Hello Everyone, I am delighted to inform you that I just successfully downgraded two iPhones (a 5 S and a Six Plus) from iOS beta 9.1 back to the currently released iOS 9.0 via iTunes without losing any data or without having to first restore the phones back to their factory defaults. It appears as though Apple has built a new function into the latest version of iTunes that makes this process simple and painless.
What a wonderful surprise and convenience for those of us who want to beta test Apple software while having access to the latest release which, in many cases, is one version prior to the current beta without having to reset everything. The following article, from 9 to 5 Mac, gives the general steps in order to downgrade, however, the article was written before Apple added this new functionality into iTunes. There for, I have modified step 5, reflecting the new available option. Just so you know, you must use the latest version of iTunes, which, as of this post, is v12.3, on a computer in order to perform a non-destructive downgrade to an earlier, non-beta version of iOS. Remember, this is for those of us who were running iOS beta 9.1 who want to downgrade our devices to the currently released and more stable version of iOS 9.0 without first having to erase the phone. The link to the original article is located at the end of the text. Good Luck and Enjoy, Mark How To Downgrade iOS 9.1 Public Beta to to Current iOS 9.0 Release Without Losing Any Data iOS 9 marked the first major version of the iPhone and iPad software that Apple opened up for public beta testing after a similar trial run with iOS 8.3 last year. As many users have noticed, Apple's public beta program is continuing with the upcoming iOS 9.1 release available as an OTA (over-the-air) update for non-developer testers, but many users will surely want to hop off the beta train and onto the stable release cycle with today's iOS 9.0 release. Several readers have already asked about downgrading from the iOS 9.1 public beta to today's iOS 9.0 release, and while it's possible it does come at a cost: potentially losing some important data. If moving from iOS 9.1 public or even dev beta to today's official iOS 9.0 release is worth it for you, read on for a detailed guide for doing just that. Step 1. Ensure iCloud Is Backing Up and Syncing While there doesn't seem to be an official path from iOS 9.1 public beta to today's iOS 9.0 release that keeps all of your data intact, iCloud is mostly version-agnostic in that it usually syncs and backs up important data like contacts and notes for use on older versions of iOS. Using the iOS device that you plan to downgrade, go to the Settings app then iCloud pane to ensure important information like Contacts, Reminders, and Notes are all toggled on if you plan on keeping this information. Likely due to privacy concerns, Apple has not enabled syncing data from the Health and Activity apps through iCloud so expect to lose this information if downgrading. Backing up to iCloud does preserve Health and Activity, but you won't be able to restore to iOS 9.0 using your iOS 9.1 backup unfortunately. Still, I recommend creating a full iCloud backup just in case you have second thoughts after moving down to iOS 9.0 and want to recover your data with iOS 9.1. While connected to power and on a Wi-Fi Internet connection, go to Settings > iCloud > Backup and ensure iCloud Backup is toggled on. Then tap Back Up Now to begin a full backup to iCloud. Step 2. Disable Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch While you're in Settings > iCloud, you'll want to disable Activation Lock in iOS 9.1 to save some time when restoring to iOS 9.0. Do this by going to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch (depending on which device you're using) and toggling off Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch which should prompt you for your Apple ID and password used for iCloud. Note: this may differ from your App Store password if you use a separate account for iCloud and purchases. Step 3. Backup Purchases and Data to iTunes Now that we have a few safety nets in place, it's time to connect your iOS device to iTunes on your Mac or PC using your charging cable and put up a few more before downgrading from iOS 9.1 to iOS 9.0. After plugging in your iOS device, you may have to give your computer and device permission to "trust" each other, then click the icon in the top left corner of iTunes for managing your device. >From here you can create a local backup to iTunes and transfer any purchases not already saved to your computer. Even if your device is set to backup to iCloud, you can still choose to do a manual backup here. If you opt to encrypt your backup and protect that file with a password, most passwords from iOS will remain intact if you decide to restore to your iOS 9.1 backup in the future. This process may take several minutes, especially if you opt to transfer any purchases from your iOS device to your Mac or PC using iTunes. Note that iTunes will need to be authorized with the same account used on your iOS device before transferring purchases. Step 4. Put iOS Device in Recovery Mode Now that you have a couple backups in place in case anything goes wrong, it's time to downgrade from iOS 9.1 to iOS 9.0. iTunes doesn't allow devices to easily rollback from a higher version of iOS to a previous release, so you'll need to first put your device into recovery mode. Apple offers a guide for putting a device into recovery mode, but it boils down to four steps: A. Turn off your device and leave it off. B. Plug in your device's USB cable to a computer with iTunes. C. Hold down the Home button on your device as you connect the USB cable. Keep holding down the Home button until you see the Connect to iTunes screen. D. When you see [the screen with iTunes + Lightning cable], release the Home button. If you don't see this screen, try steps 1 through 3 again. Step 5. Choose to either Update (in this case downgrade) to iOS 9.0 or Restore iOS Device to Factory Settings Once your device is in Recovery Mode and connected to iTunes, you should see a prompt to either Update or Restore your device. If you want to simply downgrade your device to the currently released version of iOS, keeping all of your data, settings, etc, select the Update option. You will, of course, have to agree to the Apple terms of service, etc but after so doing, iTunes will begin downloading iOS 9.0 and place it on your device without erasing any user data or settings. You can follow the download progress in the upper right hand corner for an estimated time before the install begins. Once iOS has finished downloading, your iOS device will begin installing the operating system. You'll notice a progress bar beneath the Apple logo on your device's display while iTunes says Updating iPhone/iPad/iPod touch Software/Firmware. Next you'll notice iTunes no longer displays your device as it completes one more cycle of fulfilling a progress bar after a restart. Welcome back to iOS 9.0. Original Article at: http://9to5mac.com/2015/09/16/how-to-downgrade-ios-9-1to-ios-9-0/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
