Why You Should Not Jailbreak Your iPod Touch or iDevice

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So we're going to jailbreak iPod touch today and get it out of jail! Hmmmm....
What time are we going to do this? Midnight, 1, 2, 3 in the morning?  No, we're not talking about that kind of jailbreaking. That can get you into trouble....;)

We Like to Tinker

What we're talking about here is every time we get a new device or toy shall we say, we always want to customize it or, beef it up or, modify it to some other better plane or level of operation. At least we think it does anyway.




Inevitably though, theres always problems that you run into when you do these things. Theres an old saying that goes - "why fix it, if it ain't broke"! No its always better to leave well enough alone. But people are people and they will experiment.

It's Not Rescuing

There is a phenomenon going on around the internet about jailbreaking your iPod or iPad or iPhone or iDevice. In this article I will tell you what that is and why you shouldn't do it. The purpose is to make you think before you go through with it.

Well What Is It Then

It will work but there will most likely be problems arise as well. First of all I will tell you what jailbreaking is. To jailbreak your Apple device means to install a small program that removes restrictions in the default software.

A jailbroken device can run apps and extensions (themes and tweaks) not approved by Apple. But you must be careful not to void your warranty. If you mess up the install of the jailbreak and can't get back to the original format, don't try sending it to Apple!




It will get sent back at your expense and your warranty will be voided because they will know thats what you done to it. There are several apps out there that you can use to do it, if you so choose to do it. Some of them are -

• RedsnOw

• GreenpoisOn

• and Cydia

I'm an advocate either way because I like to experiment with my devices as well. I think its just wise to know the risks associated with doing that kind of modifying to the device.

I have noticed that for every 10 people that jailbreak their iPod touch, 7 wind up with problems in the software or OS. There are quite a few steps to go through in the process of jailbreaking. Of course some people will undoubtedly miss a step or 2 in the process.

Watch Out!

If your in the process of jailbreaking and you mess up be prepared to re-format your iPod and start all over with the original OS. Also be prepared to spend a lot of time in doing so. As iPod's are much slower than computers.

You can usually just hook up your iPod to iTunes via your computer and then reinstall the original OS (operating system) from there.

So what does jailbreaking do for your iPod or iDevice? As mentioned earlier it will allow you to run many neat applications and extensions that otherwise you can't because the Apple OS doesn't support them.

It gets you past the Apple limitations where software is concerned. You will not however, gain any speed or smoothness to the hardware. Jailbreaking ipod touch will not improve the hardware at all.

Not Bad Perks, Buuut!

Be aware though that some of the 3rd party apps that you can run after jailbreaking are much more expensive. Although their pretty cool apps though. It is said that jailbreaking the iPod will breach the security of the device.

Make sure you have installed a quality SSH software after you modify the device. A good software for this is OpenSSH. This will help keep hackers out of your device through the internet.

Wrap up

So why do I believe its better not to jailbreak ipod touch? Simply because the Apple iPod is an awesome device in itself. There is so much that you can do with it, and so many cool apps you can get for it, that its not worth the hassle you'd have to go through if you mess up the modification.


Although I enjoy experimenting as well as the next guy, I'd say you stand about a 60%/40% chance of something going wrong by doing the jailbreak. I mean 60% chance that it'll fowl up the iPod OS.

Yeah, your better to stay with the old adage to, leave well enough alone. But if you decide to do the modification be careful and good luck to you! I wish you much fun with your Apple iPod Touch...

Thanks for coming by...

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