Tech For Free!

Just the other day I was asked “what does it mean to jailbreak your phone?” To jailbreak your phone means you install special software on your phone that “breaks” the blocks Apple has placed on your phone. With a jailbroken phone you can install applications, other than those available through the iTunes store, AND you can use the phone with other carriers.

So how do you jailbreak your iPhone? Well, as it turns out it’s very easy (and LEGAL), but jailbreaking your phone does void the warranty. In most cases, if you have a problem you can revert to original settings, but there have been cases where that was not possible. That said, proceed with caution as there is always the possibility you could turn your phone into a nice paper weight. As with any “procedure” its always a good idea to back things up so take the time to synch your phone with iTunes before you get started.

To begin the jailbreak, launch Safari (using your iPhone) and visit http://www.jailbreakme.com, which is a free web-based service that has but one function—to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Once the page loads, slide the bar to the right to start the process. Next, wait for the software to download (a couple minutes at most).  Once everything has been downloaded and installed, you will see a window indicating that Cydia has been added to your home screen–Cydia is the main source for Apple unapproved apps etc.). That’s it!

I was successful in jailbreaking my 3GS and it took only a couple minutes. I’ve turned off my phone and have restarted it a couple times and all seems well. I have noticed that on start up that I get the spinning circle on top of the apple, and I can see what appears to be a 2 pixel  line of random color colors across the top of the screen, but once everything loads, the line disappears.

Good Luck!