Should I jailbreak my iPhone? All Your Questions Answered

Should I Jailbreak my iPhone? Yes! Here's WhyJailbreaking can enhance and improve your user experience, often times dramatically. Even though there is only a small percentage of iPhone users, who choose to jailbreak their iPhone, the community using Cydia is growing. Thus we decided to list the major reasons for jailbreaking and answer the question of “Should I jailbreak my iPhone?”. Apple aims to keep the security standard of the iOS platform pretty high, which is why the security vulnerabilities enabling a jailbreak are usually closed soon after they become public.

Note that jailbreaking is potentially harmful when it comes to the safety of your data, or even your hardware. Although there have seldom been believable reports of actual damage with regards to jailbreaking an iPhone, there are of course risks. The security measures implemented in Apple’s iOS mobile operating system are there for a reason. Circumventing the “sandboxing” mechanism and allowing access to the entire file system, as part of the jailbreaking process, is a definite security issue. Installing software that has not gone through the iTunes App Store approval process is also a security risk. Please consult your local jurisdiction before jailbreaking a device and be aware of the potential effects on warranty or service agreements.

Additional Security features

Even though software untested by Apple may pose a security risk, Cydia does include possible security enhancements by offering additional security features.

Improved theft protection

While “Find my iPhone” certainly covers a lot of bases when it comes to theft protection, Apple did not include any kind of feature that allows you to visually identify the thief or scare him off. “Find my iPhone+” does just that by extending the default feature set.

Protecting folders and apps via Touch ID

Protect folders on your Home Screen or individual apps from prying eyes by making use of the Touch ID Sensor. There are a bunch of cydia tweaks that add additional layers of fine-grained security, such as “AppLocker”, “Asphelia”, “BioLockdown” and “Bioprotect”.

Improved handling and app use

Cydia also offers tweaks that improve handling your iPhone through shortcuts, changing default apps and improving your iMessage and WhatsApp experience.

Shortcuts

Smart shortcuts that are invoked using hardware buttons or gestures on your touchscreen are completely customizable via “Activator”, a legendary tweak by the developer Ryan Petrich. This can be used to toggle your flashlight feature on iPhone, launch apps or automate certain aspects of your usage. Think of it as a macro function that is connected to everything and easy to set up.

Changing your default apps

Apple is keen on you using Safari and Mail as your default apps, or Apple Maps instead of Google Maps. By installing “BrowserChooser” and “MapsOpener” from the cydia store, you can liberate your jailbroken iPhone and use a default application of your choice for the above tasks. This comes in handy when you prefer using “Google Chrome” or another browser.

Improved texting

Do you text a lot? Jailbreaking your iPhone has the advantage of allowing you to customize and enhance all sorts of aspects of your iMessage or WhatsApp usage experience. Add new features, change the looks – it’s all up to you. We recommend the “Messages Customiser” tweak for changing the appearance of your “Messages” app.

Screen and looks

With Cydia you can personalizethe screen and look of you iPhone by changing fonts, screen temperatur or adding design themes.

Improved Lock Screen

“IntelliScreenX” turns your Lock Screen into an amazing command center with plenty of new features and all of the info you could possibly desire.

Themes and customization

Apple is rather strict when it comes to the looks of your iDevices, including the iPhone. There is no official way of theming the iPhone. A jailbroken iPhone does not suffer from these limitations, you can download thousands of icon themes for your phone in the Cydia store. Some of them are free, while other premium themes have to be purchased. The most common theming platforms are called “Winterboard” and “Anemone”.

There is a so-called tweak called “Five Icon Dock”, which allows you to add another icon to your dock. “Zeppelin” takes care of your cell carrier logo and swaps it out with pretty much anything you like. Say, a batman or Apple icon. While “Springtomize 3” is the holy grail of customization on a jailbroken iPhone and allows you to tweak all kinds of details in iOS, such as animation effects and speeds, or Home Screen icon layouts. Another great one is “BytaFont 2”, which enables the user to swap out the system font for a font of choice.

Improving the screen color temperature

When reading on your iPhone in a dimly lit room, especially at night, you will want to tone down the colors to something comfortable. Increasing the color temperature to a warm yellow or orange for your base tones is incredibly useful, both in improving your sleep quality and reducing eye fatigue at the same time. Give the free f.lux package a try and do your eyes and sleep rhythm a favor.

Conclusion

To conclude, jailbreaking your iPhone still allows you to enhance an already awesome iPhone and operating system. Apple tends to borrow the best ideas from jailbreak developers and continually integrates them into iOS, but Cupertino still has a long way to go. Even today, there are plenty of good reasons to jailbreak your iPhone. We suggest you give it a try and see if you like it, although the decision is yours, of course. If you want to jailbreak your iPhone learn how to jailbreak iPhone start with our beginners guide for Cydia beginners.

Hint: If you have a jailbroken iPhone and want to remove the jailbreak just follow our guide to reset your iPhone and delete Cydia.