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What is Apple's argument against jailbreaking?

D

DrEnalg

macrumors regular
Original poster
.... other than it voids your warranty. Now that it's no longer illegal, what is the argument for not doing it? I'm just curious.
 
DrEnalg said:
.... other than it voids your warranty. Now that it's no longer illegal, what is the argument for not doing it? I'm just curious.
Click to expand...

There is none. If you wish to jailbreak, jailbreak. But don't go crying to Apple if you get it wrong and **** up your device as my mate Lee did.

Personally, I don't see the point in Jailbreaking. You may as well just buy an Android based phone, which gives just as much freedom (if not more maybe) without the hassle and the apparent risk of ruining your device or voiding your warranty. At a cheaper price to boot.

I haven't jailbreaked because I simply don't care.
 
DrEnalg said:
.... other than it voids your warranty. Now that it's no longer illegal, what is the argument for not doing it? I'm just curious.
Click to expand...

It might f up your device if you don't know what you're doing, not to mention possibly compromising whatever security safeguard were there before.

There's a reason it voids your warranty.
 
Any user who doesn't back up their iDevice prior to jailbreaking is asking for it.

Aside from that, what does Apple care? Honestly, I understand the argument that stupid people can screw up their devices when they mess with stuff they don't understand. That's all well and good although I'm not impressed by an argument that systems are closed because we don't want dumb people screwing up their own devices.

Is there something about the larger ecology of Apple products that's compromised by jailbreaking? I really am curious. Seriously, what does it matter to Apple?
 
What makes you think that it matters to Apple? They don't do anything to actively pursue and discourage jailbreaking.

Jailbreaking actually seems to reveal security flaws in iOS so Apple can plug them. I'm sure to some degree Apple appreciates the jailbreak community. (I know... maybe that's a stretch)

Jailbreak it or don't, Apple doesn't care. Just don't bring it in for warranty service with a pineapple boot screen. (And don't use the jailbreak to steal apps of course)
 
Apple cares because people who jailbreak and screw-up their device then expect Apple to fix it for them.

Beyond that, when others see how much trouble somebody is having with their jailbroken device, Apple gets blamed in the public's eye. And when people see the ugly screens on jail-broken devices, Apple gets the blame. When somebody's jail-broken device gets a virus, again, Apple gets the blame. When users can't figure out how to use an unapproved app because it doesn't follow the standard UI guidelines.... well, you get the idea.

The big advantage Apple has over other makers of similar devices is that they DO exert so much control. They enforce UI standards, privacy standards, and prevent one app from digging through or altering the data of other apps. When you jailbreak, you give all this up. iPhones/iPads generally "just work" (as long as they are not jail-broken) while owners of other devices just curse at them and are constantly having to ferret-out rogue apps, re-load their OS, etc.
 
As far as caring about jailbreaking goes, the carriers are the ones who are more against it than Apple. It's the people who use MyWi to run their home network and use an unbelievable amount of data a month that pisses off AT&T and Verizon (No data usage texts from Verizon yet).

The only reason Apple is against it is because the reason there is no customization on the iPhone for a reason. The whole point of the closed iOS is to give the user the most stable experience. If anyone had an issue with a Jailbroken iPhone and brought it to a genius bar, they would just blame the jailbreak for causing the issue.
 
*LTD* said:
It might f up your device if you don't know what you're doing, not to mention possibly compromising whatever security safeguard were there before.

There's a reason it voids your warranty.
Click to expand...

you mean like that one were you could jail break with a PDF and you had to be jailbroken to patch it....
 
It's all laid out in Apple's site.

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


Summary
This article is about adverse issues experienced by customers who have made unauthorized modifications to the iOS (this hacking process is often called "jailbreaking"). Issues that have been encountered include instability, disruption of services, and compromised security.

Products Affected
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
As designed by Apple, the iOS ensures that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operate reliably. Some customers have not understood the risks of installing software that makes unauthorized modifications to the iOS ("jailbreaking") on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Customers who have installed software that makes these modifications have encountered numerous problems in the operation of their hacked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Examples of issues caused by these unauthorized modifications to the iOS have included the following:


Device and application instability: Frequent and unexpected crashes of the device, crashes and freezes of built-in apps and third-party apps, and loss of data.

Unreliable voice and data: Dropped calls, slow or unreliable data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data.

Disruption of services: Services such as Visual Voicemail, YouTube, Weather, and Stocks have been disrupted or no longer work on the device. Additionally, third-party apps that use the Apple Push Notification Service have had difficulty receiving notifications or received notifications that were intended for a different hacked device. Other push-based services such as MobileMe and Exchange have experienced problems synchronizing data with their respective servers.

Compromised security: Security compromises have been introduced by these modifications that could allow hackers to steal personal information, damage the device, attack the wireless network, or introduce malware or viruses.

Shortened battery life: The hacked software has caused an accelerated battery drain that shortens the operation of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch on a single battery charge.

Inability to apply future software updates: Some unauthorized modifications have caused damage to the iOS that is not repairable. This can result in the hacked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iOS update is installed.

Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks the iOS. It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of the iOS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.
 
They don't want you to get the full experience of your phone. They want you to think the next phone will be better then the next. Its called jailbreaking in my my eyes because Apple sells you a phone that is basically in jail preventing it from being free. Why does Android have so much freedom while Apple doesn't.
 
GoldenOneNYC said:
They don't want you to get the full experience of your phone. They want you to think the next phone will be better then the next. Its called jailbreaking in my my eyes because Apple sells you a phone that is basically in jail preventing it from being free. Why does Android have so much freedom while Apple doesn't.
Click to expand...

Outstanding and unassailable logic!

Oh, btw, "then" and "than" are not interchangeable.

🙄 😛
 
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