So I Jailbroke my iPhone - iPhone 3G

Runamuck · 03-17-2008, 04:39 PM

And I guess the big reaction from me is......

Why is this such a big deal? Sure, I can customize the look/feel of my device now. That's nice if this was kindergarten and I was taking my phone to show and share day.

The games available quite simply underwhelm. The fact I can play games now is nice, but I'd really rather not burn the battery on my lifeline unless I have to. I'm already on the phone 3-5 hours a day as is.

The utilities I've seen thus far have limited use to me. Maybe I'm missing a "must-have" app out there somewhere?

The toys and tweaks have no value to me that I can discern other than, again, look and feel modifications. Which would be ok if I thought the original look and feel was sub-par (which it isn't/wasn't).

The stability of my device seems OK, although I do see countless threads of little tweaks here and there that are required to make the iPhone as stable in jailbreak mode as it was in normal mode.

So where's the value in jailbreaking? Unlocking, sure, I can see a lot of value in that. Maybe I'm too much the pragmatist, but jailbreaking seems to me to be more of a "look at me!" kind of thing than anything of real value to the device.

What am I missing?

chrismmm · 03-17-2008, 04:43 PM

i think you have answered your own questions and issues regarding jb in a thoughtful manner. IMHO..there may be a few apps out there that you will find useful but without knowing what kind of appls you are looking for we cant help. Good Luck!

24trepid · 03-17-2008, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runamuck

And I guess the big reaction from me is......

Why is this such a big deal? Sure, I can customize the look/feel of my device now. That's nice if this was kindergarten and I was taking my phone to show and share day.

The games available quite simply underwhelm. The fact I can play games now is nice, but I'd really rather not burn the battery on my lifeline unless I have to. I'm already on the phone 3-5 hours a day as is.

The utilities I've seen thus far have limited use to me. Maybe I'm missing a "must-have" app out there somewhere?

The toys and tweaks have no value to me that I can discern other than, again, look and feel modifications. Which would be ok if I thought the original look and feel was sub-par (which it isn't/wasn't).

The stability of my device seems OK, although I do see countless threads of little tweaks here and there that are required to make the iPhone as stable in jailbreak mode as it was in normal mode.

So where's the value in jailbreaking? Unlocking, sure, I can see a lot of value in that. Maybe I'm too much the pragmatist, but jailbreaking seems to me to be more of a "look at me!" kind of thing than anything of real value to the device.

What am I missing?

I'm with ya. I jailbroke mine, and it screwed it all up. Had to do a restore, and exchanged for a new one at apple. I'll just wait till June for SDK.

psylichon · 03-17-2008, 07:23 PM

It really just makes your phone slightly more different than the guy's next to you, and can be a fun conversation piece when hanging out with geeks. Which I do often.

But really, to me, it's just a "why not" sort of thing. If you're a light jailbreaker (don't get too heavy into customizations and only install a limited set of non-pervasive programs) like me, then the phone really performs no different than it does non-jailbroken. So I would do it now even if I barely used any other programs just so I had the ability to do so if something exciting comes down the line.

Which it will.

Test-Pilot · 03-17-2008, 07:37 PM

I have MobileChat installed, and it saves me a bundle in what I would have otherwise spent in text-messaging. I don't have unlimited texting with ATT, but with MobileChat, I do now.

Also, Some of the toys and games that I have are great for when my daughters want a bit of entertainment. They love playing with the RealArtist and the Sketch apps. And they've gained a new interest in music by playing with the Piano and Guitar apps. So to me, it's worth it to see the joy in their faces when they play with my iPhone.

As far as productivity is concerned, I find the ToDoList2 to be immeasurably valuable. And the Speed-Dial app helps me make calls faster. So there are some apps that are more than "just flash & glitter".

patrickj · 03-17-2008, 08:20 PM

I think - as chrismmm said above - the real answers on this are always a fair bit subjective, and depend on how you like to use your iPhone. I do think by now there are some very strong apps for the iPhone though, that are not about just altering its look or wanting to draw attention to your customizations.

There are quite a few that fill *big* holes in terms of functionality a lot of people want to see on a device as powerful as the iPhone. For example:

Books - a very good ebook reader
Voice Dial, Photo Dial, SpringDial - good quick dial solutions using voice commands and contact pictures, and speed dial icons on the home screen, respectively
Vnotes - voice recording app
TimeCapsule - backup utility that will create restore points for Voicemail, SMS database, Safari bookmarks, Address Book, Notes, Calendar, and more
Navizon - faux-GPS that will auto-update your position automatically if you turn the option on
MxTube - lets you download YouTube videos for viewing when you're offlne
Touchpad - lets you use your iPhone as an extended touchpad for your PC
VNSea - VNC client for iPhone
weDict - excellent dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus aggregator
Search - allows you to search your contacts and calendar entries
SyncJe - wireless sync for Google Calendar and various other popular SynML servers

There are a lot of others I think are useful, but that little shortlist gives a flavor for what is out there already ...

kariya9mdoa · 03-17-2008, 09:34 PM

Without jailbreaking there would be no unlocking especially for those of us that are outside the US and for those in the US that are with other providers. Without these DEVS i would be up shit creek because even though its march and this is when the iphone was supposed to be here in Australia it's not it's not even close because they are still in discussions on who is going to be the provider, so that said without the DEVS and ebay i would not have the best phone on the market anywhere in the world. So it's not all about apps and toys yes i do like those things but its not why i bought an iphone.

HappyModding

Lincoln · 03-17-2008, 10:04 PM

I do it mainly for two reasons: one, to customize it, and two, because it's fun and you can learn a bit from doing it.

- John

lman · 03-17-2008, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

I do it mainly for two reasons: one, to customize it, and two, because it's fun and you can learn a bit from doing it.

- John

Yeah, who can't complain with the ability to control what your phone looks like? I was on verizon before and they pretty much strip away all user customizing, its nice to have a way to make the phone the way you want it to look and be organized. After all, your the one who has to use it every day. I'm kind of an organize freak and dislike have icons showing on my screen that i dont use so i use a program called Poof to hide those specific apps. Then i have a program called categories which lets be organize my applications into folders and now my phone only shows what i want it show and organizes all my applications to my liking. Surely that isn't to brag to other people...its what makes me comfortable.

And just as a response to what John said in the second part of his comment, having jailbroken my phone i have learned a tremendous amount about the phone. From using a program like cyberduck to SSH into my phone to using terminal. Jailbreaking has expanded the abilities of my phone tremendously...I can go on aim, etc...

Jailbreaking is not a cosmetic process to me.

Thats all for my rant.

Runamuck · 03-18-2008, 03:17 AM

Thanks to all who posted and didn't flame me with "So restore it n00b" comments. The community is what I like best about this forum versus some others out there.

Patrick, in particular I enjoyed your list of apps and the value you get out of same.

Maybe I can find some use for Jailbreaking. I'll keep trying a few more apps until I find THE reason for me.

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