Jailbreaking an iPhone or iPad is not worth the trouble

Mumbai: You may have heard of the term ‘Jailbreaking’ from your friends, colleagues or techies around you. ‘Jailbreaking’ an iOS is similar to ‘Rooting’ an Android. It is a term used for breaking through the operating system and gaining access to the Administrative password/account in order to tweak the operating system and installing third-party apps.

A smartphone or tablet operating system is usually locked by the manufacturer with a password and an administrative account. This is done in order to safeguard the operating system from hacks and attacks. The account also restricts the user from venturing into the operating system partition and accidentally deleting files he is unaware of. It also does not allow apps to access the system partition and avoids hacking and viruses from destroying the operating system. In order to gain access to these areas, you need to Jailbreak (iOS) or Root (Android) the operating system.

Jailbreaking your iOS device can open up your device to enable installation of third-party apps, which is otherwise not available on the App Store or are too expensive. Jailbreaking also allows you to tweak the operating system with various customisation tools, sounds, and automation, including greater control of the device from your Windows PC using third-party software rather than being restricted to iTunes itself.

However, jailbreaking is considered legal, but installing pirated software on it is still the illegal matter. So, jailbreaking an iPad or iPhone can be done without any legal issues, but you have to be careful on what apps you are installing on it.

Though jailbreaking your iOS device could be interesting and beneficial to most, do remember that you will lose all warranty and service on the product if you do so. Additionally, you could end up bricking your device (damaging the device) if you are not careful while jailbreaking. A simple mistake while jailbreaking the iOS platform, either a corrupted software utility or a power failure, can ruin your device for good. If you are fainthearted, and not technically sound enough to handle the product in case of such disasters we advice you to stay away from the topic itself.

Additionally, gaining that admin access to the operating system could also open up a can of worms. It will allow apps to access the operating system partition and files and also let in malware and Trojans which could play havoc.

Moreover, jailbreaking will cut off your iPad or iPhone from the Apple servers and you will not be able to install any future updated for your device. If you want updates, you will have to flash the original firmware back to your device, get the update and re-jailbreak it. iTunes will also not function on a jailbroken device. This will also later involve reinstalling all the apps you had earlier installed, reconfiguring the entire device all over again and customizing the product as it was earlier.  All that trouble could just be too much for some people. Lastly, since jailbreaking can cause errors and virus issues due to third-party apps, you could witness too many crashes and failures with your device.

To sum up the whole, though jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad could be interesting and beneficial in certain cases; it might not be worth all that trouble taken. Unless you are a techie and know how to handle the errors, viruses and most importantly the procedure of jailbreaking, you should not wander into the area.

In our opinion, jailbreaking is not worth. At least not till your product is under warranty or you don’t mind spending a huge amount in case something goes wrong.