Need a reason to jailbreak your iPhone? Here's ten of them

BREAKING: The only Reason to JailBreak your iPhone: Full Internet Tethering

Jailbreaking an iPhone seems like it would be a long, arduous process.  That's quite the contrary, as it's very simple to do, especially with tools such as QuickPwn Mac, Windows, and Pwnage Tool Mac, Windows.

A jailbroken device can provide much more functionality than a standard iPhone.  There are a number of exceptional Apps that are not available through the iTunes App Store, but through Cydia and Installer, both of which are accessible through jailbroken iPhones.

Below are ten Apps we think are worth jailbreakng your iPhone for.  We based our selections on the following criteria:

• Apps are not available in the App Store (They have either been removed from the App Store, or have no chance of ever being included there)
• Apps close gap in iPhone functionality and can be used on a regular basis

Categories

Type: System

Utility: Move Springboard icons into folders

Frequency of use: Very Often, especially if you download Apps on a daily basis 

Cost: None

Brief Description:  If your iPhone is inundated with a million Apps, you can tidy up your Springboard with Categories by BigBoss.  With Categories, you can create folders within you can place your Apps, organizing them however you please.  Instead of tirelessly scrolling from screen to screen, you can have one screen containing all of your App folders for instant access to what you want. (Full Review Here)

         

BossPrefs

Type: Utilities

Utility: Customize and add iPhone settings

Frequency of use: Very often, as this can be considered the "heart" of your iPhone 

Cost: None

Brief description: Changing settings on the iPhone can be tedious or limited.  With BossPrefs by BigBoss, not only can you easily access your iPhone settings, you can also expand upon those preferences by customizing your settings and adding toggles for options which may not be included in standard settings. (Full Review) 

           

Cycorder

Type: Multimedia

Utility: Record video with audio on the iPhone

Frequency of use: Fairly often/Very often (if you're the type to document everything) 

Cost: None; ad-supported

Brief Description: Wish the iPhone had a camcorder component?  With Cycorder by Jay Freeman, your iPhone still camera transforms into a camcorder that can record video and audio at a decent quality.  New features are always in development. (Full review)

           

Netatalk

Type: Networking

Utility: Open-source Appletalk implementation

Frequency of use: Very often 

Cost: None; donations appreciated

Brief Description:  Need to transfer files to-and-from your iPhone, but have no idea how?   No need to search for how-to guides or purchase expensive software, as Jay Freeman's  Netatalk can handle the task. With Netatalk you can move files to and from iPhone over your WiFi network, hassle free.

Backup Apps: AppBackup & AptBackup

Type: Utilities

Utility: Back up purchased and jailbroken Apps

Frequency of use: Fairly often 

Cost: None

Brief Description:  Do you have an insurance plan in place in case your iPhone suddenly crashes and burns, losing all of your Apps in the process?  Check out these two backup programs, so you can back up and restore your Apps, just in case: AptBackup (for jailbroken Apps) and AppBackup (for purchased Apps). (Full review here)

           

Winterboard

Type: System

Utility: Overhaul your iPhone's GUI

Frequency of use: Very often 

Cost: None

Brief Description:  For those who desire to mod the otherwise unalterable iPhone GUI, there is Winterboard.  Make your iPhone unique by customizing your Springboard, icons, wallpaper, and more.  No longer do you have to settle for the standard--make a statement with your iPhone! (Full review here)

           

TuneWiki

Type: Multimedia

Utility: Social media player

Frequency of use: Fairly often/Very often (if you're a fan of music/social networking) 

Cost: None

Brief Description:  TuneWiki is an application similar to the Music.app on your iPhone/iPod Touch. Besides the normal music playback capability, it has interesting extras such as live song lyrics and music maps which show you what songs are playing near your location or in a specific region.  TuneWiki's unique built-in social networking component makes it stand out from other music Apps. (Full review here)

           

iPhoneModem

Type: Network

Utility: Tethers your iPhone for Internet connectivity

Frequency of use: Fairly often (Especially if you are always on the go with your laptop) 

Cost: $9.99 (registration code)

Brief Description:  Remember NetShare? It was a great networking App,  but it's now banned from the App Store.  Fortunately, Addition's iPhoneModem allows tethering on your iPhone.  iPhoneModem comes with its own client for Mac (A PC version in a works) and your iPhone, making it much easier to configure than the now-defunct NetShare.  Just install and enjoy!

Intelliscreen

Type: System

Utility: View information on your lock screen

Frequency of use: Very often 

Cost: Free 10-day trial; license registration fee required after trial

Brief Description:  Need to check your Mail but don't have time to thumb through your iPhone in order to retrieve it?  Intelliscreen by Intelliborn allows for easy access to information on your iPhone lock screen, such as Mail and SMS messages, iCal dates, news stories, sports scores, and more. Think of it as your widget box on your locked screen.  If you like widgets on your PC and Mac, you'll love Intelliscreen.

           

OpenSSH

Type: Networking

Utility: Secure remote access between iPhone and other machines

Frequency of use: Fairly often/Very often  

Cost: Free 

Brief Description:  This list isn't complete without OpenSSH!  Non-technical people may not appreciate this App, but it is must-have for anyone who is running a website on a Linux environment.  We webmasters like to have that secure remote access to our web servers, just in case we need to tweak some things.  Plus, OpenSSH is needed if you want to do some advanced hacking and gain access to your iPhone.  Novices, you may be uncomfortable with this tool since it's a command line tool, but it's worth getting to know OpenSSH--it can be your friend on the iPhone!

Conclusion:

There is a little something for everyone on a jailbroken iPhone.  From connectivity to customization, jailbroken iPhones can provide users with a wide variety of functionality that is not (yet) available through standard means.

Is there a jailbroken App you think deserves to be on this list?  Sound off in the comments section below.

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iBiblia - The Ultimate iPhone Glossary As an iPhone user, you've probably found yourself in lots of "iPhone" conversations, especially lately with the release of the App Store and iPhone 3G. If throughout those conversations you've found yourself thinking, "Wait, isn't jailbreaking and unlocking the same thing?" or "What does he mean by Pwnage", then this glossary is for you.

Comments

[Marc]

I have wanted to jail break, but I am wondering about a couple things -- can I still use iTunes/the App Store, etc just as I have before, and, what do I do when Apple comes out with 2.1.1 of the iPhone OS -- once you jailbreak, do you have to skip future updates, or what?

Thanks!

[iSmashPhone]

@Marc: When you jailbreak you will have full access to the store, itunes, back-up, everything is the same as before plus apps for jailbroken phones.

If new update is out you will have to wait until jailbreak is available for that update. We had to wait less then a week for jailbreak to be available for 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.1

If you want you can always restore to "virgin state"

[Gix0r]

Good rundown. The one App I think definitely needs mention is QuickGold. It's basically Quicksilver for the iPhone(or Launchy for the windows users, myself included.) While on your Home screen, hit the Home button and up pops your keyboard. Start typing the name of an App, a contact name/phone number, a website and the results populate as you type. Very handy for those of us with our Apps in Categories and it's even faster than opening your phonebook and finding a contact that isn't a favorite. I love it!

[iSmahPhone]

@Gix0r

Cannot believe that we missed QuickGold, just tested out and it's must have for anyone with loads of apps and massive contact list.

We are going to do a review of this app.

[kitsune]

actually, none of these apps want me want to jailbreak the iPhone...

[Joss]

How do I make mind accept calls
from prison?
URL TROLL WAS HERE

[iskeetedurmom]

Thanks alot for the article, I've also considered jailbreaking and have many times searched for exactly this kind of info to help me decide if I want to do it. Very good, digg'd

[nani]

you can find more on the following site
just copy the link to find out...
URL TROLL WAS HERE

[Jiff WInston]

LOL< the first two are reason enough for me!

Jiff
URL TROLL WAS HERE

[Joe]

Don't forget SwapTunes, which allows you to keep two separate iTunes libraries to sync to. A real lifesaver for someone with music on two machines like work & home.

[Alex]

+1 for QuickGold.

Find out more and donate here:
http://code.google.com/p/zataangstuff/wiki/QuickGold

No, I'm not the developer, nor do I have any affiliation with him/her. I just think it's an amazing app that adds a lot to the iPhone's functionality and that he/she deserves some cash to keep up the great work.

[Al Beebe]

What about SpoofApp? Caller ID spoofing, voice changing and call recording!

[Nick]

I had my iPhone jailbroken pre-2.0, haven't really bothered since then. This article is the reason quickpwn is downloading right now.

Cheers.

[Eddie]

So, what are the reasons NOT to jailbreak your iPhone? Is it a problem to restore it to it's pre-Jailbroken state, say when bringing it in for service? Does it create stability issues? Any issues with phone/data/network when jailbroken. Is it possible to completely brick/ruin a phone by jailbreaking it?

[Geoff]

What about mame? I haven't heard anything about mame on the iPhone in about a year. has any progress been made?

[Jazzy]

Jailbreaking is the only way to go.

[Terry]

Here are some more reasons:

http://sleepers.net/news/2008/09/06/why-jailbreak-iphone/

I also want to do it for the Dock:

http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/dock-3-0-demonstration/11043000/

[Mark Keyes]

I jailbroke my iphone 2.1 with quickpwn. I then installed a couple of apps including make it mine and battery charge app (gave update every 10 secs on battery status when program was open). prior to those 2 I had no problems, after those two though, when I tried to download a program my iphone would go into reset mode with the ALOD and stay there... I ended up having to restore back to 2.1 (removed jailbreaking) and now Im afraid to try it again... please help....
@Mark, wish could help. Try not to install those apps.

[dvanec]

How easy is it to find a song or video on YouTube? Pretty easy, anyway the app MXtube let's youdownload YouTube videos and play them anywhere. You can even lock the screen while playing songs to save battery life, unlike the normal YouTube player. Plus 1 for MXtube

(typed on iPod touch)

[Tom]

Thanks a lot for this. What about some list of games available? http://www.y3.com thanks in advance