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Apple Ends iOS 9 Downgrades on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple has stopped signing iOS 9.3.5 for compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models, effectively ending iOS 9 downgrades.

iOS 10.0.1 is also no longer being signed, making iOS 10.0.2 the oldest software update users can still downgrade their devices to via iTunes.

Apple routinely stops signing older software updates several weeks after they are released.

iOS 9.3.5 was released in late August as the last update to the iOS 9 operating system, with major security fixes for three zero-day exploits. iOS 10.0.1 was released on September 13 as the first iOS 10 version for all devices beyond the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

The move does not affect jailbreaking, as iOS 9.3.3 is the latest software version with a publicly available exploit. Apple patched that jailbreak in iOS 9.3.4, crediting the Chinese team Pangu for its discovery, and it is unlikely that a jailbreak will ever be publicly released for iOS 9.3.5 at this point in time.

Apple has also stopped signing tvOS 9.2.2 for the fourth-generation Apple TV.

Article Link: Apple Ends iOS 9 Downgrades on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/19/ios-9-downgrades-no-longer-possible/
Traverse

Traverse

macrumors 604
Mar 11, 2013
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This might be a dumb question, but what if you went to your local Apple Store and purchased an iPod touch or something that had been sitting on the shelf. It will come with iOS 9. Will the setup process require you to connect to iTunes to download and update the OS? (I'm not doing that, I was just curious)
 
vertsix

vertsix

macrumors 68000
Aug 12, 2015
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Traverse said:
This might be a dumb question, but what if you went to your local Apple Store and purchased an iPod touch or something that had been sitting on the shelf. It will come with iOS 9. Will the setup process require you to connect to iTunes to download and update the OS? (I'm not doing that, I was just curious)
Click to expand...
Nope. Updates are never mandatory.
 
V

vmachiel

macrumors 68000
Feb 15, 2011
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Traverse said:
This might be a dumb question, but what if you went to your local Apple Store and purchased an iPod touch or something that had been sitting on the shelf. It will come with iOS 9. Will the setup process require you to connect to iTunes to download and update the OS? (I'm not doing that, I was just curious)
Click to expand...

No it won't. You can still use any iOS version you want, but you can only upgrade to iOS 10 and no longer downgrade after that. Or whatever the highest iOS version is the device supports.
 
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macduke

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
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iOS 10 has been a fantastic, stable release for me. My wife isn't the type to complain very much, so when she started complaining about her messages app freezing up on her iPhone 5, I immediately ordered her an iPhone SE, which I had been meaning to do anyway. iOS 10 was the fifth version of iOS to run on that device, so I figured it was time.
 
5

5105973

Cancelled
Sep 11, 2014
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Argh, I wasn't paying attention. I had wanted iOS 9 back on my SE. Bummer. It's staying on my iPad.
 
S

saudor

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Jul 18, 2011
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Awesome. I updated my iPad from 9.3.2 to 9.3.5 just a day or so ago (not interested in jail breaking)
 
S

saudor

macrumors 68000
Jul 18, 2011
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bbrks said:
Sorry, I don't get it. What's awesome?....IOS 10 is way better than IOS 9.....
Click to expand...

Not for me. Music app is just huge messy font and my music keeps going missing (smart playlists). Lyrics are also gone.

Control center takes two steps. Lock screen/Notification Center requires two swipes to get at my widgets.

As for iOS10, I don't care about the new iMessage features and prefer the stability of ios9. The new iMessage takes up more screen space on my phone.

It's not that there's a huge issue.. Just tiny ones that add up. My macs are also staying on el cap for now. It was a crash fest and my older apps don't work as well. (Adobe cs6). Not interested in going creative cloud subscription either. (And I don't care about Siri either)

As for security, never had any issues even in Windows. If something does happen, I have 3 separate backups of all my files and a re-image takes 20 mins or so.
 
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ike1707

ike1707

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Jan 20, 2009
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Sadness. I was meaning to get around to downgrading. I like a lot of the functionality baked into iOS 10, but iOS 9 had a few things right that were otherwise abandoned in the new release. I miss my music automatically playing when I plugged my headphones in as well as the other proactive app shortcuts on the lock screen. I liked their focus on "intelligence" in the OS and I took advantage of it all the time.
 
K

Kettil

macrumors member
May 31, 2011
42
47
ike1707 said:
Sadness. I was meaning to get around to downgrading. I like a lot of the functionality baked into iOS 10, but iOS 9 had a few things right that were otherwise abandoned in the new release. I miss my music automatically playing when I plugged my headphones in as well as the other proactive app shortcuts on the lock screen. I liked their focus on "intelligence" in the OS and I took advantage of it all the time.
Click to expand...
Try this:
  • Go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search and turn off the top three boxes. Then go back to the main Settings menu.

  • Close Settings and lock the phone.

  • Unlock the phone and go back to the same menu in Settings and turn the top three items back on.

  • Lock the phone.
Insert headphones and see.

Credit to crapusername47 @ https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/53sdbw/ios_10_no_longer_recognises_plugging_in/
 
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ike1707

ike1707

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C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
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vertsix said:
Nope. Updates are never mandatory.
Click to expand...
I do recall some people saying that when they got their iPhone 7 phones during the initial activation process, before they were able to actually finish and use the device, they were promoted to update to the latest iOS 10 update that was out at the time. Now what I'm not sure of is if it was simply a prompt that could be skipped or if it basically told them to do it in order to finish the activation/setup process.
 
JosephAW

JosephAW

macrumors 603
May 14, 2012
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Happily on iOS 8.4.1 on my iPhone 6. My hang up with Apple is they stopped supporting Snow Leopard with iOS 9 & 10 yet 9 supported Windows XP!
All iOS final versions should still be signed in order to support corporate enterprises and consumer trial testing.
Imagine if you installed Sierra on your MacBook and couldn't downgrade to El Capitain. Same thing. Someday a class action will force apple to keep signing.
 
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