Hey guys, I'm kind of a cell phone technology newbie. I really don't understand what the advantage of jailbreaking a phone is. I know that unlocking a phone enables you to use it on different carriers, but what does jailbreaking allow you to do? After you jailbreak a phone, how do you utilize it's features? Will it void Apple's warranty? Thanks in advance guys.
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Question about jailbreaking the iPhone 3G...
- Thread starter weezite
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The purpose of Jailbreaking an iPhone is to allow for third party applications that are not distributed through the Apps Store. When you jailbreak a phone, it generally works just like it did before, except that you have one or two additional applications (Installer.app and Cydia) on the home screen that are involved in managing third-party software. The apps let you find, download/install, update, or remove the third-party software.
The reason for jailbreaking the iPhone traditionally was that it was the only way to install third-party software. With 2.0, that reason partially goes away because Apple provides a way to install software.
On the other hand, the reason you might want to jailbreak the iPhone under 2.0 (3G or EDGE) is because there are things third-party software that are installed using Installer.app and/or Cydia can do that App Store apps presently cannot. They aren't limited by Apple's SDK limitations and can do more things (such as do more functions in the background while not activated, modify basic phone behavior, etc) and/or things that Apple might not allow in the store (e.g. programs to allow you to use any song as a ringtone, etc).
The reason for jailbreaking the iPhone traditionally was that it was the only way to install third-party software. With 2.0, that reason partially goes away because Apple provides a way to install software.
On the other hand, the reason you might want to jailbreak the iPhone under 2.0 (3G or EDGE) is because there are things third-party software that are installed using Installer.app and/or Cydia can do that App Store apps presently cannot. They aren't limited by Apple's SDK limitations and can do more things (such as do more functions in the background while not activated, modify basic phone behavior, etc) and/or things that Apple might not allow in the store (e.g. programs to allow you to use any song as a ringtone, etc).
It was released today, but it isn't fully vetted. Users are encouraged to use extreme caution with it at the moment. If you don't consider yourself an expert, probably you need to wait 2-3 weeks.
I merged you into this thread; I outlined my thoughts on the reason above already... see if it makes sense to you and feel free to ask more questions. 
I didn't watch the keynote, but I don't understand how that would make any sense... you need some way to install the foreign apps -- providing that is one of the key things jailbreaking does. Time will tell whether anyone will want/need jailbreaking (for purposes other than unlocking), but if you want to use things like summerboard, etc, you need installer.app, and if you need installer.app, you need jailbreaking.
To run 3rd party apps. These apps can actually be more powerful and robust then official apps because they aren't restricted to using the SDK. This could also make them more dangerous to run.
Awesome explanation. So really, what are the downsides to jailbreaking the phone? Like, what happens if I jailbreak the phone and eventually have problems with my iPhone. Will jailbreaking void my warranty?
Yes it voids the warranty, you'd have to do a restore before taking it in for service also whenever Apple releases an update it will overwrite the jailbreak, so then you'd have to jailbreak again.. or just not do the update.
It really becomes more of a hassle than a convenience..
Not to mention with Apps working in the background it does tend to cause many freezes, crashes, etc,etc. on the iPhone..
This is probably the biggest thing. I usually don't even install OS X until a new version has been out for a bit, but it does add another layer of waiting and seeing.
The instability really depends on what you install. Some of the apps do seem to slow the phone down because of their background functions. The apps instability doesn't sound much worse than official apps.
Question: If I jailbreak my iPhone, will I still be able to buy/use apps from the App store along with 3rd party apps?
Yes -- jailbreaking doesn't disrupt any normal functions, including the app store. Right now there are some growing pains where installer/cydia apps interfere wth app store apps, but I think the general expectation is that updates to the jailbreak tools and the installer or cydia based apps will resolve that very soon. Besides finalizing the jailbreak tool, this is the other reason they're recommending that less experienced users hold off.
Thanks for the quick reply. It seems I'll have to wait for the Windows version to be released.