History of Computers - Jailbreaking
Page created by Jacob Brown.
An iPhone user jailbreaks his new phone.
Introduction
Jailbreaking refers to gaining root access to a computer’s operating system, giving the user full permission to modify the device’s behavior. On Android platforms, this is known as rooting.
Overview
iOS
The first jailbreak of an iPhone was done by teenager George Hotz within weeks of its release. Hotz was able to modify the phone’s baseband processor to use the iPhone on a T-Mobile network, despite its AT&T exclusivity.[1] The term “jailbreak” is a reference to breaking the iPhone out of the iTunes “jail” of strict software regulations. As iOS is a closed environment, apps not permitted onto the platform cannot be run without jailbreaking. Therefore, jailbreaking offers many inherent advantages. For example, one can change the user interface of the iPhone, enabling custom themes such as five apps in the dock or different system fonts. Jailbreaking also allows the installation of third-party apps such as GameBoy emulators that allow users to play classic games.
Android Rooting
The term “root” comes from UNIX; in both UNIX and Android, root access gives the user unrestricted permissions to all system settings and files.[2] Although Android is generally freer than iOS in terms of permissions – for example, apps can be installed from third party sources.[3] However, all of this access still is not enough for users who want true control over their phones. These users root their phones to gain even more control over their phone’s processes. For example, they can modify their phone’s settings to speed up their phone and help battery life; they can remove bloatware that comes pre-installed by the manufacturer; they can even change their phone’s operating system and interface to totally change their look.[4]
Significance
Jailbreaking and rooting allow users to access previously forbidden permissions, vastly increasing the capacity of the rooted computers and phones. Rooting and jailbreaking are key parts of computing history because they have allowed their users full access to their phones.
