Easiest Hack Ever: Jailbreak Your iPhone with ZiPhone
If you're impatient for new applications for your iPhone and don't want to wait on the SDK, or want to test-drive some interesting community apps but have been worried about the dangers and technical mumbo-jumbo involved with jailbreaking, then ZiPhone is for you. It's a free downloadable application for your desktop or laptop that can jailbreak and/or unlock your iPhone in less than a minute, all with just a few mouse clicks--no technical knowledge required.
For the record, I'm only recommending ZiPhone in terms of jailbreaking your iPhone (allowing installation of third-party apps) instead of unlocking it (allowing it to be used with other wireless carriers), as jailbreaking is much easier to undo if you decide to restore your phone's original settings. Just connect it to iTunes and click "Restore" and all your changes will be undone, and your iPhone will be as it originally came. Though ZiPhone can unlock your phone just as easily, unlocking using any method is more dangerous and shouldn't be done unless you know exactly what you're doing.
After installing ZiPhone on your PC or laptop and connecting your iPhone, simply choose from a couple of options in a basic menu (shown below), and wait about 45 seconds. Your iPhone's screen will briefly go black and show a gobbledygook of code--don't worry, this means it's working. When it's all finished, you'll see a new icon on your jailbroken phone's home screen called "Installer".
Opening Installer will take you to a menu of available community-developed software, organized by type such as "Productivity", "Media", and "Games". Tap any program you'd like to install and Installer will query the server where the files live, called a repository, and download the application adding that program's icon to your home screen. Note that sometimes you'll need to reboot your phone after certain programs are installed; just turn it off and turn it back on.
There are two drawbacks you should be aware of before using ZiPhone. First, jailbreaking voids your warranty. (Though for the record, I've restored my iPhone and successfully taken it in for service for a completely unrelated issue, then jailbroke it again with ZiPhone when I got home. Your mileage may vary.) Secondly, although your iPhone will continue to work with iTunes as normal, you should always restore the original settings before upgrading the firmware. Apple's firmware updates usually include new protections against hacks like ZiPhone, so it's dangerous to try to upgrade the firmware on a hacked phone.
Once you've jailbroken your iPhone, you can experiment with a lot of really great community-made software such as eBook readers, games, themes for your home screen, and more. Take it for a spin and see how it can improve the functionality of your iPhone; if you don't like a particular program, you can simply use Installer to uninstall it with a couple of taps.
Don't have an iPhone? You can use ZiPhone to jailbreak an iPod Touch just as easily; the steps are exactly the same. The only difference is that the Unlock option in ZiPhone obviously won't be available because it's not on a wireless carrier.
--Aric A.
* NOTE: While ZiPhone is generally safe when you follow its instructions correctly, there is always a risk involved when you make unauthorized changes to your electronic devices. Ee aware that the author makes no guarantee that implementing these tips won't cause damage or stability issues.
Diego on June 06, 2008 at 09:59 AM
How do you restore a jailbroken iphone to it's original settings?
Aric A. on June 06, 2008 at 10:18 AM
It's a cinch--just connect your iPhone to iTunes as normal and in the iPhone menu in iTunes, click "Restore". It'll format the phone back to its original factory settings. You won't lose any contact information or settings information but it will erase all the music and movies on your iPhone, so remember that.
on November 03, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Doesn't work it's a hack!!!!
Aric A. on November 04, 2008 at 09:38 AM
Incorrect. It works. But there have been several Apple firmware updates since this post was written, so make sure that the firmware Ziphone is capable of unlocking matches the firmware on your iPhone or you do risk having problems.
Sagem Phone on November 06, 2008 at 07:32 AM
I'd like to see a youtube video of this before attempting it.
indoor antenna on March 20, 2009 at 04:14 PM
I used QuickPwn because it was the most advertised jailbreaking tool I found. I had trouble with the process because the program refused to acknowledge that my iPhone was the correct version, so I couldn't actually jailbreak it until I restored it a few times. Makes me wonder if I would have had so much trouble with ZiPhone, but I didn't know about this program.
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