iPhone jailbreaking still going strong
- 13 April, 2009 23:56
- Comments
Although most iPhone users seem satisfied with the smorgasbord of applications delivered by Apple's iPhone App Store, power users yearn for more. Copy and paste, video recording and streaming, Internet tethering, and content search are just a few features third-party developers have already delivered to users hungry enough to "jailbreak" their iPhones.
And though Apple's forthcoming 3.0 firmware update promises to deliver some power-use upgrades, jailbreaking should continue to push the iPhone's productivity envelope, especially as users increasingly demand the Holy Grail of smartphone power use: applications that run in the background.
Jailbreaking: Inside Apple's lock-down agenda
To date, the only way to satisfy yearnings for UI improvements such as copy-and-paste and to access locked-down iPhone features like video recording and streaming, Internet tethering, GPS, and content searching has been to "jailbreak" your iPhone, a process that liberates the device from Apple's tightly controlled App Store, allowing you to install powerful software from a variety of third parties. Jailbreaking also can enable you to unlock your iPhone from Apple's exclusive AT&T wireless service contract, leaving you free to use other providers' networks worldwide.
Apple's opposition to the features power users seek is no secret. Apple claims these features will unacceptably reduce battery life, slow performance, and place an undue burden on Apple's iPhone support infrastructure. Apple routinely blocks apps it doesn't like from its store, often for inscrutable reasons that some developers attribute to competitive motives rather than concern for iPhone users' productivity.
Recommended
Join the Computerworld Australia group on Linkedin. The group is open to IT Directors, IT Managers, Infrastructure Managers, Network Managers, Security Managers, Communications Managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
- Apple's forthcoming 3.0 firmware update
- formal opposition
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
- requesting an exemption to the DMCA
- Apple can reach out and delete applications
- iPhone Dev Team
- single differentiator most responsible for continued growth
- blocked this trick
- Cydia Store
- quickly yanked it
- US$15-per-month add-on for LG, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, and other handsets
- jailbreaking the 3.0 firmware beta
- difficult for app developers
- AdMob
-
Telstra continues with billion dollar 4G plan
-
What’s life really like on the NBN? (Part II)
-
Australia lags Mongolia in Internet speeds
-
40 years ago, Ethernet's fathers were the startup kids
-
Windows 8 won't hit critical mass in enterprises, Forrester says
