bother If nothing else, JB is a task to learn and spend time on... why bother if you don’t really need anything that it offers? You can always JB later when and if the need arises. Meanwhile, iOS 4 (which is on the iPhone now and coming soon to iPad as a free update) has a massive library of apps is highly customizable already. In fact, so is the current iOS 3—but you’ll like the multitasking that iOS 4 will bring.

I’d get used to your iPad as-is before I started messing with it

This is really incorrect on a number of levels. If you have a categorical misunderstanding about something that's one thing, but don't perpetuate it when you advise people. It's on the borderline of dishonesty whether you're actively making stuff up or not.

For example, there is no actual multitasking in iOS 4. It's a hacky method that in some respects fakes the functionality of multitasking, but for 99% of the time it's not going to expose any new functionality that wasn't already there in the first place-- IE, a letdown.

By jailbreaking, you can install Backgrounder, which allows the same sort of application multitasking you're accustomed to on a Mac or PC.

If the limited "fast app switching" in iOS 4 is sufficient for you then that's excellent, but just because you personally found no use for jailbreaking doesn't mean there is no use for jailbreaking, nor does it mean you should scare off people asking questions by hyperbole and misinformation.

Here's a newsflash, installing anything on your computer can use up RAM and cause crashes and introduce security vulnerabilities. The same lessons apply in the iDevice world as they do traditional computing. Common sense is all you need, I personally don't need to rely on Apple or Steve Jobs holding my hand for me as I use devices I paid significant money for.

 

[nagromme]

This is really incorrect on a number of levels. If you have a categorical misunderstanding about something that's one thing, but don't perpetuate it when you advise people. It's on the borderline of dishonesty whether you're actively making stuff up or not.

For example, there is no actual multitasking in iOS 4. It's a hacky method that in some respects fakes the functionality of multitasking, but for 99% of the time it's not going to expose any new functionality that wasn't already there in the first place-- IE, a letdown.

By jailbreaking, you can install Backgrounder, which allows the same sort of application multitasking you're accustomed to on a Mac or PC.

If the limited "fast app switching" in iOS 4 is sufficient for you then that's excellent, but just because you personally found no use for jailbreaking doesn't mean there is no use for jailbreaking, nor does it mean you should scare off people asking questions by hyperbole and misinformation.

Here's a newsflash, installing anything on your computer can use up RAM and cause crashes and introduce security vulnerabilities. The same lessons apply in the iDevice world as they do traditional computing. Common sense is all you need, I personally don't need to rely on Apple or Steve Jobs holding my hand for me as I use devices I paid significant money for.

Feel free to disagree with Apple’s use of the term “multitasking” but don’t call me dishonest for agreeing with it In my view, Apple’s multitasking is a more modern, far superior version of multitasking. Not 1980s-styl brute-force multitasking that burns RAM and battery. And yes, brute-force multitasking also allows certain things to be done.

Which is why my question was a key one to ask: what, exactly, does iOS 4 NOT do for you that JB will? What app, specifically, do you want to multitask in a different way?

Most people have no answer for that. If the OP does, then like you, he may wish to JB. If not, then it’s to be avoided: it offers risk without benefit in that (very common) case.

My advice was very sound and accurate, and if you think I have some info wrong, let me know exactly what. I never said JB WILL cause problems, only that it MAY. This is fact.

And your advice to use “common sense” and manage your RAM like you would on a desktop computer is a good example of why most people shouldn’t JB. iPhone/iPad are built to be easier to use than a desktop. You shouldn’t have to manage RAM manually, and the more you must do so, the less convenience. So why do it? If you have a need for it, that’s great. I’m suggesting not everyone has a need for it, and that non-techy users especially should hesitate, because they’ll have some extra work and complexity and troubleshooting ahead of them. If you feel EVERYONE has a need for JB, then that borders on dishonesty (No, I don’t think you believe that—it just sounds that way.)

JB is not a religion, and I’m not telling people to stay away from it. I’m countering the impression that it’s for everyone. It’s not—it’s unnecessary for most people, and they need to have info to make that decision. Whichever way they decide is great—I plan to have one JB and one non-JB device myself.

A good example to help the OP would be: what apps, specifically, do YOU need JB for? Are they apps that have no iOS 4 alternative? Why are they better than what’s on the App Store? With specific examples, the OP can judge how important it is to him.

 

[knarzie]

Would jailbreaking allow me to watch videos, especially .avi files without having to convert them, on a playercsuch as VLC?

And equally important: would it allow me to download .rar files and extract them?

 

[mixvio]

And your advice to use “common sense” and manage your RAM like you would on a desktop computer is a good example of why most people shouldn’t JB. iPhone/iPad are built to be easier to use than a desktop. You shouldn’t have to manage RAM manually, and the more you must do so, the less convenience. So why do it? If you have a need for it, that’s great. I’m suggesting not everyone has a need for it, and that non-techy users especially should hesitate, because they’ll have some extra work and complexity and troubleshooting ahead of them. If you feel EVERYONE has a need for JB, then that borders on dishonesty (No, I don’t think you believe that—it just sounds that way.)

JB is not a religion, and I’m not telling people to stay away from it. I’m countering the impression that it’s for everyone. It’s not—it’s unnecessary for most people, and they need to have info to make that decision. Whichever way they decide is great—I plan to have one JB and one non-JB device myself.

You're trying to dissuade someone who's an admitted "newbie" to the entire thing by using incorrect and alarmist rhetoric. That's like saying that you should reconsider stepping out of the house because you may potentially, though not definitely!, get hit by an asteroid on your way to the grocery store.

What the iPad/iPhone is designed to do is irrelevant. People who choose to jailbreak do so because they want to do things with their devices that are obviously outside the definition of what Apple wants them to do. That's why it's not permitted without jailbreaking in the first place.

Obviously that carries the same stability concerns that installing any other piece of software on your computer does. As jailbreaking brings an iDevice much more in line with a fully featured computer than a dumbed down telephone, the comparisons back to "it's supposed to be easy!" are irrelevant.

At any rate, if someone jailbreaks and doesn't like it, they just have to restore their device and start over. There's no need to try and scare someone away from it by hyperbole and misinformation.

 

[mixvio]

Would jailbreaking allow me to watch videos, especially .avi files without having to convert them, on a playercsuch as VLC?

And equally important: would it allow me to download .rar files and extract them?

There's something on Cydia called OpenStreamer that is a port of VLC. On the iPad it seems to be pretty rudimentary; it's great for playing videos, but you can't really skip through them. However, it does work fine if you don't care about that limitation. I've been hoping the developer will update it but it seems like a lot of people are focused on the 4.x OS line right now.

As to downloading, there's a number of tweaks you can install that add that functionality to Safari (though there's also browsers on the App Store that allow this too.) I've never had a need to unzip a rar file so I don't know if it can be done.

 

[ryan0402]

Cool tweaks like letting you change icons names and carrier logos. It pretty much lets you make your ipad yours again. You can get sbsettings which allow you to change brightness, turn wifi on and off, and other simple task without ever leaving the app you are in. You can change how many icons are on your springboard like I have a 7x7 layout. And when people call it an app store it is not. It is a place where people I have tweaked their devices to do cool task like turn your clock icon to a liveclock, show live weather and the calender, give you a dashboard with widgets for the mac.