Charlie app for ios. How to roll back an update for any application on iPhone and iPad. Video: rollback iOS from any version to an older one
Hello, today I will tell you about a method to roll back any iOS applications using iTunes and Charles without jailbreaking.
Previously, I wrote an article about the method of rolling back to iOS 8.4.1 from version 9.3.5, and most users, including me, had a problem that many applications require a system version starting from 9, and the developer does not allow downloading an earlier version of the program , supporting the old version of the OS. Of these, I will highlight Google with their applications - Chrome and YouTube.
This method is suitable for absolutely any device on any version of iOS!
What do you need:
- iTunes version 12.4.2 - the latest versions will not work with this method! Therefore, if you have the latest version of “tuna” installed, remove it and install the one indicated in the article.
- Charles latest version.
- The method is suitable for Mac and Windows
- Let's launch Charles.
Guide to installing unsupported games and programs on iPhone, iPad previous generations and running previous versions of iOS.
Developers often place restrictions on their applications, prohibiting them from running on devices of previous generations and/or with an old version iOS. There are several reasons for this:
The application was compiled (built) for a newer processor
Technical reason. If so, then the application was created exclusively for new iPhone, iPad and there is no reason to edit it, since it will still crash on old devices.Here is a list of processors arranged by device model:
- iPhone 2G: ARM11
- iPod touch: ARM11
- iPhone 3G: ARM11
- iPod touch 2g: ARMV6
- iPhone 3GS: ARMV7
- iPod touch 3g: ARMV7
- iPhone 4: Apple A4
- iPod touch 4: Apple A4
- iPad: Apple A4
- iPhone 4S: Apple A5
- iPad 2: Apple A5
- iPad 3: Apple A5X
However, sometimes developers simply try to push the user into buying a new iDevice or updating iOS to temporarily get rid of piracy, for example, as was once done with iPhoto And iWork.
Then, edited, this application will run smoothly on your iPhone or iPad, without the need to update it.
Each application lists its system requirements. Your requirements - capabilities are indicated in:
"/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist" "/System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/***AP.plist"
These sheets cannot be edited unless your device has been jailbroken, but we can edit the application requirements.
How to change application requirements for iPhone, iPad
What do we need for this:Archiver 7-zip, an editor for *plist type files such as Plist Editor For Windows, file manager iFunBox, and the IPA file of the application itself.
Editing procedure:
1. Copy your IPA file somewhere;
2. Open it using 7-zip;
3. Find, extract and open" iTunesMetadata.plist". For the first time, we recommend extracting it and editing it separately using Plist Editor For Windows;
4. In it you will find the lines " UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities", or " MinimumOSVersion". You just need to remove the required DeviceCapabilities and set the minimum system requirement to iOS version 1.0. If there is no line " UIRequiredCapabilities"then nothing to worry about, same with" MinimumOSVersion";
How to change requirements:
We find:
200?"200px":""+(this.scrollHeight+5)+"px");">
An empty line looks like this:
200?"200px":""+(this.scrollHeight+5)+"px");">
How to change operating system requirements:
We find:
200?"200px":""+(this.scrollHeight+5)+"px");">
We change:
200?"200px":""+(this.scrollHeight+5)+"px");">
5. Replace the original one with the modified one plist;
6. Find Info.plist in the application file and do the same as we did with " iTunesMetadata.plist"
7. Save;
8. Install using iFunbox.
If the installation fails, see the error message. If it is "0xe8003ffe" or "-402636802", then the growth application was created for a different processor. Even if you manually install the application, it will not start.
Try it, as the chance of launching the application increases significantly, at least on iOS 5.0 iPad 2 iPhoto launched.) Unsubscribe.
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Unfortunately, applications do not always work better after installing updates. In some cases, long-awaited updates can not only make the program better, but also remove useful features or add new bugs. If an unsuccessful update is released, users will have to wait until the developers fix the problem by releasing another update. But there is another way - you can install an earlier version of the application yourself.
To install a “legacy” version of an iOS app or game, users need to:
1. Download and install the application called . On the official website you can find versions for Windows, OS X and Linux.
2. Find in iTunes the application whose old version you want to install.
3. Start downloading the application to iTunes and Charles in the section Structure find activity like “buy.itunes.apple.com”.
4. Select the line “buy.itunes.apple.com” and call up the context menu with the right mouse button, then enable the item “ ».
5. Stop downloading the application in the store.
6. Remove the application from the download list in iTunes.
7. Find the desired application in iTunes and start and stop the download again.
8. In Charles, open a new activity of the form “buy.itunes.apple.com”. There should be several new attachments in it. Select the item " buyProduct».
9. Go to the Response tab and right-click on “buyProduct” and select “Export”.
10. Export a file with an XML extension. You can select your desktop as the export location.
11. Open the XML file and find the line:
Below it will be lines like:
These are versions of the application that were released earlier. To install the “outdated” version, you need to select one of the numbers and copy it to the clipboard.
12. Return to Charles.
13. Call the context menu on the “buyProduct” item and select the “Edit” item.
14. In the window that opens, go to the “Text” section, where you find the line:
Below it in the tag
15. To install an “outdated” version, insert the number of an earlier version of the application between the tags and press the “Excute” button.
16. Right-click on the last entry “buyProduct” in the list under the activity “buy.itunes.apple.com” and select “Breakpoints”.
17. Find the desired application in iTunes again and start downloading it.
18. Return to Charles, select the activity “buy.itunes.apple.com”, and on the right side of the window switch to Edit Request –> XML Text.
19. In the field
20. On the confirmation page, click “Execute” again.
21. Wait until the application is downloaded in iTunes.
22. Check the version of the just downloaded program or game in the “My Applications” section. To do this, call up the context menu and select “Information”.
23. If an “outdated” version of the application is available in the iTunes library, you can connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer and transfer the program to the memory of your mobile device, having previously deleted the newer version.
Detailed video instructions from iDB:
It happens that after updating an application for iPhone or iPad, you need to rollback and the question arises of how to return to the previous version. User AndreyYu on geektimes.com solved the issue.
Previously, getting the ipa file of the application was a matter of 2 minutes, you just had to go to apptrackr and download, but it stopped working and no other similar resources were found that would allow you to honestly download the ipa file (but what if you know such ones?).
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The following methods remain to obtain the old version of the application:
- You have an old backup of applications from your phone in iTunes and then you can simply copy the application back (but I didn’t have this).
- Use a method quickly described by someone on the Internet using software called Charles. This method is described on resources like 4dpa and copied by many people without understanding what is written there, however, without additional >100 grams it is difficult to understand this writing.
Perhaps I will do this more fully, with pictures and in a simpler, understandable form. In general, to download the old version of software from the AppStore it will take about 5 minutes, and in my case, Mac OS X. The method will obviously work on Windows, because There is also a Charles app for this system.
All your torment will begin even before you download Charles. The fact is that if you update iTunes on a Mac, you will not be able to install applications starting from version 12.7. To get it back, you need to install version 12.6.4 back. 
What to do next to roll back an application update on iOS
Short: download the application via the AppStore in iTunes, then enable the proxy, then download again, edit the request, send the request, get the old version, install.
Details: After launching Charles, you need to install application certificates on your Mac. This is done through the menu Help → SSL Proxying → Install Charles Root Cetrificate. The certificate then needs to be switched to Always Trust status in Keychain Access. If you do not install it, there will be errors and the method will not work.
In iTunes, look for the Inoreader application (this is suitable for any application, but at that moment I was only interested in it), launch Charles and click Download in the application installation window:
In the Charles window you see a similar line with the word “buy” in the address, associated with the apple server:
For information, please note that the size of the downloaded file is 20.4 MB:
Then you need to turn on SSL Proxying to intercept and edit requests:
Since, most likely, you have fast Internet and the application has already been loaded into the application library, you need to remove it from there.
We check once again that SSL Proxying is enabled and proceed to re-download the application from the AppStore; in this case, you need to pause the download so that you have time for the next steps. After clicking on Download, another line will appear in the Charles window in the apple server, containing the word “buy”. Expanding this line you need to find buyProduct:
On the right side of the window, click on Contents and select below XML Text. Scroll down until we find softwareVersionExternalIdentifiers with a list of incomprehensible numbers.
These numbers act as application versions. Accordingly, the lower the number, the older the application version. How do I know which version of the application will be downloaded? For example, I randomly took the value 823964615 from the end of the list:
Now we need to check the application version. To do this, we go to “buyProduct” and select from the menu Compose and on the right side of the window is the Text view.
At the very top of the field there will be a familiar set of numbers after the parameter
Instead of these numbers we substitute the 823964615 copied above and it should turn out like this:
and we do Execute. The program will give you a window and select the display mode XML Text we can find the bundleShortVersionString parameter below and see that the value we selected corresponds to version 5.4.4, which in my case is what is needed, because This version is almost the latest before updating to 6.0
One step left. You need to download this whole thing. To do this, in our last edited request buyProduct with the received version 5.4.4, select in the menu Breakpoints.
Again, go to the AppStore to download the Inoreader application (if the application has already been downloaded to the library and you did not have time to stop it, then simply delete it so that you can download it again).
As soon as you click download in iTunes, the Charles window will pop up, where you will need to click on Edit Request and in the already familiar appExtVrsId parameter, correct the version to 823964615, click Execute, and then again at Execute.
As a result, the application will start loading and you will see that the application size has changed downward:
A program icon with an Update shortcut will appear in the iTunes application library. This will mean that you did everything right. You can do Get Info application and it will be written:
Upon completion of the work, you should do in Charles Disable SSL Proxying by clicking on the server p30-buy.itunes.apple.com.
I must say that I managed to do this procedure 2 times.
I hope this will be as useful to someone as it was to me.
A fairly common situation is that you update an application or game and instead of improved performance and new features, you get a completely non-working tool. Developers of all stripes make similar mistakes, and you can only roll back from a new version to an old one using the Charles Proxy tool.
The Charles Proxy program can also be useful in cases where some functions have been removed in new versions of applications or games. There are a whole host of examples of such remote functions; take, for example, the official VKontakte or YouTube applications, the latest version of which causes only negative emotions in users.
We would like to note right away that despite the apparent complexity, any user can install the old version of any application. The main thing is to strictly follow the instructions. In it we installed one of the first versions of the popular social network Instagram application on the iPad.
Step 1: Download, Install and Run Charles Tool for Windows or Mac (Download)
Step 2: Launch iTunes and start downloading the app whose older version you want to install on your iPhone or iPad
Step 3. In the Charles window, select the iTunes server from which the application is downloaded with the word "buy". Right-click on the server name and select Enable SSL Proxying
Step 4: Return to the iTunes window and stop downloading the application
Note: if the application has already been downloaded, then it must be deleted in the “My Programs” section
Step 5: Find the app you want in iTunes again and start downloading it again
Step 6. Go to the Charles window and find another line with the word “ buy" - this is exactly the object we are looking for. Go back to iTunes and stop downloading the app
Step 7. Expand the found thread with the word “ buy" in Charles and find the line buyProduct
Step 8: Select a stitch buyProduct and go to the tab Response, where specify the display type XML Text
Step 9. On the screen, after the line softwareVersionExternalIdentifiers, you will see lines like:
where the seven-digit number represents the application version numbers, arranged in ascending order. In our example, we rolled back Instagram to a truly ancient version 1.8.7, the build number of which was first in the list. In practice, it is most often necessary to roll back to the previous version, so it is recommended to select the build number (the one enclosed in the tag
Step 10. Right click on the item buyProduct and select Edit
Step 11. Select a section XML Text and find the line in the field:
where XXXX is the latest version of the application. Instead of XXXX, you need to paste the value copied in step 9, then click Execute. In our example, we changed the number 81542337 to 2948163, thereby rolling back the latest version of Instagram to the earliest one.
Step 12. Again, right-click on the item buyProduct and select Breakpoints
Step 14: Go to iTunes, find your application and refresh the page (Ctrl + R on Windows). After that, start downloading the tool
Step 15. A moment after you click the download button, you will be transferred to Charles, where you need to switch to the screen Edit Request -> XML Text. In field
Step 16. Then click again Execute
Step 17: Go to iTunes and make sure the app has started downloading. Wait for the download to finish
Step 18: In iTunes, select the " My programs", find your application and right-click on it, select " Intelligence" Here you can make sure that the old version of the application is being downloaded
Step 19. Remove the new version of the required application from your iPhone or iPad, connect the device to iTunes and install the old version
Step 20. After synchronization is complete, your smartphone or tablet will have an old version of the required application
