Jailbreaing DOES NOT "void your warranty"!

Recently, I was in a bike shop getting my tire fixed, and the girl behind the counter had an iPhone. When I asked her if she'd jailbroken it yet, she told me "Oh, we're with Verizon. We don't jailbreak our iPhone." When I asked why not, she replied "Because it voids our warranty. That's what they told us at Verizon." I corrected her, telling her that simple was not true.

Why is it not true? Because jailbreaking your iPhone (or iPad, or iPod Touch) is perfectly legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (otherwise known as the DMCA.) In fact, it's expressly ALLOWED (see this MacWorld.com article for an explanation; also see the Electronic Frontier Foundation [aka EFF] page on this here.)

Jailbreaking your iOS device is nothing more than installing software. If the act of jailbreaking your iOS device did indeed "void your warranty", then that would mean that installing any software - even software you purchase from the Apple App Store - would also "void your warranty". Because that's all jailbreaking is - installing software. Don't want your iOS device to be jailbroken any longer? Just plug it into your computer, start iTunes, and tell iTunes to restore it to factory defaults. Sure, that wipes your device, but it also installs the factory iOS version that came with it, so that once it's done restoring, it's just like the day you bought it.

Now, way back in the day, when the very first iPhone came out, GeoHot opened up the case and physically soldered the iPhone's circuit board to jailbreak it. THAT would void your warranty, since opening the case and/or mucking around with the physical hardware is irreversible. But installing software? Even if said software isn't "authorized by Apple"? Nope, that doesn't void any warranty, regardless of what Verizon, Apple, or anyone else may claim.

It's just common sense.

iOS Financial Tracking Apps

I've loved using financial tracking apps, ever since Microsoft Money debuted (which I preferred over Quicken.) But, having to keep all those receipts and remember to input them when I got back to my computer was a PITA. I've been checking out pretty much every financial/receipt tracking app on the App Store, and thus far, only two really stand out.

1. Mint.com Personal Finance - manage your money, budgets, expenses and bills
   • Pros: it's free. It auto-updates your transactions (if your financial institution is supported.)
   • Cons: Can't really track cash accounts, or financial institutions that are not supported. It auto-selects the category for the transaction based on the type of place you are at (which, while sometimes useful, can often be incorrect), and cannot be changed in the app. No way to really track a budget.
     
2. PocketMoney - checkbook, budgets, expenses.
   • There are two flavors: the paid version ($4.99), and PocketMoney LITE, which is the free (albeit ad-supported) version. Both are identical (except for the fact that there are no ads in the paid version), so you don't lose any features. Try out the LITE, and if you want to get rid of the ads, purchase the full version.
   • Pros: lots of them in this app: the ability to track any type of account (cash, checking, credit card, savings account, investment, et. al), an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, budgeting, etc.
   • Cons: Unlike Mint.com Personal Finance, PocketMoney does not automatically retrieve your transactions, meaning you have to manually input each one.

I prefer PocketMoney, especially since my credit card is not supported in Mint.com, and thus I'm unable to effectively use the Mint.com app to track my purchases. Speaking of which, the Mint.com app is really designed to be used along with the Mint.com website online, which is the only place you can choose a different category for any expenditures.