SemiRestore-Lite released with support for iOS 10.2

iOS and jailbreak developer CoolStar announced yesterday a new version of the well-known SemiRestore tool, called SemiRestore-Lite.

Unlike the full version of the tool, SemiRestore-Lite is run directly on your jailbroken iOS device, and does not require a computer.

The original SemiRestore supported restoring devices on iOS 5 all the way up to iOS 9.1, and required a computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux. It does not however support the latest firmwares and jailbreaks, such as Yalu for iOS 10.

Enter SemiRestore-Lite, which has been specially written to support iOS 10.2, the most recent jailbreakable firmware. It comes in the form of a single executable, which the user must currently manually place on their device, and then run from a mobile Terminal application. It will then remove all tweaks, packages, and jailbreak related preference files, as well as any stashing which the user has implemented.

The goal of this process is to return the device to as fresh a state as possible, without actually restoring it, and whilst retaining Cydia and its core dependencies. Note that this is a key difference between it and Saurik’s Cydia Eraser; Eraser completely restores the device to stock, including removing Cydia itself, whereas SemiRestore-Lite does not. However, given that Cydia Eraser has not been updated to support iOS 10 yet, this may be the best you can manage for now (though see the concluding paragraph below).

Interestingly, CoolStar has commented that a full “non-Lite” version of the tool could be made, to be run from a computer, with full feature parity with the original SemiRestore for 5.0-9.1. Given the interest which has been expressed in that, we may yet see it come to fruition before long.

If your device has been over-tweaked, is now suffering for it, and needs to be given a tune-up, SemiRestore-Lite for iOS 10.2 is available to download. However, until I have time to write up a guide, it’ll be up to you to work out how to use it.

Please remember that if these tools go wrong for any reason, they can leave you having to restore your device. That could mean going to iOS 10.2.1 and losing your jailbreak. Decide carefully whether using this tool is really necessary before doing it on a whim. Any adverse consequences are for you to bear, and bear alone.

Whilst CoolStar’s SemiRestore is a well-known entity, it’s the nature of these tools to pose a certain risk to your device. In general, I advise against using any tool such as Cydia Eraser or SemiRestore except in direst need. And by that I don’t mean “my device is buggy because I installed too many tweaks, I want to freshen it up”. By that I mean “my device is now completely unusable, I have tried everything I know, and if this doesn’t work I will deliberately restore to iOS 10.2.1 anyway”.

My final piece of advice would be that if you have truly reached a state of direst need and have to have a fresh start, you could consider using futurerestore to completely restore your device from iOS 10.2 to iOS 10.2. This is essentially a full iTunes restore and so will fix any problem, even those which SemiRestore is not designed for. If I was going to such lengths to clean up my device anyway, that would be my preference of tool for a fresh start.

Of course, futurerestore requires technical know-how and .shsh2 blobs, so although my comprehensive guide should be enough to see you though, there will still be some who prefer to stick with a “lighter” solution, and for that, SemiRestore-Lite for iOS 10.2 should do the trick.

Have you tried SemiRestore-Lite? How did it go?