Roger Fingas
Apple has stopped signing the code for iOS 8.2, meaning that anyone wanting to downgrade from iOS 8.3 through iTunes will no longer be able to do so, accounts indicated on Monday.
The change was pointed out by various developers on Twitter such as Steve Troughton-Smith. Apple regularly stops signing older versions of iOS once there are no longer any worries about an update causing major security or functional problems.
People with jailbroken devices must now be especially careful about avoiding updates to iOS 8.3, as it will return a device to factory settings without a means of undoing the process.
iOS 8.3 was released nearly a month ago with a variety of features and interface tweaks, including wireless CarPlay support, more emoji characters, and extra accents and languages for Siri. Perhaps the biggest focus, though, was on bug fixes and performance improvements, which numbered in the dozens.
Apple has already released two betas of iOS 8.4, which incorporates a radically redesigned Music app with components like a persistent MiniPlayer. There's no indication of when it will reach the public, but it will presumably be finished by the time Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference arrives on June 8.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
13 Comments
Cue non-sensical shrieks of outrage.
Whats bad about this is if you want to test an application on an older version of the software you have to remember to never upgrade the device.
Now that iOS 8 has 80%+ penetration it means that there's still 18% running 7. I'd be very nice to be able to switch back and forth on the same device. because if you're just starting today you can't buy a device with iOS 7 on it new, you have to troll around eBay and Craigslist.
One thing that I don't like about the older versions being obsoleted in this manner is that a major crash that requires a restore forces you into an upgrade if you are running an older version. This isn't always desirable, especially for older hardware like the iPhone 4S.
Cue non-sensical shrieks of outrage.
One thing that I don't like about the older versions being obsoleted in this manner is that a major crash that requires a restore forces you into an upgrade if you are running an older version. This isn't always desirable, especially for older hardware like the iPhone 4S.
In my 8 years of owning iOS devices, from the original iPhone to the iPhone 6, and the original iPad to the iPad Air 2, from iOS1 to iOS8.3, I have yet to encounter "a major crash that requires a restore", whatever that means.
Cue non-sensical shrieks of outrage.
In my 8 years of owning iOS devices, from the original iPhone to the iPhone 6, and the original iPad to the iPad Air 2, from iOS1 to iOS8.3, I have yet to encounter "a major crash that requires a restore", whatever that means.
That may be so, but since I certainly have - twice - needed to completely refresh a couple of iPhones due to problems with Springboard and battery life issues that stemmed from said problems, it must therefore be said that your statement can only be subjective.