Why Jailbreak?
"Why should I Jailbreak?"
This is a question I hear pretty often from people. It's a valid question and there isn't really a "right" answer. I can only speak from personal experience but my story is fairly simple. I frequent iPhone message boards online, I saw people constantly talking about jailbreaking and it was enough to spark my interest. I had no idea of the things you were capable of doing once you jailbroke, I just knew I wanted to try it out. The awesome thing about jailbreaking now is hackers are getting very good at making nice simple packages/programs to run that are so simple someone with no prior experience can do it. That's also the down side to the ease as well, the countless amount of rhetorical questions I see drives me nuts, I can only imagine how the writers of the software feel. As I said before, part of the reason I started this blog was to help people and hopefully I can become a resource for them. I know more often than not jailbreak information is sketchy, doesn't make sense or is really confusing. Hopefully I can find a way to break that barrier.
When I started looking online at things you were able to do once jailbroken a few things stuck out to me, a lot of people talked about a application called BiteSMS(http://www.bitesms.com). This is a SMS application that actually has the ability to replace the Apple stock "Messages" application. I also read many compliments on SBSettings, a type of quick toggle application that allows for fast switching of different features. Infinfolders was another amazing discovery. I hated that Apple limited the user to just 12 icons in the folders, I had more than 12 games so it was annoying to have 2 separate folders called "games". These are just a few of the things I got excited about. Along the way I have found so many applications that really make my iPhone experience better.
It should be noted that jailbreaking isn't for everyone, and that's perfectly okay. I think stock iOS is actually wonderful and if I couldn't jailbreak I would be more than happy with my phone. I love the options it affords me but if you are happy with what you've got, stick with it! There is a lot of talk online, people saying how stupid it is that someone wouldn't jailbreak their phone. Well I can tell you it's not stupid in the least. It's your phone and do what makes you the happiest and what you find works best for YOU, not anyone else.
Below I'm going to display some images from my phone. Some of the cool options I have found and really enjoy. In my next post I'll be going into detail about how to actually jailbreak your phone.
"SBSettings" - This app allows for fast toggle on/off of different features. I swipe down from the status bar and this menu pops up. Basically eleminates going into the settings application and searching for whatever feature you are trying to turn on/off. Extremely helpful
"Infinifolders" - Apple sets a limit on the number of apps you can have in a folder. This removes it and allows you to drop in as many as you want. Perfect if you have a lot of games or a specific category and they won't all fit into one folder.
"Grid Lock" and "Five Icon Dock" - First things first, I want my 5 most used apps on my dock. I consistently use all the apps you see on my dock the most. I hated not being able to access one of them from whatever page I was on. The tweak "five icon dock" fixed that issue perfectly. Also there is another app called "gridlock" that allows you to arrange your icons however you wish on your pages. I don't know why I find it so entertaining but I like to arrange them in non-typical ways. Keeps it interesting. ;)
"Lockscreen Clock Hide", "Clean Status" and "Clear Lockscreen 4.0" - Say goodbye to clutter. My status bar is simple, my lockscreen is extremely simple and I don't have the overbearing clock or "slide to unlock" animation on my lockscreen anymore. This is a great way to actually be able to see the pictures you use on your lockscreen.
These are just a few of my favorite things. How does FaceTime over 3G sound? Perhaps syncing your iPhone with iTunes over Wi-Fi, no cables needed. How about getting rid of those extremely generic and over used Apple stock SMS tones? We can do all of that any more! Stick with me, I'll be going into detail about all of the items discussed here and plenty more. As I said before my next post will be about actually jailbreaking. I'll have it completed soon.
*NOTE* - As of yesterday Apple has released iOS 4.3, if you are remotely interested in jailbreaking DO NOT update your iOS software. There is no known jailbreak yet for 4.3. From what I've read it doesn't sound like it should be too far down the road but you never know and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Stick with iOS 4.2.1 or lower if you have it.
