Jailbreaking iPhone Good or Bad? Advantages and Disadvantages

You are wondering whether Jailbreaking iPhone is Safe? Check out the pros and cons of Jailbreaking Apple Devices and be your judge whether you should jailbreak iOS or not.

When we talk about flagship mobile devices, the first device that comes in our mind is the iPhone. It is the most elegant and premium looking mobile and is known for its stable operating system, iOS. iOS provides a smooth and stable UI experience, and it is the main attraction for Apple customers. iOS is also used in other Apple devices like iPad and iPod touch.

With excellent stability, iOS comes with lots of restrictions and boundaries. Users have to pay big money on sideloading applications. You can’t do much modification or customizations in an iOS device easily. Jailbreaking could be the solution to these restrictions and limitations.

Jailbreaking also has lots of disadvantages as it goes against Apple’s policies of keeping everything “closed.” Apple keeps no stone unturned to go the last mile for preventing Apple users from jailbreaking their iPhones and iPads. And it also limits Jailbreaked devices to do specific stuff related to security.

So, should you jailbreak your iPhone and take complete charge of the iOS? Are Jailbreaking iPhone and iPad safe for you? Will you get into any trouble for jailbreaking your iPhone? Will you lose warranty after Jailbreaking?

In today’s article, we are going to discuss jailbreaking and address all your queries revolving around it. We will go through its advantages and disadvantages and try to clear many common doubts around it, like ‘is it safe or note’ and ‘legality of jailbreaking your device.’

So, shall we begin?

Here’s an overview.

What is Jailbreaking?

Jailbreaking is quite similar to rooting your android phones. It is a process of bypassing the restrictions or limitations that Apple puts on iOS and enabling full customization of the device. With a jailbroken iOS device, you can sideload apps that aren’t authorized by Apple; in other words, you can remove the security protections that Apple has applied on its iOS. 

Jailbreaking can be done by installing a software application on your PC and then, you need to transfer specific instructions to the iOS device so that it can break the restrictions. Jailbreaking comes with a collection of tools that enables the modifications on your iOS device.

Jailbreaking lets the user make any changes from customizing the look of UI to sideloading the third-party applications, which are not authorized by Apple and are not available on App Store. Apple doesn’t allow developers to modify certain parts of iOS. On the other hand, after jailbreaking, iOS could be entirely modified by developers, redesign apps, and you can then modify some more new things like widgets.

Advantages of Jailbreaking:

At first, let’s talk about the advantages of Jailbreaking iPhone. Here are the special powers you will gain after you Jailbreak your iOS device.

  • Sideload Apps with Advanced features: You can install unauthorized third-party apps from different websites. Third-party apps generally have more features than the stock ones.
  • Free Tethering Hotspot: You can connect your iPhone to your PC use it as a broadband modem or WiFi hotspot without jailbreaking also, but you have to pay for it. After jailbreaking, you can use this feature for free.
  • Lots of Customisations: After jailbreaking your iOS device, you can customize your icons, wallpaper, and even volume controls. This allows the user to customize their iOS devices fully.
  • Access to iOS files: Jailbreaking exposes the iOS file system to apps, and you can access these files by installing a secure shell client.
  • Control Center Customisation: Jailbreaking allows you to customize your iOS device control center. With third-party tweaks, you can fully customize your control center. You can add pages that will enable you to add toggles and controls.

Disadvantages of Jailbreaking:

Every coin has two sides. Jailbreaking iPhone also comes with its own set of cons.

  • Expose to Threats and Malware: The probability of being exposed to threats and malware increases after jailbreaking your iOS device. Jailbreaking your device will thoroughly remove the security protections that are offered by Apple. Hence, your device will become less secure.
  • Voids Warranty: Jailbreaking your device will void its warranty. Apple Store may further refuse to repair your iOS device.
  • The decrease in Security: The iPhone is known for its security policies, jailbreaking, and installing third-party apps that will remove some of the security features. Jailbreaking does changes in iOS fundamentally.
  • Conflicts with iOS Version: Jailbreaking tools don’t support all iOS versions. So if you want to update your device’s firmware, you need to check the compatibility of the selected iOS version with jailbreaking tools.
  • The decrease in Stability: Third-party apps are not trustable. If you install a buggy unauthorized app, it may cause system instability and may decrease the overall smoothness of the iOS UI.
  • Problems while Jailbreaking Your Device: You might not be able to jailbreak your iOS device properly, and it may even cause permanent hard brick. So only go with the jailbreaking process if you have enough knowledge and patience.

Is Jailbreaking iPhone Safe?

Jailbreaking iPhone and your iOS is safe only if you know the complete process and do it with some patience. The second question that comes in our mind, is “Is jailbreaking legal?”, yes, it’s a legal process. Officially, jailbreaking becomes legal in 2012 according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that allows user to jailbreak their iOS devices. However, jailbreaking your iPad was illegal before 2015.

Seeing the above Pros and Cons of jailbreaking your iPhones and other iOS devices, we can conclude that it’s not entirely safe, but it vanishes the need to buy paid Apple services. Jailbreaking also helps the iOS app developers as this enables access to all iOS system files. With a jailbroken Apple device developers can also sign Apps without paying for Apple Developer Account. 

Enabling Jailbreaking in your device is a complex process, but after doing that is unlocks lots of features for free and provides a fully customizable operating system to the user. This article clears the doubts around the jailbreaking process. Consider all the advantages and disadvantages, then choose whether you want to jailbreak your iOS device or not. Let us know your experiences in the comment section below and ask doubts related to it, if any.

Keep visiting HiTricks for more iOS Tips and Tricks.

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Sumit Panwar

I’m a CSE student, technical blogger, writer, and graphic designer. I love writing about upcoming technologies, hardware, and the topics revolving around them.

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