Over 7 million people Jailbreaking iOS6 already. Why do it?

Apple have been battling against the jailbreaking crowd for as long as we can remember. The latest version called evasiOn has been a long time coming, but according to information received, it appears that it has been installed more than 7 million times in only six days.

According to Apple there are over 300 million devices running iOS 6 and while 7 million+ is a small percentage of the overall ownership (2.3%) it perhaps does give an indication that a growing number of people are finding Apple's mobile operating system too restrictive.

Jay Freeman, aka Saurik, the founder of Cydia, the application store for jailbroken iOS devices has said in an interview that the share has been around 10% historically. The latest Jailbreak of iOS 6 seems to be going to topple this figure within a few months time.

While Apple frown upon jailbreaking and attempt to block it at every turn, many people feel that the action isn't criminal, but just a fun way to enhance their device without obeying the Apple restrictions.

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The interview above with Saurik above, explains his reasoning behind why you would jailbreak the device. There is no doubt that jailbreaking caters to an audience who just aren't happy with how the device operates and they want to be able to customise and tune the operating system to their own way of use.

The ethical and legal ramifications about jailbreaking and unlocking a phone are discussed in this excellent article over here.

Apple have claimed that jailbroken devices will not be protected under warranty, which means if it fails then you can't send it back for replacement. This is one of the reasons why some people have not unlocked their phone, however there is a company offering a warranty for jailbroken iOS devices.

Forbes say “One factor that may be lubricating the trend is that there is now a company offering third-party warranties virtually identical to Apple Care Plus, for jailbroken iOS devices. There is no place on the SquareTrade website that says this explicitly, but the company’s VP of Strategy Vince Tseng told GigaOm’s Erica Ogg that “it makes no difference to SquareTrade what users do with the software.… if a device hasn’t been played around with on the inside we don’t have a problem with that.” (You do need to sign up with Square Trade within 30 days of purchase, just like Apple Care. So, if you think you might want to jailbreak, best to choose SquareTrade up front.) The company apparently changed its policy (quietly) in May, and I can’t help thinking that this has removed one of the major pain points for users about jailbreaking.”

iOS 6 caused a lot of problems for Apple, mainly the removal of Google Maps and the inclusion of their own, inferior package which basically failed to work in specific parts of the world. User Satisfaction dropped badly, according to analysis handled in a poll by OnDevice. The latest iOS actually dropped behind iOS5.

When you see the list of greatest applications in Cydia according to Gizmag, it is clear that there are many reasons for taking the move.

Apple used to be the option for people who didn't want to comply with the rules of the dominating Windows Operating systems, but now it is actually reverse. Apple have more rules than any other company in this sector and many people are wanting something different and moving to Google Android or even Windows Phone. Nokia made their first quarterly profit in a very long time, thanks to sales of their latest Lumia 920 high end smartphone, so the sales figures are verifying a small shift away from Apple in many areas.

Anthony Wing Kosner said “Part of the problem for Apple (in general, a good problem to have) is that it has gone from being a platform for non-conformists to one for conformists. Want to really be out there? Get a Windows Phone! In many ways, Apple probably still thinks of itself as a rebel, an outlier, but in reality it is now more a maker of rules than a breaker of them. In the fast-moving world of consumer electronics, this can be a liability. The jailbreakers represent the non-conformist minority within Apple’s user base, and, as such, a vital part of its future.”

Kitguru says: Jailbreaking? Should Apple stop trying to prevent it and just let people who buy their products do whatever they want?

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