Difference Between Jailbreak and Unlock

Jailbreak vs Unlock

Jailbreak is a term that is often confused with unlock. We are not talking about getting out from prison but on some techniques used by iPhone users to gain more functionality. People with the iPhone operating system often get confused whether they are already jail breaking their phones or simply unlocking it. But the answer is rather simple.

Jailbreaking enables iPhones to be installed with other non-official programs or third party applications. This move makes, changing themes and other unofficial customizations possible. Unlocking, on the other hand, is simply the technique of permitting non-supported SIM cards or networks to be utilized by your unit. Thus, if you already have a supported provider on hand, you will no longer have the need for unlocking it. The confusion may have originated because jailbreaking actually ‘unlocks’ the firmware of the iPhone and that the jailbreaking process sometimes includes the unlock mechanism itself.

Normally, Apple has marketed their iPhone and iPod Touch products to download only official and legitimate software or program applications from their App Store (their official application distribution method). For many users, jailbreaking gives them more freedom of choosing as many or whatever program application they want their smart phones to have by allowing the execution of unauthorized codes. With jailbroken phones, there will be more choices as there are already many sources of such apps. With the App store no longer controlling the monopoly for iPhone apps, many outside installers have risen in popularity namely: Rock App, Icy, Cydia and Installer. The most loved of which is Cydia.

Ordinarily, a cell phone or smart phone unit is built either open or non-open line. Open line makes it easy for almost all types of networks or SIMs to be made compatible with the phone whereas the latter would mean that your phone has a specific compatible network licensed for use in that unit. This means that iPhone users need to do the unlock technique before they can use other network providers in their phones other than AT&T.

More so, different steps or program applications and patches are used to either jailbreak and unlock the iPhone. For example, the ‘RC3 update’ is most recently used to jailbreak the unit whereas ‘blacksnow’ is used for unlocking. Lastly, unlocking cannot be done without first jailbreaking your phone because it necessitates the installation of a particular program application.

Summary:
1.Jailbreaking unlocks the firmware or makes it possible for iPhone users to download third party apps from other sources other than the App Store whereas unlocking is simply making non-supported SIM cards operational in the iPhone.
2.There are different methods and programs used to jailbreak the iPhone and also a different set of instructions or apps to unlock the same unit.
3.Jailbreaking is usually the technique done first prior to unlocking and not vice versa.

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