These days, it’s fairly easy to jailbreak your iDevice. And installing games that you don’t have to pay for are aided by user-friendly programs that can be accessed from a jailbroken iDevice. But before you jump on the bandwagon, it is advisable to know exactly what you’re getting into, particularly if it is practical to jailbreak in the first place. This list of practical reasons not to jailbreak your iDevice for games should serve to keep you well-informed with jailbreak. I will not go so much in its effects on a technical sense, as I have not had extensive experience handling a jailbroken iDevice. As additional reference though, I have included a brief summary in the first section. My discussion is mainly on a more practical sense from a games perspective, which is equally important, and one that is rather overshadowed in jailbreak discussions.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #1: The Usual Feedback

I have decided to take out the specifics of this section due to misinterpretations from a few readers. I would just leave it to you to search on the back-and-forth discussions regarding jailbreak from various internet forums, which are very easy to find. As you will observe, some would point out negative effects, which would then be aggressively refuted by hardcore jailbreak users. The internet community is mostly divided in this topic, and you should take all the advice with a grain of salt.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #2: Games are cheap

Gone are the days of $9.99 games back in the infancy of the App Store. Nowadays, quality games usually go for $0.99-$2.99. At this time of writing, 36 of the top 50 games in the App Store (US) are $0.99, and only 4 are priced over $2.99. Furthermore, relatively higher priced games usually go on sale, and even big publishers like Gameloft and Electronic Arts participate in such promotions. As for the iPad App Store (US), only 14 of the top 50 games are priced above $4.99.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #3: Games go free

There are websites such as OpenFeint and FAAD which coordinate with publishers to offer their games for free for a day (sometimes even longer) for promotion. Several publishers themselves also conduct their own freebie promos usually when they want to promote their other apps. A handy website that keeps track of all these free apps is AppShopper. If you think only lousy games go free, think again. Here are notable high-priced games that have gone free at some point: Civilization Revolution (from $6.99), Aurora Feint II: Arena Daemons (down from $4.99), Tower Madness HD (from $7.99), just to name a few.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #4: iOSx updates require you to re-do your entire jailbreak

Playing games especially long-term adventures requires saved data. The problem here is Apple releases iOSx updates for your iDevice every once in a while. A few of these updates may offer nothing really new in terms of features; nevertheless, these updates provide better security or fix bugs making them very essential and practical. Your software of course will not be recognized if you have a jailbroken iDevice. And if your games were installed through programs like Installous and not through the App Store, then you are forced to lose all those saved game data and start from scratch as soon as you re-do your jailbreak on your iDevice after the iOSx update.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #5: Recent iOSx updates have no jailbroken versions

Currently, the most recent iOSx updates for some of the iDevices have no jailbroken versions. This could be an indicator that Apple is steadily eliminating vulnerabilities in their software. If you simply want to enjoy seamless gaming and avoid all this hassle, then it is recommended not to jailbreak.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #6: You are NOT required to jailbreak to have games

This may appear to be a lame section in this article. But the reason I’m including it is because I have personally encountered several people who were led to believe that the only way to get games in their iDevice is to have it jailbroken. They got their information from jailbreak experts selling their services in certain commercial centers. This is of course wrong. If you need games, simply go the App Store in your iDevice or iTunes.

Practical Reasons not to Jailbreak #7: Give User Feedback

Downloading through the App Store allows you to rate and give reviews or comments for all iDevice games. Users use this platform as their way of providing suggestions to the games to the developers. And developers usually listen. If they find something interesting, or if they realize high demand for a certain feature, they consider including it in an update. For someone who enjoys playing on his/her iDevice, this is surely a practical reason if you want to get additional content. Though somewhat improper, some developers also encourage users to give 5 star ratings to give them more reasons to provide updates.

Note: This is chapter 7 of an on-going series of practical articles for the iDevice. Check out chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.