Don’t worry. I’m not in a jail right now. And luckily, my iPod touch which I got yesterday, also is no more in jail. I helped him out with a procedure that is commonly known as “Jailbreak”. The legality of this is pretty much open to interpretation, as the procedure changes a device you own, and there’s nothing wrong with changing ones property. So Apple can say little to nothing about the super intelligent hackers that are out there, giving us the pleasure of open iPod touches. If you do this on an iPhone, I think it is more questionable as you would most likely want to unlock the phone. And at that aspect, I can understand when Apple gets mad. On the iPod however, I don’t think massive damage is done to the company.
And this is why I give you a quick rundown of what to do to Jailbreak your iPod touch, with current Firmware 1.1.2. Got the touch? Got some minutes? Let’s go.
What you need:
iPod touch, wireless LAN with web access, the sync cable, and iTunes.
What you have to do:
1.) If your iPod is on 1.1.2 already, you have to download the Firmware 1.1.1 from Apple, and downgrade to it. It’ll wipe the touch, but don’t worry, you can re-sync later.
2.) Connect your touch and open iTunes. In there, select your iPod, and then hold down the Option key (on Windows it’s the Alt key), and click on Restore. This will force iTunes to open a dialog from which you can chose the file from step 1. Let it do it’s thing.
3.) Once it’s done, unplug the touch and open Safari on the device, and navigate to JailBreakMe.com, scroll down to the end, and click on install AppTapp application.
4.) The touch will reboot and on your Springboard you’ll see the Installer icon. Your device is now jailbroken.
5.) To update to 1.1.2, open the Installer.app on the touch, go to Install on the bottom, then Tweaks (1.1.1), and select OktoPrep. This tool is really important for the upgrade. Once it’s installed, reconnect the touch with the Mac or PC.
6.) Now, download the 1.1.2 firmware from Apple’s servers. If iTunes asks you to upgrade, cancel it.
7.) Once the download completes, like before, in iTunes go to your iPod and Option-click (or PC: Alt-click) on “Update”. Again, iTunes opens a dialog. Select the new firmware downloaded from step 6.
8.) Cool. If you made it this far, you’re not far away from your pleasure. Now, download the 1.1.2 Jailbreak from the linked page.
9.) Got it? Good. Extract the zip. Connect the touch to your computer, and important: quit iTunes. Everything that has the name iTunes or iPod as running process must go. Seriously. Do this now.
10.) Alright. At this point, you’re very close. Open the folder into which you extracted the file from step 8. For Windows users, doubleclick the windows.bat file, for Mac users, the .JAR file. Make sure you’ve got Java installed.
11.) Wait. Watch it do it’s thing. When it’s done, your iPod will reboot 3 times or so, and there’s the Installer.app again!
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Let the fun begin. If you want to install 3rd party apps, go to the Installer.app, and install what your heart desires. Ah yes, you’re running on 1.1.2 now. Cool eh?
If you made everything right, you can have a Springboard screen like this:
iPod touch showing multiple apps, including previously unavailable iPhone applications
Second page of my Springboard
Enjoy!
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