Open Radar

 
Summary:

There is no supported way for developers to downgrade devices to allow testing apps on earlier versions of iOS. Further, it is not even possible to restore a device that is already on an older version of iOS to that same version (in order to get a "blank slate").

A practical example: I have a 4th generation iPod touch with iOS 5.1.1 installed on it. I use this device for testing apps on that version of iOS. The device has begun to behave erratically. I do not know that performing a restore on it would correct the issues it is having, but there is no way for me to find out because I cannot restore iOS version 5.1.1. At this point, I either upgrade the device to iOS 6 or toss the device, either way I loose my only iOS 5 testing device.

I would certainly love to only require the latest and greatest version of iOS in my apps. Unfortunately the reality is that a large number of my users are still using iOS 5. I'm not trying to support ancient versions of the OS, but only one version behind the current version. This is not unreasonable but the current situation makes it difficult or impossible to do.

Steps to Reproduce:
• Get an iOS device running any version of iOS, including iOS 5.1.1.
• Attempt to restore the device to iOS 5.1.1.

Expected Results:
Developers should be able to install non-current versions of iOS for testing purposes. All versions supported by the device would be best, but even just the most recent version would be fine. Restricting this functionality to devices registered as development devices would be fine.

Actual Results:
Restoration attempt fails.

Regression:
n/a

Notes:
Most developers cannot afford to ignore users who cannot or will not upgrade to the latest version of iOS. This is a long standing issue that creates tremendous difficulty for a number of developers.