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haertig · 01-27-2021, 07:08 PM

On some devices, running 3rd party firmware gives you a ton more control and a ton more features. Running 3rd party firmware is not "jailbreaking", but the end result is similar (more user control, more features).

However, jailbreaking a Kindle appears to give you so little in return that I see no need to do it. Screensaver changes? A screensaver is what comes up when you're NOT using the device. So why would anyone care all that much about what is displaying on screen when they're not using it? Font changes? In general, you already have quite a few fonts to choose from on a Kindle. There are certain rare circumstances when you may not be able to change to a font you like. You can fix that by editing the book in Calibre for those rare times this occurs. Getting rid of ads? If you're too cheap to pay for that, then just put the Kindle in airplane mode (that saves battery too BTW) and within a short time it will run out of ads to display. Plus, when you're reading a book ads never display. So does it really matter? Then there's the constant diligence required so that your Kindle doesn't accidentally get updated. Maybe an update adds new features that you'd love to have, but you can't get to those because you're too worried about unjailbreaking your jailbreak, so you don't do the update. The reason I really laugh at is so the Kindle can run Kobo software. Why didn't you just buy a Kobo in the first place? Especially with Calibre being able to change books from one format to another.

However, some people may see a good reason to jailbreak. Or, just the thrill of succeeding at jailbreaking something might be a worthwhile entertainment goal on its own. More power to them. To each their own. Nothing wrong with jailbreaking if that's what you really want to do. Back to my initial comparison of jailbreaking to 3rd party firmware: All of my WiFi routers run 3rd party firmware. Because that gives me oodles more functionality than the OEM firmware. It's like moving from a limited consumer toy to a full blown commercial device. In this case, the gains of going to different firmware are so massive that there's definitely a good case to do it (for the technically oriented, maybe not so much for a normal user).

01-27-2021, 07:08 PM	#43
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,899 Karma: 31522252 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	On some devices, running 3rd party firmware gives you a ton more control and a ton more features. Running 3rd party firmware is not "jailbreaking", but the end result is similar (more user control, more features). However, jailbreaking a Kindle appears to give you so little in return that I see no need to do it. Screensaver changes? A screensaver is what comes up when you're NOT using the device. So why would anyone care all that much about what is displaying on screen when they're not using it? Font changes? In general, you already have quite a few fonts to choose from on a Kindle. There are certain rare circumstances when you may not be able to change to a font you like. You can fix that by editing the book in Calibre for those rare times this occurs. Getting rid of ads? If you're too cheap to pay for that, then just put the Kindle in airplane mode (that saves battery too BTW) and within a short time it will run out of ads to display. Plus, when you're reading a book ads never display. So does it really matter? Then there's the constant diligence required so that your Kindle doesn't accidentally get updated. Maybe an update adds new features that you'd love to have, but you can't get to those because you're too worried about unjailbreaking your jailbreak, so you don't do the update. The reason I really laugh at is so the Kindle can run Kobo software. Why didn't you just buy a Kobo in the first place? Especially with Calibre being able to change books from one format to another. However, some people may see a good reason to jailbreak. Or, just the thrill of succeeding at jailbreaking something might be a worthwhile entertainment goal on its own. More power to them. To each their own. Nothing wrong with jailbreaking if that's what you really want to do. Back to my initial comparison of jailbreaking to 3rd party firmware: All of my WiFi routers run 3rd party firmware. Because that gives me oodles more functionality than the OEM firmware. It's like moving from a limited consumer toy to a full blown commercial device. In this case, the gains of going to different firmware are so massive that there's definitely a good case to do it (for the technically oriented, maybe not so much for a normal user).