amy g. Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I did not know you could do this. I inherited my dad's iphone, but I'm too cheap to want a monthly charge, so my son "unlocked" it. He did warn me that he was voiding the warranty. He was able to go to T-mobile and buy a prepaid sim card for it. now, I can use it as a phone, and have free data wherever there is wifi. I'm very happy. I guess those hours of listening to technology podcasts while he washes my dishes finally paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 "They" (the rebels who do this) refer to it as "jailbreaking." It does void your warranty but it opens up a whole world of possibilities for your IPhone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My sister's boyfriend really messed up his iTouch jailbreaking it. It sounds illegal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 It is not illegal to modify a phone that you legally own. Fortunately, it works perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 "They" (the rebels who do this) refer to it as "jailbreaking." It does void your warranty but it opens up a whole world of possibilities for your IPhone. Jailbreaking your phone so that it is more customizable is different then unlocking it so that you can use it with any other provider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 My sister's boyfriend really messed up his iTouch jailbreaking it. It sounds illegal to me. It can be illegal depending on how you use it. You can use it to just customize your phone, but some primarily do it to use an illegal site to get all the apps everyone else pays for for free! Doing the later is illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 If apple sends a system update and you update your jailbroken phone, it will fry your phone. Techie hubby told me to tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 How is it different? I'm curious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 If apple sends a system update and you update your jailbroken phone, it will fry your phone. Techie hubby told me to tell you. This is so true! You have to reset your phone to factory settings to download the new updates. Apple is constantly updating the phone specifically to stop the latest jailbreaking hack that someone has just discovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Jailbreaking your phone so that it is more customizable is different then unlocking it so that you can use it with any other provider. They are different, but neither is illegal. There was a court case that decided it was not illegal. If/when you plug the phone into a computer decline any updates. An update will not automatically download on its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 They are different, but neither is illegal. There was a court case that decided it was not illegal. If/when you plug the phone into a computer decline any updates. An update will not automatically download on its own. A court found it legal that on a jailbroken iPhone you can access a site where you can download all apps for free?? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Just make sure you don't send any personal info over your iPhone - dh said that jailbreaking negates most/all of the anti-hacking protections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 A court found it legal that on a jailbroken iPhone you can access a site where you can download all apps for free?? :confused: I would think that the ability to access a site would not be illegal, but the downloading of pirated apps would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks. ds did tell me about updating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weddell Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Unlocking a phone just means you are removing the protections that keep you "locked" into one service provider (in this case at&t). There is nothing illegal about it, At&t just doesn't want you to do it because then you can save money by using a different cell phone provider. Other countries don't even have this since all phones are unlocked and you buy service separately from the phone. Other types of hacking are more dangerous to the phone and software, but as long as you aren't using the end result for illegal activities (downloading apps that you didn't pay for) there is nothing illegal about it. Just like you can take apart your own alarm clock, replace your own kindle battery even though Amazon doesn't want you to (see the Nook thread), or write your own computer programs. You are just playing with an electronic device that you own. Companies don't want you to do lots of things, but that doesn't make it illegal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 If apple sends a system update and you update your jailbroken phone, it will fry your phone. Techie hubby told me to tell you. :iagree: And over time, the jailbreaked iPhone will be more difficult to use. Incoming phone calls will take over 10 minutes to "come in" and ring. Sending out a text message will take 20 minutes to process. Maddening. I had a close friend who did this to his iPhone and really regretted it. Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks. I will keep that in mind about the speed issues. I know that Ds has an android phone that will get laggy over time, so he has to do maintenance on it. I'm just happy that I have a phone now. The thing was useless to me before because I am not willing to have a contract with monthly fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Amy, it's worth finding out for sure whether your phone has been unlocked or jailbroken. An unlocked phone is perfectly "legit" as far as Apple are concerned and can be updated etc as normal. DH and I have both unlocked our phones via our provider so we can use different sims when overseas, and we are able to update etc as usual, in fact part of the unlocking process is Apple verifying that it has happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) It is unlocked it so it would accept a prepaid sim card from T-mobile. I think that what Apple considers legit is different in the US. Edited March 1, 2011 by amy g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 :iagree: And over time, the jailbreaked iPhone will be more difficult to use. Incoming phone calls will take over 10 minutes to "come in" and ring. Sending out a text message will take 20 minutes to process. Maddening. I had a close friend who did this to his iPhone and really regretted it. Be careful. All my iPhones have been jailbroken and I haven't experienced any of these issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/feds-ok-iphone-jailbreaking/ I hack everything because it is just good clean fun. :) My android phone is rooted and so is my Nook. It does void the warranty but it is so much more usable and I can get rid of all the preloaded crap. Basically it just gives you superuser permissions to mess with the operating system. Android is a system that is a blast for a technogeek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ven pcworld mag had an article on hacking your iPhone/iPad. I looked it up, and even if you hack it and then need to get it fixed And it's still under warrantee, all you have to do is reset it to factory standards. As long as you didn't brick it when you hacked it. I'm not going to do it, because I am not familiar with it, and I like my iPad too much to take the risk. But, there are a TON of resources online to find out how to do it and how to fix it if something goes wrong. Just google it. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Ds did brick his android phone once. The men at the phone store tried to scare him about how they could prove he had jailbroken it, but he didn't believe them. It turns out that they were bluffing, and he was sent a replacement phone no questions asked. He had the money to buy a new one if they refused to replace it. I told him that taking chances is the only way to learn some things, and I'd never want to raise a child who was afraid to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 They are different, but neither is illegal. There was a court case that decided it was not illegal. If/when you plug the phone into a computer decline any updates. An update will not automatically download on its own. A court found it legal that on a jailbroken iPhone you can access a site where you can download all apps for free?? :confused: Where in the quote above did I say anything like that? I said jailbreaking and unlocking were legal, because ChristusG said it sounded illegal to her. You were explaining they were different. I was agreeing and clarifying that they were both legal. I didn't say or imply software pirating was legal. Obviously, you know they are legal since you say your phone are jailbroken: All my iPhones have been jailbroken and I haven't experienced any of these issues. I would think that the ability to access a site would not be illegal, but the downloading of pirated apps would be. :iagree: How is it different? I'm curious... Hey, I didn't notice your post yesterday, how are you? :) And to answer your question: Unlocking v. jailbreaking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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