Jailbreaking - How do you see it?

[1337brian]

I was just wondering how people feel on jailbreaking, in terms of hurting developers. Do you think that it's going to hurt them or help them in the long run, like using the jailbreak community as beta before releasing it in the app store? Or purely a way for people to steal games. I will remain neutral on the subject, just wondering.

[Rocketman919]

Jailbreaking is awesome, and your forgetting about apps that apple wont allow, customize, winterboard, etc. its not all about piracy.

[Rocketman919]

And on piracy, i think its only ok to pirate things made by big devs that make crap games and think they can overcharge (star wars tfu). Things like that i wouldnt pay for. Things like Rolando and Super Monkey Ball are things that i would. Games that show that a lot of work went into them will rarely be pirated by anyone, only those with no soul.

[1337brian]

Jailbreaking is awesome, and your forgetting about apps that apple wont allow, customize, winterboard, etc. its not all about piracy.

Do you think it helps developers? I could see it in terms of them testing all the bugs out before charging for it... That's what a lot of dev's do no?

[vandy1997]

My phones are jailbroken, but not to install cracked apps. I pay for all of my apps, and I have donated to developers who have developed great apps that can only run on jailbroken phones! I have jailbroken for a few reasons:

1) Access to the whole file structure of the phone. If I have access to my desktop's file structure, why can't I have access to the phone's file system? I use this access to install files onto the phone, copy saved game files and other data files (SMS messages, stock app saved info, weather app saved info, etc.) whenever I update the firmware on the phone. I always install clean, because when I restore from a backup, the firmware almost always has problems and is sluggish. I can also install files for different themes, and I can create my own.

2) I can install and run apps that were kicked out of the AppStore by Apple. I currently have Podcaster on my phone, and I love it. I should be able to install it if I choose to do so.

3) I can install and run apps that Apple will never allow in the AppStore, including the following: Winterboard (allows me to change themes); Cycorder (allows me to record video on the phone); iBlacklist (allows me to Blacklist numbers so that I receive calls from whom I choose to receive them); IntelliScreen (like a Today screen on your lock screen - very cool app); apps that allow me to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off from the SpringBoard (by tapping on the icon that enables the function); Backgrounder (allows me to run any app - even AppStore apps - in the background); PdaNet (allows me to tether - great app that was rejected by Apple); AppBackup (allows me to back up the saved files for individual apps or for all apps); SwirlyMMS (allows me to send and receive MMS messages - although AT&T won't allow me to do so at the moment); Camera Pro (an app that allows me to do much more with the camera, such as digital zoom up to 20x, color filters, and self-timer); a Searcher app that allows me to search all of the apps - including Contacts, SMS, Notes, Safari Bookmarks; apps that allow me to run ROMs for various systems (e.g., GBA, NES).

4) I can tweak different aspects of the phone by editing the relevant .plist file.

5) I can unlock my first generation iPhone.

I understand that Apple wishes to have a somewhat closed system on the phone, but if it wants to do so, it should offer the features that people are requesting, especially those features that exist on almost all smartphone phones.

Jailbreaking is NOT for everybody. You should not do it if you have a fear of losing your data (it happens sometimes), and you should not do it if you don't have a basic understanding of file structures and basic computer troubleshooting. You don't have to be a computer whiz, but you cannot be computer phobic. The great thing is that people have a choice, and that's always a positive thing! :D


I was just wondering how people feel on jailbreaking, in terms of hurting developers. Do you think that it's going to hurt them or help them in the long run, like using the jailbreak community as beta before releasing it in the app store? Or purely a way for people to steal games. I will remain neutral on the subject, just wondering.

[dudehuge]

And on piracy, i think its only ok to pirate things made by big devs that make crap games and think they can overcharge (star wars tfu). Things like that i wouldnt pay for. Things like Rolando and Super Monkey Ball are things that i would. Games that show that a lot of work went into them will rarely be pirated by anyone, only those with no soul.

Piracy is wrong there are no gray areas. Put yourself in their shoes. If you think they're overcharging, just don't buy it.

[vandy1997]

I don't think that it helps developers of AppStore apps, and I am pretty sure that most developers who develop apps for the AppStore will not develop apps for the jailbroken community, as Apple may frown upon it. Apple does not sanction jailbreaking phones, so I am pretty sure that they would not want developers developing for a method that is not sanctioned by Apple. I know of a couple of developers who develop for both, but I am sure that most of the don't, for fear of being kicked out of the AppStore by Apple.

Do you think it helps developers? I could see it in terms of them testing all the bugs out before charging for it... That's what a lot of dev's do no?

[Rocketman919]

And about the testing before, i guess you could say that happened. Most if not all of the apps on installer were "Beta tested" and then released for real when the app store came out.

[vandy1997]

That is definitely true. And I assume that the developers who beta tested their apps with the jailbreaking community have sold a good amount of those apps, or at least I hope so. Trism is the classic example. The AppStore version is much more refined, but I enjoyed playing it before it became available on the AppStore! It would be great to see developers who develop for the AppStore and for the jailbreaking community through Cydia/Installer. I assume that they can't develop the same app for both, however.

And about the testing before, i guess you could say that happened. Most if not all of the apps on installer were "Beta tested" and then released for real when the app store came out.

[Hitman45]

Piracy is wrong there are no gray areas. Put yourself in their shoes. If you think they're overcharging, just don't buy it.

Agreed. What if it s their way of income. In todays market piracy would kill them.

[NotYou]

I think prating is wrong no matter what. The whole topic of pirating music began when I was in high school and people still fight like crazy about it. Just because you're not stealing a disk doesn't mean you're not stealing another person's work. I never understood the other side of that argument.

I see nothing wrong with jailbreaking though. It's your iPhone or iPod, so you should be free to do what you want with it. It helps with beta testing and all that too. My iPhone isn't jailbroken though. I've heard too many horror stories. I like it as it is anyhow.

[Dimsum]

There is nothing wrong with jailbreaking. If you like messing with your phone and dont mind the risk etc - then go for it. There are apps on Cydia that will never make it onto the Appstore and these are apps that are very useful to me and there isn't anything similar to them in the appstore.

[Hitman45]

I forgot to finish. I think jailbreaing is fine. I just got my iPod Touch 2G two days ago and before that I jailbroke my old one on 2.1. I never used cracked apps though. Jailbreaking is fun but very time consuming and at times frustrating.

[mrbass]

3) I can install and run apps that Apple will never allow in the AppStore, including the following: Winterboard (allows me to change themes); Cycorder (allows me to record video on the phone); iBlacklist (allows me to Blacklist numbers so that I receive calls from whom I choose to receive them); IntelliScreen (like a Today screen on your lock screen - very cool app); apps that allow me to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off from the SpringBoard (by tapping on the icon that enables the function); Backgrounder (allows me to run any app - even AppStore apps - in the background); PdaNet (allows me to tether - great app that was rejected by Apple); AppBackup (allows me to back up the saved files for individual apps or for all apps); SwirlyMMS (allows me to send and receive MMS messages - although AT&T won't allow me to do so at the moment); Camera Pro (an app that allows me to do much more with the camera, such as digital zoom up to 20x, color filters, and self-timer); a Searcher app that allows me to search all of the apps - including Contacts, SMS, Notes, Safari Bookmarks; apps that allow me to run ROMs for various systems (e.g., GBA, NES).


Turn wifi on/off in 2 taps instead of 3 (settings, wifi, off). Things like this that make you go hmmmmmmm. I really should jailbreak now....hehe.

Only thing remotely interested in is type first letters of an app. I use Namley (http://amarsagoo.info/namely/) freeware for Mac OS X to do just that. Never did like bloated Quicksilver. And think it's called Categories (jailbreak app) to organize app/games into folders. But those two reasons aren't reason for me to try to jailbreak. With prices at $1 to $5 for most decent apps I have no reason to jailbreak. I can copy all my games/apps to my wife's ipod touch too. Now for Nintendo DS I'll admit I didn't buy most games. But did spend $500 in Japan on Nintendo DS games before I decided it was getting way too expensive.

Also I like the fact that it forces me to find apps worth their price. Sure I haven't tried Asphalt, Bejeweled, Real Soccer, etc. Not too concerned about those titles either as I have most of them on DS and looking back on how often I play those titles I'll just pass and save my $8/game. If my ipod touch was jailbroken I'd have more trash and junk than I already have. Currently the trash/junk ratio is way too high for the decent app/games.

Problem is say I play Real Soccer and like it. Would I recommend it based on being $10 if you weren't going to pay $10. Who wouldn't recommend it if it was free. Are you going to tell your brother and your Uncle to go and buy it for $10 on their non-jailbroken iphones? Maybe you will who knows. Hope you see my point. Now if all games/apps were $20 to $30 I'd probably not jailbreak as I'd probably not even bother purchasing an ipod touch.

Hacking iphone just for tweaking and customizing is getting old for me at least. Been there done that with many system and devices in the past and when it used to be a challenge that intrigued me. Now it's no longer a challenge so it's not exciting anymore.

[Hitman45]

The only jailbreak app I miss is MxTube. That was great.

[vandy1997]

It's actually one tap instead of three, if you want to be technical about it. It's called WiFi Toggle. The toggle is an icon on the SpringBoard - genius concept, right? Tap the icon, WiFi turns on, tap the icon again, WiFi turns off. There is one for Bluetooth as well (one tap versus four taps). It's simple, and it makes sense. It should be allowed in the AppStore. Apple is just too stubborn to understand what people want. But Android will teach it a lesson or two within one year. It's so funny that Eric Schmidt is on Apple's board, and he is screwing Apple by advertising all of Google's apps on the iPhone (Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, GOOG as a default stock in the Stock app - haha) and taking all of the iPhone software ideas to Android. He will also benefit when Google starts adding ads to Google Maps.

The only pain in the neck about jailbreaking is haveing to do it each time there is an update to the firmware. Considering the fact that Apple does it quite a bit, it can become a bother. But it helps to keep those brain cells active.

Turn wifi on/off in 2 taps instead of 3 (settings, wifi, off). Things like this that make you go hmmmmmmm. I really should jailbreak now....hehe.

Only thing remotely interested in is type first letters of an app. I use Namley (http://amarsagoo.info/namely/) freeware for Mac OS X to do just that. Never did like bloated Quicksilver. And think it's called Categories (jailbreak app) to organize app/games into folders. But those two reasons aren't reason for me to try to jailbreak. With prices at $1 to $5 for most decent apps I have no reason to jailbreak. I can copy all my games/apps to my wife's ipod touch too. Now for Nintendo DS I'll admit I didn't buy most games. But did spend $500 in Japan on Nintendo DS games before I decided it was getting way too expensive.

Also I like the fact that it forces me to find apps worth their price. Sure I haven't tried Asphalt, Bejeweled, Real Soccer, etc. Not too concerned about those titles either as I have most of them on DS and looking back on how often I play those titles I'll just pass and save my $8/game. If my ipod touch was jailbroken I'd have more trash and junk than I already have. Currently the trash/junk ratio is way too high for the decent app/games.

Problem is say I play Real Soccer and like it. Would I recommend it based on being $10 if you weren't going to pay $10. Who wouldn't recommend it if it was free. Are you going to tell your brother and your Uncle to go and buy it for $10 on their non-jailbroken iphones? Maybe you will who knows. Hope you see my point. Now if all games/apps were $20 to $30 I'd probably not jailbreak as I'd probably not even bother purchasing an ipod touch.

Hacking iphone just for tweaking and customizing is getting old for me at least. Been there done that with many system and devices in the past and when it used to be a challenge that intrigued me. Now it's no longer a challenge so it's not exciting anymore.

[mrbass]

The only jailbreak app I miss is MxTube. That was great.

That is nice being able to save videos. Only app I know is popstiq that allows you to save videos on your iphone. Don't really like the app though. Just saying it's possible.

[Hitman45]

That is nice being able to save videos. Only app I know is popstiq that allows you to save videos on your iphone. Don't really like the app though. Just saying it's possible.
True. I have that app but nothing was a s simple as MxTube.

[ibelongintheforums]

ok, its illegal to send games via email correct?

my friends want me to "send" games but i dont feel like robbing the devs

[RedStaR]

emailing ipa's isn't illegal....thats just like letting your friend burn a cd.

if you and your friend want the newest 10 dollar ipa, you could both put 5 bucks in on a 10 dollar gift card buy the app and split it via e-mail. thats not illegal.

if you bought it.....it yours. i can do what ever I want with my car because I bought it, and chevy can't do anything about it.

and jailbreaking is everything the iphone should have been out of the box
I love PDAnet which lets me use my iphone 3g signal to let my macbook air to access a network......Great solution to on the go network connection.

[ibelongintheforums]

emailing ipa's isn't illegal....thats just like letting your friend burn a cd.

if you and your friend want the newest 10 dollar ipa, you could both put 5 bucks in on a 10 dollar gift card buy the app and split it via e-mail. thats not illeagal.

if you bought it.....it yours. i can do what ever I want with my car because I bought it, and chevy can't do anything about it.

and jailbreaking is everything the iphone should have been out of he box
I love PDAnet which lets me use my iphone 3g signal to let my macbook air to access a network......Great solution to on the go network connection.

but im robbing the dev of a potential sale

[RedStaR]

That doesn't make any sense. If someone gives you a car they didn't rob the auto maker of a sale.

You can do what ever you want to your own property.
E-mailing someone a copy of somehong you've bought or letting them borrow it isn't illegal-if you tried profiting off of it then it would be. But there's a difference between passing it out to everyone and letting your friend have it.

It's the law of common sense. And if that doesn't convince you, the defense still rests

[RedStaR]

And I'm sure any dev would rather two kids put up five bucks each toward their ten dollar app then they both say forget it and buy something else.

Two peopl can buy one thing and it's still just as much as a sale as one persons buying it, people do it all the time. Two people buy a home or a car, Maybe and app, Perhaps a case of brewskies, lottery tickets, Chicken wings. Apartments. Laundry detergent, toilet paper, gasoline.

Yeah I'm pretty sure more than one person can purchase the same item.

[ibelongintheforums]

I mean. If we have different accounts. I buy it. He doesn't. I have to give him my password.

[THEDeliriumTrigger]

That doesn't make any sense. If someone gives you a car they didn't rob the auto maker of a sale.

You can do what ever you want to your own property.
E-mailing someone a copy of somehong you've bought or letting them borrow it isn't illegal-if you tried profiting off of it then it would be. But there's a difference between passing it out to everyone and letting your friend have it.

It's the law of common sense. And if that doesn't convince you, the defense still rests

Ya, me and my girlfriend are authorized on each others accounts, and we let each other know if we get an app that the other might like, if we do, we dl it, it saves a few bucks for us, but the dev is really unharmed

[manolis]

I love jailbreaking and it doesnt automatically mean that u use cracked apps. there is only one package on cydia out of well over a thousand packages that allows you to download cracked apps and that requires you to install a external source to cydia manually anyways. true there are a lot of people out there that jailbreak to use cracked apps but before the appstore, jailbreaking was THE only way to get games and the jailbreaking population was large back then also. i think it does help developers because it displays the true potential of the iphone. I mean if jailbreaking was allowed by apple, the is a possiblility that we could see FIREFOX on the iphone and most likely skype also although skype will probably be released in the appstore sooner or later anyways. The possibilities are endless and when you can run Linux on your iphone i think thats pretty amazing.also there are still people trying to incorporate java on the iphone.

finally, i think people that jailbreak for cracked apps dont do it for the $1-4 apps in the appstore but instead the $9.99 apps and games that are released by the large developers and anyways these people make a lot of money anyways because there are obviously more people jailed then there are people jailbroken and they actually buy the app so its really not that big of a deal as people seem to make it. IMO

[ti1996]

I don't think that it helps developers of AppStore apps, and I am pretty sure that most developers who develop apps for the AppStore will not develop apps for the jailbroken community, as Apple may frown upon it. Apple does not sanction jailbreaking phones, so I am pretty sure that they would not want developers developing for a method that is not sanctioned by Apple. I know of a couple of developers who develop for both, but I am sure that most of the don't, for fear of being kicked out of the AppStore by Apple.

Actually, if you have jailbroken your iPod more than once, you would know that it's getting easier. Apple's sales skyrocketed at the original release. They sanction the general concept. Why else wouldn't they fight harder AGAINST it?

[NomaD]

I love jailbreaking and it doesnt automatically mean that u use cracked apps. there is only one package on cydia out of well over a thousand packages that allows you to download cracked apps and that requires you to install a external source to cydia manually anyways. true there are a lot of people out there that jailbreak to use cracked apps but before the appstore, jailbreaking was THE only way to get games and the jailbreaking population was large back then also. i think it does help developers because it displays the true potential of the iphone. I mean if jailbreaking was allowed by apple, the is a possiblility that we could see FIREFOX on the iphone and most likely skype also although skype will probably be released in the appstore sooner or later anyways. The possibilities are endless and when you can run Linux on your iphone i think thats pretty amazing.also there are still people trying to incorporate java on the iphone.

finally, i think people that jailbreak for cracked apps dont do it for the $1-4 apps in the appstore but instead the $9.99 apps and games that are released by the large developers and anyways these people make a lot of money anyways because there are obviously more people jailed then there are people jailbroken and they actually buy the app so its really not that big of a deal as people seem to make it. IMO

very well put, apple saw the games created for the iphone and realized that the iphone had the potential to play 3D games, and yet they still hate jailbreaking.

[sticktron]

And I'm sure any dev would rather two kids put up five bucks each toward their ten dollar app then they both say forget it and buy something else.

Two peopl can buy one thing and it's still just as much as a sale as one persons buying it, people do it all the time. Two people buy a home or a car, Maybe and app, Perhaps a case of brewskies, lottery tickets, Chicken wings. Apartments. Laundry detergent, toilet paper, gasoline.

Yeah I'm pretty sure more than one person can purchase the same item.

Um.... no.

When two people buy a house, they don't get two copies of the house.
Sharing your one purchased copy on two devices is exactly equal to buying one copy, and pirating one copy.

[Zincous]

Um.... no.

When two people buy a house, they don't get two copies of the house.
Sharing your one purchased copy on two devices is exactly equal to buying one copy, and pirating one copy.

Not even close. Apple allows up to 5 computers to share apps from an account. And as many devices as you want to sync to those computers. :rolleyes:

[wootbean]

Um.... no.

When two people buy a house, they don't get two copies of the house.
Sharing your one purchased copy on two devices is exactly equal to buying one copy, and pirating one copy.

um...not at all...

[arta]

People are confusing jailbreaking and using **********.

[wootbean]

Jailbreaking != **********

[Yagami_Light]

I doubt many people who jailbreak pirate apps. I'd estimate that maybe 5% do, if that.