Sorry, you can no longer downgrade from iOS 8 back to iOS 7

If you hate iOS 8 -— whether because it runs like crap on your device, you miss your jailbreak, or because it’s significantly more buggy — you’ve previously had the option to downgrade back to iOS 7.1.2 if you wanted to.

But bad news. That ship has sailed. Apple has stopped signing iOS 7.1.2, making iOS 8 the only version of iOS that can be installed on any device capable of supporting it.

Generally speaking, Apple doesn’t allow you to downgrade your version of iOS once you upgrade. In order to install a version of iOS on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, iTunes first checks to see if Apple is still signing that version for your device. Usually, Apple only signs one version of iOS — the latest one — for every device capable of running it. So if your iPhone can only run iOS 7.1.2, iOS 8 won’t be signed for your device. And if you’re running iOS 8, iOS 7.1.2 will no longer be signed, so you can’t reinstall it.

However, last week, Apple was still signing both iOS 7.1.2 and iOS 8, allowing people to dip their toe in the iOS 8 water, then downgrade if they changed their mind. But sadly, that’s no longer an option, meaning that if you’ve got iOS 7.1.2 installed on your device, better think twice about updating to iOS 8. It’s a one-way street now.

Via: App Advice

John Brownlee

John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.