What are the Differences Between Jailbreaking and Rooting?

What are the Differences Between Jailbreaking and Rooting?

Jailbreaking and Rooting are often heard now a days when we talk about Mobile devices. Most of the mobile devices can be Jailbreaked or Rooted based on whether the device is running on iOS or Android. Both are process applied on devices to gain full access (root access) there by unlocking all the features and using them. Jailbreak is to iOS devices whereas Rooting is to Android Devices. Check out more and specific Differences between Jailbreaking and Rooting.

Jailbreaking

The main reason for jailbreaking is to expand the feature set limited by Apple and its App Store. Some users look to software outside the App Store to express opposition to Apple's censorship of content through the app approval process: in early 2010, Apple banned an app submitted by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Mark Fiore, because it "ridiculed public figures", in violation of Section 3.3.14 of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Apple later called Fiore and asked him to resubmit his app for approval.In late 2010, Apple banned the use of apps that allowed users to donate money to non-profit organization and charities.Apple also banned the controversial WikiLeaks app, stating it "violated their developer guidelines". As the list of banned apps continues to grow, some users have found jailbreaking to be a viable alternative to Apple’s censorship of content.However, jailbreaking can affect battery life and system stability due to poor code optimization and the nature of some applications requiring to constantly run resource-draining services.

List of first jailbreaks

For a chronological list of jailbreak history, see History of iOS jailbreaking.
Device/OS     Release date     Date of first jailbreak

iPhone/iOS 1.0           June 29, 2007     July 10, 2007
iPhone 3G/iOS 2.0     July 11, 2008      July 20, 2008
iOS 3.0                      March 17, 2009   June 19, 2009
iPhone 3GS                June 19, 2009      July 3, 2009
iPad                           April 30, 2010      May 3, 2010
iOS 4.0                      June 21, 2010       June 21–23, 2010
iPhone 4                     June 24, 2010       August 1, 2010
iPad 2                         March 11, 2011    July 5, 2011
iOS 5.0                      October 12, 2011    October 13, 2011

Now the differences

1.     Jailbreaking term used when unlocking any device running on Apple’s iOS Operating System.
2.     Jailbreaking is a process that allows iOS powered device to get gain full access (root access) to unlock all features of the said operating system, thereby removing limitations imposed by Apple.
3.     The devices that can be Jailbreaked are devices running on iOS such as iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Apple TV.
4.     Some successfull tools to Jailbreak Apple Device running on iOS are PwnageTool, Redsn0w, Sn0wbreeze, Blackra1n, Greenpois0n, GeoHot, SHAtter, Limera1n.
5.     Most of the above tools latest version can Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1

Rooting

The process of rooting varies widely by device. It usually includes exploiting a security weakness in the firmware shipped from the factory. For example, shortly after the T-Mobile G1 was released it was quickly discovered that anything typed using the keyboard was being interpreted as a command in a privileged (root) shell. Although Google quickly released a patch to fix this, a signed image of the old firmware was leaked giving people the ability to downgrade and use the original exploit to gain root access. Once this exploit is found, a custom recovery image that does not check the digital signature of a firmware update package can be flashed. In turn, using the custom recovery, a modified firmware update can be installed that typically includes the utilities (for example the Superuser app) needed to run apps as root.

Both Google-branded Android devices, the Nexus One and Nexus S, can have their boot-loaders unlocked by simply running the command "fastboot oem unlock" from a computer connected to the device while it is in boot-loader mode. After accepting a warning the boot-loader will be unlocked so that a new system image can be written directly to flash without the need for an exploit.

Recently, Motorola, LG Electronics and HTC Corporation have added security features to their devices at the hardware level in an attempt to prevent retail Android devices from being rooted. For instance, the Motorola Droid X has a security boot-loader that will put the phone in "recovery mode" if unsigned firmware is loaded onto the device. This protection was defeated 6 days after the Motorola Droid X was released to the general public.

Now the differences

1.     Rooting term used when unlocking any device running on Google’s Android Operating   System.
2.     Rooting is a process that allows users of cellphones, and other devices, running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as “root access”) within Android’s Linux subsystem.
3.     The devices that can be Rooted are devices running on Android Operating System such as Nexus One and Nexus S.
4.     Some successfull tools to Jailbreak Apple Device running on iOS are CyanogenMod.
5.     Most of the above tools latest version can Root Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread OS