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Other Operating Systems => Windows 8 => Windows 8.1 Help and How to | Activation => Topic started by: javajolt on August 01, 2014, 06:54:43 AM
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There are always risks involved when using beta software. But even with the possibility of an unusable experience—or, worse, a bricked device—we just can’t help ourselves. We’ve been using iOS 8 beta since the first one launched in June, and now we’re all the way up to number four (http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/07/21/ios-8-beta-4-released/). Our experience so far has been mixed—we always expect crashes and random reboots. But the latest beta? Awful. It might be the buggiest version we’ve used so far.
Of course, we can’t blame Apple. Betas aren’t meant for consumer use, and they’re especially not designed to be used as a daily driver. Still, they give us early glimpses of what the experience will be like when the final version hits this fall. We actually detailed the features of iOS 8 beta 4 in a recent video (http://www.technobuffalo.com/videos/apple-ios-8-beta-4-hands-on-check-out-all-the-new-updates-right-here/), so check that out if you want a quick rundown of what it offers. The latest beta looks great, and offers some neat new tweaks and features. But, in case you’re like us, you’ll want to downgrade back to iOS 7.
Luckily downgrading is super simple. So long as you have the required materials, you can get your device up and running just as it was before you installed the beta.
The first thing you need to do is download the necessary restore software specific to your device to get back down to iOS 7.1.2. In the video, Mark has an iPhone 5s running on AT&T, so he downloaded the iPhone 5s GSM firmware (11D257). You can find links to the software you need right here (http://www.idownloadblog.com/download/). The next thing you need to do is disable Find My iPhone, which is found in your iCloud settings.
From there, plug in your device, bring up iTunes, and then hold down the option key (for Mac) or shift (Windows) and click on Check for Update. That will bring up a window where you can then locate the iOS 7 restore firmware you downloaded. Simply click on it and hit open, and your phone will do its thing. It’ll go through the whole process of installing the software, which should take about five to ten minutes, give or take.
Once that’s taken care of, you’ll go through the familiar process of setting up your device, where you can then either restore from iTunes, restore from iCloud, or set up as a new iPhone. If you have a previous iOS 7 backup, you should be able to use that no problem. However, if you did backup using iCloud while on iOS 8, you won’t be able to use that backup because iOS 8 will be required.
When I did it, I didn’t properly prepare myself, so I had to setup as a new phone, though all I had to do was input my iCloud information, which brought down all my contacts. I then re-downloaded my apps, though for me it wasn’t really that big of a pain because I only use a handful of third-party apps on a regular basis. The main thing is now my device is no longer experiencing random reboots, and it’s actually usable again as my daily driver.
As we said, there are always risks involved when using beta software, so be cautious when updating or downgrading. We’ve successfully downgraded multiple iPhones here in the office, and as you can see in the video, the process is very simple and straightforward.
Apple has stuck to a two week beta release cycle with iOS 8, so we’ll likely see another beta release on Monday, Aug. 4. If/when we do, we’ll be sure to let you know what features have been added, and whether the experience is actually stable or not. Until then, if you’re having major issues with iOS 8 beta 4, well, you might want to downgrade.
source:technobuffalo