Is new always better? While the conventional wisdom in technology is that it’s always better to update, you might have recently tried out iOS 11 and decided that it just isn’t for you. Sound like you? Well, we have some good news: you can actually downgrade back down to iOS 10.3.2 without any major hassles.
You should note, however, that this solution won’t last forever. Once iOS 11 becomes the officially supported release in a couple of months, Apple will stop distributing old versions of iOS — which means that you won’t be able to downgrade unless you saved your SHSHS2 blobs. But don’t worry, you have time. Until then, you’ll be able to downgrade to iOS 10.3.2 with ease. What you’ll need is a Mac or Windows PC and a couple minutes. What’s even better is that you’ll be able to save your apps and data – it’s flawless! So, let’s get started.
You have two well established methods for downgrading to iOS 10.3.2. You can either ‘update’ to iOS 10.3.2 or restore from an iCloud Backup. We’ll cover both in the sections below.
Downgrade to iOS 10.3.2
You’ll need to download the iOS 10.3.2 IPSW file for your device. This is a firmware file that’ll allow you to downgrade your operating system. Once you download the file, you’ll need to connect your Apple device to your computer using a lightning cable. Then, open iTunes, though it should open automatically.
Once in iTunes, you’re going to click the phone icon that you’ll see on the top-left corner of the iTunes window. A window will open which will list, on the left-hand side, a variety of options. You’re going to select the Summary tab. If using a Mac, hold down the Option key on your keyboard. For Windows, hold down the Shift key. While holding down the key, at the same time click on ‘Check for Update’.
A window will appear that’ll be a file browser. In this browser, search for IPSW file that you downloaded previously and when you find it, click Open.
After a couple seconds, a window will pop up which will inform you that iTunes will install iOS 10.3.2. On your device tap Update on the pop up itself . It may take some time, to complete the process so make sure you won’t have to use your iPhone for at least 30 minutes.
After the process is completed, your device will automatically reboot. Disconnect your device from the computer and follow the instructions on your device itself.
If you’re using a beta profile (except the Golden Master), you’ll need to uninstall it. To do this, go into Settings on your Apple device and scroll down to find Profile. Then, select your beta profile and then tap on Delete Profile. This way, your device will not automatically install iOS 11 when it comes out in September.
Restore from an iCloud Backup
Your other option is to restore from an iCloud backup. This option should only done if your Apple device is bugging out after you’ve downgraded to 10.3.2. While this shouldn’t be something that occurs normally, it does happen on some rare occasions. Before starting, you should know that by using this method it will delete your existing apps and data, thus, you’ll have to reinstall those apps again.
Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes to view if your data is backed properly. Then, you’ll want to disable Find My iPhone. To do this, go into Settings, tap on your name at the top of the screen and tap iCloud. Then you’re going to tap on Find my iPhone. Make sure that the toggle is switched off.
Once these steps have been completed you should then re-download the IPSW file for your Apple device. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open iTunes
- Select “device” menu
- Select “summary” tab
- Hold the Option key (Mac) or shift key (PC)
- Click restore iPhone
- Open IPSW file
- Click restore to confirm
Once that’s done, you’ll want to restore data from iCloud. That means that you’ll have to go through the initial setup, just as you would with method one. Select Set Up as New if you want to start from scratch or select Restore from iCloud Backup which will give you all your previously used apps and data. Voila! You’re back on iOS10. Enjoy!
