Sir perhaps you may edumecate us idiots as to the value of "jailbreaking" an iOS device. For example, I use my iPad MINI retina for mainly work and I would like to know what apps or mods I can make when I mainly use it to store guidelines and be able to track my pipeline via numbers/excel so if there is a real benefit I would JB my device but I've heard nothing but bad things like bricking your device and there are many ways for apple tech to find out if you jail broke your device or not. From my understanding JB entails you to connect to you MBP and then do some things to hack the device but returning it to it's original form is not easy. If you could please list the pros and cons when you have a minute that would be great. I would happily pay you should you message me personally for your time & expertise. Thanks.
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To remove a jailbreak, all you do is restore your device in DFU mode. You do not need a Macbook, any computer running Windows and Mac OS with iTunes in order to jailbreak and restore a device.
Pros: You can do what you can already do on a stock device, but more. You gain root access like you can on an Android device. You can run unofficial coding to tweak/modify aspects of the iOS itself to enhance the already present features. You want to download a file? Can't do it on the stock iOS. Want to openly send files that you've downloaded on your device to other people? Can't do it on the stock iOS. Don't like the stock graphics/UI of the stock iOS? Deal with it, because you can't downgrade your iOS and they can't be changed. Don't want a specific annoyance? Deal with it, you can't remove/block it on the stock iOS.
Cons: Some tweaks (particularly excessively properly ones) requires (one time) payment, just like apps from the AppStore.
Common Misconceptions: Jailbreaking is hard, jailbreaking will guarantee a bricked device, jailbreaking is irreversible, jailbreaking is illegal and jailbreaking means piracy.
There are many guides that label specifically what you have to do, and the more recent utilities are one-click-one-tap jailbreaks or just one-click jailbreaks, no technical knowledge required unless you count starting up a computer, clicking on a link, downloading it, and opening it to be a technical difficulty. Jailbreaking will not guarantee you a one way trip to an expensive brick as described above. Jailbreaks are reversible by restoring your device using iTunes. Jailbreaking is perfectly legal, even Apple accredits the patching of vulnerabilities and exploits to the jailbreak developers. Will Apple advertise jailbreaking? No. Will they go "NSA" on you and make sure that each and every device out there is stock? No, they can care less really since they're worried about selling the hardware and apps, they're not selling the physical iOS itself.
Jailbreaking is
NOT the same as piracy. A good 95% of the jailbreak community are pirates. Yes, 95%. What constitutes the jailbreaking community are users that have jailbroken devices, not just the ones that know how to work with a jailbroken device. Of the 95%, I would say at least 70-80% of this 95% are adolescent, of which they only jailbreak to obtain free apps from the AppStore or free packages from Cydia through piracy sources. The later 20-30% of the 95% are grown adults that have paying jobs and have no ethics/moral when it comes to putting themselves into a developer's shoes and see how their own hard work is being thrown around for free after spending hours, days or even years maintaining.