Revert back from Safari 11

[mrmister]

I want to revert back to Safari 10.1.2, because then it will support Safari icloud syncing with my pre-iOS 11 devices.

I have tried reinstalling the full combo updater, and I couldn't get it to overwrite Safari. Do I need to do a full reinstall? Would that even work?

 

[jbarley]

What I've done in the past is to use "Pacifist" to extract and install system apps from the installer package.
Pacifist has a trial mode which is all you'll need.

 

[Fishrrman]

The problem with trying to "revert to an earlier version of Safari" is that Safari is more than a "standalone app". It seems to have "tentacles" that reach into the bowels of the System itself.

When you upgrade Safari from one version to a newer one, more than just the app itself gets updated.

I've tried replacing a newer version of Safari with an older one, and it didn't run. I'm guessing that to MAKE it run, it would be necessary to hunt down and replace these other [older] files, as well. No easy job.

In my case, I actually went back and re-installed the OS. After doing that, I was back at the earlier version of Safari. I just ignore all Safari "updates" now. Of course, that won't work forever...

 

[mrmister]

When I ran the combo updater, it didn't actually reinstall Safari—it left it at 11.

 

[Fishrrman]

"When I ran the combo updater, it didn't actually reinstall Safari—it left it at 11."

I think you need to reinstall the "complete" OS from "scratch" (not from a combo updater)...

 

[Tech198]

The problem with trying to "revert to an earlier version of Safari" is that Safari is more than a "standalone app". It seems to have "tentacles" that reach into the bowels of the System itself.

When you upgrade Safari from one version to a newer one, more than just the app itself gets updated.

I've tried replacing a newer version of Safari with an older one, and it didn't run. I'm guessing that to MAKE it run, it would be necessary to hunt down and replace these other [older] files, as well. No easy job.

In my case, I actually went back and re-installed the OS. After doing that, I was back at the earlier version of Safari. I just ignore all Safari "updates" now. Of course, that won't work forever...

That's what i usually think... Any software which tangles components that uses other software required like IE on windows or Safari browser is too much entanglement, that is enough for me to say "The OS will break after I revert/uninstall it"

Better to just to clean install of the OS..... That's what i did when i accidentally upgraded iTunes..I'd rather waste 20 or so minutes knowing it will be done right by installing an OS again clean, rather do the "quick fix" of reverting to something you have no idea of the outcome. Then be stuck in a situation u caused yourself as what works for one machine may not work for another based on any other issues or apps which could conflict.