Jailbreaking is a process that changes little by little with each iOS upgrade. Rather than always publishing new guides, we're simply going to keep this one up to date. If you want to jailbreak your iOS device, you've come to the right page.
Current Untethered Version: iOS 4.3.3 For additional jailbreak options for other versions of iOS, as well as an alternate method for iOS 4.3.3, please see the list at the bottom of this page. As this guide is updated, previous versions of the guide will be archived there as well.
Current Tethered Version: iOS 5.0.0 We do not recommend tethered jailbreaking, as it requires you to plug in your phone to boot it every time. This is especially bad with new operating system releases, as they tend to freeze up a bit more. You probably don't want your phone freezing up and becoming unusable while you're out and about, so you really should wait until an untethered jailbreak is available for iOS 5. That said, if you're jailbreaking for development purposes or carry a laptop with you everywhere, this post will show you can do it.
The video above will show you how the whole process works, both on your computer and your iOS device. The video depicts the jailbreak process for iOS 4.3.1 but it is identical to the process for iOS 4.3.3 (and 4.3.2, for that matter). Here are the individual steps:
With all the different devices out there running different versions of Android, the rooting process can be a little different for every phone. Here's a one-stop guide that should get you up and running with root access, no matter what device you have.
Rooting, for those of you that don't know, means giving yourself root permissions on your phone. It's similar running programs as administrators in Windows, or running a command with sudo in Linux. With a rooted phone, you can run more apps (likebackup or tethering apps), as well as flash custom ROMs to your phone, which add all sorts of extra features.
Just like our always up-to-date guide to jailbreaking iOS, we're going to keep this guide up to date instead of publishing new guides every time the rooting process changes—it's one page to bookmark that will always have the latest or best method. It's a more hefty undertaking, what with all the different Android phones and rooting methods out there, but we're up to the challenge. Currently there are three main rooting methods that cover most devices, with a few outliers that require more work. To find out which method works for your phone, you can probably just hit Ctrl+F and type in your phone's name (e.g. hero). If you find your phone isn't listed, read through the first method, as it's probably the one you'll want to use.
Note: Our goal is to keep this guide as accurate and up to date as possible, but we can't test every phone out there, so we're relying on you guys a bit to help us out. If you have an outlier device who's method isn't listed, or one of these methods becomes outdated for a specific device, please let me know by emailing me atwhitson+rootingguide@lifehacker.com (if you can help me out by providing the correct method, that's even better). I'll do my best to maintain this guide as much as possible, and if anything big changes, we'll be sure to let you know. Be sure to ask the folks on each phone's respective thread at XDA Developers, too—they'll know a lot more about each particular method.
The majority of you will be able to usepreviously mentionedSuperOneClick for Windows to root your phone. So far, it's been officially tested on the following phones:
Acer Liquid Metal
Dell Streak
HTC Magic (Sapphire) 32B
HTC Bee
HTC Droid Eris (HTC DesireC)
T-Mobile Comet (Huawei Ideos U8150)
LG Ally
LG Optimus 2x
LG Optimus V
Motorola Backflip
Motorola Charm
Motorola Cliq
Motorola Defy
Motorola Droid
Motorola Droid 2
Motorola Droid X Update: Outdated. Sadly, SuperOneClick cannot root the Droid X running Gingerbread, so if you've updated to 2.3, you'll need to downgrade to 2.2 before rooting.
Motorola Flipside
Motorola Flipout
Motorola Milestone
Motorola Milestone 2
Nexus One
Samsung Captivate
Samsung Galaxy 551 (GT-I5510)
Samsung Galaxy Ace
Samsung Galaxy Portal/Spica I5700
Samsung Galaxy S 4G
Samsung Galaxy S I9000
Samsung Galaxy S SCH-I500
Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Transform M920
Samsung Vibrant
Sony Ericsson Xperia E51i X8
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
Sprint Hero
Telus Fascinate
Toshiba Folio 100
However, it should work on many more. Forum threads abound on the net where people claim it works with other devices, and they just haven't been added to the "official" list. With that in mind, I'd recommend checking the rest of the methods on this page before you try SuperOneClick, to see if your phone already has an alternate method. Again, just hit Ctrl+F and search for your device's name on this page.
Also, if you want to double check that SuperOneClick will work with your phone, a quick Google (e.g. superoneclick droid x) will probably reveal whether its compatible. If it does work and it isn't on the compatibility list above, let us know and we'll add it!
What You'll Need
A Windows PC: SuperOneClick has ports for Mac and Linux, but it's pretty complicated to get it working. I haven't used it myself, but you can check out its XDA Developers threadfor more information. For the purposes of this guide, we'll assume you have a working Windows PC to get this working. If you don't have one, borrow one from a friend—after all, you'll only need it once.
The USB Drivers for Your Phone: In order for your phone to fully communicate with your PC, you'll need its USB drivers. To get them head to your phone's manufacturer's web site and search for them on the Support page.
Previously MentionedSuperOneClick: This is the Windows program that will root your phone. It's portable, so just download it and unzip it somewhere safe—no installation necessary.
The Process
First, find, download and install the USB drivers for your particular phone, if necessary. You can generally Google for your device's drivers, but you can just head to your manufacturer's web site too (e.g., HTC users will head to HTC's web site) and navigate to your device's support page. Go ahead and install the drivers once they're downloaded..
Next, make sure your phone is in USB Debugging mode. Head to Settings > Applications > Development and check the USB Debugging box at the top.
Once you've done all that, start up SuperOneClick. Plug in your phone (make sure NOT to mount the SD card), and hit the "Root" button to root your phone—it's that simple. When it finishes, you'll see a message that says "Root files have been installed!" Hit Yes if it asks you to run a test, and if everything went according to plan, it should confirm that you have root permissions. You can now close out of the app.
To double check and make sure everything went well, when you open up your app drawer you should see an app called "Superuser". If so, you're good to go! You can now flash custom ROMs, run root-only apps, and more. See the "What Now?" section below for more ideas.
If you're running an HTC phone from 2010 and earlier, chances are you'll need to use the Unrevoked tool. More specifically, Unrevoked roots the following phones:
Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)
HTC Desire
Droid Eris (HTC DesireC)
HTC Wildfire (HTC Buzz)
If you have an HTC phone that isn't supported by either method (such as the HTC Thunderbolt, at the time of this writing), Unrevoked may be working on support for it—they're still actively developing the program and doing a great job. It usually takes them a few months, but once they get it up and running, it's worth it—Unrevoked's one click method is a ton easier than the manual hacking you'll have to do if you want root access right after a phone is released.
What You'll Need
A Computer: Thankfully, Unrevoked is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. So as long as you have a PC handy, you can run it.
Previously mentionedUnrevoked3: When you head to Unrevoked's web site, you'll see a list of phones. Click on yours, and you'll probably be presented with two options—for a traditional root, you'll want to make sure you download the "Unrevoked3" tool, not "Unrevoked Forever." It will automatically detect your operating system (Windows, Mac, or Linux), so just hit the download link to grab the appropriate version.
HBOOT Drivers (Windows only): Windows users using Unrevoked will need to install a few drivers to get it working properly. Mac and Linux versions should be a plug-and-go affair.
The Process
If you're running Windows, the first thing you'll want to do is install the Unrevoked modified USB drivers (Mac and Linux users can skip the next two paragraphs). Download the drivers from this page, and extract them somewhere you'll remember. Turn off your phone, then reboot into the HBOOT menu by holding the volume down button and then holding power. You should boot into a white screen. Plug your phone into your computer via USB, and wait for your phone to say HBOOT USB PLUG.
When it does, head to Start and search for Device Manager. Start it up and head to "Other Devices", where you'll see an "Android 1.0" device. Right click on it and hit Update Driver Software. Click "Browse my computer for driver software" and navigate to the folder you extracted earlier. Hit next and let it install. If you get any warnings, just hit OK. When you're done, and you should see the Device Manager now lists an Android Phone with "Android Bootloader Interface" under it.
Next, make sure your phone is in USB Debugging mode. Head to Settings > Applications > Development and check the USB Debugging box at the top.
Now, start up the Unrevoked tool and plug in your phone (again, make sure to hit "charge only"). It should do everything for you automatically. Make sure you wait until Unrevoked says "Done" before unplugging your phone. If you open up your app drawer and see an app called "Superuser Permissions", you're done and can continue to flash custom ROMs, use root only apps, and more (see the "What Now?" section for more inspiration).
From the makers of Unrevoked comes Revolutionary, a great new tool that unlocks the bootloader of many new HTC phones. This won't actually root your phone, but after unlocking the bootloader, you can flash ClockworkMod Recovery and then flash a ROM of your choice, meaning you can flash a ROM that gives you root access. Currently, Revolutionary is in developer preview, but you can download it and try it on these supported phones:
HTC Desire
HTC Wildfire (HTC Buzz)
HTC Aria (HTC Liberty)
HTC Incredible S (HTC Vivo)
HTC Droid Incredible 2 (HTC VivoW)
HTC Desire S (HTC Saga)
HTC View (HTC Express)
HTC Flyer
HTC Sensation (HTC Pyramid)
HTC Evo 3D (HTC Shooter)
HTC Thunderbolt (HTC Mecha)
HTC EVO 4G (HTC Supersonic)
HTC myTouch Slide 4G (HTC Doubleshot)
What You'll Need
A Computer: You'll need either a Windows or Linux computer to run Revolutionary.
Revolutionary: At the bottom of the page, you'll see downloads for both Windows and Linux. After you click on one, you'll be asked to name your phone, your HBOOT version, and enter your serial number, which will give you a beta key allowing you to use the program. You can find both your HBOOT version and serial number after you start up the program.
HTC Fastboot Drivers (Windows only): Windows users using Revolutionary will need to install a few drivers to get it working properly. Linux users won't need these.
The Process
To unlock and root your phone with Revolutionary, first download the program as described above and extract the files to your desktop. If you're on Windows, grab the HTC Fastboot drivers and install them as well. On your phone, head to Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is turned on. Plug in your phone, and make sure it's set to "Charge Only".
Start up Revolutionary and make not of your HBOOT version. Head back to Revolutionary's download page and pick your HBOOT version from the dropdown menu. The Revolutionary command prompt window should also list your serial number; copy that and paste it into the beta key box. Hit OK, copy your beta key, and then paste it into the command prompt. Revolutionary will root the phone, and reboot it a few times—just let it do its thing.
When it prompts you to download ClockworkMod Recovery, type Y and press Enter. If all goes well, it should flash ClockworkMod Recovery to your device, which allows you to root your phone and flash custom ROMs. Again, this will take a while; let your phone work. If it doesn't work, you should be able to flash ClockworkMod by downloading ROM Manager from the Market and flashing it from the top option on the app's home screen.
When all that's done, you still need to gain root access to your phone. Download this ZIP file and put it on the root of your SD card (without extracting it). Shut down your phone, and boot it up into HBOOT. Usually this means holding the volume down button and then pressing the power button, though it may differ from phone to phone. Choose Recovery from the menu (using your volume rocker) and press the power button to enter ClockworkMod.
Once inside ClockworkMod, choose "Install ZIP from SD Card", then pick "Choose ZIP from SD Card". Choose the ZIP file you just added to your SD card, and let it do its thing. When you're done, head back to the main menu and choose "Reboot System Now". Once you've rebooted, check your app drawer for the Superuser app. If it's there, you've achieved root, and you can get on to the really fun stuff (see the "What Now?" section at the bottom for ideas).
The G2 is a special case. You're going to need to use a tool called Visionary to give it temporary root, and then go through a bit of manual hacking to make that root permanent. None of the Lifehacker editors have a G2 to test this on, but you can hit the link below to try it out for yourself. I'd also recommend heading over to The Unlockr for their video of the first step, using Visionary.
Note that the Desire Z got an update back in December that stops this method from working. Unfortunately, at the moment there is no other method to root the Desire Z running the 1.72 firmware. You'll have to downgrade using this extremely involved method before going through the rooting process. If you have a G2, you should be fine.
Rooting the MyTouch 4G is similar to rooting the G2, but with some slightly easier Terminal commands thanks to a script from XDA Developers. Hit the link below for the full instructions.
Inspire 4G owners are lucky enough to have a friendly GUI solution for Windows called Simple Root that will help you root your phone. It isn't a short process, and you'll also need a Terminal Emulator to get it done, but it will guide you through the process nicely.
The EVO Shift 4G is another outlier, but it's a simple one to root. Just grab this one-click root tool for Windows, plug in your phone, and hit Root. The first time you hit Root, click "No" when it prompts you about HBoot. It will temporarily root your phone, after which you need to reboot your phone and hit the Root button again, this time answering yes.
From there, you can flash a new recovery like ClockworkMod or AmonRA, which will let you make backups, flash ROMs, and do other neat things. You can also do this by downloading ROM Manager from the Market and flashing ClockworkMod from there. Check out the thread at XDA for more info on how it works.
Now, the world is your oyster. Like I said before, I'd recommend checking out our original guide to rooting the Motorola Droid to see some of the things you can do, but I'd also highly recommend considering:
That should get you started. Of course, share your own favorite root tweaks in the comments.
This guide should have you up and running with root permissions on nearly every Android phone out there. Like I mentioned before, I can't test every android phone in existence, so your mileage may vary.
The majority of you will be able to use
If you're running an HTC phone from 2010 and earlier, chances are you'll need to use the Unrevoked tool. More specifically, Unrevoked roots the following phones:
Rooting the MyTouch 4G is similar to rooting the G2, but with some slightly easier Terminal commands thanks to a script from XDA Developers. Hit the link below for the full instructions.
The Atrix 4G now has an unlockable bootloader, meaning root is fairly easy to achieve. You'll need to 
