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Don't want iOS 7? Too late to roll back to 6? Here's a solution!

R

RobbyIdol

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 20, 2012
248
185
This might be too extreme for some folks, but I just did it and I couldn't be happier to be back on iOS 6. Like many people, I upgraded to 7, and missed the roll back window to downgrade back to 6 when I decided I really didn't like the new iOS. Apple would say I was stuck with 7 forever. For a moment, I thought I was too. But then I figured out a solution:

1. Buy a phone still running iOS 6.

2. Take to Verizon (or other mobile service provider) and have it activated to your account.

3. Sell your current phone running iOS 7.

4. PROFIT! :apple:

I just did this and my new phone is running glorious iOS 6 just the way I remember it! :cool:

I bought a brand new 16GB iPhone 4S on eBay for $270. A great price considering it had never been used before, and therefore had no battery life issues or bad ESN history. I like the 4S the most, but you can still buy a 5 if that's your preferred device.

But do it soon! In the future, it may become harder and harder to find phones running iOS 6 that are not worn to the ground from previous use. Personally, I'm a bit of a germ nut and didn't like the idea of using such a personal device as a phone that someone often held to their face, hands, probably used in the bathroom.... :eek: :rolleyes:

So I wanted a new device from Apple, but knew I couldn't shop directly from Apple or a phone provider this time. There are still lots of new devices out there (eBay, Craigslist, etc). But the new ones won't be there forever, and the ones left will all be running iOS 7 in due time.

I plan to sell my current iOS 7 4S for about $200-250, whatever I can get for it, making the whole transaction nearly an even trade.

Worth the hassle just to get back on iOS 6? You bet. :)
 
RobbyIdol said:
This might be too extreme for some folks, but I just did it and I couldn't be happier to be back on iOS 6. Like many people, I upgraded to 7, and missed the roll back window to downgrade back to 6 when I decided I really didn't like the new iOS. Apple would say I was stuck with 7 forever. For a moment, I thought I was too. But then I figured out a solution:

1. Buy a phone still running iOS 6.

2. Take to Verizon (or other mobile service provider) and have it activated to your account.

3. Sell your current phone running iOS 7.

4. PROFIT! :apple:

I just did this and my new phone is running glorious iOS 6 just the way I remember it! :cool:

I bought a brand new 16GB iPhone 4S on eBay for $270. A great price considering it had never been used before, and therefore had no battery life issues or bad ESN history. I like the 4S the most, but you can still buy a 5 if that's your preferred device.

But do it soon! In the future, it may become harder and harder to find phones running iOS 6 that are not worn to the ground from previous use. Personally, I'm a bit of a germ nut and didn't like the idea of using such a personal device as a phone that someone often held to their face, hands, probably used in the bathroom.... :eek: :rolleyes:

So I wanted a new device from Apple, but knew I couldn't shop directly from Apple or a phone provider this time. There are still lots of new devices out there (eBay, Craigslist, etc). But the new ones won't be there forever, and the ones left will all be running iOS 7 in due time.

I plan to sell my current iOS 7 4S for about $200-250, whatever I can get for it, making the whole transaction nearly an even trade.

Worth the hassle just to get back on iOS 6? You bet. :)
Click to expand...


Or you could just download an iOS6 ipsw and restore it through iTunes...
 
JobsGang said:
How long do you intend to stay with ios 6?Forever?
Click to expand...

As long as necessary for my needs. I don't need every new product Apple makes (still can't find a reason to get a 5/5S/5C over the 4S I already have). And if iOS 8 is as bad, or worse, than 7 for my tastes, then I'll move on to another company.

eclipse01 said:
Ugh people that don't like change or are afraid of it.
Click to expand...

Not liking one particular change does not imply I don't like change AT ALL. Yikes. So I'm supposed to like every change/update Apple makes, all the time? That would make me quite the little sheep....

3bs said:
This isn't exactly the kind of solution people are looking for... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

As stated in the OP, it's an extreme solution. Obviously I wish Apple would still sign the downgrade to 6.1.3, but they're not. For some folks, this solution might be useful.
 
RobbyIdol said:
As stated in the OP, it's an extreme solution. Obviously I wish Apple would still sign the downgrade to 6.1.3, but they're not. For some folks, this solution might be useful.
Click to expand...

It's just that I came here expecting some sort of miracle solution :p

I'm fine with iOS 7 but I too wish Apple would let us install older firmware.
 
eclipse01 said:
what don't you like about IOS7?

i feel it improved on just about everything..
Click to expand...

well I feel everyday that iOS7 contacts 'small round icons' is less useful than the iOS6 contacts, in iOS7 i need to make two complete page scrolling motions down to the message the person level
that the calendar - instead of showing the key items in a day needs me to scroll all the way from 7am upwards - I have something happening on October 4th - I no longer know what it is, where it is , when it is!
Scrollings, scrolling down boring, white and UNFINISHED user interfaces

I hate iOS7 to bits

Not to mention that on my iP5 the 'proximity sensor' is so insensitive that often during a call I find my ear dialling some new DTMF tones or even opening a random Facetime Session, wacky, white and UNFINISHED!

I also might buy a new 'old' iPhone, I sat next to a lady today - she had an old iPhone 4 - compared to my iP5 - and I felt jealous because hers was still running iOS6!!!!

YMMV
 
cyclotron451 said:
well I feel everyday that iOS7 contacts 'small round icons' is less useful than the iOS6 contacts, in iOS7 i need to make two complete page scrolling motions down to the message the person level
that the calendar - instead of showing the key items in a day needs me to scroll all the way from 7am upwards - I have something happening on October 4th - I no longer know what it is, where it is , when it is!
Scrollings, scrolling down boring, white and UNFINISHED user interfaces

I hate iOS7 to bits

Not to mention that on my iP5 the 'proximity sensor' is so insensitive that often during a call I find my ear dialling some new DTMF tones or even opening a random Facetime Session, wacky, white and UNFINISHED!

I also might buy a new 'old' iPhone, I sat next to a lady today - she had an old iPhone 4 - compared to my iP5 - and I felt jealous because hers was still running iOS6!!!!

YMMV
Click to expand...

meh, I can' t argue your opionion, however I disagree with just about everything you said...I guess my suggestion to people that hate Apple's direction, go give Jellybean a try (Android is not that bad...)
 
Zcott said:
...this is the most ridiculous thing I've seen all day.
Click to expand...

Really? Because earlier today, I saw the U.S. government shut down entirely. Kinda beats this thread, just by a little.

----------
eclipse01 said:
what don't you like about IOS7?

i feel it improved on just about everything..
Click to expand...

My #1 complaint is the Music app. In an effort to become more like iTunes 11 (which I also dislike), it ended up going BACKWARDS in terms of functionality and user friendliness. You can scroll through this Music App thread on this very forum to find all the reasons why it sucks, most of which I agree with. For me, my iPhone is also my iPod, so the Music app is very important to me. iOS 6, in my opinion, was perfection in both form and function when it came to music playback.

The rest are just personal preferences in design and workflow. iOS 7 feels clunky overall when compared to iOS 6. I see what Apple is trying to do, but right now as many others state, it feels unfinished. Maybe iOS 8 will be fantastic. Maybe not. I'll decide what I want to do when that time comes. For now, I have iOS 6 and I love it. :apple:
 
iOS 7 isn't terrible, but it isn't great. I know two people who just feel nauseated looking at it so that is an epic fail on Apple's part. If someone feels physically ill when trialing your device, they aren't going to be likely to purchase it.

For my part, I will be on iOS6 until the jailbreak for iOS 7 is out for the iPhone 5 and 5S. I need a jailbreak to block the overwhelming amount of advertising that is on the devices. Every application you download either comes with a price tag or is covered in ads where you're most likely to "accidentally" tap them.

tl;dr Advetising on iOS is pretty bad. Blocking ads is pretty awesome. iOS 6 jailbroken is better than iOS 7 in every way because of this. No feature on iOS 7 is worth putting up with advertising around every corner.
 
All these issues demonstrate that the "Developer" only testing strategy Apple uses is not getting the job done.

Put IO7 in the hands of several hundred average Joes, and all these problems will have been resolved long ago.
 
RobbyIdol said:
Really? Because earlier today, I saw the U.S. government shut down entirely. Kinda beats this thread, just by a little.

----------



My #1 complaint is the Music app. In an effort to become more like iTunes 11 (which I also dislike), it ended up going BACKWARDS in terms of functionality and user friendliness. You can scroll through this Music App thread on this very forum to find all the reasons why it sucks, most of which I agree with. For me, my iPhone is also my iPod, so the Music app is very important to me. iOS 6, in my opinion, was perfection in both form and function when it came to music playback.

The rest are just personal preferences in design and workflow. iOS 7 feels clunky overall when compared to iOS 6. I see what Apple is trying to do, but right now as many others state, it feels unfinished. Maybe iOS 8 will be fantastic. Maybe not. I'll decide what I want to do when that time comes. For now, I have iOS 6 and I love it. :apple:
Click to expand...

+1 to everything you said (especially about the US gov't shutting down..).

Music app is enough for me. White backlighting around photos and album art? Seriously? Lag and unresponsiveness aside.. iOS 6 was simply a faster workflow for anything that wasn't the control center toggles or safari (I find the new one much better). Even how the Clock toggle in CC takes you to Timer each time... why? Why not just take you to where you were last? What you use most? I only use stopwatch and alarms, every single day.. so the toggle doesn't help that much.

There are literally dozens upon dozens of flaws in iOS 7, so simply accept and understand that some prefer iOS 6 for now. The thread title was so specific, why not skip it if it doesn't interest you?

So many responses on disatisfied iOS 7 threads suggested to go buy another phone if you don't like it. OP did, and is happy.

Congrats OP. Glad you are happy and it hasn't cost you too much!
 
Altis said:
+1 to everything you said (especially about the US gov't shutting down..).

Music app is enough for me. White backlighting around photos and album art? Seriously? Lag and unresponsiveness aside.. iOS 6 was simply a faster workflow for anything that wasn't the control center toggles or safari (I find the new one much better). Even how the Clock toggle in CC takes you to Timer each time... why? Why not just take you to where you were last? What you use most? I only use stopwatch and alarms, every single day.. so the toggle doesn't help that much.

There are literally dozens upon dozens of flaws in iOS 7, so simply accept and understand that some prefer iOS 6 for now. The thread title was so specific, why not skip it if it doesn't interest you?

So many responses on disatisfied iOS 7 threads suggested to go buy another phone if you don't like it. OP did, and is happy.

Congrats OP. Glad you are happy and it hasn't cost you too much!
Click to expand...

You may want to look at the "Clock" icon again in control center because you will notice it is actually the "timer" icon and not a clock.

The funny part is in beta 3 or 4 the function of it was broken because instead of taking you to the timer it would take you to where you left off last (clock,timer,stopwatch). Apple fixed it.

I'm pretty sure research shows more people use a timer over the alarm and stop watch function and that's probably why Apple went with it.

Personally, I would have liked the calculator toggle replaced with a toggle for task switcher.
 
Armen said:
You may want to look at the "Clock" icon again in control center because you will notice it is actually the "timer" icon and not a clock.

The funny part is in beta 3 or 4 the function of it was broken because instead of taking you to the timer it would take you to where you left off last (clock,timer,stopwatch). Apple fixed it.

I'm pretty sure research shows more people use a timer over the alarm and stop watch function and that's probably why Apple went with it.

Personally, I would have liked the calculator toggle replaced with a toggle for task switcher.
Click to expand...

I would have suspected the alarm to be the most common as for many it is used every single day, sometimes several times. I liked beta 3 when it took me where I needed to be each time... now it doesn't get much use.

You're right, when I look closely it is a timer icon... I didn't mean it literally as much as I meant the icon that represents opening the clock app. But yes, it is a timer, which just serves to reduce it's usability.

The ability to select which apps are there would be a premium. Instead, we have Johnny boy's precustomized selection ;)
 
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