Having iOS 7 Beta Regret? Here's How To Go Back To iOS 6

We’ve been giving you some sneak peeks into iOS 7 and the new features and design. Some of you have decided to try out the beta yourselves, while others are steering clear. There are good reasons to beta test, but also some good ones to wait.

If you were too antsy and just couldn’t wait—hey, I don't blame you, especially if you’re a developer—then chances are you did upgrade. But all betas have bugs, not to mention everyone seems to be very close-minded about the app icons—what’s up with that?

But if that’s enough to make you regret the upgrade, we have good news! Even though Apple told us there was no going back, Redmond Pie figured out how to do it pretty simply, though it may take a little time.

Are you sure you want to downgrade? Positive?

Here’s how to revert back to iOS 6 from the iOS 7 beta:

You’ll first have to download iOS 6.1.4 for iPhone 5 GSM or iPhone 5 CDMA.

Alternatively, if you’re using an iPhone 4S, iPod touch 5, or iPhone 4 GSM, iPhone 4 CDMA you’ll want to download iOS 6.1.3.

After you have the correct iOS (make sure you do, it's important), save the IPSW file to your desktop. Also ensure you have the newest version of iTunes installed on your computer before doing this.

Ready?

Step 1: Connect your iPhone or iPod touch to your PC or Mac and launch iTunes.

Step 2: Select your device from the pane on the left or click the ‘iPhone’ button on the top right hand corner of iTunes.

Step 3: On the main screen of iTunes, you should see two buttons; one says Check for Update and the other one says Restore iPhone. If you’re on Windows, hold down the left Shift key on your keyboard and click on Restore iPhone. If you’re on OS X, then hold down the Alt key.

Step 4: A new pop-up window would appear. Point it towards the IPSW file you downloaded for your iPhone or iPod touch in the beginning, then click on Restore.

Step 5: iTunes will verify the IPSW firmware file with Apple and your device will restore.

The restore process might take a while, so sit back, relax and wait for the restore process to complete. Once done, you will have 6.1.3/6.1.4 running on your device.

How-to: Fix iTunes error 3194:

If you have ever messed around with hosts file on your PC or Mac, you will come across this dreaded message just before Step 5. Don’t worry, there’s an easy fix for this and you’ll be up and running in no time.

Step 1: If you’re on Windows, navigate to Windows > System32 > driver / etc. If you’re on OS X, simply head over to etc. A file named hosts will be present in this folder, copy it to your desktop, right-click it and open it in notepad or any text editor of your choice.

Step 2: Scroll all the way down and locate the line saying “74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com”. Simply put a # sign before this whole thread, which will disable this command from being executed when the restore process is underway. It should look like this after the edit you’re going to make:

#74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

You can delete the line altogether, it serves the same purpose. Once you’re done, save the hosts file and close the text editor you’re using.

Step 3: Copy the hosts file back to the etc folder.

Step 4: Follow this guide from the beginning and you won’t face any error 3194 during the restore process.

There you go. Back to your beloved iOS 6, thanks to Redmond Pie. Just hope you don’t change your mind again …

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