iPad Haven't Jailbroken in a Year

[BFW122083]

....and am about to take the plunge on the new iPad. Since iOS 5 came out I have stayed away from jailbreaking. I love iCloud, wireless syncing and backups...the whole thing.

What have I missed? I used to do it for the normal tweaks. FolderEnhancer, SBSettings, etc. I got tired of playing the whole waiting game when new software came out. Is it still frowned upon to restore your device from jailbroken backups? Lets say I want to go back to stock iOS, am I stuck with a clean restore and lost game data because a jailbroken backup will corrupt the software? Saving your SHSH's still necessary?

Sorry for all the questions! I used to be the "go to guy" with my friends and at work for jailbreaking, but so much has changed in a year I want to make sure I understand any important changes before I get back into it!

 

[Redjericho]

....and am about to take the plunge on the new iPad. Since iOS 5 came out I have stayed away from jailbreaking. I love iCloud, wireless syncing and backups...the whole thing.

What have I missed? I used to do it for the normal tweaks. FolderEnhancer, SBSettings, etc. I got tired of playing the whole waiting game when new software came out. Is it still frowned upon to restore your device from jailbroken backups? Lets say I want to go back to stock iOS, am I stuck with a clean restore and lost game data because a jailbroken backup will corrupt the software? Saving your SHSH's still necessary?

Sorry for all the questions! I used to be the "go to guy" with my friends and at work for jailbreaking, but so much has changed in a year I want to make sure I understand any important changes before I get back into it!

If you want to go back to stock iOS you do have to restore, if it was of dire importance you could manually move all of your save files to your computer, then restore and put them back in. But if the game/app supports iCloud, you have nothing to worry about. SHSH's are still necessary.

I jailbroke for the first time about a year ago and have stayed more or less up to date on jailbreak news, and don't worry, not much has changed.

 

[PrayForDeath]

....and am about to take the plunge on the new iPad. Since iOS 5 came out I have stayed away from jailbreaking. I love iCloud, wireless syncing and backups...the whole thing.

What have I missed? I used to do it for the normal tweaks. FolderEnhancer, SBSettings, etc. I got tired of playing the whole waiting game when new software came out. Is it still frowned upon to restore your device from jailbroken backups? Lets say I want to go back to stock iOS, am I stuck with a clean restore and lost game data because a jailbroken backup will corrupt the software? Saving your SHSH's still necessary?

Sorry for all the questions! I used to be the "go to guy" with my friends and at work for jailbreaking, but so much has changed in a year I want to make sure I understand any important changes before I get back into it!

Never heard of jailbroken backups corrupting a non-jailbroken device. But if you're that worried, there are multiple Cydia apps that will backup your app data and restore it for you (some even support Dropbox.) Or you could just save the documents/library folders manually from iFunBox.

And yes, always save your SHSH in case you accidentally update/decide to downgrade in the future.

 

[BFW122083]

Thanks for the reply's everyone. For some reason I remember always reading that when you backup a jailbroken device, that backup retains some of the jailbroken tweak/apps files. So if you restore as new, and then restore from that backup it will move over some jailbreak files. Am I wrong?

 

[Night Spring]

Thanks for the reply's everyone. For some reason I remember always reading that when you backup a jailbroken device, that backup retains some of the jailbroken tweak/apps files. So if you restore as new, and then restore from that backup it will move over some jailbreak files. Am I wrong?

You are right. But those leftover files don't affect an unjailbroken device. They just sit there not doing anything. Now, what gets interesting is if you have a backup from a jailbroken device, then unjailbroke it and kept using it for a while, and then rejailbroke it after a few months, or even years, all of a sudden those old settings might spring back into effect, ending in some unexpected results. One example is jailbreak tweaks that affect icon layout, like infinidock and infinifolder. You rejailbreak a device that has old settings from those tweaks, install the tweak, and all of a sudden your icons and folders revert back to their states from months or years ago.

 

[BFW122083]

Hmmm...would uninstalling all of the packages downloaded from Cydia before you back it up take care of removing those unwanted files?

 

[Night Spring]

Hmmm...would uninstalling all of the packages downloaded from Cydia before you back it up take care of removing those unwanted files?

Not sure. I have no idea if the uninstall routine for JB apps include cleaning up those preference files, and even if it did, it is up to individual app developers to implement it, so if an app is sloppily written, it might not delete everything.

 

[BFW122083]

Not sure. I have no idea if the uninstall routine for JB apps include cleaning up those preference files, and even if it did, it is up to individual app developers to implement it, so if an app is sloppily written, it might not delete everything.

Thanks for the help. I suppose it isn't that big of a deal. I am one of those guys that likes to know he has a "clean" operating system lol. The thought of unnecessary files lingering around bugs me.