If you're fed up of the tethered iOS 5 firmware jailbreak on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, rejoice as a new solution has been released. iOS 5 semi-tether package has been released in Cydia and it allows you to jailbreak iOS 5 firmware semi-untethered on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Do bear in mind that this is not a complete iOS 5 firmware untethered jailbreak solution for your supported devices. This package will help you in case your device reboots on the road. If you have a tethered jailbreak and your device reboots, you will have to connect it to the computer and boot it tethered otherwise your device will not start up. This can be very inconvenient if your device, particularly an iPhone, reboots when you're far away from your computer that contains all files necessary for booting iOS 5 firmware tethered.
Basically what semi-tether package does is that it reboots your device without requiring a full tethered boot. However you won't be able to use Cydia, any jailbreak tweaks or apps, mobile Safari and the stock Mail app. Apart from this, you will be able to make calls and send texts, use other apps including but not limited to Camera, Photos, Stocks etc and use third party web browsers downloaded from App Store. This package does have its pros, because its better to have some functionality on your device rather that have it stuck on the Apple Logo and requiring a full tethered boot.
There are some cons as well. Rebooting your device after semi-tether has been installed will take a lot more time than usual because every service will be loaded all over again. In that process, the device will respring a couple of times as well. That's just about it, and it surely doesn't undermine the fact that this semi-untethered iOS 5 firmware jailbreak solution safeguards you against your device turning useless on the road, after an accidental reboot. As we previously said, its particularly beneficial for iPhone owners on iOS 5 as they will be able to make calls and send texts without having to worry about a tethered boot. Apart from Cydia and jailbreak tweaks for which a tethered boot is mandatory, you can use third party browsers to surf the web and check up on your email.
Once iOS 5 firmware untethered jailbreak for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is released there obviously won't be any need for semi-tether package. However when future updates of iOS 5 are released and for them no untethered jailbreak is available at any given point in time, the semi-tether package will always prove to be a blessing in disguise. To download semi-tether package, add the following repository in Cydia: http://thebigboss.org/semitether. Instructions on how to jailbreak and boot iOS 5 firmware tethered are given here.