Should You Jailbreak Your iPhone? Yes, and Here's Why (and How)
Jailbreaking is the process of unlocking your iPhone's (or iPad's) operating system. Why bother? So you can improve your device with unauthorized (but awesome) tweaks and apps.
For example, LockInfo packs the lock screen with useful information: notifications, weather, missed calls, Twitter updates, and so on.
And then there's MyWi, which for $20 turns your iPhone into a mobile hotspot -- without the egregious monthly fees charged by Apple and Verizon.
Alas, it's usually a pretty big hassle, but the newly reborn JailbreakMe.com makes iPhone jailbreaking quick and painless.
Simply visit on the site on your iPhone or iPad, using the Safari browser, and click Free to start the process. (Make sure you sync with iTunes first so you have a current backup, just in case.)
Unlike previous methods, this jailbreak can survive a reboot, and there's no need to connect your iPhone to your PC to restore everything if you do.
When the procedure is done, you should install PDF Patcher 2 (which is available via Cydia, the app store that gets installed as part of the jailbreak) to help protect your iPhone against PDF exploits (which, ironically, are what makes this whole thing possible).
JailbreakMe.com works with pretty much all iOS devices save for first- and second-gen iPhones. I used it on my iPhone 4 and it performed flawlessly.
The only real wrinkle in all this is the impending arrival of iOS 5, which, like iOS 4 before it, will eliminate the need for many jailbreak apps -- including LockInfo. (Check out my five favorite iOS 5 features.) It will also re-"jail" your iDevice, at least until developers devise a new jailbreak scheme.
This begs the question: should you even bother jailbreaking? Given how quick and easy it is, and the value of MyWi alone, I think it's worth the time. Agree? Disagree? Hit the comments to share your thoughts.
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