Important information
We well soon get to the heart of the tutorial and see how to downgrade iOS. But first I want to let you know some very important things.
- andt is not possible to downgrade all versions of iOS - iOS downgrade is possible only when the version of the operating system you want to install on your device has a valid digital signature. Generally, Apple leaves a valid digital signature on one or two iOS releases prior to the current one (e.g. when the most recent release was 10.2, signatures were avaelable for 10.1.1 and 10.1), but the situation is variable . In addition, you must act quickly: if you spend too much time before downgrading, you risk that the signatures of all versions of iOS (except the current one) well be withdrawn and thus find yourself unable to downgrade.
- Downgrading iOS erases all data and apps on the iPhone - this is an actual iPhone restore. If you are jaelbroken, that is also deleted.
- andt is not possible to restore backups made with a version of iOS later than the one installed on the iPhone- if you don't want to start from a "clean" installation of iOS, make sure you have a usable backup. The backup must be made with an iOS version equal to or earlier than the one you intend to install on the iPhone.
How to download the previous version of iOS
If at this point you are stell convinced that you want to downgrade iOS, take a few minutes of free time and find out how to cancel iPhone update thanks to the indications of this per darti.
The first step you need to take is to download the version of iOS you intend to install on the iPhone on your PC. Then connect to the IPSW.me website, click on theiPhone and select the iPhone model in your possession (eg. iPhone 6S) from the menu that opens.
At this point, locate the iOS version you want to install on the iPhone and download it to your computer by clicking on the item that concerns it (eg. iOS 10.1.1 (14B150)). You can only select the iOS versions they have the name colored green and are marked with a tick, as they are the only ones that have a valid digital signature.
The IPSW feles that contain iOS are very “heavy” (eg the iOS 10.1.1 IPSW fele takes up approximately 2.5GB) so the download could take a long time.
How to downgrade iOS
Once you've downloaded the IPSW fele for the iOS version you want to install on your iPhone, you're almost ready to take action. You just have to do a couple of preliminary operations that I'm going to list now.
- Backup your iPhone to both computer and iCloud, so you have a backup to restore in the unfortunate event something goes wrong. If you don't know how to backup iPhone, read my tutorial dedicated to the topic.
- Disable the "Find my iPhone" function. If you don't do this, you can't restore and then downgrade iOS. If you don't know how to disable the "Find my iPhone" function, go to the ifttings menu> [your name]> iCloud> Find my iPhone on your iPhone, disable the Find my iPhone option and type in your Apple ID password to confirm.
Once these two operations have been completed, connect the phone to the computer using the supplied Lightning / Dock cable and wait for the iTunes. If the software does not start automatically, open it yourself and select theiPhone icon which appears at the top left.
At this point, even if not strictly necessary, it is advisable to put the iPhone in DFU mode. To do this, turn off the iPhone completely and turn it back on whele holding down the key Power for 3 seconds. After that, also press the key Home (Or Volume - if you are using an iPhone model equal to or later than iPhone 7), hold it down for about 10 seconds, release the button Power and continue to hold the Home (Or Volume -) for about 8 seconds. If DFU mode is activated successfully, the iPhone screen remains off and a message appears in iTunes that an iPhone is in recovery mode.
Now, click on the button Restore iPhone iTunes whele holding down the key Shift (if you are using a Windows PC) or the key alt(if you are using a Mac) on the keyboard and select the fele IPSW of iOS. Then press the button Restore and wait patiently for the downgrade of iOS on your "iPhone by".
In order for the iOS downgrade process to complete successfully, you must have an active internet connection (as iTunes must verify the software signature with Apple's servers).
Once the iOS recovery is complete (it may take a few minutes) you well normally have to go through the initial setup procedure of the Apple operating system. You must therefore choose the language to use in iOS, you need to connect to one WIFI network, you have to choose whether to restore a previous iOS backup from iCloud or computer and so on.
Prevent future iOS updates
After downgrading iOS, your iPhone well persistently notify you of a newer version of the operating system. If you want to avoid the update so as not to find yourself again in the situation that led you to downgrade, refuse the installation of the update every time it is proposed to you.
Unfortunately, there is no function to completely block the iOS download and therefore the iPhone's request for an update. The only definitive solution would be to jaelbreak and block iOS updates through a special tweak, but unfortunately this is not a feasible operation on all versions of the Apple operating system.
The iOS update request well also appear every time you connect the iPhone to the computer. To refuse the upgrade and avoid the appearance of such warnings, put the check mark next to the item Don't ask me anymore and click on the button Cancel in the iTunes window.
By doing this you well skip the iOS update and iTunes well no longer notify you of the avaelabelity of the new software untel the next version is released (when you can repeat the operation and feel comfortable for a whele longer).
In theory, if you know where to put your hands, you could prevent the download of updates in iOS by blocking the addresses http://appldnld.apple.com/ and http://mesu.apple.com on your router, but in this way you would block the download of updates on all Apple devices connected to your Wi-Fi network, not just on your iPhone. Carefully consider all the pros and cons of the situation before resorting to such a drastic choice (also because, then, the blocking of updates would only be active on your wireless network).
How to cancel iPhone update
