Why You Should Avoid Jailbreaking Your iPhone

If you’ve never heard of “jailbreaking” before, it’s simply the process people have of hacking into their iPhones and using different settings and features than were originally intended by Apple.

While it’s now legal to jailbreak your iPhone (depending on where you live - check with your government first!), it’s not necessarily the best idea - especially if you’re a smart phone newbie who isn’t exactly sure how to start jailbreaking in the first place.

A good rule of thumb: if you have to Google “how to jailbreak your iPhone,” it might not be the best idea you’ve ever had.

That’s not to say that jailbreaking the iPhone won’t come with some interesting benefits and side features that you couldn’t have otherwise - but if you ask us, the hassle just isn’t worth it. The reasons you buy an iPhone should come with the iPhone out of the store - increased mobility, a new phone plan, a way to handle your business on the move.

But let’s talk specifics here. Why shouldn’t you jailbreak your iPhone?

Voiding your warranty. A jailbroken iPhone will mean that you void your warranty with Apple. While jailbreaking is not illegal at this point - and you’ll want to check with your local government to make sure that this assertion is correct - it will still void your warranty with Apple, which means that they won’t cover you if you break your jailbroken iPhone. In other words, if you tamper with the iPhone and then need it to be replaced, you can’t exactly count on Apple’s help. Many consumers like to be on top of their warranties and should be aware that jailrbeaking their iPhone will render theirs void - not exactly good news.
Losing data. Data plans cost money, and jailbreaking your iPhone could put you at risk for what PCWorld calls data sucking - using more data than you realize and suddenly burning through all of the data in your plan without prior notice. Since your iPhone is jailbroken, you won’t always be sure about just how much data you’re using. If you were already at your limits in data consumption without jailbreaking your iPhone, then you probably won’t want to move ahead with your dastardly plans.
Bugs! If you don’t know how to jailbreak your iPhone (and if you ignored our previous advice and Googled “how to jailbreak your iPhone” anyway), then you’re more likely to run into bugs when you start the hacking. Without any help from Apple (hey, your warranty is voided, remember?) you’ll be on your own to make sure that these get fixed. If you don’t want to run the risk of bugs and simply want your iPhone to run smoothly as it did right out of the box, then don’t take the risk of jailbreaking it. You’ll just end up causing more headaches than you initially set out to save.
Security. Believe it or not, entering the world of hacking exposes you to - who else? - hackers. This doesn’t mean you will get a virus or malware simply by jailbreaking your iPhone, but there is a risk that messing with things will allow others to mess with you. This is especially true if you don’t know what you’re doing. And since you’re reading this article about whether or not to jailbreak your iPhone, there’s a good chance that you’re a novice to this whole concept - best to stay away from jailbreaking if you want your iPhone to continue to run smoothly.

Many people believe that once they buy the iPhone, they’re free to use it in whatever way they want, and to some extent this is true. But you should be wary of making changes to a technology especially if you don’t fully understand that technology. The risks could outweigh the rewards.