Before explaining the terms one by one, let’s make sure we understand what jailbreak is and the difference between jailbreak & unlock. Then we’ll take a look at all the other terms you may of heard about when jailbreaking and unlocking.

What’s Jailbreak & Unlock

Jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to run unofficial code on their devices bypassing Apple‘s official distribution mechanism, the App Store. Once jailbroken, iPhone users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia and Icy. It’s estimated that 4 million (out of 40 million) iPods and iPhones are jailbroken.

Unlocking refers to the process by which your iPhone can use SIM card from any carrier. For instance, iPhone is exclusively distributed by AT&T in US. In other words, it is locked and iPhone user in US can only use AT&T sim card. By going through the unlock process, your iPhone is allowed to use any carrier.

Jailbreaking Tools

Redsn0w – Redsn0w is the latest generation of Jailbreak tool offered by iPhone Dev Team that supports jailbreaking on iPhone OS 3.0. It supports all models of iPhone including iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS, as well as iPod Touch. Both Windows and Mac version are available. Redsn0w comes with built-in utility to unlock iPhone 2G. Jailbreaking using redsn0w is very straightforward and it is considered as the most user-friendly jailbreak utility iPhone. Redsn0w is also considered as a replacement of QuickPwn.

QuickPwn – Developed by iPhone Dev Team, QuickPwn is a jailbreak utility for iPhone 2G & 3G. It supports jailbreaking up to firmware 2.2.1. Both Windows and Mac versions are available. It also comes with built-in utility to unlock iPhone 2G. QuickPwn is considered as the most user-friendly utility for iPhone Jailbreak and now replaced by redsn0w.

PwnageTool – Also, developed by iPhone Dev Team, PwnageTool is a jailbreak tool for Mac platform only. It supports jailbreaking on iPhone 2G/3G/3GS and firmware level up to 3.0. Same as QuickPwn, it also provides built-in option to unlock iPhone 2G. Compared with QuickPwn, for which it performs jailbreaking directly on iPhone, PwnageTool takes a different approach of jailbreak that it creates a custom firmware file (i.e. IPSW) for jailbreaking. PwnageTool is considered as more flexible as it allows the direct modification of firmware file.

Purplera1n – Purplera1n is an alternative of jailbreak tool to Redsn0w and Pwnagetool for iPhone 3GS only. It is developed by GeoHot, who is the guy that developed an unlock solution for the 1st generation iPhone dated back to 2007. Purplera1n supports both Windows and Mac.

Unlocking Tools

Yellowsn0w – Yellowsn0w is the 1st generation of unlock tool, developed by iPhone Dev team, to unlock iPhone 3G and supports firmware 2.2 (with baseband version 02.28.00). The software is freely available via Cydia. You’ll need to first jailbreak the iPhone before you can install the software.

Ultrasn0w – Ultrasn0w is the 2nd generation of unlock tool, developed by iPhone Dev team, to replace yellowsn0w. It is considered the ultimate unlock tool (as of now) to unlock iPhone 3G and 3GS on iPhone OS 3.0. To use ultrasn0w, it is required to jailbreak your iPhone first. The ultrasn0w software is available from Cydia and it’s free.

Purplesn0w – Developed by GeoHot, Purplesn0w is an alternative to Ultrasn0w for iPhone 3GS unlock. To use Purplesn0w, you’ll need to jailbreak the iPhone with Purplera1n before applying Purplesn0w.

Application Installers

Cydia – Developed by Jay Freeman, cydia is the most common installer for 3rd party iPhone application. Cydia supports the latest version of iPhone OS 3.0 and is installed by default during jailbreak process. Most of the iPhone apps in cydia are free for download. But cydia also offers a cydia store for purchasing paid apps.

Icy – An alternative of Cydia for installing 3rd party apps on iPhone, developed by RipDev. As claimed by the team, Icy offers better performance over cydia and is designed to compatible with any cydia packages. Icy can be installed during jailbreak process.

Installer – Installer is the 1st generation of 3rd party application installer. It supports firmware up to 2.2. Installer is a great app installer before the debut of Cydia. However, as of today, the iPhone apps available on Installer is much less than that on Cydia or Icy.

[SimonBlog]

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