As an iPhone holder since the iPhone 4S, I’ve always wanted one thing from my Apple device, freedom. Coming from an HTC Thunderbolt, which at the time was innovative (unlimited data? Who does THIS anymore!?), which at the time I had rooted courtesy of the Cyanogen jailbreak.
It gave me freedom that I wanted like the ability to place the apps where I wanted them, amongst other things. So naturally I wanted this when I came over to Apple, because let’s be honest, the 4×4 app setup is boring. Imagine traveling home from work every day on the train, looking over and seeing someone else with the SAME layout as you, probably with the SAME apps.
Stock iPhone 6 Plus Screen before Jailbreak
As you can see, the stock iPhone 6 plus is very.. dull. Icons either don’t match, and look huge! All of that wasted retail space could be used.
I needed to separate myself. And then there was Evasion.
Jailbreaking has been around for a while, but it was new to me. I studied up on Reddit, as well as a few other blogs, noticing things that might happen like me voiding my warranty, etc., but I decided that it was worth it. I started only wanting one thing — more than five icons in my dock and the ability to not have 100 different folders, labeled “Sports”, “Weather”, “Social”, cluttering my already limited screen retail. So I took a leap of faith and decided it was time.
The process was pretty simple. Evasion needed either a Mac or a Windows computer, an iPhone cable, and about 5-10 minutes of my time. I personally advised friends to try not to plug the phone up and leave it alone until the process was finished. After this, you’re welcomed to a home screen with a new “app” called Cydia. Cydia is where you’ll end up getting all of your tweaks from, typically from what they call “repos”, the biggest being the Big Boss repo. Some of these tweaks were free, but there are some that you’ll pay between $0.99 and $9.99 for. So pretty much, for a cup of coffee, you could have a tweak that could virtually change your iPhone’s visual appeal? Sign me up.
iPhone 6 Plus after Jailbreak
After installing my first five tweaks, it easily went to installing 10-20 more. Tweaks that could avoid me paying Verizon’s already high tethering fees, tweaks that made Safari faster, and even a tweak that allowed me to download music straight to my device without using my laptop!
iPhone 6 Plus after Jailbreak
It just (to me) looks better. Some may find it to be clutter, but everything I need is accessible. Since I’m a lefty, I have plenty of left-dominant apps easily accessible, and all of my social apps are a touch away (and not in a folder listed “social”) Using tweaks like Aeternum, Harbor, Springtomize 3, and plenty of others can help accomplish this goal.
In the past 2-3 years the jailbreak community still exists, and many still do it, myself included, and although every week introduces something either fun or innovative to add to your device, there are many caveats. If you download too many tweaks, it can hinder your phone’s actual performance and make it unstable, and of course, it can void your warranty.
Also, updating your phone to the “latest update” pushed by Apple could make you lose your jailbreak forever. At the time of this writing, the last chance to jailbreak your phone would be 8.0 through 8.1.2. If you’ve updated to 8.1.3, you cannot go back and jailbreak. The hunt for a jailbreak after each new iOS update Apple releases with their new flagship phone in September has hindered a lot of the Jailbreak community from even bothering. It usually takes about 4-6 months for a jailbreak to be released, although new developers like Taig, and Pangu have released sooner for iOS8.
This being said, jailbreaking may not be for everyone, but it’s certainly something I enjoy. If you are tied to a network provider that chargesfor each little thing (data, tethering, etc.), jailbreaking can help in a major way. Or if you simply enjoy making your phone match your own personality, it’s well worth trying!
Have you got any questions about why you might want to jailbreak your iPhone or what some of the hazards might be? Share them below, and I’ll try to help.
