Freedom to copy your data out of an app into your computer even if the app doesn't "allow" it. E.g., get into Notes.app's sqlite database after they decide to delete all the data when you unlink your account even if it hasn't successfully synced for a year so that you can recover half of it.
Develop apps on your own device without paying $100 and supporting the war on general purpose computing. Also compile and run GPL apps.
Good points, but I'm sorry to point out that buying the iPhone itself supports the war on general purpose computing. Jailbreaking might get you out of this set of digital handcuffs, but what about the next one, or the one after that?
Do you also claim that buying Wii, Xbox, PS also support "the war on general purpose computing"?
What kind of ideas is this? If I buy milk do I support the war on grain based food?
Do those buying Android phones without any intention to develop for the platform or rooting their phones also support the war on general purpose computing?
I come at it from a different angle. I support and assist open source projects where possible, I use an unlocked Nexus device and will be buying a Jolla phone ASAP. I don't like the trend towards closed devices either.
I think the "war on general purpose computing" was a term coined by Doctorow (or Stallman?) and I have to agree with it in principle. I just can't go all the way and use a Longsoon-based MIPS device because of performance concerns.
It's not quite black and white. I can quite happily buy a PS4 (did you see the list of open-source software they used?) and still support the FSF and EFF as necessary.
A smart phone or tablet is increasingly the only access many people have to the net. The implications of control here are in a completely different category from a disposable game console.
iOS 7 isn't available on the iPod Touch 4th Gen, that doesn't change with this news. So, your reasons focus on iOS 6 and lower. iOS 7 imho leaves only a few edge cases to favor a jailbreak, especially on an unlocked device.
You can actually do the first bullet point with software like iExplorer - the app sandboxes are only protected on the device, but when connected to your computer it's all available to you.
Could you go as far as messing with the carrier bundles? I had a problem a while ago where Safari would reinstall the carrier's default bookmarks every time it reopened. To be fair it was irritating, not critical, but I was able to hack the carrier bundle and remove the bookmarks, plus change the carrier name out of spite.
Stuff like that, it doesn't change my life but it makes me mildly happier, all because I can get at the filesystem and have root on my own devices.
iOS has this functionality. For blacklisting, you can block a caller or texter. For whitelisting, you can enable Do Not Disturb, and then whitelist people by adding them to your Favorites.
Regarding the first, I was pretty impressed when I plugged my phone into my Ubuntu machine for the first time and up popped two Nautilus windows giving me read access to my entire iphone5 filesystem.
I'm an avid user of Garage Band for iOS and the method Apple gives you to transfer songs from the phone are surprisingly inadequate.
Linux also assisted with copying all the songs from my girlfriends iPod, which was denied by iTunes due to some DRM silliness.
So, with Linux coming to the rescue I have found less of a desire to jailbreak these devices.
For me, I'd use it for recording calls. I'm also interested in what the mod community comes up with - there's usually a lot of innovation in the JB space that Apple cribs into big iOS updates.
Can you record calls with a jailbreak? Last time I checked (which would have been around iOS 5, I think) it was not possible, as the baseband handled the audio for calls and it never touched the main OS. Several jailbreak apps claimed to be able to do it, but on further investigation they all worked by forwarding your calls through their own phone number and recording on their end, which is pretty awful.
Freedom to copy your data out of an app into your computer even if the app doesn't "allow" it. E.g., get into Notes.app's sqlite database after they decide to delete all the data when you unlink your account even if it hasn't successfully synced for a year so that you can recover half of it.
Develop apps on your own device without paying $100 and supporting the war on general purpose computing. Also compile and run GPL apps.
A caller and texter black/whitelist.