Click here for my ‘Why Jailbreak Your Apple Device‘ post to weigh the pros and cons.

Have you decided? Just making things clear: I’m not advocating the idea of jailbreaking your device here, as it is clearly not advised in the eyes of Apple. In the end, it will be of your own choice and of your own responsibility. Please do more research if you are still unsure as I will not be accountable should things go out of control. I’ll show you how the best I can, and let you yourself try maximizing the usage of your gadget via Cydia.

Useful tip: A lot of people go to techno-shops to get their device jailbroken for a price when in fact, they could have done it by themselves in less than five minutes, with just a few clicks here and there at that!

Apps, apps, and more apps!

Let’s get to business. How to jailbreak your Apple device:

You have an Apple gadget: an iPhone 4S, iPad 3, iPod Touch or whatever, then you come across the word Jailbreak. You know nothing much about it, except that it hacks your gadget, possibly voiding the warranty it comes along with. Why should you jailbreak it in the first place? Is the risk worth it? Well, this post is for you.

Let me enlighten you on the world of Apple jailbreaking.

photo from downloadredsn0w.com

First and foremost, the jailbreaking basics from Wikipedia:

“iOS jailbreaking is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through the use of hardware/software exploits – such devices include the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and second generation Apple TV. Jailbreaking allows iOS users to gain root access to the operating system, allowing them to download additional applications, extensions, and themes that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.”

PCWorld says:

“This is a double-edged sword: You could run unstable tools or even damage your device, although that’s highly unlikely. Remember that with your jailbroken device, Apple isn’t around to tell you what you can and can’t do with it–for better or for worse. Fortunately, if you pay attention to what you’re doing, you can run the warranty-voiding process without incident–and if you change your mind later, you can return to Apple’s default, locked-down environment.”

So that’s fact number 1: Warranty is not void- If done correctly, you can return your jailbroken gadget to its original factory settings, deleting any trace of it being jailbroken before.

photo from cdn.macgasm.net

So why should you risk jailbreaking your device? Here are some pros and cons: