How to switch back from iOS 17 beta to iOS 16. Complete instructions for Russia

The public part of WWDC 2023 ended a few days ago, and everyone had time to install the latest beta version of iOS 17 and try out new features. However, the system is not yet stable and fast, so the idea of ​​​​returning to iOS 16 looks very logical.

Rolling back iOS is much more difficult than updating it. However, nothing is impossible. Now let’s take a look at the steps on how to return your iPhone or iPad from the beta version of iOS / iPadOS 17 to stable iOS 16.5.

Preparation

Since many Russian applications have been removed from the App Store and are no longer available for download, it is best to “mothball” them in advance for subsequent manual installation. A complete guide to saving applications and installing them from canned food is here.

Rollback process

You will definitely need a computer for it. At the moment, there is no way to rollback iOS, having only the device itself in hand. For a rollback, a Windows PC with iTunes installed, or a Mac is suitable – in it all manipulations are performed in the Finder.

Attention! After completing the following steps, all data from your iPhone/iPad will be removed! If you did not back up your data before updating to iOS 17, a possible solution for you will be described at the end of this article.

Go:

• Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer using the original Lightning cable. You can use a third-party cord, but it must be of high quality – if the connection fails during the firmware, you will get a “brick” that will require additional manipulations
• Create a full backup of your data on your computer. If you’re backing up to iCloud, you can skip this step
• Put your iPhone/iPad into recovery mode. To do this, briefly press the volume up button, then the volume down button, then hold down the Power button until you see a corresponding notification on the device.

• A message will appear on your computer asking you to restore your iPhone. Click “Restore” and follow the instructions on the screen.
• Next, you will have to wait until the computer downloads the iOS 16 file from the Apple server, unpacks it and installs it on your device.
• Upon completion of the process, you will see an alert on the computer screen. At this point, the cable can be disconnected if your backup is stored in iCloud, or you can leave your smartphone connected to the PC if you will restore from it.

If there is no iOS 16 backup

Don’t do it again. Be sure to back up your device before upgrading to a beta version of any OS. But since it is not there, you have to get out.

The action plan is the following:

• Create a backup on iOS 17
• We disguise it under iOS 16
• Rollback device to iOS 16
• Restoring a backup.

Attention! I do not guarantee that the following steps will help you restore your data on iOS 16. Apple officially prohibits restoring backups from new iOS to older ones.

In fact, this method often works, and most likely you will be able to restore your data after rolling back from iOS 17 to iOS 16. Otherwise, if nothing happens, you can always install iOS 17 again and restore your copy to it without problems .

Algorithm:

• Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer using the original Lightning cable. You can use a third-party cord, but it must be of high quality – if the connection fails during the firmware, you will get a “brick” that will require additional manipulations
• Click “Create a local backup”. I recommend creating an encrypted one – it collects much more data and settings from the device. Wait for the copy process to complete.

Next, we need to find our copy on the computer:

• For Windows: go to C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
• For Mac: open Finder, press cmd+shift+G and paste the line ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/, press Enter.

Or:

• For iTunes: Open Preferences → Devices, right-click on your copy and choose Show
• For Finder: in the window of the connected device, click “Manage copies”, right-click on the copy and select “Show in Finder”.

In a folder with a long name of Latin letters and numbers is your encrypted copy. Open it, scroll to the bottom of the list and find the file Info.plist.

Open it in any text editor and search for “17.0”. Replace these numbers with “16.0” without quotes and save the file.

Now roll back your device to iOS 16 according to the algorithm at the beginning of the article. When the process is complete, restore your device from the edited backup.