Regardless of its eventual fate, I'm deeply grateful to the jailbreak community for speeding up Apple's implementation of the useful tweaks power users wanted most like 3rd party keyboards, picture-in-picture, control center, F.lux, etc. iOS is a better platform today because of the JB community, so cheers all around.
As someone who used to jailbreak devices almost instantly when a tool was out, I have found myself really not needing a jailbreaking in recent years. The OS itself has matured a lot, I seem to have outgrown the "tweak mentality" and no longer find join in it, but most importantly, the security implications of jailbreaking (breaking the sandbox, running untrusted 3rd party software at the root level and the jailbreak tool itself - blob binary that has rarely been open sourced in recent years). It's just not worth the risk anymore.<p>On the other hand, for low level development on a lab device, jail-breaking is invaluable.
Either the user controls the program or the program controls the user. It's time already for a truly FOSS phone (and no, android doesn't cut it... lineage/replicant barely do). I shouldn't have to use some strange third party questionable methods to get root on my fucking device.
Not having a jailbreak is a deal breaker for me and the lack of jailbreaks available is the reason I won't buy a new iphone (my current iphone 6+ is jailbroken).<p>I understand that a non jailbroken device is more secure but it also restricts what I can do on my own device which I bought with my money and I can't abide that.
Jailbreaking my iPod touch taught me a lot about technology and software at an early age. I'm not sure I would be where I am today (working in technology and very well off compared to my peers) if I didn't pick up that hobby in middle/high school.
I miss having the date in the status bar[1] through SBSettings[2]. I still keep a jailbroken iPhone around to auto-reply to text/iMessages[3] via iBlackList[4].<p>[1] <a href="http://www.iphone-tips-and-advice.com/image-files/sbsettings-extras.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.iphone-tips-and-advice.com/image-files/sbsettings...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://cydia.saurik.com/package/sbsettings/" rel="nofollow">http://cydia.saurik.com/package/sbsettings/</a><p>[3] <a href="https://tinyapps.org/blog/misc/201307210700_iphone_text_auto_reply.html" rel="nofollow">https://tinyapps.org/blog/misc/201307210700_iphone_text_auto...</a><p>[4] <a href="http://www.iblacklist.com.br" rel="nofollow">http://www.iblacklist.com.br</a>
I had the 1st iPhone on T-mobile via jailbreak and unlock. My company paid the bill and used T-mobile so...<p>Thank you to the Jailbreakers and Unlockers..<p>Today I can see no reason to Jailbreak. There is no kill application I care about that anymore.<p>Given the state of security and the stance of some governments I am happy Apple is locking things down!
Jailbreaking iOS devices might be dead but rooting android based devices is thriving.<p>With a jailbreak / root you can get around carrier restrictions on tethering, which in some areas without high speed wired internet options this is very important.
i've never understood comments saying jailbreaking is no longer needed, particularly among technical people (it comes up in every single story about jailbreaking across the web).<p>jailbreaking gives you root access to your mobile computer, which means you actually own and control it, not some corporation.<p>one thing you can do after jailbreaking is install a real firewall on the device so you can control what information passes into and out of it. that's a real boon to privacy (it's not perfect secrecy of course).
I used to automatically jailbreak all my iOS devices right from the first iPhone.<p>From installing apps before the App Store existed , to attachments in mail, to download managers in safari, to a fully featured files app, the ingenuity of the early jailbreakers and coders was incredible.<p>I have fond memories of my wife and I spending hours playing iZoo, a pre App Store candy crush-like game.
Jailbreaking is dead, and now Apple is deciding which symbols are and aren't acceptable in apps. I think we are approaching the worst point ever in software freedom history. Very sad development.
I feel like downward trend in jailbreaking is temporary. iOS 10 has proven to be the most secure version of iOS. iOS 11 adds some additional complexity with the new file system and the possibility of sharing files between apps. I can only imagine there are new vulnerabilities to go along with that. In addition, the new, faster hardware provides opportunities for mods that were previously not possible.<p>My hope is that the severe lack of jailbreaks this year lulls Apple into a sense of complacency opens up new opportunities for jailbreaking iOS 11.
I just recently got my first iOS system, an iPad. I was planning to write in cafes with it and a bluetooth keyboard. Too bad I'm a customisation freak, and in the end, I didn't find a suitable setup.<p>The problem is that I use three languages daily: Finnish, English and Japanese. Besides that, I use The Dvorak keyboard layout. There is no commonly used Dvorak layout for Finnish and Japanese, but it's jarring to have to change the key arrangement when changing language, so on my Mac, I customized myself a layout that contains the English alphabet, the Finnish extra characters ä and ö, and type also Japanese with that.<p>On iPad, I couldn't find a keyboard that allowed that. The 3rd party keyboards are a step into a right direction, and I think that the JB community has played their part at that.<p>Needless to say, I'm not willing to switch away from Dvorak after 10 years of muscle memory and a generally more pleasant typing experience.<p>I'm still hopeful for the future of my currently read-only device.
Jailbreaking is the best thing that could have gone to iphones, IMHO. The reality that I can modify my hosts file, install a firewall with "learning mode" (too bad it hasn't been updated for iOS10), all these cool switched on Control Center, and many many more fun tweaks.<p>To begin with, Apple's privacy settings are pretty good, but things like PMP and AppAdmin (downgrade apps to previous versions) rock! especially when you lose functionality or you get a revamp you never asked.<p>I hope JB will continue as long as Apple does, and PLEASE update the Firewall IP :)
If you discover an exploit for iOS, it can sell for up to $1 million on the open market.<p>Not sure how many people would choose to make a publicly released jailbreak instead of taking the $1 million.
I jailbroke for these reasons:<p>GuizmoDNS - OpenDNS+DNSCrypt<p>TetherMe - free tethering<p>Pandora Downloader<p>Pandora Skips<p>Unrestrictor 3G - Remove IAS and other limits by fooling apps into thinking they are on Wi-Fi.<p>Bytafont2 with Futurama font<p>iTransmission - torrent client<p>Also nice were bandwidth meter in the status bar, Fake Carrier, Five Icon Dock and Freeman's work porting aptitude, yum and deb packaging to iOS to make installing tweaks and apps easy.<p>It's a shame that Apple doesn't provide more app/os integration, customization and middleware hooks.
It feels boring without ability to jailbreaking your device but overall that's better for end-user security (less malware) and developer profit(less pirate).
About two years ago I switched back to IOS, purely for iMessage. The desktop SMS applications for Android just aren't there yet.<p>With the 9.3.3 JB, I am basically set. I'm an extremely light mobile user and I'm going to hold onto this 5S for as long as possible.<p>I might be completely wrong about this, but has Apple brought out any significant feature that wasn't first available through Cydia?
<i>"It started as a group of teenagers writing NSA-grade exploits intended to spread software freedom," said a former Apple employee</i><p>It wasn't them who were sloppy programmers, it was the teenagers who were writing NSA-grade exploits... SMH
Apple employees need a reality check...
Are you calling Google Keyboard the stock keyboard?<p>EDIT: It's an honest question. If you're not going to answer or don't know, shove the downvotes up your ass, OK?