Untethered Jailbreak vs. Tethered Jailbreak vs. SemiTethered Jailbreak — What’s the Difference?

The age old questions remain: What’s an untethered jailbreak? Why is a tethered jailbreak

undesirable?

What’s a tethered boot? Why does my iPhone keep rebooting over and over after I jailbreak?

If you’ve ever asked one of these questions, or you’re still looking for answers, then step inside to learn, and contribute your knowledge to the discussion…

Here’s a quick textual overview of all three types of jailbreaks:

Untethered Jailbreak

The cream of the crop. The most desirable jailbreak of them all. An untethered jailbreak allows you to jailbreak your device, run Cydia apps and tweaks, and reboot your device at will with no consequences.

SemiTethered Jailbreak

This is a jailbreak that allows you to reboot your device, but not without some consequences. After rebooting, you may not be able to run any Cydia jailbreak apps, and even some stock apps like Safari may be inaccessible. A SemiTethered jailbreak is normally a tethered jailbreak with a package installed that allows you to reboot with limited use. You must perform a tethered boot (see video for explanation) to regain full functionality to your jailbroken device. Much better than a tethered jailbreak, but not quite as good as the untethered variety.

Tethered Jalbreak

The least desirable of the three. With a tethered jailbreak you cannot reboot your device at all without doing a tethered boot. A tethered boot requires access to a computer, so if you’re out an about, and your device reboots, you’re up a creek without a paddle.

Hopefully the video and additional explanations cleared up any lingering confusion. If you have anything else to add to the discussion, please leave a message in the comments below.