Apple Stops Signing iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11.0, Downgrading No Longer Possible

[Le Big Mac]

May the odds be forever in your favor!

It was bound to happen, but does seem on the sooner side than other major iOS version updates

They really wanna accelerate those adoption rates. This is one way to accomplish that.

It's actually going to slow down adoption rates, if anything.

First, most users know nothing about downgrading/signing etc. They'll upgrade when they upgrade.

For the small percentage of users who do know about downgrading, there's now no way to "try it out" and revert, reducing willingness among them to upgrade sooner.

 

[macTW]

It doesn't actually. iOS will silently download the update again in the next week, when you are on wifi, and ask you to install it.

The way to block it is to either keep wifi turned off, or block access to their IPSW firmware server address. The latter is possible in some routers with firewall settings, otherwise you can use opendns - setup a free account, block the address, and make all your iOS devices (that you want to stop getting iOS 11) use opendns servers. If you are on a dynamic IP address, you'll need a computer and the opendns updater software to keep your filtering active automatically.

You shouldn't do this though. It is not safe to stay on iOS 10. You'll get hacked and your bank accounts will potentially be emptied.

Oh I don’t. This is exactly why Apple has freedom to stop supporting older OS.

 

[magicschoolbus]

iOS 11 is almost perfect. If you are having problems, I'd consider backing up, wiping your phone, and start from scratch with a clean install.

Did that, turned my iPhone into a paperweight over cellular network on Verizon's LTE. Also broke Airdrop to and from my Yosemite iMac at work.

 

[thadoggfather]

It's such a tough value proposition

Gambling stability and battery life and relative lack of deal breaking bugs for nearly the same OS

I played with iOS 11 quite a bit on iPhone 8 and hardly noticed any difference feature wise

Also the huge letter headers in apps is a comical waste of space on non iPads

They're like jitterbug design elements, created to remind senile people which obvious app they're already In from overwhelming context

 

[Le Big Mac]

It doesn't actually. iOS will silently download the update again in the next week, when you are on wifi, and ask you to install it.

It would seem that if your phone has limited memory left it won't download it. I have yet to get a notification. Instead I get the notification that my iPhone's memory is almost full - would I like to upgrade iCloud storage?

 

[Sill]

While I appreciate Apple's efforts at building up the iOS, I don't appreciate their tactics.

Following the install of iOS 10 on my iPhone 5, battery life suffered.

That install was forced on me in a tricky way. After several times finding it downloaded in the background, and me finding the file and deleting it, the upgrade surprised me one morning. There was a different screen that came up when I woke the phone, and it reversed the position of the install/later buttons (or whatever they were). I hit install, out of reflex, before I knew what I was doing.

I read the article that was linked in the iOS 11 thread here a couple days ago about ways to extend battery life, so I tried it on the iPhone 5 running iOS 10. The techniques actually helped, but the phone still dies at random intervals, with anywhere from 40 to 90 percent left. So is the battery on its last legs and the meter not reading correctly? Or is the meter correct and iOS 10 screwed the phone?

I also tried the techniques on my iPhone 6s, running iOS 11, and I must say that there is a substantial increase in battery life. I haven't plugged my phone in much the past three days. The first two days it was starting to dip below 90 percent battery, with moderate use. I plugged it in last night to add some music, so of course it charged a bit in the meantime. I kept it off the charger through the night, and after about 30 minutes of phone calls and some browsing, it only dropped 3 percent so far today.

So, for the folks experiencing battery issues, assuming your install is solid and you have all your network settings updated, kill as much of the push/fetch automation and the background app usage, and see how it goes. I have all of it defeated. If I am able to look at my phone to see if I have an email, its not that big of a deal to open the phone and manually check it. Likewise, I can't think of a single app I need to have running in the background, and surprisingly many of them set themselves up that way right out of the box.

This is what it took to correct the battery behavior, at least on my phones.

 

[thadoggfather]

While I appreciate Apple's efforts at building up the iOS, I don't appreciate their tactics.

Following the install of iOS 10 on my iPhone 5, battery life suffered.

That install was forced on me in a tricky way. After several times finding it downloaded in the background, and me finding the file and deleting it, the upgrade surprised me one morning. There was a different screen that came up when I woke the phone, and it reversed the position of the install/later buttons (or whatever they were). I hit install, out of reflex, before I knew what I was doing.

I read the article that was linked in the iOS 11 thread here a couple days ago about ways to extend battery life, so I tried it on the iPhone 5 running iOS 10. The techniques actually helped, but the phone still dies at random intervals, with anywhere from 40 to 90 percent left. So is the battery on its last legs and the meter not reading correctly? Or is the meter correct and iOS 10 screwed the phone?

I also tried the techniques on my iPhone 6s, running iOS 11, and I must say that there is a substantial increase in battery life. I haven't plugged my phone in much the past three days. The first two days it was starting to dip below 90 percent battery, with moderate use. I plugged it in last night to add some music, so of course it charged a bit in the meantime. I kept it off the charger through the night, and after about 30 minutes of phone calls and some browsing, it only dropped 3 percent so far today.

So, for the folks experiencing battery issues, assuming your install is solid and you have all your network settings updated, kill as much of the push/fetch automation and the background app usage, and see how it goes. I have all of it defeated. If I am able to look at my phone to see if I have an email, its not that big of a deal to open the phone and manually check it. Likewise, I can't think of a single app I need to have running in the background, and surprisingly many of them set themselves up that way right out of the box.

This is what it took to correct the battery behavior, at least on my phones.

I think it should stop automatically downloading the update, the first time after a user goes into settings and deletes it.

its absurd that its a whack-a-mole game,

the problem with battery life is its subjective, and not scientific

usage may change, some may OTA, some may clean restore, some say its better some say worse some say unchanged, placebo is in effect big time too. its a cluster.

 

[dumastudetto]

It would seem that if your phone has limited memory left it won't download it. I have yet to get a notification. Instead I get the notification that my iPhone's memory is almost full - would I like to upgrade iCloud storage?

Yes if you don't have the free storage to automatically download the iOS update, it won't download. But if you virtually max out the storage, it does have a detrimental effect on device performance.
[doublepost=1507223002][/doublepost]

Oh I don’t. This is exactly why Apple has freedom to stop supporting older OS.

Apple is looking out for its customers by protecting their security. Unlike other companies, Apple wants to make it impossible for people to run insecure software that puts their security and financial prosperity at risk.

 

[C DM]

When we have home button delays and stutters animations everywhere, why was the access to 10.3.3 removed? Now those with devices stuck on iOS 10.3.3 can no longer test out the upgrades to see if they fix our issues. My 12.9 2nd gen is on 10.3.3 and runs like a hot knife through butter. How am i supposed to know how it runs on iOS 11 now?

Because it's how things work with iOS and that's essentially how it's always been.

 

[nilk]

Here you go, straight from Apple themselves on the security content of iOS 11: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208112

I've already read that. Which one has an exploit been written for? Some of the Webkit ones look like they could be potentially dangerous, but I'm not finding anything definite. Some claims a while back that someone got root on early versions of iOS 11 with a Webkit exploit, but that was before 10.3.3.

I agree with the general advice that you should stay current to be the most secure. You'll find people on this forum who think they are safe on iOS 9.x (of course none of us are ever truly safe as attackers may have vulnerabilities no one else knows about).

In any case, once there is a jailbreak that runs in Safari, it's most definitely time to upgrade (or jailbreak and patch it, if that's your thing).

 

[snebes]

It's PS3/OtherOS all over again.

Losing the ability to run other operating systems is a bit different than losing the ability to run old applications. And these updates are not forced upon you, though people here tend to believe otherwise.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Yes if you don't have the free storage to automatically download the iOS update, it won't download.

Not entirely true. It depends. I have had it overwrite a large game of mine over and over again to make enough free space for it. It just totally takes over. Forcing me to download 1.6 gigabytes of data again, in addition to the data for repeated unwanted ios updates. On an internet connection that is data capped. I don't appreciate that.

It's a completely shady and unacceptable business practice.

 

[Phonephreak]

Biggest gripe I have about iOS 11 is the screen freezes. Phones working fine. Suddenly it’s frozen.

 

[trifid]

Not entirely true. It depends. I have had it overwrite a large game of mine over and over again to make enough free space for it. It just totally takes over. Forcing me to download 1.6 gigabytes of data again, in addition to the data for repeated unwanted ios updates. On an internet connection that is data capped. I don't appreciate that.

It's a completely shady and unacceptable business practice.

That’s crazy. Just plain evil.

 

[coolkid93]

Following the release of iOS 11.0.1 and iOS 11.0.2 on September 26 and October 3, respectively, Apple has stopped signing both iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11.0, the previous versions of iOS that were available to consumers.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 11.0.1, iOS 11.0.2, or iOS 11 will no longer be able to downgrade to the iOS 10.3.3 operating system.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

iOS 11.0.1 and iOS 11.0.2 are now the only versions of iOS 11 that can be installed on iOS devices by the general public, but developers can download iOS 11.1, a future update that is being beta tested and will be released in the near future.

Article Link: Apple Stops Signing iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11.0, Downgrading No Longer Possible

[doublepost=1507252714][/doublepost]Glad I downgraded yesterday all my apple devices haha. iOS 11 is such a mess still and I'm staying on 10
[doublepost=1507252775][/doublepost]

That moment when you were planning on “downgrading” tomorrow

Glad I did yesterday haha phew

 

[Shirasaki]

12 will be even slower and signing window will be even narrower!

13 will drag all but the latest device to crawl and the downgrade window will be a thing of the past.

 

[thadoggfather]

13 will drag all but the latest device to crawl and the downgrade window will be a thing of the past.

iOS 11 on phones seems to be mostly he-11

iOS 13 well, 13 isn't the best number historically .

EDIT- I think it would be cool if Apple skipped 13, like they do in a lot of buildings.

Just skip it 12 straight to 14.

Kinda like iPhone 8 straight to 10. Potentially skipping 9?

 

[bopajuice]

Following the release of iOS 11.0.1 and iOS 11.0.2 on September 26 and October 3, respectively, Apple has stopped signing both iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11.0, the previous versions of iOS that were available to consumers.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 11.0.1, iOS 11.0.2, or iOS 11 will no longer be able to downgrade to the iOS 10.3.3 operating system.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

iOS 11.0.1 and iOS 11.0.2 are now the only versions of iOS 11 that can be installed on iOS devices by the general public, but developers can download iOS 11.1, a future update that is being beta tested and will be released in the near future.

Article Link: Apple Stops Signing iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11.0, Downgrading No Longer Possible

It wouldn’t be an issue if Apple didn’t force older devices to upgrade, effectively slowing them down, and making the current OS less desirable.

 

[Macmelman]

Proof/link.

See for example these:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/431356/Issues+with+aftermarket+6s+screens+and+iOS+11
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/431297/Touch+not+working+on+IOS+11
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/427959/After+update+to+iOS+11+Touchscreen+unresponsive

These include opinions from people who professionally repair iphones and have tested many screens.

If you search for the issue you will find more threads on apple support communities.

Actually, iOS11 is again signed by Apple for iPhone 6S less than one day after they stopped signing it. Apple has been notified of the issue and they are well aware of it.

 

[thadoggfather]

See for example these:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/431356/Issues+with+aftermarket+6s+screens+and+iOS+11
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/431297/Touch+not+working+on+IOS+11
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/427959/After+update+to+iOS+11+Touchscreen+unresponsive

These include opinions from people who professionally repair iphones and have tested many screens.

If you search for the issue you will find more threads on apple support communities.

Actually, iOS11 is again signed by Apple for iPhone 6S less than one day after they stopped signing it. Apple has been notified of the issue and they are well aware of it.

seems odd if they indefinitely offer iOS 10 for this reason on 6s

they should just fix It for iOS 11 since people with aftermarket screens are still apple customers, barring the screen

 

[Shirasaki]

Kinda like iPhone 8 straight to 10. Potentially skipping 9?

I dont think 9 is a bad number like 13. Don't know why they skip it altogether but anyway.

 

[thadoggfather]

I dont think 9 is a bad number like 13. Don't know why they skip it altogether but anyway.

No it's not but jumping from 7s and calling it 8 and simultaneously releasing a 10 puts their naming convention in an interesting predicamenT
Unless they just drop the numbers next year

 

[grininja]

Hi.
I'm fairly new to ios and it seems I don't understand one thing.
Let's say I am on 10.3.3 (or any other version) and do a full backup with iTunes. After updating to 11 you're saying I can't use that backup to go back?

 

[chrfr]

After updating to 11 you're saying I can't use that backup to go back?

That is correct. Restoring a backup only restores your data to the phone. The operating system is not restored directly from your backup.

 

[Shirasaki]

No it's not but jumping from 7s and calling it 8 and simultaneously releasing a 10 puts their naming convention in an interesting predicamenT
Unless they just drop the numbers next year

Apple has already put them in a predicament position this year by not releasing their super phone alongside a dull drop bump phone. When passion cools down, how many cards could Apple play with other competitors? Is there any wild card? God knows.