Should You Jailbreak Your iPhone?
Well, it was bound to happen sometime. One of my iPhone-toting friends recently asked me if I thought he should jailbreak his iPhone. Before I go any further, let me just define “jailbreak” for those of you who haven’t heard the term before. To “jailbreak” an iPhone means to hack the operating system so that you can install your own applications on it. Apple has maintained tight control over the phone’s operating system, but that hasn’t stopped folks from finding ways to put their own custom apps on the iPhone.
My off-the-cuff answer to my friend was an emphatic…
“Maybe.”
But that was just off-the-cuff. I asked him why he wanted to jailbreak his phone, and he said, “Duh! I want to play games on it!”
Okay, I said, but then I asked him what else he does with his phone. The answer was a sporadic mix of fun with just a little serious productivity thrown in. He plays games. He listens to music and watches movies. He sends texts to his friends and just generally uses his phone because of the “cool factor.” At that point I told him “You know, none of those are very good reasons to jailbreak your phone. I wouldn’t do it.”
But what if you’re a serious user? What if you use a combination of email and productivity tools and have some legitimate reasons for wanting to jailbreak?
Six months ago, I might have advised it. But today? Not a chance.
With the imminent introduction of iPhone software version 2.0 and also the 3G iPhone, I personally think the wise course is to wait and see what the newer versions offer. By all counts, we should see these products in early June, perhaps on June 9. The bottom line is that we’re so close to the intro date, there’s no reason to jailbreak your iPhone right now.
Wait for the new software, which should, in effect, jailbreak the phone for you. My own phone isn’t jailbroken. In fact, the target audience of this blog is those of you who haven’t jailbroken your phones, those of you who just want common sense advice using your phone. I’m going to wait and see what the new software is all about. My advice? You should wait, too.
