What is jailbreaking a cell phone?

[adventure_woman]

What is it? I have no idea and was hoping someone could explain it to me. It sounds like it is wrong? (I mean - when someone mentions jail it doesn't sound quite right...)

 

[dfchelbay]

What is it? I have no idea and was hoping someone could explain it to me. It sounds like it is wrong? (I mean - when someone mentions jail it doesn't sound quite right...)

It only voids service/warranty if it's still under contract. All new phones are locked, which means they are programmed to work on a specific network, like ATT, Sprint, Verizon, etc. You can unlock the phone so that it will work on networks other than the one you bought it from. Like, if you bought an AT&T Iphone, you can unlock it and use it on another provider.

If the phone is no longer under it's original agreement, you should be fine. The reason you get a new phone at a cheaper price is because they can lock you into their service for those two years. You can opt to pay full price for a new phone to avoid the 2 year deal too.

 

[crazelion]

In simple terms means hacking your phone and putting the software that want on.

Examples Jail break a Apple Iphone ATT Iphone jail broke to work on the T-mobile network or Straight talk

You would rooted Android phone. To upgrade Android from Ice cream sandwich to Jelly bean you would rooted the phone.

Repeat if don't know what doing you can brick your phone. AKA it want work anymore.

 

[taymaesmom]

Dh does this all the time, however he knows what he is doing. To purpose of jailbreaking your phone is to change operating systems. Dh switches his Android phone to a windows phone. To change your phone from one carrier to another like ATT to Verizon is called flashing, totally different. If you do either of these you void your warranty and the carrier has the right to refuse to service your phone at all.

I did actually take my phone into Verizon to get a new sim card put in for dd to use since I got a new phone. My phone is rooted and running a new operating system. When the sales person turned it on she noticed immediately, thankfully she was very nice about it and asked alot of questions, she was considering doing it herself too! But she said mine was the first phone she had ever seen brought in rooted!

 

[adventure_woman]

Thank you. I currently have Verizon and I would love to upgrade to an iPhone. Unfortunately I can't upgrade for another year. Someone gave me an iPhone from AT&T which I currently use just for the WiFi, but I'm trying to figure out a way to switch phones. Sounds like I might as well just try to find a used Verizon iPhone...

 

[Order66]

You can't use an ATT phone on Verizon. ATT uses GSM technology, while Verizon uses CDMA. So it's not that the phone is locked to a carrier that's your problem.....it's the wrong technology to connect to your provider.

ATT will "unlock" a used iphone for you if you are a current ATT customer. But you have to call and request it.

regards

 

[disneymom2003]

You can't use an ATT phone on Verizon. ATT uses GSM technology, while Verizon uses CDMA. So it's not that the phone is locked to a carrier that's your problem.....it's the wrong technology to connect to your provider.

ATT will "unlock" a used iphone for you if you are a current ATT customer. But you have to call and request it.

regards

Yes you cannot use an AT&T phone on Verizion even if you are unlocked. They are not compatible. You can request your phone be unlocked only after you have completed your 2 year contract if you signed one. Then you can use it with other carriers like T-mobil and Virgin.If you pay full price or it you can use it with the carrier of your choice. It is my understanding though that the IPhone 5 with Verizion comes unlocked.

 

[DawnM]

Jailbreaking and unlocking are two different things.

GSM (ATT) phones work with GSM towers. However, if you purchase an ATT phone and wish to use it with T-mobile or any number of Pay As You Go plans that use GSM towers, you can UNLOCK the phone either through the company (ATT will do it for current customers) to use with them. Or, you can pay to have it down. Ebay sellers typically sell unlock codes for $2-$6 per codes (per phone.)

Jailbreaking is different and I haven't ever done it. I am afraid I will ruin my phone! It is cool to see the various apps and such you can get with it though that you can't get from an unbroken phone.

http://www.techhive.com/article/249091/geek_101_what_is_jailbreaking_.html

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

What is it? I have no idea and was hoping someone could explain it to me. It sounds like it is wrong? (I mean - when someone mentions jail it doesn't sound quite right...)

Jail breaking: "Hacking" into your phone's software with special (sorry, have to say it again) software that enables you customize you phone and do a whole bunch of things that were previously off limits. As a PP said, it voids your warranty.

It's not "wrong" per se, to jailbreak, but when some people use it to get things that aren't free and other uses of that nature, it becomes wrong.

 

[OLT2004]

Holy Cow...
Or
Should I say OMG...

Do I feel OLD after this post and the replys...

Where some even written in English???

 

[XYSRUS]

My son jail broke his iTouch and his friend's also. He also called to tell me he bricked his friends's for a hot second-like a couple of hours! They do it for customization. He has a Disney home screen that is just adorable! He puts that on for me when I want to use his Touch. What a thoughtful kid. I won't let him touch my iPhone because if he bricks it, I won't be able to let him live in the house anymore! lol

 

[nicolet]

Just wondering if you jailbreak can you go back to the original settings?

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Holy Cow...
Or
Should I say OMG...

Do I feel OLD after this post and the replys...

Where some even written in English???

+1

 

[adventure_woman]

Jailbreaking and unlocking are two different things.

GSM (ATT) phones work with GSM towers. However, if you purchase an ATT phone and wish to use it with T-mobile or any number of Pay As You Go plans that use GSM towers, you can UNLOCK the phone either through the company (ATT will do it for current customers) to use with them. Or, you can pay to have it down. Ebay sellers typically sell unlock codes for $2-$6 per codes (per phone.)http://www.techhive.com/article/249091/geek_101_what_is_jailbreaking_.html

Okay - well then my plan won't work. =) Maybe I'll look into a pay as you go plan with T-mobile for a month or 2.

Thank you! =)

 

[manhattanman]

Just wondering if you jailbreak can you go back to the original settings?

If you have the original rom, it could be possible.

For those that are still confused, i just had to explain this to my non tech wife.

Jailbreaking is a descriptive term that changes the properties of the phone so that things that the manufacturer intended to prevent are now permissable.

for example the only way to get apps on a stock ipad is through itunes or the app store. Apple does a pretty good job of vetting the apps that are available. But there are some apps that apple has decided ( for a variety of reasons) should not be put onto your ipad. If you jailbreak your iphone/ipad it removes this restriction and allows you to install software that apple would not allow you to install.

For android Im not sure if changing the rom counts as jailbreaking or not, my hunch would be yes becuase you have to install a bootloader to switch roms ( which are the mobile equivalents of operating systems). People often do this with phones becuase the tel com companies often have little incentive to allow uses to upgrade to a newer rom because they already have your money, even if the phone can handle it. This is why there is such fragmentation for android devices and why many of the android phones in use have the gingerbread rom that is at least 3 years old.

Unlocking a phone simply removes carrier specific restrictions. When you get a phone from a carrier it is designed to use that carriers towers specifically. If you swap out the sim card for one from another carrier, the phone recognises this change and will not allow you to access any other towers from other companies.
This is not hardware based but a software based restriction implemented by the telcomm company when they sold you the phone. Unlocking the phone simply removes this restriction and allows you to swap out sim cards and use whatever service you like. Ulocking can be done with the consent of the telcom that sold you the phone ( under certain circumstances) or through some less than reputable third party companies. But an unlocked phone is always going to cost more than a locked phone becuase the telcom companies can subsidize the phone knowing they can make it up on the backend with monthly service charges. As an unlocked phone can go anywhere, the telcom copanies are not assured of anything so there is no subsidy.

Jailbreaking is perfectly legal ( despite the wishes of the telcom companies who actively tried to prevent this) but it is associated with some risks. Any phone is a complicated dance between hardware and software and some phones simply cannot function with some roms. Trying to force this can result in your phone being bricked ( ie completely unresponsive and unusable). Sometimes you can unbrick it, sometimes not but if you do brick your phone you will get zero help from the telcom becuase by putting the rom you want on the phone ( as opposed to the one the phone company wants) you have voided the warranty and are on your own.

Sorry this was so long but i hope it was helpful.

 

[adventure_woman]

Thank you manhattanman (and everyone else). SO, if I did want to go to a T-Mobile pay as you go plan with this AT&T iPhone, what do I need to do? Find an unlock code? Do I need to get a new sim card? (where would I get that at?).

 

[manhattanman]

Just wondering if you jailbreak can you go back to the original settings?

If you have the original rom, it could be possible.

For those that are still confused, i just had to explain this to my non tech wife.

Jailbreaking is a descriptive term that changes the properties of the phone so that things that the manufacturer intended to prevent are now permissable.

for example the only way to get apps on a stock ipad is through itunes or the app store. Apple does a pretty good job of vetting the apps that are available. But there are some apps that apple has decided ( for a variety of reasons) should not be put onto your ipad. If you jailbreak your iphone/ipad it removes this restriction and allows you to install software that apple would not allow you to install.

For android Im not sure if changing the rom counts as jailbreaking or not, my hunch would be yes becuase you have to install a bootloader to switch roms ( which are the mobile equivalents of operating systems). People often do this with phones becuase the tel com companies often have little incentive to allow uses to upgrade to a newer rom because they already have your money, even if the phone can handle it. This is why there is such fragmentation for android devices and why many of the android phones in use have the gingerbread rom that is at least 3 years old.

Unlocking a phone simply removes carrier specific restrictions. When you get a phone from a carrier it is designed to use that carriers towers specifically. If you swap out the sim card for one from another carrier, the phone recognises this change and will not allow you to access any other towers from other companies.
This is not hardware based but a software based restriction implemented by the telcomm company when they sold you the phone. Unlocking the phone simply removes this restriction and allows you to swap out sim cards and use whatever service you like. Ulocking can be done with the consent of the telcom that sold you the phone ( under certain circumstances) or through some less than reputable third party companies. But an unlocked phone is always going to cost more than a locked phone becuase the telcom companies can subsidize the phone knowing they can make it up on the backend with monthly service charges. As an unlocked phone can go anywhere, the telcom copanies are not assured of anything so there is no subsidy.

Jailbreaking is perfectly legal ( despite the wishes of the telcom companies who actively tried to prevent this) but it is associated with some risks. Any phone is a complicated dance between hardware and software and some phones simply cannot function with some roms. Trying to force this can result in your phone being bricked ( ie completely unresponsive and unusable). Sometimes you can unbrick it, sometimes not but if you do brick your phone you will get zero help from the telcom becuase by putting the rom you want on the phone ( as opposed to the one the phone company wants) you have voided the warranty and are on your own.

Sorry this was so long but i hope it was helpful.

Edit: it turns out that jalbreaking phones is legal but jailbreaking tablets violates thr dmca and is considered illegal.

 

[3angelsmom]

Thank you manhattanman for writing an explanation on my level!

 

[bettymae1121]

Thank you manhattanman (and everyone else). SO, if I did want to go to a T-Mobile pay as you go plan with this AT&T iPhone, what do I need to do? Find an unlock code? Do I need to get a new sim card? (where would I get that at?).

I can half answer your question. I have an unlocked iPhone and use T-Mobile. I ordered a SIM card from T-Mobile's website (it wasn't much, $5 maybe?), and when I got it in the mail put it in the iPhone and set it up so I use T-Mobile's $30 a month talk/text/data plan.

DH did unlock it for me, I think he was able to pay some company $20 or so to unlock it for him but I don't know the details. I don't know if the iPhone I have used to be with ATT or Verison, DH bought it used off of eBay.

The data part isn't very fast on my phone if I'm not on wifi, but I don't use it for a whole lot when I'm out of the house so I don't mind. It's why I don't want an $80 a month contract phone, I don't use the data part of it enough to justify the expense. But if you're looking for blazing internet speeds this isn't the way to go, at least at this point. DH talked to a T-Mobile person and was told their going to try and up the data speeds for their pay-as-you-go customers early next year, we'll see how it goes.

 

[manhattanman]

Thank you manhattanman for writing an explanation on my level!

You are welcome. I hope that people understand that there are very good reasons to unlock a phone ( which does not change the rom at all) but the resons to jailbreak a phone are somewhat less clear.

One reason why people associate jailbreaking negatively, is that although you can load non approved apps one segment of the jailbreaking crowd do it because it is far easier to not pay for apps. The telcom companies were petrified that people could upload malicious code from trojan horse apps on jailbroken phones that could emperil their entire networks.

Another segment are what I like to call electronic libertarians and will jailbreak a phone simply to remove the ability of someone else telling them what they can, or cannot put on their phone. I know people who have jailbroken iphones and never loaded anything onto them that wasn't available from itunes, which seems kind of counter productive but I guess it makes them feel like they are sticking it to the man.

another segment are people who dislike what the phone companies do with android by essentially packaging things that they want their phone users to have and can load up your phone with apps that rob memory and are really only beneficial to the carrier. The only way to get around this is to use what is called vanilla android, which is android in its purest form from google ( not adulterated by phone companies).


The last and most prominent segment are tech savy people who are upset that the phone they bought last year ( at the top of the line) is not in line to get the latest and greatest android rom. The phone companies have a big disincentive to allow free upgrades, if you bought a phone with a previous rom they already have your money. If you want a newer rom, the phone companies want you to buy another phone from them. Being able to root your phone ( which is simply the ability to selectively change roms on the device) allows you to get the newer roms and the phone company gets nothing. These newer roms are compiled by a group of fanstastic developers who go into the roms and poke around ( so much so that some people load newer roms that are deficient is some phone capabilities, like the camera) and then try to get most if not all of the functionality back.


Again sorry for the excessive length but my wife just recently asked me to explain all of this to her.