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Should Apple let us 4S/5 Users downgrade to iOS 6?

iModFrenzy

iModFrenzy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 15, 2015
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A few days ago, I took my 4S back to iOS 6. And I have to say, the way iOS has "improved" is disappointing. iOS 7+ brings a lot of functionality which I like, but it is just way too slow on these older devices. I ditched my 5 just because of how much faster iOS 6 is than iOS 7+.

Not to mention, iOS 7 is a eye killer at night. Turn the screen on at full brightness is like being hit with a flashbang. You may disagree but IOS 6 is more friendly.

iOS 6 actually let's call without going through a fiasco. Group chats are a nightmare to scroll through. And don't get me started on spotlight.

Point is, I really think Apple should give us the option to downgrade these devices. They are probably gonna see their way out soon anyway and I'd rather not be stuck on iOS 9.

I also started a petition, hoping to get Apples attention. Signing literally takes less than a minute.
https://www.change.org/p/apple-let-us-downgrade-to-ios-6
 
iModFrenzy said:
A few days ago, I took my 4S back to iOS 6. And I have to say, the way iOS has "improved" is disappointing. iOS 7+ brings a lot of functionality which I like, but it is just way too slow on these older devices. I ditched my 5 just because of how much faster iOS 6 is than iOS 7+.

Not to mention, iOS 7 is a eye killer at night. Turn the screen on at full brightness is like being hit with a flashbang. You may disagree but IOS 6 is more friendly.

iOS 6 actually let's call without going through a fiasco. Group chats are a nightmare to scroll through. And don't get me started on spotlight.

Point is, I really think Apple should give us the option to downgrade these devices. They are probably gonna see their way out soon anyway and I'd rather not be stuck on iOS 9.

I also started a petition, hoping to get Apples attention. Signing literally takes less than a minute.
https://www.change.org/p/apple-let-us-downgrade-to-ios-6
Click to expand...

Security problems... No.
 
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Should they…yes.

Will they…ever? No.

I agree with you about iOS 6. I hate iOS 7, 8 and 9 and while some people are really security conscious and therefore feel they have to stay updated in order to be secure - I don't care. If I could be back on iOS 6 with my 5, I'd jump at the chance.

But Apple allowing it? No, never going to happen.
 
iModFrenzy said:
A few days ago, I took my 4S back to iOS 6. And I have to say, the way iOS has "improved" is disappointing. iOS 7+ brings a lot of functionality which I like, but it is just way too slow on these older devices. I ditched my 5 just because of how much faster iOS 6 is than iOS 7+.

Not to mention, iOS 7 is a eye killer at night. Turn the screen on at full brightness is like being hit with a flashbang. You may disagree but IOS 6 is more friendly.

iOS 6 actually let's call without going through a fiasco. Group chats are a nightmare to scroll through. And don't get me started on spotlight.

Point is, I really think Apple should give us the option to downgrade these devices. They are probably gonna see their way out soon anyway and I'd rather not be stuck on iOS 9.

I also started a petition, hoping to get Apples attention. Signing literally takes less than a minute.
https://www.change.org/p/apple-let-us-downgrade-to-ios-6
Click to expand...
My vote would be no. iOS 6 hasn't seen any updates for a few years now, and In that time we've seen the goto fail bug, heartbleed, shellshock, and a few other major bugs that needed to be resolved. Apple wouldn't be able to properly keep track of security patches with old versions at the rate that they currently do iOS releases. I know it's nostalgic to go back to older versions like some people do with Windows XP, but the world is a different place from what it was back then, and security needs to keep going forward to stay relevant. It's one of the major reasons why people like to use iOS; everyone updates at once, and we all stay secure at the same time.
 
eyoungren said:
But Apple allowing it? No, never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Apple would just have to lift the checking for iOS 6. There's gotta be somebody to try and change that.

thatanonymoususer said:
My vote would be no. iOS 6 hasn't seen any updates for a few years now, and In that time we've seen the goto fail bug, heartbleed, shellshock, and a few other major bugs that needed to be resolved. Apple wouldn't be able to properly keep track of security patches with old versions at the rate that they currently do iOS releases. I know it's nostalgic to go back to older versions like some people do with Windows XP, but the world is a different place from what it was back then, and security needs to keep going forward to stay relevant. It's one of the major reasons why people like to use iOS; everyone updates at once, and we all stay secure at the same time.
Click to expand...

I have used iOS 6 all summer and have yet to stumble across these issues. Security isn't a big deal to me, I know that these things could happen to me but the chances are low.
 
I'm just glad I was able to downgrade back to iOS 9.1. 9.2 killed my battery, app store and toasted my data cap all in 2 days!
 
I really think they should, but they should push out security patches. Google allows people with Nexus devices to upgrade/downgrade their software version to what it launched with. Right now, if I had an old Nexus 4, I could literally drop back down to 4.2.2 if I wanted. I wish Apple would allow that.
 
No, iOS 6 app support is really bad; it's also lacking in features. Trying to go back to it you lose access to so many things. Good for 2012 but in 2015 it's pretty obsolete and slowly getting worse.

Plus iOS 7 isn't really slow on those devices, it would be more appealing.
 
Last edited:
wlossw said:
Security problems... No.
Click to expand...
Apple uses fear based selling better than few other companies. By wrapping up the storyline as "keeping us safe" no one's about to argue with that.

Upgrades to Apple's various OS's are a crucial and essential part of their planned obsolescence strategy. A key element of Apples hardware sales scheme, they've got this down cold. Allowing anyone for any reason to roll back to an earlier software version is strictly verboten.

Running like a well oiled machine, Apple's profit soar... much to the deep intrinsic delight of the faithful.
 
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It might not be a bad idea to let users downgrade to iOS 6, in my opinion. I personally wouldn't go back because iOS 7 brought some functionality which I do appreciate, such as the control panel, which you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access. I can't remember Apple's term for it, so I'm just going to call it the control panel.

But in general, I do agree with you in that I'm not fond of a lot of things in iOS 7 and up. I personally haven't noticed any slowdowns with iOS 7, 8 and 9, but I'm really not keen on the new multitasking menu, especially in iOS 9. I'm also not a big fan of the new Music app interface and I don't like the UI animations very much. There are other things in iOS that I don't like but I'm not going to turn this into a rant.
 
Flow39 said:
I really think they should, but they should push out security patches. Google allows people with Nexus devices to upgrade/downgrade their software version to what it launched with. Right now, if I had an old Nexus 4, I could literally drop back down to 4.2.2 if I wanted. I wish Apple would allow that.
Click to expand...
If Apple is going to allow that then they will need to start pushing out security patches for those of us PowerPC Mac users still on OS X Leopard 10.5.8.

I don't think they're going to do that. ;-)
 
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maxsix said:
Apple uses fear based selling better than few other companies. By wrapping up the storyline as "keeping us safe" no one's about to argue with that.

Upgrades to Apple's various OS's are a crucial and essential part of their planned obsolescence strategy. A key element of Apples hardware sales scheme, they've got this down cold. Allowing anyone for any reason to roll back to an earlier software version is strictly verboten.

Running like a well oiled machine, Apple's profit soar... much to the deep intrinsic delight of the faithful.
Click to expand...
Unlike Ggoles in which every non-Nexus device is obsolete with 6 to 12 months due to never getting any security updates at all
 
eyoungren said:
If Apple is going to allow that then they will need to start pushing out security patches for those of us PowerPC Mac users still on OS X Leopard 10.5.8.

I don't think they're going to do that. ;-)
Click to expand...
Ah yes, the mention of OS X Leopard brings back many fond memories.

Of all the various New PowerBook models I've owned, my absolute favorite was my late 2002 15" PowerBook Ti running OS X 10.5.8

Fast Fun and ideal for my work at the time I enjoyed several years with that PowerBook. Even after migrating to the latest 15" MBP upon its release, I kept the Ti, using it for an extended period. :D
 
iModFrenzy said:
Apple would just have to lift the checking for iOS 6. There's gotta be somebody to try and change that.



I have used iOS 6 all summer and have yet to stumble across these issues. Security isn't a big deal to me, I know that these things could happen to me but the chances are low.
Click to expand...
These aren't issues that you stumble into or come across. These were three issues with the SSL protocol found in 2014. Any man-in-the-middle attacks would still work on your phone if you're using an un-patched device. It's not Apple fear-mongering. It's knowledge of how the bugs effect the SSL protocol. Apparently the Heartbleed bug wasn't on Apple devices (my mistake -Apple uses its own SSL library that wasn't vulnerable).The goto fail bug was never patched on iOS 6, so any goto fail-based attack would still work. Because of this, I wouldn't use the iOS 6 safari for making any credit card purchases or for updating important private information.
 
thatanonymoususer said:
My vote would be no. iOS 6 hasn't seen any updates for a few years now, and In that time we've seen the goto fail bug, heartbleed, shellshock, and a few other major bugs that needed to be resolved. Apple wouldn't be able to properly keep track of security patches with old versions at the rate that they currently do iOS releases.
Click to expand...

They should provide patches for old OS versions.
It is ok to force users to install the latest OS version available for the device, but there are still customers with iPhone 4 with iOS 7 and they should receive important security updates.
 
Consumers should have the choice, but apple just want headlines around number of units and adoption rates
 
maxsix said:
Ah yes, the mention of OS X Leopard brings back many fond memories.

Of all the various New PowerBook models I've owned, my absolute favorite was my late 2002 15" PowerBook Ti running OS X 10.5.8

Fast Fun and ideal for my work at the time I enjoyed several years with that PowerBook. Even after migrating to the latest 15" MBP upon its release, I kept the Ti, using it for an extended period. :D
Click to expand...
I'm typing this on a 2001 G4 Quicksilver. :D

The only Intel Mac I own is a 2006 17" MBP. My other workhorse is a 2003 17" PowerBook G4.

Leopard is pretty front and center for me, LOL! :D
 
eyoungren said:
Should they…yes.

Will they…ever? No.

I agree with you about iOS 6. I hate iOS 7, 8 and 9 and while some people are really security conscious and therefore feel they have to stay updated in order to be secure - I don't care. If I could be back on iOS 6 with my 5, I'd jump at the chance.

But Apple allowing it? No, never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Yep, just not going to happen.

If you have one of the older devices, unless you had no choice but to restore your phone and got the 'update' that way, you should never have been running such a later version.

Live and learn
 
NO - maybe back 1 but not back to 6. Then app developers would have to support 6. And carriers etc.
If you want to run an old phone and old software then run Android - half of those phone are old and never get upgraded. Also people would complain that functions aren't there and Apple should functions to 6. There are enough complainer and complaints on this board
 
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you guys do realize that nobody can force you to buy an iOS device, right? but, there are still ways to go back to earlier versions. you just need to do a little searching online.
 
dennysanders said:
you guys do realize that nobody can force you to buy an iOS device, right? but, there are still ways to go back to earlier versions. you just need to do a little searching online.
Click to expand...
No there isn't. At the moment the only devices that can go back to an earlier version (iOS 5) without the needs of SHSH are iPhone 4S and iPad 2. And they need to be jailbroken in order to be downgraded which is impossible on the lastest iOS 9.2 at the moment. Older devices like the iPhone 4 can but it will be a thetered downgrade so not a complete one.
 
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CTHarrryH said:
NO - maybe back 1 but not back to 6. Then app developers would have to support 6. And carriers etc.
If you want to run an old phone and old software then run Android - half of those phone are old and never get upgraded. Also people would complain that functions aren't there and Apple should functions to 6. There are enough complainer and complaints on this board
Click to expand...
Totally disagree with this.

I was on iOS 6 for a year after iOS 7 came out. All of my apps continued to work fine. I never once complained that the devs weren't supporting me because I was on an older OS.

I'm not a gamer (I use my Macs for that) but I do use my phone for calls, texts and email. iOS 6 can still handle phone calls, iMessage/SMS and email! Facebook worked just fine too. And if it had broken I would have just used my browser.

And here's the thing. If Apple would allow that and people want to bitch about it then all they'd have to do is upgrade.

So, no, I don't buy this argument at all. Sorry!
 
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