This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to Jailbreak your iPhone or iPod touch.  These instructions are verified to work on firmware version 1.1.4.

Why jailbreak?

The answer to this question is very simple.  When you bought your iPod or iPhone, you purchased a powerful little machine from Apple.  Just because Apple only installed iTunes, Mail, Calendar, YouTube and Safari on the device does not mean its not capable of doing much more.  The iPod is loaded with and hard drive, 512 MB of RAM, a 620MHz ARM processor perhaps of Samsung origins, capable of 2.1 MIPS.  All this means is that little device you just purchased is just as powerful as a laptop computer.

So, a bunch of clever programmers tried to install new software on the iPod, and came up with the solution they call the Jailbreak.  Jailbreaking your iPod installs a program called “Installer” that can be used to install software to your iPod.

Software that jailbreaking allows you to install includes:

  • Games
  • New themes
  • New wallpaper
  • Instant messengers (AIM, IRC, GOOGLE)
  • Servers (FTP, ssh, http)
  • Twitter
  • Last.fm radio player for listening to free internet radio
  • eBooks

Is it safe/legal?

Contrary to anything you may have read before, the Jailbreak will not void your warranty with Apple, it will not brick your iPhone, and it will not cause any irreperable damage.  The worst case scenario is that something bad happens, and you have to click on that little button in iTunes that says “Restore my iPod”.

Regarding the legality of the Jailbreak:  most software released for the iPod is from various developers in the open source community, meaning the software is free to download, use and redistribute.  For each piece of software, please consult the individual license agreement for more details.

How do I do it?

First, ensure you are running firmware version 1.1.4.  iTunes will tell you what version you are using when you plug in your iPod.  Once you have version 1.1.4, you can continue with these simple instructions:

  1. Visit ZiPhone’s blog.
  2. Click the link entitled “Download ZiPhone”.
  3. Click on the picture of the Windows logo or Mac logo, depending on which OS you are running.*
  4. Once the download is complete, double click on the file you downloaded to run the installer.
  5. After the installer completes, double click the file in the ZiPhone folder named “ZiPhoneGUI”.
  6. With your iPod or iPhone connected, click “Jailbreak”.  Kick back for a few minutes while the program does its magic.

* In some cases on Windows, you have to install Microsoft .NET framework to run ZiPhone’s jailbreak program.  Complete these steps only if you are running Windows and the ZiPhone program does not run:

    1. Follow this link to Microsoft’s website.
    2. Click the button to download Microsoft .NET framework 2.0
    3. Once the download is complete, install the software.

What now?

Once you have installed the jailbreak, your iPod will have a new icon called “Installer”.  From there, you can install all your new programs.  When you first run Installer, and each new day you run it, it will say “Refreshing sources” and force you to wait while it does so.  Installer is automatically checking its sources online for any new software that is available for you to install.  If you want a bigger selection, you can install the packages under the category Sources to allow you to install even more software.  The following section contains a list of software that you should install.

What software do I need?

What you need obviously depends on what you want to do, but there are a few things that are more or less necessary:

  • Summerboard
    • Summerboard lets you change your theme, including the background and icons.  You will also have to download summerboard themes to do so.
  • Games
    • There are a ton of games to download.  Nothing makes time spent in a train, bus, airplane, or classroom go by faster than a good game
  • Sources
    • Community sources and Bigboss’s Recommended sources are a good addition to add to the number of applications you can download.  They are typically safe to use and reliable.

From there, feel free to experiment and install new things.  You can always choose to uninstall it later if it does not work or is not as cool as you though it would be.  I will likely add a list of my favorite and least favorite applications in the near future!

Disclaimer

I did not write the Jailbreak application or any of the other applications, nor am I in any way affiliated with them.  I am simply a fellow iPod Touch owner who spent too much time trying to Jailbreak his iPod the first time, and thought he would impart his knownledge to the world so that it may help others.  Feel free to contact me with any questions, but remember that I provide no guarantee that the above steps will work as intended without causing you any headaches or lost time.