Update old version of iOS. Step-by-step iPhone recovery

iOS 7 made a lot of noise in its time; until the recent release of the 10th version of the “Seven” operating system, it held the pedestal of the largest update to the Apple mobile platform. In addition to a bunch of new options, it also brought a completely new, so-called flat design. Needless to say, all i-users immediately rushed to update their devices.

However, it soon became clear that not all Apple devices that are allowed to update to iOS 7 work with it quickly and without glitches. So, for example, if there were practically no problems on the iPhone 4S, but the four seriously lagged. That’s why many iPhone 4 users, some time after “communicating” with the seven, wondered: is it possible to roll back to iOS 6?

We answer - you can! In this article we will tell you how to return iOS 6 to your fourth iPhone.

Interesting question, the answer is simple - no way! Apple does not officially support rolling back devices to previous versions of iOS. The position of the Apple giant is this: have they updated? There is no turning back!

It turns out that if we decided to roll back an Apple gadget to a version younger than the one currently installed on it, we have to perform an unofficial procedure, and not a single unofficial procedure is possible on an i-device without a jailbreak!

For reference: Jelbreaking is essentially hacking an i-smartphone. The operation allows you to access private system files and expands personalization options. After jailbreaking, a store appears on the device applications Cydia is an alternative to the official App Store; it contains a lot of unofficial applications for Apple devices.

How to return iOS 6 to a jailbroken i-device?

Let us note right away that the rollback procedure is, in fact, not very complicated, but still some knowledge and ability to handle Apple equipment will be required. However, we will try to present the rollback instructions as clearly as possible, and if you are a novice user, but strictly follow the instructions, there will be no “blank spots” left.

Important point number one! The described rollback methods answer only the question - how can you install iOS 6 on an iPhone 4 smartphone? Other iPhone models cannot be returned to the sixth version of the platform using the guides below!

Important point number two - before doing a rollback, you will definitely need to jailbreak!

Important point number three! The most important! The author of the article and the portal publishing it are not responsible for possible negative consequences that may result from jailbreaking and rollback.

Well? Aren't you scared yet? Then let's get started.

Jailbreak iPhone 4 iOS 7.1-7.1.2

Judging by the title, you probably realized that in order to jailbreak your iPhone 4, you must have one of the following versions of iOS installed. So if you have any of the “zero” versions of the seven, you will first have to update. To do this, go to “Settings” of the iPhone, then “General”, “Software Update”, search for and download the available ones. The maximum version for the four is 7.1.2, most likely this is what you will see when searching for updates, it is quite suitable for us.

Has the update been completed? The next step is to create a backup - remember the warning? No one guarantees that jailbreak and/or rollback will be successful. A backup will help return everything to normal in case of failure.

To create a backup in iCloud, go to “Settings”, then “iCloud” / “Backup”, activate the “iCloud Backup” slider, click the “Create a backup” button.

To make a backup in iTunes, connect your device to your PC, when it is detected, click the “Browse” tab, then “Create a copy now.”

Well, that's all, if the backup is made, we are ready to jailbreak. Let's get started:

A successful jailbreak will be indicated by the Cydia icon on the desktop.

Rollback iPhone 4 to iOS 6

For reference! I wonder what SHSH hashes are, why they are needed and how to store them? Here is an excellent article on this topic.

So the first group executes the following instruction:

All! Once iFaith installs the firmware, the device will automatically reboot and you can happily use iOS 6 again.

Well, now about the second group of users who were unlucky enough to have saved SHSH. In their case, the path to rollback will be much more difficult - but in order not to frighten you with lengthy instructions, we’ll just give you a link to an excellent video.

What to do if a jailbreak or rollback turned your iPhone into a brick?

Yes, such a situation, unfortunately, is not excluded, but in 99% of cases the device only “pretends” to be a brick and you can save it, to do this, connect your iPhone to iTunes and enter it into DFU mode, most likely the program will detect the smartphone, but, of course , only in recovery mode. This means that the gadget will work after this procedure, but all data will be erased. However, if you followed our advice and made a backup before jailbreaking and/or rollback, during the initial setup you can pull out all the information from the backup copy.

Let's summarize

So, now you know how to install iOS 6 on an iPhone 4 smartphone. Unfortunately, this procedure cannot be called simple. However, if the device on the seven lags mercilessly, do you have another option? If it doesn’t work out, you can use a backup copy to return everything to normal (in 99% of cases!).

The release of a new version of iOS is always an important event for all users of Apple products. A new interface, functions, elimination of old errors, improved performance and much, much more - all this can be provided by the new firmware... for the majority of users. However, what if you didn’t like the new firmware from Apple or, for example, your device had some serious problems with it? In this case, you can carry out the process of rolling back to the previous version of iOS.

It’s worth saying right away that the process of rolling back to a previous version of iOS is not an extremely complicated process, and even a user who has mediocre knowledge of modern technologies can handle it. It is also worth mentioning that, unfortunately, the rollback process can only be performed to the previous version of the operating system, and in a rather limited time. Apple, so to speak, allows its users to check the new version of the firmware, and then return to the previous one if you are not satisfied with something.

In this article, we will describe the rollback process in detail so that you do not face any problems. So, what do you need to perform a rollback? And you will need the following:

• Firmware of the previous version.
• Your device, i.e. iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
• USB cable.
• A computer and iTunes installed on it (the latest version, of course!).

As you can see, you don't need much. Find a simple USB cable, install the latest version of iTunes on your computer and let's get started. So, first we need to provide you with the required firmware version.

At the moment, the firmware version of iOS 11 is available to users, which was released quite recently, and therefore we will need to find iOS 10.3.3 for you. However, you can apply this rollback guide to any version at any time. The best place to find the required firmware is a resource called getios.com. Go to this site using your computer's browser.

• YOUR DEVICE - Select the device available to you on which you want to rollback to a previous version of iOS.
• THE MODEL - select the device model in this field.
• iOS VERSION is the previous version of iOS that you will install on your device. If you want to downgrade from iOS 11, you will need iOS 10.3.3 firmware.

Once you fill out the required fields, you only need to click on the DOWNLOAD button, after which the file with the treasured firmware will be downloaded to your computer. After downloading the firmware, it’s time to move on to the fun part – rolling back iOS.

Creating a Backup

It is worth mentioning in advance that rolling back to the previous version will completely delete all personal data and files from your device, and also reset the settings to factory settings. In this regard, unless you do not care about the contents of your device, we recommend creating a backup copy.

There are two ways to back up your Apple device: in iTunes on your computer and in iCloud. You can use one way or another - it doesn't matter. As a precaution, we recommend that you create two backup copies at once in the specified locations. This is done in case something goes wrong when using one of the backup copies.

Rollback to a previous version of iOS

So, if you have prepared the necessary things, and also created backup copies to restore your data, let’s proceed directly to the rollback process, which, it is worth noting, is much easier to perform than it initially seems. Let us describe further actions in the form of a list:

• First, you will need to disable software protection on your device. Go to Settings→iCloud→Find iPhone or iPad, and then deactivate protection. This is necessary in order to reflash your device.
• Next, go to your computer and open iTunes on it. We remind you that you need to use the latest version of the program to avoid problems when flashing.
• Now connect your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to your computer using a USB cable. iTunes will begin the process of detecting the device connected to your PC.
• Once iTunes has completed the detection, go to the device management page.
• Next, hold down the Shift button on your keyboard, and then click on “Update” in the open control window for your device.
• A Windows Explorer window will open in front of you, in which you will need to point to the previously downloaded firmware. Once you do this, you will be prompted to confirm that you have installed iOS. Confirm your request.

That's all. By clicking on confirmation, the process of installing the previous version of iOS firmware will begin in iTunes. This may take some time, so you may want to keep your mind busy. It is also worth remembering that the process of rolling back the firmware should not be disturbed under any circumstances, unless you want to create a real brick for yourself, which will be much more difficult to bring back to life.

The iOS firmware rollback will be completed when a welcome message appears on the screen of your device. After it, you can safely configure the device again, and also use a previously created backup copy to restore personal data and settings. As you can see, the process is extremely simple and does not require deep knowledge.

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iPhone restoration is a standard operation to return an Apple smartphone to a working state after various failures. Unsuccessful firmware, incorrectly executed jailbreak, incorrect iOS update - if you know how to restore an iPhone, you can fix almost any problems that arise during the operation of this device.

Recovery procedure

To restore your iPhone, you need to enter Recovery Mode. It's easy to do:

When the iPhone is ready for the rollback and error correction procedure, click the “Restore” button.

iTunes will independently find the current firmware version and install it on the smartphone, returning it to the state in which it was immediately after purchase.

Working in DFU mode

If iPhone recovery does not work in Recovery Mode, then you need to enter the device into DFU mode. This mode is used when there are software errors - for example, when the iPhone does not turn on. DFU mode works at the hardware level, so it helps to reset all settings even in the most difficult cases. To enter DFU mode:

1. Connect your device to your computer.
2. Press and hold Power and Home for 10 seconds.
3. After counting to 10, release Power while continuing to hold the Home button.

It's difficult to enter DFU mode the first time because nothing changes on the screen. If the recovery mode detects itself as an iTunes icon, then the phone does not seem to turn on in DFU. Therefore, you need to look at the computer screen where iTunes is running. As soon as the iPhone enters DFU mode, a notification will appear in iTunes informing you that the program has detected the device in recovery mode, and you need to reset all settings and content to continue working with your smartphone.

If you need to install another firmware, hold down Shift and click “Restore”. An explorer will appear through which you need to specify the path to the previously downloaded firmware.

Recovery without a computer

If you don’t have your computer at hand, it won’t turn on, or you can’t connect your iPhone to it, then try resetting all settings through the device settings. As a result of this operation, you will receive a clean smartphone without settings and user information, so be sure to make a backup before resetting. If the smartphone turns on normally:

It is not necessary to delete user files. If the iPhone turns on, then you can eliminate problems with its operation by simply resetting the settings. In this case, the user’s personal data will remain intact.

Recovery after reset

If you need to restore your iPhone after resetting all settings and deleting content, you won’t be able to do this without a backup copy. The presence of a backup file with information stored in the device’s memory is the main point that needs to be checked before performing a reset. After restoring the iPhone to its factory state, all personal data of the user is erased from it.

Creating a backup before resetting:

After the reset, the iPhone will be like new: no content or settings will remain on it. To get all the information back, you need to connect the device to your computer and restore from the backup via iTunes. Choose the most recent backup, as it stores the most current information.

You can also restore all settings after a reset via iCloud, provided that you stored backups on the cloud. In this case, when setting up your iPhone, you need to select the “Restore a copy from iCloud” option and specify a suitable backup.

Problems during recovery

If after a normal recovery the phone does not turn on, then it makes sense to put it in DFU mode and try restoring it through iTunes again. This time you should not trust iTunes: download the official firmware and select it in the Explorer window by holding Shift and clicking on the “Restore” button .

Sometimes the TinyUmbrella utility helps solve the problem that the smartphone does not turn on after resetting the settings via iTunes. This program has an “Exit Recovery” button. If the iPhone does not turn on after recovery, you need to select it in the TinyUmbrella window and click “Exit Recovery”.

Have you jumped at the chance to update your iPhone and iPad to iOS 10, only to find out that the firmware is causing problems that you no longer want to endure?

You are not alone - many users have encountered problems with rapid battery drain or performance degradation. If you are one of those users who are wondering how to restore an old version of iOS, then you should know the whole truth about the situation with rolling back to previous versions.

Just a month after the release of iOS 10, Apple stopped signing the iOS 9.3.5 version, which means it is impossible to roll back from new versions. The same thing happened with versions 10.1 and 10.2. According to Apple, all the bugs that previously prevented users from fully enjoying iOS 10 have been eliminated and there is no need to return to older versions that could threaten the security of user data.

Until the end of 2016, users could use the standard method - downloading the IPSW file of the previous version of iOS using iTunes. But now Apple has closed this opportunity and users who rushed to try out new features have no choice but to look for unconventional methods to solve the problem.

In December 2016, a hacker using the nickname tihmstar released the Prometheus utility, which, provided that SHSH blobs digital certificates were saved, could be used to roll back to older versions of iOS. But right before the New Year, Apple blocked the utility by adjusting the operation of the servers for issuing digital signatures. After this, everyone who tried to retrieve digital certificates only received an error from the server.

By February 2017, the author of the utility managed to find a solution to bypass the blocking and some users were able to use the utility to downgrade (downgrade or rollback). But the tool only worked inside 10.0.x - 10.2.1 if SHSH blobs were saved in advance. For example, with Prometheus you can save SHSH blobs certificates for iOS 10.2, upgrade to 10.2.1, and then return back to the previous version.

As for the rollback from iOS 10.Х.Х to iOS 9.Х.Х, Apple has put an end to it, closing any possibility of switching to the old version. When you try to install an older version of iOS, iTunes contacts the certificate issuing server in order to activate the firmware. Since Apple considers firmware below 10.2 obsolete, the user simply receives an error due to the lack of digital signatures.

Thus, iOS users are left to look for the advantages of existing firmware versions and update only when they are sure that the new versions being released do not contain errors.
If there are any new ways to downgrade to older versions in the future, we will definitely inform you about it.