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Apple warns users against jailbreaking iPhone

updated 11:55 pm EDT, Thu July 30, 2009

Apple hacked devices

Apple has posted an support document that details problems encountered with jailbroken iPhone and iPod touch devices. The company believes the hacking process is "a major source of instability, disruption of services, and other issues." The support article is intended to better explain the risks of installing software that modifies the iPhone OS, and discourages doing so. Problems common with jailbroken iPhones include device and application instability that causes unexpected device crashes, loss of data, and crashes of applications.

The article also believes modifications to the OS can cause dropped phone calls, slow or sparse data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data, as well as accelerate battery drain. Jailbreaking an iPhone or iPod touch can also be the source of service disruptions such as visual voicemail, YouTube, Weather, Stocks, push-notifications, and problems syncing with MobileMe and Exchange.

Apple support also suggests the process causes security compromises that can allow hackers to steal personal information, damage the device attack the wireless network, or introduce malware and viruses. Some modifications can cause damage to the OS that is not reparable and prevents the device from being updated.

Unauthorized modifications of the iPhone OS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement, and Apple says it will refuse to service the device.

by MacNN Staff

(20)

TAGS :

iPhone, iPod touch, security, software, Apple

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Comments

Paul Huang
Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Sep 1999

+10

07/31, 01:52am | report spam | close Reply |
How convenient

AT&T has plenty of dropped calls without any help from jailbraking, now Apple and AT&T jointly have found a perfect excuse.

Laughable.

Nemco
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2008

+2

07/31, 03:09am | report spam | close Reply |
Convenient indeed

Wow, that's a lot of symptoms for a jailbroken phone and how very convenient that most of the common problems are attributable to it. A bit too convenient if you ask me. This whole article sounds like a bunch of FUD from the Apple marketing department.

Perhaps Apple should stop fighting the symptoms and look at why people are jailbreaking their phones, they might actually learn something that way.

nowwhatareyoulookingat
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2009

-4

07/31, 04:21am | report spam | close Reply |
this tech note

is disingenuous. Basically, what it really means is, if you want to jailbreak your iPhone to run other applications, these are the problems WE WILL FORCE YOU TO LIVE WITH. These problems are only present because Apple put them in there as road blocks to jailbreaking.

bauhaus
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2003

-5

07/31, 05:36am | report spam | close Reply |
laughable

Unbroken iPhones here and I've suffered all of those problems (worse with different OS versions, but the current v3 is on the worse side at the moment.)

Also, the last statement on OS modification is incorrect as written into federal law (there's an exception for specifically doing this in RE: mobile phones) and support has to be provided in many states (these are 2 different issues - "violating" the EULA & support for modified phones.)

In CA, it's the company's responsibility to show proof that the modifications are the reason for any faults -- not the consumer -- otherwise they can't deny warranty/support. If you can reset the phone to the original OS before sending it in to be serviced, there's nothing Apple can do (they can't blacklist "known" jailbroken phones.)

Lots of FUD in this tech note.

ajhoughton
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

07/31, 07:39am | report spam | close Reply |
"The article believes"

Wow! You've discovered the world's first sentient document�

�or perhaps this article needed the attention of a competent editor before publication.

ajhoughton
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

+5

07/31, 07:45am | report spam | close Reply |
Reaction from commenters

The reaction from the commenters above is particularly interesting, I think.

It is undoubtedly the case that hacking the software on an iPhone could cause all of the problems Apple lists. And there are reports on the 'Net of problems in many of these areas that are clearly specific to hacked phones.

So why then is this article labelled as FUD? Because the commenters above don't like its conclusions, that's why.

I imagine not a single one of the commenters above can actually describe exactly how the jailbreaking process works or what it does on their phone. And that's why Apple needs to warn people, frankly. While it is clearly in Apple's interest to discourage jailbreaking, I don't see any disingenuous remarks in that support article. It's just warning you that you may well break your phone if you do it, and listing some of the things that have gone wrong for other people after jailbreaking.

tonewheel
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: May 1999

-2

07/31, 07:50am | report spam | close Reply |
I Agree with AJHoughton

Every comment prior to yours is from someone who has jailbroken their phone. And based upon tier comments, they must all be genius Apple engineers. Oh, wait...

bobolicious
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2002

0

07/31, 07:56am | report spam | close Reply |
Without unlocking...

...I simply would never have bought a phone - or the apps & accessories I subsequently bought from the Apple store - anyone else? I simply couldn't justify or use the mandatory cell plans that are offered nor did I feel like spending over $1k/year for such. It seems like a win-win if you ask me - would Apple prefer I buy that TREO in the window instead ?

Parky
Mac Elite

Joined: Oct 1999

-3

07/31, 08:28am | report spam | close Reply |
Moaners

People who jailbreak and then moan really should just stop using an iPhone and go away. You knew the rules and still you bought the device. Apple are within their rights, you are not within yours. Grow up and live in the REAL world.

infowarrior
Forum Regular

Joined: Mar 2001

+2

07/31, 08:50am | report spam | close Reply |
iphone aapl = no trust

While I can sort of understand and perhaps agree with the first part of this paragraph, the second sentence is a doozie --- even if
you have a proggie that does nothing more than display a pic of your favorite cartoon character, if Apple "doesn't like it" or deems it "unauthorized" you are not able to use it on YOUR device, even if you never use it on a network or it never hacks the OS.

More draconian talk from Apple, and reason enough for me to continue avoiding the
iPhone. I don't trust the device, and I don't trust Apple.

Anyone know if the same provisions apply on the iPod touch?

infowarrior
Forum Regular

Joined: Mar 2001

+1

07/31, 08:50am | report spam | close Reply |
iphone aapl = no trust

While I can sort of understand and perhaps agree with the first part of this paragraph, the second sentence is a doozie --- even if
you have a proggie that does nothing more than display a pic of your favorite cartoon character, if Apple "doesn't like it" or deems it "unauthorized" you are not able to use it on YOUR device, even if you never use it on a network or it never hacks the OS.

More draconian talk from Apple, and reason enough for me to continue avoiding the
iPhone. I don't trust the device, and I don't trust Apple.

Anyone know if the same provisions apply on the iPod touch?

DiabloConQueso
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2008

+2

07/31, 11:17am | report spam | close Reply |
Ferrari!

Hey, I own my Ferrari -- who are the DPS to tell me I can't drive as fast as I want, wherever I want (backward if I so choose!), on the public network of roads?!

Can you believe the audacity of them to tell me what I can and can't do? Crikey!

;)

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

-1

07/31, 12:07pm | report spam | (2 replies) close Reply |
Re: Ferrari

Horrible analogy.

If the iPhone is to Ferrari, then it would be Ferrari, not the DPS, who would be telling you what you can and can't do with your car.

How would you like to buy that Ferrari and be told you can't bring a drink into it, can't use a navigation system, and aren't allowed to hook up your iPod to the stereo system, because Ferrari stuck some EULA into the User's Manual that describes what you can and can't do with the car?

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

+1

07/31, 12:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Reaction from

It is undoubtedly the case that hacking the software on an iPhone could cause all of the problems Apple lists.

First, of course phrasing it the way you do is true. Everything Apple says "COULD" cause such problems. It "COULD" also cause all sorts of other problems. It doesn't mean it will, or that it does currently. Everything has the potential of causing issues.

Second, most, if not all, of the problems mentioned can also happen to unhacked phones. There's nothing so special about Apple's programmers that they make a perfectly stable system, and only hackers cause the OS to suddenly get flaky.

And there are reports on the 'Net of problems in many of these areas that are clearly specific to hacked phones.

How are they clearly specific? There are a lot more iPhones not hacked, and these users have issues as well. Or are those just blips, while problems with hacked phones is completely different and clearly shows hacking is a problem?

So why then is this article labelled as FUD? Because the commenters above don't like its conclusions, that's why.

Because its a bunch of statements about what 'could' happen. What is listed here is no different than when a researcher states "We've found a security hole in OS X that could cause remote access to the computer" but, in reality, the steps needed to take place make it theoretical FUD than an actual threat.

WiseWeasel
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 1999

-1

07/31, 01:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
Bad Apple

If they would allow us to install software from outside the App Store, like EVERY SINGLE OTHER HANDSET OUT THERE, then we wouldn't have to jailbreak our iPhones and put our national security at risk (hah!), now would we?!? Stop being such a bunch of control freaks, Apple! Remember when you used to empower your users (relative to competing devices) instead of spending your resources holding them back?

clwilla
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2009

+1

07/31, 11:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let me see

"Problems common with jailbroken iPhones include device and application instability that causes unexpected device crashes,"Check"loss of data,"Check"and crashes of applications."Check"The article also believes modifications to the OS can cause dropped phone calls,"Suspect being that I occasionally get dropped calls anyways."slow or sparse data connections,"Check"and delayed or inaccurate location data,"I haven't used it with a location-aware iPhone"as well as accelerate battery drain."Triple Check, especially when running background processes.Jailbreaking an iPhone or iPod touch can also be the source of [lost]. . . push-notifications,"CheckOverall I have found that the added functionality provided by jailbreaking is not worth the major decline in my user experience. The only current phone I have which is jailbroken is my now my son's and I wanted to delete some icons that he will never use (Phone, email, SMS, etc) because it is no longer a phone but a glorified iPod Touch. The apps installed by Cydia are riddled with ads (which I will not tolerate at all - I'd rather pay for an app than get a free one with ads, even if the functionality is identical), and overall the phone feels hacked (because it is).Apple could certainly do a better job with heir seemingly draconian rules about usage, but ultimately their experience, however limited, is far better than that provided by a jailbroken phone. I may be able to run ssh, but that doesn't help if my apps are constantly crashing, and I'm being yelled at by ads when all I want to do is use my phone in peace.

clwilla
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2009

-1

07/31, 11:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let me see

"Problems common with jailbroken iPhones include device and application instability that causes unexpected device crashes,"

Check

"loss of data,"

Check

"and crashes of applications."

Check

"The article also believes modifications to the OS can cause dropped phone calls,"

Suspect being that I occasionally get dropped calls anyways.

"slow or sparse data connections,"

Check

"and delayed or inaccurate location data,"

I haven't used it with a location-aware iPhone

"as well as accelerate battery drain."

Triple Check, especially when running background processes.

Jailbreaking an iPhone or iPod touch can also be the source of [lost]. . . push-notifications,"

Check

Overall I have found that the added functionality provided by jailbreaking is not worth the major decline in my user experience. The only current phone I have which is jailbroken is my now my son's and I wanted to delete some icons that he will never use (Phone, email, SMS, etc) because it is no longer a phone but a glorified iPod Touch. The ads installed by Cydia are riddled with ads (which I will not tolerate at all - I'd rather pay for an app than get a free one with ads, even if the functionality is identical), and overall the phone feels hacked (because it is).

Apple could certainly do a better job with heir seemingly draconian rules about usage, but ultimately their experience, however limited, is far better than that provided by a jailbroken phone. I may be able to run ssh, but that doesn't help if my apps are constantly crashing, and I'm being yelled at by ads when all I want to do is use my phone in peace.

herojig
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2009

0

09/26, 08:16am | report spam | close Reply |
Jailbroken and loving it.

As an owner of a second hand iPhone in a country where there is no AT&T or any other carrier that sells iPhones new, I am just tickled that people have figured this out and provided a way for us to enjoy the iPhone, which is really the best phone I have ever owned. I could care less what Apple says to do or not to do, just as I don't pay any attention to the label on the back of my Samsung TV that says not to open unless I am an authorized repair person. It's mine, I paid for it, and I can tweak it as I like. If I break it, so be it, I am a grownup and I understand these basic things. Like is full of risks and decisions, and the one to jailbreak an iPhone seems like a no brainer. Any 12 year old can do it, and the item is disposable after all. All this hoopla just seems like western insanity to those of us in the east.

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Apple warns users against jailbreaking iPhone

updated 11:55 pm EDT, Thu July 30, 2009

Apple hacked devices

How convenient

Convenient indeed

this tech note

laughable

"The article believes"

Reaction from commenters

I Agree with AJHoughton

Without unlocking...

Moaners

iphone aapl = no trust

iphone aapl = no trust

Ferrari!

Re: Ferrari

Re: Reaction from

Bad Apple

Let me see

Let me see

Jailbroken and loving it.

Login Here

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Apple warns users against jailbreaking iPhone

updated 11:55 pm EDT, Thu July 30, 2009

Apple hacked devices

Related Articles

Recent Articles

How convenient

Convenient indeed

this tech note

laughable

"The article believes"

Reaction from commenters

I Agree with AJHoughton

Without unlocking...

Moaners

iphone aapl = no trust

iphone aapl = no trust

Ferrari!

Re: Ferrari

Re: Reaction from

Bad Apple

Let me see

Let me see

Jailbroken and loving it.

Login Here

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Connect tools:

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