Jailbreaking: Part 1 of the iPhone Series

iOS jailbreaking is a process that allows devices running Apple's iOS (also known as iPhone OS prior to iOS 4.0) operating system (such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and recently Apple TV) to gain full access (root access) to unlock all features of the said operating system, thereby removing limitations imposed by Apple. Once jailbroken, iOS users are able to download additional applications, extensions and themes that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store, via installers such asCydia, one of a number of current means for older iPhones.

That's the definition I found on Wikipedia. This process has been around since the original iPhone that launched in 2007. After some colleagues raved about how great their iPhones were with the jailbreak, I decided to give it a go.

Once my iPhone was jailbroken, I installed LockInfo and BiteSMS. Besides those changes, I didn't mess with too much more.

Result: After about a week, I wanted to go back to the original iPhone OS, sans jailbreak. The reasons are as follows:

1. Jailbreaking did add some nice features that are currently lacking in iOS 4.3.3. Notably, notifications. The notification system on the iPhone is terrible. It was OK for 2007/2008 but it has worn out its welcome. Lockinfo accomplished this by putting the notifications on the lock screen as well as a pull down menu from the top of the screen. However, I found it to be a bit unpolished. It truly felt like someone in their parents basement had created it rather than a group of engineers at Apple.

2. BiteSMS gave me the ability to respond to a text without going into the actual Messages app. This was handy on occasion but I found that if I received multiple messages in a short period of time, this functionality was limited and ended up being redundant to the official Messages app.

3. The phone became SO slow. I love the iPhone 4 for how fast it is. It is quick! The jailbreak slowed the phone down and it was noticeable. People say they love jailbreaking because "you can do so much more!" To me, it felt like buying a sports coupe and then putting a luggage rack and off-road tires on it so I could "do so much more." In the process, I lost the whole reason I loved the car in the first place: To drive fast!

Trying to restore my phone and "unjailbreak" it was also less than ideal. I ran into hiccups that eventually lead me to force my phone into restore mode and then upgrade to iOS 4.3.3.

Lesson: I like how Apple does things. They don't do everything perfect and they don't have every feature. There will always be features that are missing from iOS. But that is because they don't just push out features to push out features. What they do offer "just works." (See Benjamin Brooks article on it "Just Works" HERE. They refine and polish the features of the phone and OS and then do a release. That is why Apple just announced the new notification system for iOS 5. They recognized a need, resolved it, and will be releasing it this Fall. The main reason I jailbroke my phone in the first place just went away.