Jailbreaking Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch: What Is JailBreaking & Why JailBreak

 

First off for those that are not sure what "jailbreaking" is; Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users to run unofficial code on their devices bypassing Apple`s official distribution.  This requires you downloading software to your computer, hooking up your device, and following the directions.  Some software is really easy to jailbreak your device with, some is a little harder to use.

Jailbreaking will unlock your device so you can install 3rd party applications on it that are not available in Apple`s iTunes store using an apps store called Cydia.  Some of the popular applications people install once their phone is jailbroken is:

MxTube - Download and save YouTube video on iPhone

NemusSync - Sync iPhone calendar with Google Calendar

iPhoneModem or PDANet  - Let you use iPhone as modem and give your laptop connection to Internet via iPhone

Mame4iPhone - Play arcade game on iPhone

Voicemail Forwarder - Send voice mail messages to an e-mail destination

Categories - Organize springboard apps into folders (Also will be available in the next iPhone OS)

MiVTones Video ringtones - For that special someone, play the video of your choice along with audio

V-Out - Display any iPhone content on your TV.

MCleaner - Caller ID blacklist screener

Adblock - Blocks ads in Mobile Safari.

FindMyi - Tracks your iPhone location in the background.

iBluetooth - Bluetooth file transfer

You can also customize your iPhone to look different and have different themes.  Here are a few pictures using Winterboard (Screen shots from http://www.simonblog.com)

If you are interested in some of the apps I listed above, then yes its worth it.  The downside is, Apple will not support a device that has been jailbroken.  Also I have seen where some devices become unstable causing crashes and making/receiving calls issues.  I have also seen where a device has been jailbroken and it worked fine.  The good thing is you can always restore your phone to its previous state using iTunes.  Just make sure to do a back up before attempting to jailbreak your phone!!

Well technically, no.  But in Apple`s end user agreement, they do state:

Apple has a support article talking about modifying your iPhone, it can be found here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3743 

I wouldn`t recommend jailbreaking your device right now since iPhone OS 4 is about to be released to iPhones and iPod Touches (iPads this fall).  When Apple releases an update, usually the jailbreak will not work.  People who jailbreak usually don`t install updates, but I would recommend installing OS 4 since it is full of new features.  OS 4 may have enough new features for you that you may decide to not jailbreak after all.