Updating iOS and jailbreaking. How to do it, is it worth it, and will you do it?

[XTheLancerX]

My take is that updating iOS at all even if the new version is jailbroken, you lose your jailbreak and all your tweaks. You would have to rejailbreak, AND add all your tweaks again if the new version is jailbroken. Given that the tweaks haven't been broken by the new OS version. If you update and the new version isn't jailbroken, you're stuck obviously.

Am I correct or is it easier than that somehow?

Anyway, is it even worth it to update to new .x versions of iOS if you're jailbroken and the new version is jailbroken as well? Will you all be upgrading from the 9.0.x jailbreak if/when the 9.2 jailbreak drops?

I'm just new to the jailbreak scene. Well, I haven't even jailbroken yet, but I will when the 9.2 jailbreak drops. In the meantime I am getting a concise list of tweaks I will install.

 

[eyoungren]

It depends.

If the version of iOS that you are on is relatively unstable it's worth your time to backup, restore as new, jailbreak and then restore from backup. There are also plenty of ways to restore tweaks you had before so that's not too big of an issue.

If the jailbreak is fairly stable then it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Are there any new features that a new version offers that you really want? Can you get those features on your current jailbreak via a tweak or app?

Then go from there.

If I had my way I'd still be on my iPhone 5 jailbroken on iOS 6.1. I had everything I needed. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

 

[mikecwest]

I was perfectly happy with 8.whatever jailbroken. Apple pay worked with iOS 8, however, for some odd reason, in order to use Apple Pay with Discover Card, you must be on iOS 9+. It does not sound like a huge deal, but they are offering an additional 10% cash back on purchases with Apple Pay using discover....meaning for me $0.15 of every dollar back...

It was for that reason that I updated for a IOS 9 jailbreak. Each person may have a small or large reason to do so. Just remember, once the jailbreak comes out, it will eventually be patched, and signing will stop. If you wait too long, you might get stuck without the ability to do it later.

 

[Jfree3000]

Coming from an android phone, yes good lord I need to jailbreak my phone!!

 

[eyoungren]

Coming from an android phone, yes good lord I need to jailbreak my phone!!

Keep in mind that while somewhat similar, jailbreaking is not like rooting on an Android. You won't be able to install custom ROMs or other operating systems or things like that.

You may already be aware of that, but just to make it clear.

 

[unclejamaal]

Coming from an android phone, yes good lord I need to jailbreak my phone!!

same here. I had 9.0.2 jailbroken but had to lose it and upgrade to 9.1 due to a lot of bugs and the jailbreak not being stable anyway.

Should I update to 9.2 in the meantime or stay on 9.1?

 

[XTheLancerX]

It depends.

If the version of iOS that you are on is relatively unstable it's worth your time to backup, restore as new, jailbreak and then restore from backup. There are also plenty of ways to restore tweaks you had before so that's not too big of an issue.

If the jailbreak is fairly stable then it comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Are there any new features that a new version offers that you really want? Can you get those features on your current jailbreak via a tweak or app?

Then go from there.

If I had my way I'd still be on my iPhone 5 jailbroken on iOS 6.1. I had everything I needed. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

That makes sense.

How do you restore tweaks? This seems like something important to know once I am jailbroken.

same here. I had 9.0.2 jailbroken but had to lose it and upgrade to 9.1 due to a lot of bugs and the jailbreak not being stable anyway.

Should I update to 9.2 in the meantime or stay on 9.1?

If you're on 9.1 I would stay there just in case for the time being, but if you were to go to 9.2 you'd still be fine I think. 9.1 didn't get jailbroken, so presumably no major loopholes in iOS were brought to Apple's attention and patched in 9.2. This leads me to believe that if a 9.2 jailbreak were to be released, it would work on 9.1 as well. (and even if it didn't work on 9.1 you could just easily update). Pangu or TaiG would most likely jailbreak the current public release as well I believe, so yeah. Still stay on 9.1 just in case though, weird things can happen.

 

[eyoungren]

That makes sense.

How do you restore tweaks? This seems like something important to know once I am jailbroken.

There are three methods that I have used.

The first and most laborious was to take screen shots of all my installed tweaks and then go and reinstall after my jailbreak and restore from backup.

App Info is a JB app that can create a basic or detailed list of all your installed tweaks and JB apps and email it to you. Handy reference for reinstalling by hand.

Another way is to install a basic backup app that will grab the list of installed tweaks. You save this somewhere you can access it and then once you've restored from backup after jailbreaking you download this app again, load the backup list you created and the app goes and redownloads all the tweaks and apps based on that list.

The last option is a full on backup app such as PKGBackup. That app (I have it) can backup the entire phone, not just tweaks and apps. It will let you save your backups to Box, Dropbox, local (one the device) and some other storage sites. You can choose to either use it's backup format or have each tweak/app backup as a separate, installable DEB file.

The major downside to PKGBackup is that on restore (unless you've chosen to restore from the DEB files) the app will go out and get the most CURRENT version of the tweaks/apps you backed up. That can be problematic if you had a lower version of a tweak installed for a specific reason.

Also, PKGBackup likes to advertise that you can schedule a backup. That's BS and suckered me into paying $13 for it a couple of years ago. What the dev means by that is that the app can create a schedule in the calendar app to remind you to open the PKGBackup app and backup.

Very big difference! When I contacted the dev once on this I received no reply so the dev has to be aware of his marketing deception.

That's pretty much it. There are benefits/downsides to each.

 

[Jfree3000]

Keep in mind that while somewhat similar, jailbreaking is not like rooting on an Android. You won't be able to install custom ROMs or other operating systems or things like that.

You may already be aware of that, but just to make it clear.

I know, just want to access all that jail breaking has to offer.

 

[bandofbrothers]

I know, just want to access all that jail breaking has to offer.

I also re download my tweaks via my Account in Cydia.

It's encouraging that your asking these questions so your informed on what JB has to offer.

Enjoy but a word of caution- download tweaks gradually to ensure they do not clash with each other and control how many you download.