Gadgetory

jailbreaking used to be this super difficult task only the real tech-savvy would tackle but nowadays it's so much easier and totally legal so if you want to completely customize your device install app so you don't see in the App Store and get new system settings that make your life easier here's how you jailbreak your iPhone iPad or iPod Touch first backup your device plug it in to your computer launch iTunes and adjust the settings to back up everything like photos and contacts then right-click your device select backup and let it sink when that's done grab your device and go to Settings General reset and erase all content and settings when it restarts go through the activation steps but set it up as a new device okay now back on your computer go to the green poison website and download the most recent version of absinthe for your operating system I'm currently using iOS 5.1.1 on my iPhone but new versions of absinthe will be released as Apple updates its iOS launch the Installer and it will spend a few minutes extracting files then open the new absinthe folder and launch the app you'll see this dialog box and when it detects that your phone is plugged in click jailbreak this will take a few more minutes as the phone resets itself again while the new software is installed when absinthe is done running your phone is officially jailbroken but now you'll need to get all your old data back on it so you can use it to do that launch i-tunes right-click your device and select restore from backup select the appropriate backup and when you're done you're good to go at first your device might look the same but now you can find all the extra apps settings and tweaks in this new app called Cydia it's like an underground app store filled with content you could never get otherwise so with my jailbroken phone I can create hidden shortcuts from the lockscreen access settings from the Notification Center and even get Siri to do things like toggle Wi-Fi turn Wi-Fi on enabling Wi-Fi again when iOS 6 is released and you want all of its new features you'll have to jailbreak your device again but that's a small price to pay for complete control over your gadget if you have any questions hit me up on Twitter and subscribe to my facebook profile for more tips like this for CNET I'm Sharon Vaknin