It took more than two months to finally jailbreak iPhone 4 when it was released in 2010. This was the longest I have ever waited for an iPhone jailbreak at that time but it was finally done, and it was done perfectly that it was worth every day of wait.
I thought it would be more complicated to jailbreak iPhone 4 than any other previous iPhone. However, it turned out that this iPhone 4 jailbreak was the easiest jailbreak ever since the original release of the iPhone in 2007.
Previously, to jailbreak an iPhone you had to connect it your Mac or PC and run a software on your computer to start and complete the jailbreak process.
As you might know, Jailbreaking an iPhone gives you full access to the iPhone file system, which allows you to install iPhone hacks and many third party iPhone applications.
iPhone Jailbreak History:
Jailbreaking an iPhone has always been a cat and mouse game between Apple and the Dev Team. Apple releases a new iPhone or a new iOS, and days later the DevTeam releases a Jailbreak. Later Apple patches the jailbreak with a new iOS update, and so on.
Usually it takes 3 days to one week in most cases for a jailbreak to be out. Sometimes, the jailbreak is worked out and tested before even the new iOS update is out to the public. This of course depends on the complexity of the new iPhone software and hardware.
With the Library of congress, declaring jailbreaking and iPhone unlocking is legal, many people are more comfortable jailbreakig their iPhone than before. Apple on the other hand still insists that jailbreaking an iPhone will void its warranty. I Thought the legality of jailbreaking would open more doors and more possibilities to the iPhone in the future. However, Apple is making it more and more difficult to jailbreak with every new iPhone and iOS.
How to Jailbreak iPhone 4:
Jailbreakme.com made it possible for the first time in history to be able to jailbreak iPhone 4 and all other iPhone models from within the iPhone itself. If you still have iOS 4.0.1 or below. Then you would love this quick jailbreak.
It was an untethered jailbreak and there was no need to connect to an external computer as before with previous jailbreaks.
To jailbreak iPhone 4 and many other iPhones with this new exploit, all what you had to do is visit a jailbreakme.com using iPhone Safari.
The website has a slider as shown in the picture. When you slide to jailbreak by moving it to the right, you would start the jailbreak process.
Once the process is complete, you will see Cydia installed on your home screen. This was simply the smoothest and simplest jailbreak ever on an iPhone, let alone that it worked to jailbreak the iPhone 4 at that time, and it was also an untethered jailbreak.
The whole process would take about 5 minutes and was compatible with all iDevices including the iPad running iOS 4 at that time.
Of course Apple wouldn't let this exploit last long, and as expected Apple released a new iOS update few days later just to patch this hole and patch the jailbreak. You should always wait until a jailbreak is out for any new iOS update before you attempt to run update.
The Hole and Patch:
Although this jailbreak was very simple, it was also clear how easy someone could break into any iPhone with Mobile Safari. Imagine being able to go to a website from your iDevice, and clicking on a button to access the iPhone file system.
It is a big security hole that the jailbreak community took advantage of to jailbreak iPhone 4. However, other clever hackers could use it for evil purposes and access your iPhone data. Therefore, the DevTeam also released a solution to patch this hole to protect jailbreakers from such attacks. The patch was called "PDF Patch" and was available for free in Cydia. You should install this patch if you use jalbreakme.com to jailbreak your iPhone.
iPhone Jailbreak History:
With the the iPhone 4 and the A4 chip, it became more difficult to jailbreak iPhone 4. The jailbreakme.com was a slip by Apple that accidentally happened. Apple made it even more difficult to jailbreak an iPhone with iOS 5 and the new released A5 processor used on iPhone 4S, and iPad 2.
When I bought my iPhone 3GS, I jailbroke it the same day. The jailbreak was out already at that time and it was tested. It was very easy to jailbreak an iPhone 3GS and it used to be a week or two before you get a jailbreak out for iPhone 3G. Now it is taking longer and longer to jailbreak iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S.
When an exploit in the iPhone software or hardware is found, the Dev Team usually wait for a major iOS release from Apple before releasing their exploit as Apple continuously releases new iOS minor updates to fix minor bugs.
Minor iPhone software updates do more harm to the jailbreak community as they patch any new discovered jailbreak exploit which could be used on a major iOS release. That is why a jailbreak for a new iPhone and a new iOS might take a long time besides the complications from Apple.
Top Four Jailbreak Hacks:
Although the iOS is improved a lot specially with iOS 5, I am just so used to the power of a jailbroken iPhone. Even an iPhone 4S which is really powerful, with no jailbreak feels that a lot of power under the hood is not used to its full potential.
Here are my four most missing features of any factory iPhone:
1- Limited streaming over 3G:
This is the most annoying issue when you are not able to stream TV with some apps like NetTV due to Apple and the carrier network restriction. I miss 3GUnrestrictor which allows you to access 3G network as if it was wifi, and overcoming all the network limitations.
2- No traditional multitasking:
I miss real multitasking. Although, the iOS has nice multitasking, not all iPhone applications support full multitasking. With backgrounder, you can force multitask any app from the App Store no matter what it is.
3- No SBSetting:
With SBSettings, I am able to change many of the iPhone settings without opening the Settings app. I am able to access any setting from anywhere at anytime by simply swiping my finger at the top of my screen.
I could easily increase or decrease the iPhone brightness for example. I could also display my available iPhone memory, and was able to show date and time on my status bar. I missed those nice little tweaks.
4- FaceTime with iPhone 4 jailbreak:
Imagine the ability of talking to any iPhone 4 user over 3G using FaceTime?! This is only possible if you jailbroke you iPhone and use 3GUnrestrictor, otherwise it is only possible to do facetime calls over wifi.