iOS 4 Jailbreak: Why It Still Matters

iOS 4 brought multitasking, folders, unified inbox, threaded email conversations and note syncing to the iPhone. For these reasons, some people think that jailbreaking a device running iOS 4 is now pointless, considering that two of the biggest features of jailbreak (multitasking and folders) are now developed by Apple itself.

Did I jailbreak my iOS 4 iPhone 3GS? Yes. Do I think is still worth it? Yes.

See, there are people who jailbreak because they need it, and people who jailbreak because they think it’s cool. I – and with me, hundreds of thousands of other users – need many of the tweaks, hacks and apps available in Cydia. It’s not just about multitasking and folders. Sure, Apple created a way better implementation than Backgrounder and Categories. More elegant solutions, built upon hundreds of new APIs developers can start to play with now. Applications that use iOS 4’s new core features are already featured in the App Store, and I’m deeply enjoying the new way to switch between apps and let them finish tasks in the background. If jailbreaking was just about these two features (folders are a great way to save pages on your device) than we wouldn’t be here talking about the latest Cydia releases every week.

It’s about the features Apple is not going to implement in iOS in the near future, and it’s about making the existing ones better, different, customizable. Little tweaks that have helped me overtime. MyWi allows me to create a wifi hotspot with my iPhone, and while US users may not see this as a big thing, we haven’t got MiFis in Italy. I know that 3 (the Italian of Three UK) was interested in distributing them, but we haven’t seen anything yet. So when I go to my camping (where I’ve set up a nice summer office) I need a wireless connection to work with my Macbook and iPad, and MyWi (available in Cydia) saves me every time. Wifi hotspot is one of those features Android users mention when taking the case against Apple, and jailbreak is the only way to get it on the iPhone.

I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone only for MyWi though. Status Notifier puts icons in the statusbar whether you have missed calls or unread mails. Activator allows you to assign custom activation methods to apps, actions (reboot, volume down – everything) and so on. LockInfo completely overhauls the lockscreen with notifications, twitter feeds, status updates from your Facebook friends and upcoming calendar events; it’s the lockscreen iPhone users have been dreaming of for years now. But most of all, Cydia gives you access to hundreds of tweaks and utilities that help in making your iPhone experience better, depending on what you need.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that iOS should be a “customizable” platform. I love Apple’s UI and UX choices, and I don’t want an open system. But if it’s possible to tweak something here and there and get that missing feature you’d pay for – count me in. It’s your call.

The reason why the jailbreak community will never stop producing great stuff is that there’s always room for improvement, somehow. Some people are already asking for the possibility to put folders inside folders. Others would like to hide apps that don’t support iOS 4’s multitasking from the drawer, and they can do it. A few ones want to find a way to change the default icon for folders, and you can bet that they will. If jailbreak is possible, something will always be done to make it valuable.

Many people I know don’t jailbreak their iPhones because they don’t want slowdowns in performances. I get it, jailbreaking your iPhone surely brings the loss of a few MB of RAM with it and you can’t accept it. It’s a compromise, you decide.

As far as I’m concerned, I still have a reason to jailbreak. And you?