Hey guys, I’m looking into upgrading my shitty Xperia X10 to either the Samsung Galaxy S or preferably the iPhone 4. I’m gonna be getting a Mac soon so having an iPhone seems like a good idea.
My question is what exactly does “jailbroken” mean? I’ve seen on Ebay that I can get a new jailbroken iPhone 4 for a great price, but I’m not sure about all of that “italk” With a jailbroken iPhone 4 will I still be able to update the OS, and firmware when apple releases new updates? Will I still be able to keep all my apps if I update the OS or will it freeze or lock?? I’m not sure about all of this iPhone tech stuff, so if someone can clear this up for me I’ll be really happy.
Jailbroken simply means that the device has been hacked so you are able to access things you typically would be restricted to access. iOS devices in general are considered to be “locked-down”. They are not open to installing apps that were not approved by the (Apple) app store. This can be viewed both good and bad. On one side you will have a more stable device and less problems, but you might feel limited if you like to modify things. Jailbreaking is simply breaking the phone out of that locked configuration and is actually very easy to do.
If you Jailbreak your iOS device (Apple frowns on it has tried to make it illegal but failed so far), you will have to find the jailbreak for that appropriate version of the software you are running. You can at anytime upgrade your device to a newer iOS version but it will no longer be jailbroken.
Thanks bud, I think I’m understanding it now, so if its broken its not a big deal, the phone will still work fine. Even if its jailbroken I can still update the iOS? I really dont wanna get the phone and then a few months later I update it and it locks or something..
You’ll typically see jailbroken and unlocked. Jailbroken is as explained as above. Unlocked means that it’s been taken a step farther and your able to run the phone on Tmobile or at least it’s Tmobile in the US, not sure about SA or Brazil. Getting rid of either is as easy as restoring to default through iTunes.
Thanks, I can get the phone at home but its so overpriced. I dont want to get a contract as I travel alot, so getting a jailbroken one from Ebay is the better choice. I think as long as I keep it jailbroken and dont update through iTunes I’ll be fine right?
iphones are nice because, in general, you don’t have to fuck with it much to get it to do things.
android is nice because of all of the customization options you can have, but you kinda need to fuck with things to get it right.
It’s a tradeoff. I own, and have owned, an iphone since release. I spend, literal, hours on the thing every day (and an ipad, but different usage model for me). But I work at a company that does android development, and have seen some amazingly cool stuff.
Upshot :
iphone : less customization aspects, don’t have to fuck with it.
android : awesome customization options, CAN have to fuck with it.
A fairly good example is battery life in association with background tasks.
In the end, use what works for YOU. Don’t believe the hype, but try it out and see if it’s the right tool for whatever job you need done. (That applies to damn near everything in life, but that’s a discussion for another day. and/or more beer)
I jailbroke my 3G and 3GS. I really only did it b/c I need them unlocked for when I travel abroad. I’ve not jailbroken my iPhone 4 yet but probably will. There are some semi-useful things, but the main one on the 3GS was backgrounding, which isn’t quite as necessary now.
There are many pros/cons to jailbreak a phone. But the main thing to thing about is if apple releases a software update that has a feature in it that you want like GameCenter or MIDI support in 4.2 you have to wait to upgrade to that version because if you do you will lose the jailbreak. So the community quickly starts working on getting a new jailbreak for each and every upgrade sometimes it takes days sometimes it takes weeks-months it depends on what exactly apple patches and if they can find a loophole.
I am all for breaking down Apples walled garden and I think that this game of cat and mouse with the jailbreakers is stupid. When you look at the iPhone as a whole it pretty much does everything I need it to do right out of the box. I had jailbroken my first 2 iPhones and as time went on and apple came out with better and better features it became more and more cons to jailbreaking than pros.
One thing apple is good at is stealing. They have stolen some of the best ideas from Homebrew market of apps and incorporated them right into the phone. I am sure they will continue to do so. These are all things to think about before you go and do things to your very expensive phone.
P.S. If you travel a lot don’t get an iPhone just get one that can be used worldwide as I have seen too many friends get smacked with gigantic bills from using there Internet abroad while there phones check for emails every 5 mins or there using an app that pulls down media from the cloud.
Thanks for you input dude, yeah theres pro’s and cons.
Yeah I know I’m realizing it now. when I bought my Xperia X10 it was a hot phone. Even though it came with 1.6. they promised an update to 2.1 “soon”. Well that “soon” took 8 months, and now most Andriods are already on 2.2 and 2.3 is around the corner.
This will def be my last Sony mobile. If I dont get the iPhone 4 I’ll look into either the Samsung Galaxy S or the HTC Desire HD.
