Why Jailbreak Your Apple Device?, Jay Freeman (Saurik) Answers

• Why Jailbreak Your iPhone? Jay Freeman Has the Answer

If you’ve been sitting on the fence trying to decide whether or not to jailbreak your precious iDevice, Jay Freeman, better known as  Saurik, has a few good reasons to take the plunge. Suarik who is the brains behind the unofficial app store Cydia, recently sat down with Robert Scoble at the Mobile Connections conference to discuss the merits of jailbreaking. The Q and A session also introduced us to the newest member of Jay’s team, Britta Gustafson, who is the “community manager and user experience person.” Most of our readers here at ModMyi are well aware of the many good reasons to jailbreak their iOS devices. But, for some who are a little less familiar with the whole process of jailbreaking, Jay outlines a few of the benefits of leaving the confines of the official App Store. According to Jay, “The big thing is just about having the freedom to do things that are outside of the scope of an application.” You can do some really cool things when you jailbreak your iDevice that Apple never intended. You can customize the user experience in numerous ways such as adding five apps to the dock instead of the usual four, or adding slick transition animations when you slide to the next page of apps. If you’ve ever wanted to forward a voicemail, but couldn’t because it’s not a part of the standard iOS user experience. Well, there’s an app for that, but it’s not available in the official App Store. You’ll have to Jailbreak your iPhone and head on over to Cydia if you want that kind functionality from your iOS device. The MyWi tethering app was available long before AT&T began offering users that service. Some users find MyWi’s price tag a little steep at $20, but it’s a one time fee compared to AT&T’s monthly charge. Many people actually prefer using MyWi to that of AT&T’s tethering service as well. Often times, Apple will actually implement a feature that first appears in the jailbreak community, however, it usually takes them quite a while to do so. Jailbreaking hasn’t gone mainstream quite yet, but it’s estimated that about 10 percent of all iPhone user have modified their devices at one time or another. The Cydia store has also earned an estimated quarter million dollars since July 2009 and continues to generate substantial income on a daily basis. Although Apple may not approve of jailbreaking, there is very little that they can do about it. Recently jailbreaking was declared legal by federal regulars much to Apple’s dismay. So with a little bit of bravery and a steady hand, there really is no reason not to take the plunge and see what all the fuss is about. If it’s not to your liking you can always simply reset your device and be done with it. However, once you get a taste of the freedom that jailbreaking brings with it, you may never want to go back.