How do I downgrade from Public Beta iOS 9.1 to General Release iOS 9.0?

[deany]

I was researching this issue online since I am upgrading from an iPhone 6 which was running iOS 9.1 to an iPhone 6s and wanted a clean install from backup. This forum post was the top trend on Twitter for iOS 9 and I absorbed much of the info. I'd like to share my experience as I believe it will help everyone trying to go from 9.1 beta to 9.0 general release.
First, I plugged my iPhone (in recovery mode) into my computer running iTunes 12.3. It recognized the phone and prompted me to update or restore. I chose update. It gave me a scary message warning that a restore may be necessary if the update fails. I proceeded anyway, knowing I could go back to the beta with my backup if it failed. It went through the process, took about ten minutes, and updated! I am now on the 9.0 general release (13A344). I did absolutely nothing to prepare as far as downloading a software profile from anywhere or even deleting my beta profile beforehand. The only issue I've encountered has been a software update showing before I deleted the profile. Now I have a badge app icon over the settings app showing an update is available, but actually entering software update shows no updates available.

In short: The way to go backwards from iOS 9.1 to 9.0 is simple. Delete the beta software profile first. Then connect to iTunes in recovery mode. Then select update. That's it. It does work and you lose no data. I'm quite pleased to be ready for a clean install on my 6s!

this is how I updated too.

does your calendar etc sync between i devices? my iphone to ipad sync doesnt work

 

[jbriscoe]

I don't even see Profile anymore in the General menu - it's disappeared. Anyone else with this issue?

 

[Aftermath747]

this is how I updated too.

does your calendar etc sync between i devices? my iphone to ipad sync doesnt work

Everything is syncing fine as far as I can tell.

 

[Aftermath747]

I don't even see Profile anymore in the General menu - it's disappeared. Anyone else with this issue?

Happened to me on iPad. I went to beta.apple.com and downloaded the profile again just so I could delete it before attempting the upgrade.

 

[newellj]

I did not use redmondpie

I just connected to up to date itunes with a genuine usb cable in dfu mode and upgraded- no data lost 100% there

And THAT ^^^ is all anyone needs to know on this topic.

 

[deany]

Everything is syncing fine as far as I can tell.

Okay, thanks

My iPad and MacBook Pro are syncing fine.

My iPhone has no contacts, calendars, reminders

All is safe in www.icloud.com

Apple have admitted there is a problem with the server & that the engineers are working on it and I will be phoned back tomorrow or Saturday (UK).

He said that Apple iCloud has about three backups servers but he wasn't sure, one in US & a backup in Europe.

So data is safe

 

[Merc23]

Here is the revised downgrade procedure from 9.1 beta to 9.0 GM:
No restore necessary - just option click "Check for Update".

The Web site for iOS 9 GM is:
http://www.redmondpie.com/ios-9-download-links-for-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch-ipsw-links/


Sequence:

• Download iOS 9 GM for your device (see links above)
• on your device - iCloud disable Find my iphone/pad -- OPTIONAL to be safe should something go wrong
• delete iOS Beta Profile and reboot
  
• connect device via USB
• Then goto iTunes - option click " check for update"
• point to downloaded firmware file and install
• check software update on iOS device - should say you are on latest version

tested with iPhone 6 and iPad Air

Hey,
i cant finish that step, because the update button is grey and i can not push/chose the ipsw file
same sprocedure when i'm in DFU.
Any Ideas ?

 

[Mac... nificent]

Never ever will i download these betas again, Apple should allow you if you tap software update to override a beta version versus a final version

I agree, no more betas. You lose in the end.

 

[jmikhail490]

For everyone who wants to downgrade from iOS 9.1 to 9 and only has a 9.1 backup simply change the Info.plist "Product Version" to 9.0 in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/<latest_backup>. Then open iTunes and you should be able to restore from that backup, worked for me

I can confirm that this worked flawlessly for me!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

 

[Prabas]

Yeah, I did what dcardoso said and right now my phone keeps freezing, once it froze when I was in Spotlight, then Argus.app, then Music.app. Some things are broken.. I think I'll have to restore again, this time as new.

 

[harkon]

Hmm,

I used the method from post #117 to downgrade my iPhone from PB 9.1 to iOS 9 final.

Everything seems to work okay with one exception: Using iTunes 12.3 I am not able to sync music to my device. iTunes starts syncing an finishes without an error but the music files are not copied to the phone. If i look up the music on my phone the new files are there but they are greyed out.

Did anyone encounter this or has a solution perhaps?

 

[3587]

Plugging in the phone to iTunes and booting into DFU worked perfectly for me. Went from 9.1 to 9.0. Seems much smoother.

 

[deany]

I used same method and worked but iPhone won't sync with iCloud (will backup)

Tried resetting as new device and restore still won't sync.

I know that there is 3rd party software to extract the settings.

It's damage limitation for me, any advice appreciated.

 

[harkon]

OK. After I did a full DFU reset and loaded my last backup it's working again... Perhaps there really was some backup after the downgrade I did before. No problem with iCloud backup btw. It didn't work on the betas for me but on the final version it's working again.

 

[3587]

Yeah, some goofy stuff going on there. Not sure I'll be beta testing in the future. Way too buggy and then you're hit with even more issues after.

 

[cloudystrife]

The EASY way to do is in iTunes via recovery mode (holding down home button) while connected via USB. Do Update instead of Restore to preserve all data

 

[gwhizkids]

The EASY way to do is in iTunes via recovery mode (holding down home button) while connected via USB. Do Update instead of Restore to preserve all data

I did this yesterday. Awesome on Apple's part to set it up this way. Much easier than having to restore the backup.

 

[AFIS]

I did the update via DFU mode and iTunes, and I'm back on 9.0.1. However, not every pictures and videos were downloaded to the phone. Right now I only have 4878 pictures, and 116 videos. While on my iPad and Mac I have 8751 pictures and 366 videos!

My iPhone is actually uploading all 4878 pictures again. Luckily, the only difference I've experienced on my iPad is some images that I manually changed the date on, have been reuploaded (so that I have two duplicates with different dates).
Hopefully, after my iPhone is finished "uploading" all the pictures, it will download the remaining. But I have to admit, I'm almost panicking (thankfully I still have my pictures and videos backed up in both iCloud and Dropbox).

 

[deany]

the thought of losing data is awful, you'll be fine though I'm sure.

 

[AFIS]

After several hours, it seems that everything is alright. After it uploaded all 4878 photos, it downloaded the rest. The only bug I can find now is that old videos I recorded on a camera I bought back in 2006 is no longer supported and can not be played. However, on my mac and iPad, those work fine.

This was the first and last time I will ever try a beta software.

 

[Billymac19]

After several hours, it seems that everything is alright. After it uploaded all 4878 photos, it downloaded the rest. The only bug I can find now is that old videos I recorded on a camera I bought back in 2006 is no longer supported and can not be played. However, on my mac and iPad, those work fine.

This was the first and last time I will ever try a beta software.

so you just go into DFU mode, click update NOT restore, and you dont lose any data/songs/pics at all this way???

 

[AFIS]

so you just go into DFU mode, click update NOT restore, and you dont lose any data/songs/pics at all this way???

First I took a backup to iTunes incase **** hit the fan. Then I removed my beta profile, went into DFY mode and updated. I didn't lose anything, no. But somehow it took hours to get all my photos back. But all my files are still here, I haven't lost anything.

The only two problems I have seen so far is video playback of old videos are not supported (supported on my iPad) and iCloud backup is slow. I have to do it manually, and it fails several times. But I experience that on my iPad as well, and I didn't try any beta software on that. So I guess it's an iOS 9 issue.