Apple has issued an update to its previous Knowledge Base warning regarding problems that jailbreaking your device can bring. The update was obviously needed after the high profile release of the Evasi0n untethered iOS 6 jailbreak earlier this week. The Knowledge Base article warns about device instability, security vulnerabilities, shortened battery life and unreliable voice and data.
As designed by Apple, iOS and iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are designed to work together reliably. Unauthorized modifications to iOS ("jailbreaking") can cause numerous issues to the hacked iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Examples of issues caused by these unauthorized modifications to iOS have included the following:
Instability: Frequent and unexpected crashes of the device, crashes and freezes of built-in apps and third-party apps, and loss of data.
Security vulnerabilities: Security compromises have been introduced by these modifications that could allow hackers to steal personal information, damage the device, attack the wireless network, or introduce malware or viruses.
Shortened battery life: The hacked software has caused an accelerated battery drain that shortens the operation of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch on a single battery charge.
Unreliable voice and data: Dropped calls, slow or unreliable data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data.
Disruption of services: Services such as Visual Voicemail, Weather, and Stocks have been disrupted or no longer work on the device. Additionally, third-party apps that use the Apple Push Notification Service have had difficulty receiving notifications or received notifications that were intended for a different hacked device. Other push-based services such as iCloud and Exchange have experienced problems synchronizing data with their respective servers.
Inability to apply future software updates: Some unauthorized modifications have caused damage to iOS that is not repairable. This can result in the hacked iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iOS update is installed.
Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks iOS. It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of iOS is a violation of iOS end-user license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.
This sort of warning from Apple is nothing that we haven’t seen before so those of you that have jailbroken your device shouldn’t be too alarmed. Having said that, the warnings are reasonable in as much as any form of hacking to any device may cause it to become unstable. If you take a sensible approach to installing jailbreak apps and tweaks it should minimize the chance of you having any problems. If you do run into problems, our jailbreak and unlock forums are a great place to look for help.
Source: Apple KB article
Reader comments
Apple updates its jailbreak Knowledge Base article after the release of Evasi0n
They forgot to say: apple does not make money on Cydia apps, so you should not use it.
Apple doesn't make money on free apps either but I don't see them cutting those off or suggesting anyone not use them. I've only jailbroken once, for a few days, and didn't experience any problems but there's nothing in their KB article that I haven't seen on these very forums a dozen times before. And no where do they say it WILL cause problems, only that it CAN cause problems. It's all true and very reasonable.
Actually they do, from ads and developer fees.
That's just legal speak , I wonder how Apple internally sees jailbreak apps and talk about them because bit there are jailbroken devices at Apple.
The biggest source of software innovation comes from Apple buying or stealing ideas from Jailbreak apps.
It should be noted that jailbreaking may be illegal in your jurisdiction. Some laws have recently changed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_jailbreaking#Legal_status
Not jailbreaking may cause limitations imposed on you by carriers for no apparent reason. Also, without a jailbreak, expect certain services to just not work right. Airplay is an example. With the proper tweaks, you can get this valuable service working across all apps.
Further, if you don't jailbreak, you have to suffer texting from only the messages app. You will have to drill within menus to just turn off bluetooth.
Not jailbreaking will prevent you from using iFile and downloading files using safari download manager.
If you don't jailbreak, you will face limitations when it comes to folders and how many you can put in one. Further, you will lose the ability to move multiple apps at once (multiicon mover). Need 5 icons on your dock? You lose this benefit as well if you don't jailbreak.
In other words, the list can go on and on what can happen if you don't jailbreak.
With the enthusiasm of everyone FINALLY being able to jailbreak, it makes you wonder how people are at all satisfied with the phone out of the box? Cardfan listed so many complaints that you would think he should go Android. The way the whole system is locked down by Apple (not just the OS, but the entire ecosystem being tied to iTunes and Apple's ginormous data collection servers) is one of the biggest reasons I would never go Apple. But don't get me started with Google - aka 'Big Brother'. Anything you ever type into an Android phone gets collected by Google and sold to the highest bidder.
Each platform has its share of shortcomings. If I went android, my list would be much longer.. Windows would be a book. And Blackberry would be laughable.
We all have different criteria though for which we judge these. I still like to tweak but I don't like spending a lot of time with it as I used to. Apple slowly removes some needs for tweaks with each update.
Apple is tied down but it's also open to the others...google, amazon, etc. These others can't get their apps in the Apple app store fast enough. The reverse isn't true. Use what you want of Apple, use others as you see fit.
Lol. Nice.
blah blah blah....that's all i'm hearing out of this
"Unreliable voice and data: Dropped calls, slow or unreliable data connections, and delayed or inaccurate location data."
I had those problems on a stock iPhone on AT&T...
Apple already charges more than enough for their devices, so they should release more of their capabilities. This would reduce any need to jailbreak to the most advanced users.