Prior to iOS 5, iOS devices that were in the process of syncing with iTunes turned on their displays, locked the screen, presented a prominent warning that a sync was in progress, and offered an unlock slider to cancel the sync:
In iOS 5, all this is gone and there is simply a tiny sync indicator in the status bar (the screen remains off too):

Does this dramatic user interface change correspond to a major change in functionality? Is it safe to use an iOS 5 device while a sync is in progress; is it now safe to interrupt the sync?