Jailbreaking an Ipod touch

silkyuk9

Hope some techie person can anser my questions.

Dd has asked me to 'jailbreak' her ipod. Ive told her I do not have a clue what you are talking about.

Ok, quick search on internet, sites talk techie stuff and tell you to dl this and that. Im not happy about that. so come to MSE.

What is jailbreaking, what does it do, is it legal how does this benefit my DD ipod touch and if is legal how do i do it??

Ipod not under warrenty BTW.

Hammyman

It is modifying the iPod to allow the use of pirated applications by allowing the installation of downloaded applications rather than ones legitimately sourced through Itunes store. The legalities of jailbreaking the device are a grey area but the main reason its done for is very illegal.

As it involves rewriting the firmware, it can go wrong. I'd be inclined to tell her if she wants it doing to do it herself and if it goes wrong, she won't be getting another from the bank of mum and dad.

silkyuk9

cheers. so its illegal, not happy bout that even if her mates have it done

althas

iirc didnt an American court deem jailbreaking NOT illegal not so long ago??

Jailbreaking, as people have said, involves the re-writing of the firmware of the ipod. It essentially relys on hackers finding and exploiting a "hole" in the installed software to access the base code. It allows you to then gain access to a massive base of non-Apple sanctioned apps, some things you would never get (like flash)

If it all goes to heck, you can just restore the apple software through itunes, there are many guides for this if you are unsure

As this involves using a hole in the software already on the ipod, each ios update from apple plugs that hole, so you will need to know the operating software version, and match the jailbreak to that. Some do not have jailbreaks, and generally you can not go back in the ios version and instal a breakable one

I did mine a while ago and very quickly filled my memory with a LOAD of apps, like a NES emmulator and games (Super Mario ftw ;-) so make sure there is lots of space for it

JJ_Egan

Jailbreak and pirated apps ?? .
Is it not to allow the use greater control over the phone .

Similar term for Android is Rooting but that is not a path for pirated apps but a method of user control over the phone .

Both methods may invalidate warranty .

jje

thescouselander

Hammyman wrote: »

It is modifying the iPod to allow the use of pirated applications by allowing the installation of downloaded applications rather than ones legitimately sourced through Itunes store. The legalities of jailbreaking the device are a grey area but the main reason its done for is very illegal.

As it involves rewriting the firmware, it can go wrong. I'd be inclined to tell her if she wants it doing to do it herself and if it goes wrong, she won't be getting another from the bank of mum and dad.

I think that view is a bit one sided. Most people I know jailbreak their apple products to get access to unofficial apps - not pirated apps.

Also I don't think jailbraking an Iphone/Ipod is illegal as such. Most likely it is against the terms of the OS software licence in which case it is a civil matter between Apple and the owner of the device - its not like the police are going to come round and arrest you.