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

[Altis]

The next button only shows up in landscape mode (how often do you set a landscape picture as wallpaper on your portrait orientated phone?), otherwise all the options are on the same screen - and the photo you were looking at before you pressed that oh-so-hard-to-see button (the only other button aside from delete) is already clearly selected at that point, so there's nothing else to do at that point than scroll over to the wallpaper button and press it.

But wait, the wallpaper button is slightly off screen, oh noes, you have to scroll slightly to choose an option on your iPhone! How alien! How will anyone cope? Won't somebody think of the children??!



Wrong. If they leave it up, a whole bunch of people like you, who decided after three minutes that they couldn't possibly adapt to a slightly revamped sharing pane, would sit on 6 forever - and you'd be a constant drag on the whole ecosystem. There's a big difference between a dwindling supply of older 3GS's and the like still bumping along on 6 for a while, and a rump of bozos with 4's, 4S's and 5's still expecting 6 to be current and splitting the app developers accordingly.

One of Apple's massive strengths over Android is the unified install base; they will not give that up no matter how much you whine, and they're right not to.



Yeah exactly, wouldn't that be great, they could just look after you and your IOS 6 loving friends, divert some resources away from IOS 7 and not bother fixing issues for those who have upgraded and want to use the latest OS.. thats definitely exactly what Apple should do.

I'm not sure why your post is so rude, I'm not attacking or mocking you... calm down, and we can discuss.

The Next does not just appear in landscape mode... I never use landscape mode. The steps I described are precisely as they appeared on my phone. I didn't have much trouble finding the process, but I could see why my mother had to ask me as it wasn't nearly as apparent as it was before. There are users other than you and I.

You failed to address how keeping iOS 6 for 1-2 additional weeks to allow people to revert their phones to a working OS takes additional energy from Apple. Nobody running 6 would expect it to stay current and supported forever. You're overreacting quite a bit, here. They'll most likely update when the bugs are addressed or they upgrade their devices to newer ones.

You kindly excluded the point at the end about how you might feel if your device was seriously hindered by the update. How would you feel?

Do you think people who updated and have springboard crashing, safari crashing, music app crashing (and terrible), wifi problems, blue screens, extremely poor battery life, etc etc.... should all just accept it because you like iOS 7? It doesn't even affect you one bit to let people revert back in the first 1-2 weeks.

The only way it would affect you is people having so many issues are doing warranty claims, genius appointments, etc... increasing your wait times.

I'm not getting personal about you, or mocking you... I politely ask you again to relax and share your opinion without the sarcasm and name calling.

 

[Xeyad]

I have iOS 7 on my iPhone 4S since beta 1, and here's what I can tell you. iOS 7 really comes off terrible at first. Everything is changed, and not necessarily to the best. The icons are horrid, the animations take a long time, and some of the UI changes are truly and utterly wrong. However, the core functionality of the OS is still pretty much the same, so the "workflow" as you describe should be the same. iOS 7 actually improved a lot of things over iOS 6. I hated Control Center at first, but now it really comes in handy with the brightness, music controls, bluetooth, and that flashlight! Multitasking is hugely improved too, as it improves going through the OS and jumping from app to app and quitting apps. The camera apps is now much quicker at taking photos, and some pretty cool effects in addition as well. That's all for the better. In terms of aesthetics, just give your eye some time to adjust to the new look, and you'll really get to appreciate some of the stuff here like the translucent notification center and the new beautiful lockscreen.

However, my knock off with Apple is that they never listened to any complaints the beta testers had with iOS 7. We all kept telling Apple about the overuse of white interfaces and how we need a darker theme, or the shockingly ugly Safari icon, or the terrible music app and mail app, and lastly the lack of iPad optimization. The iPad version of iOS 7 is still unfinished I think, and needs a whole lot of refining and optimizing it for the larger screen.

As for now, I have my iPhone 4S on iOS 7 and my iPad Mini on iOS 6.

 

[MisterDisney]

I kept iOS5 on my 4S, until 7 came out. Absolutely love 7, btw. Much better than 6.

 

[edhchoe]

I cannot tell you if I like iOS 7. However, I know I liked iOS 6. I want to go back also.

Even native apps crash. Form didn't follow function. This is not utilitarian.
Life sucks. iOS 7 ruined my iphone 5. F&^#!!

 

[Dented]

I'm not sure why your post is so rude, I'm not attacking or mocking you... calm down, and we can discuss.

I'm perfectly calm, just amused.

The Next does not just appear in landscape mode... I never use landscape mode.

Ok, it doesn't show in portrait on my 5 because the two rows of buttons are shown at the bottom of the screen, but I'm guessing you're on a 4 or 4S and the smaller screen necessitates the "next" step. I still don't think it's a big deal - "next" is pretty self explanatory..

The steps I described are precisely as they appeared on my phone.

Well no, you created an extra step out of selecting the picture after pressing the share button, when in fact the picture is already selected at that point. You just need to press "next" and then "use as wallpaper". That's it, aside from the positioning which is just the same as IOS 6.

So essentially the complication here over IOS 6 is... pressing "next". Unless you have a 5 or newer.

I didn't have much trouble finding the process, but I could see why my mother had to ask me as it wasn't nearly as apparent as it was before. There are users other than you and I.

Yes and some of them may have to learn something new, just as you and I have done. They would have had to learn some new things when IOS 6 launched too (such as how to set a picture as wallpaper). 5 also brought changes, as did 4 before it, 3 before that, and so on. Imagine how the people learning iPhone OS 1.0 felt?

You failed to address how keeping iOS 6 for 1-2 additional weeks to allow people to revert their phones to a working OS takes additional energy from Apple. Nobody running 6 would expect it to stay current and supported forever. You're overreacting quite a bit, here. They'll most likely update when the bugs are addressed or they upgrade their devices to newer ones.

Firstly, IOS 7 is a working OS. Stop trying to pretend it's some kind of train wreck just because there are aspects of it that some people, subjectively, don't like - the actual bugs are minor and quite few, particularly for a .0 release. Don't pretend this situation is brand new either - IOS 7 may look a bit different, but EVERY new version of IOS for the last 5-6 years has brought new changes, new features, and new bugs, and EVERY update was a one way street just like this one.

Secondly, what would allowing downgrades for the next few weeks achieve other than storing up a load of upgrade pain for a few weeks time? IOS 7 will still be IOS 7, it isn't going to change, this won't all be over by Christmas, and all those downgraders will still be faced with either upgrading or carrying on as the new zombie underbelly of Apple's IOS ecosystem... and that's not going to happen.

You kindly excluded the point at the end about how you might feel if your device was seriously hindered by the update. How would you feel?

Honestly, as an iPhone user going back a few years? I'd feel that in all probability I'd just missed the point somewhere, and needed to get to know the new OS better.

And if I was sure it wasn't just me and there were real problems, I'd be filing lots of bug reports and pressing Apple for fixes, of course.

What I absolutely wouldn't do, is waste my time trying to turn the clock back, even if that was an option - there's no future in it. IOS is a moving platform, always has been, if you don't move with it then you're losing out whether you realise or not.

Do you think people who updated and have springboard crashing, safari crashing, music app crashing (and terrible), wifi problems, blue screens, extremely poor battery life, etc etc.... should all just accept it because you like iOS 7? It doesn't even affect you one bit to let people revert back in the first 1-2 weeks.

Yes, they should all accept it because I like IOS 7. There, I've said it. The many, many people we all know who have definitely experienced all of those problems should just accept it because I say so. Oh and also, because there are a minority of issues with every new IOS release, it's always been this way, and wasting time reverting software rather than just fixing the problems makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[apolloa]

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!

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

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....

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.

Nice one mate! For me that isn't enough so MY solution is coming along nicely, namely the rumours surrounding the Sony Xperia Z1 Mini, they are hotting up and it will be my replacement for iOS7.
I hate my iPhone the more I use it now, I had to add a contact today and I felt like I was using something for the first time! All that stupid white and some words..

 

[Altis]

.......snip....
Yes, they should all accept it because I like IOS 7. There, I've said it. The many, many people we all know who have definitely experienced all of those problems should just accept it because I say so. Oh and also, because there are a minority of issues with every new IOS release, it's always been this way, and wasting time reverting software rather than just fixing the problems makes no sense whatsoever.

Perhaps with every release, the ability to revert back should be available. In every aspect of computing, we are always backing up and being prepared to revert back to when our systems worked well.

Some of the bugs are real and affect the usability of the phone. If your phone only lasted until lunch time, or crashed when you were using it, etc... you'd be disappointed, and nobody should judge you for wanting to revert until the bugs were ironed out.

Moving forwards and change are a good thing. However, if stability and usability are your priorities, then iOS 6 could be seen as more advanced until iOS 7 can match it for these qualities? Similarly, Ive's ideas of what the next generation should look like might work for some, but be a step back for others.

I don't find iOS 7 to be more advanced, really. Sure control center has a few useful toggles in it, but really what's been added to make it such an advancement? I'm struggling to think of new features that are of any value.

However, there are many places where things have been worsened in many people's opinions. Having 3x3 grid for folders, especially on an iPad? Music app only showing half as many artists at once? No "View all songs" from artists? The camera app (on 3.5" phones) now has the controls over top of part of the image, which hinders framing? Slow animations?

Some things may be better for you, but worse for others. In that case, it's not an advancement, it's simply a change. Not all change is good.

The white-everything theme is of course opinion. I like the sharpness of fonts, but light-grey text on white/grey backgrounds is hardly good for everyone. White light around photos and album art is also a well known faux-pas in design as it displeases many.

The sole point I'm trying to make is that there is ample reason to allow reverting back to previous iOS in the first 1-2 weeks after a major release. I think this would make those who have problems with the latest software happy they can hold off until the bug fixes are done, or until they feel the experience on the old gen is no longer of their tastes.

Who knows, some people might just be nostalgic for earlier iOS anyways

...I had to add a contact today and I felt like I was using something for the first time! All that stupid white and some words..

That was another thing my parents didn't get at first. Having to tap Contact, then the little blue circle with the "i" in it, then add to contacts... the circle wasn't obvious to them.

 

[Dented]

Perhaps with every release, the ability to revert back should be available. In every aspect of computing, we are always backing up and being prepared to revert back to when our systems worked well.

We could keep talking around this for days, the point is that reverting back has never been an option for any IOS update, despite various launch bugs in the past, and the net result is the most secure mobile operating system with the most up to date user base, and a pretty big and largely happy one at that. Apple have zero motivation for changing their policy and I completely see why they pursue it, both for the advantages it brings them as a business and the advantages it brings us as users too. All of us.

Some of the bugs are real and affect the usability of the phone. If your phone only lasted until lunch time, or crashed when you were using it, etc... you'd be disappointed, and nobody should judge you for wanting to revert until the bugs were ironed out.

I've suffered all of that and more on previous iPhones and previous versions of IOS. Like it or not it goes with the territory of early adoption, and IOS 7 is still just weeks old. At no point did I pine after an older OS; my patience was rewarded with proper fixes, otherwise I wouldn't still be an apple customer.

Moving forwards and change are a good thing. However, if stability and usability are your priorities, then iOS 6 could be seen as more advanced until iOS 7 can match it for these qualities?

Just a false argument as far as I'm concerned. My iPhone 5 had terrible wifi on IOS 6; my wife's 4S repeatedly froze in the messages app. Both of these were commonly reported issues with IOS 6, and both we're solved entirely by IOS 7, which has yet to crash or cause problems for either of us. So no, in my anecdotal experience IOS 6 wasn't more advanced in any way. Your experience? Also anecdotal! Don't imagine that the worst horror stories here in the forums are any indication of how IOS 7 is running for most people in most situations - for every dozen bug reports here, there are probably a cool million or so just enjoying the update.

Similarly, Ive's ideas of what the next generation should look like might work for some, but be a step back for others.

Subjective. Some people don't like the new look - some people didn't like the old look, including some of the many millions of people who never bought an iPhone! We all have different tastes, even down to the size of fonts in artist view etc.

The point is, whenever change happens it can polarise, if Ive had gone in a different direction maybe you'd be raving about it while I hated it, it really makes no difference in the end - change happens, and it has to happen, it's just part of the human condition, and like anything else Apple and the iPhone would just die if it didn't adapt in response to that You're not always going to like their changes, and you don't have to.

 

[Altis]

......So no, in my anecdotal experience IOS 6 wasn't more advanced in any way. Your experience? Also anecdotal! Don't imagine that the worst horror stories here in the forums are any indication of how IOS 7 is running for most people in most situations - for every dozen bug reports here, there are probably a cool million or so just enjoying the update.

........snip......
The point is, whenever change happens it can polarise, if Ive had gone in a different direction maybe you'd be raving about it while I hated it, it really makes no difference in the end - change happens, and it has to happen, it's just part of the human condition, and like anything else Apple and the iPhone would just die if it didn't adapt in response to that You're not always going to like their changes, and you don't have to.

My point was precisely that... your experience may differ. I'm happy yours fixed issues. I'm lucky that mine didn't have any before, and the ones it has now aren't that bad. I just don't find it as buttery smooth as it felt before.

Change does need to happen, of course. I never meant to imply that it shouldn't. Changing the looks also had to happen, and I can hardly believe it didn't happen sooner. I'm just not sure the one-size-fits-all attitude is best, but like you say, it's subjective.

My from anecdotal experience, I have yet to talk to someone who is genuinely happy about the update; even if on the whole, there's lots to like, there's usually something that's a thorn in their side.

Alas, I think we understand each other's perspectives enough to respectfully agree to feel differently. Personally, I don't think it would be such a bad thing to leave the window open a few weeks.

 

[Bruins Fan]

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

Quietly sneaks into house and does an upgrade on recent iphone downgrade. best personal prank ever for this guy

OP's two Rottweilers hear you come in, and chew off your right hand and left foot before you get to his iPhone. OP has sympathy for you and calls them off before you lose the other hand and foot. He calls ambulance with his 4S, still running iOS 6.

 

[x-evil-x]

OP's two Rottweilers hear you come in, and chew off your right hand and left foot before you get to his iPhone. OP has sympathy for you and calls them off before you lose the other hand and foot. He calls ambulance with his 4S, still running iOS 6.

godaamnit

 

[RobbyIdol]

Yikes! I'm happy that SOME people here seem to have appreciated my experience. But the amount of debate and anger this thread has sparked is ridiculous. You'd think I was taking their iOS 7 update away from them....