Apple ceases iOS 9.0.2 code signing after iOS 9.1 release

Posted:
in iPhone edited November 2015
Following the release of iOS 9.0.2 last week, Apple on Thursday stopped signing code for iOS 9.1 on compatible devices, prohibiting users from downgrading to the older operating system version.




As has become routine, Apple stopped signing for iOS 9.0.2 to ensure device owners are running the most up to date, stable code available, which translates to iOS 9.1.

Aside from stability improvements and fixes for bugs discovered in iOS 9.0.2, the latest iOS update released last week included a number of additional features. Owners of Apple's new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, for example, receive a Live Photos enhancement that automatically senses when the handset is being raised or lowered to avoid recording unwanted movement. Also included is a list of more than 150 new emoji with support for Unicode 7.0 and 8.0 characters.

By ceasing iOS 9.0.2 code signing, Apple is effectively blocking users from taking advantage of a recent Pangu jailbreak release. The exploit used by Pangu's installer was patched in iOS 9.2.

Apple continues to forge ahead on its next point update and released a beta version of iOS 9.2 to developers this week that was subsequently followed by a public beta build today.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    You need to edit the sub-headline, which currently reads:

    "Following the release of iOS 9.0.2 last week, Apple on Thursday stopped signing code for iOS 9.1 on compatible devices, prohibiting users from downgrading to the older operating system version."

    It should read:

    "Following the release of iOS 9.1 last week, Apple on Thursday stopped signing code for iOS 9.0.2 on compatible devices, prohibiting users from downgrading to the older operating system version."

    I.e., they stopped signing the OLD version, when the NEW one was released. Not the other way around.
  • Reply 2 of 29
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Make up your mind about the versions, AI.

    Proof reading is a great thing, btw.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 799member
    I really wish Apple would stop doing this. Sometimes there's a really good reason why someone wants to go back to a previous version. Updates very often break something that was previously working fine, or take away a feature that you really liked. I can go back several versions in OS X, I should be able to do the same in iOS.
  • Reply 4 of 29
    prolineproline Posts: 222member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post



    I really wish Apple would stop doing this. Sometimes there's a really good reason why someone wants to go back to a previous version. Updates very often break something that was previously working fine, or take away a feature that you really liked. I can go back several versions in OS X, I should be able to do the same in iOS.



    Cry me a river buddy. Keeping as many people as possible on the latest version makes iOS an extremely difficult moving target to attack. Allowing a bunch of people to easily run obsolete versions with known security flaws would only attract hackers to the iOS platform and increase the chance of them stumbling across something that also affects the latest version. Not good.

  • Reply 5 of 29
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 799member
    proline wrote: »

    Cry me a river buddy. Keeping as many people as possible on the latest version makes iOS an extremely difficult moving target to attack. Allowing a bunch of people to easily run obsolete versions with known security flaws would only attract hackers to the iOS platform and increase the chance of them stumbling across something that also affects the latest version. Not good.

    Please. Mac users have happily and safely been able to do this for decades. OLD versions of OS X still get security updates. Even classic Mac OS got one recently. Old versions of iOS still get security updates too. If anyone could do it, Apple can.

    Besides that, Apple does already "allow a bunch of people to easily run obsolete versions". Those would be the millions of people who don't even bother to update to the latest version. Because that's the flip side: if Apple won't allow people to go back when they update, concerned people can just pass on the updates when they become available. Surely Apple doesn't want people to make THAT a habit?
  • Reply 6 of 29
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post


    Updates very often break something that was previously working fine, or take away a feature that you really liked.

     

    No, no they don’t. And you can wish all you want. If you don’t like it there are other platforms out there.

  • Reply 7 of 29
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    Too bad because iOS 9.1 has something seriously wrong in the battery drain department. Since updating to iOS 9.1 every one of my devices sucks through battery life like there is no tomorrow. No I don't have Facebook installed. I really don't know why these problems seem to pop up every now and then, where a particular iOS release will be so far out in the weeds like it was thrown out the door without any testing. There is really no excuse for a company with so much on the line to allow sub par releases like iOS 9.1 to end up in customer's hands. Very frustrating.
  • Reply 8 of 29
    Yap-teereedoo Mr. Ikrupp again you're wrong! The main reason Apple keeps up this, is because of obvious war on jailbreakers.
    There is real legit reasons why someone might want to go back to older version of iOS.
  • Reply 9 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post





    Please. Mac users have happily and safely been able to do this for decades. OLD versions of OS X still get security updates. Even classic Mac OS got one recently. Old versions of iOS still get security updates too. If anyone could do it, Apple can.



    Besides that, Apple does already "allow a bunch of people to easily run obsolete versions". Those would be the millions of people who don't even bother to update to the latest version. Because that's the flip side: if Apple won't allow people to go back when they update, concerned people can just pass on the updates when they become available. Surely Apple doesn't want people to make THAT a habit?



    OS X is much less secure than iOS, and releasing updates for OLD versions of OS X simply drains resources from other more useful development efforts. OS X users of course are safe because OS X has tiny market share and isn't a target for hackers. iOS on the other hand has absolutely huge market share- over 44% of Americans for example. The same model of security simply wouldn't work at the higher threat level. 

     

    As for Apple letting people pass on updates- sure that results in a small pool of vulnerable users. But two wrongs don't make a right- there's no good reason for Apple to make that pool any bigger than it has to be. You on the other hand, should probably just stop doing the updates and stop whining at the same time.

  • Reply 10 of 29
    This article could use a lot of proofreading, as indicated above. Also, I think where it's said:

    "The exploit used by Pangu's installer was patched in iOS 9.2."

    Really meant iOS 9.1? Or not, I surely got confused...
  • Reply 11 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post





    Please. Mac users have happily and safely been able to do this for decades. OLD versions of OS X still get security updates. Even classic Mac OS got one recently. Old versions of iOS still get security updates too. If anyone could do it, Apple can.



    Besides that, Apple does already "allow a bunch of people to easily run obsolete versions". Those would be the millions of people who don't even bother to update to the latest version. Because that's the flip side: if Apple won't allow people to go back when they update, concerned people can just pass on the updates when they become available. Surely Apple doesn't want people to make THAT a habit?

     

    Updates do break things. If they didn't, why would devs release patches saying "Fixes an issue with iOS x.x compatibility"? Why did Apple say 10.11.1 fixed issues with Office 2016?

  • Reply 12 of 29
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     

    And yes, updates do break things. If they didn't, why would devs release patches saying "Fixes an issue with iOS x.x compatibility"? Why did Apple say 10.11.1 fixed issues with Office 2016?


     

    Yes! Cry more! Your tears will fertilize the earth and help it bring forth much fruit (grapes, perhaps?). The reality is that all the whining in the universe won't change Apple's mind, as the security of their entire ecosystem is important to them. You are welcome to switch to Android or Windows if you have a problem with that.

  • Reply 13 of 29
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     



    Proline falls into the camp of "you're leasing this device from Apple and you should thank them on your knees they allow you to even breathe on it, unworthy heathen".

     


     

    And you fall into the camp of "poster who always makes sensational, zealot like statements, exaggerating the positions of others in order to more dishonestly discredit them"

     

    Yeah, God forbid someone believes there's real justification and reasoning for Apple doing this. Obviously, such a person worships at the throne of the Apple shrine (or other such bullshit). Stop attacking anyone who doesn't shit on Apple every time you do. There are other valid opinions out there besides yours, and usually they're more reasonable.

  • Reply 14 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post

     Sometimes there's a really good reason why someone wants to go back to a previous version. Updates very often break something that was previously working fine, or take away a feature that you really liked.



    Then just don't upgrade and use whatever version of the iOS that is working for you. They stopped signing NEW uploads to the AppStore, not the ones that you are running now. So, your current apps should continue working nicely, if you really worry about breaking something with an update, or losing some functionality.

  • Reply 15 of 29
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DewMe View Post



    Too bad because iOS 9.1 has something seriously wrong in the battery drain department.

     

    No, no there isn’t. You just haven’t taken the time to figure out what YOU did to cause it. As with all complaints like yours the vast majority of users are not having battery issues with iOS 9.1.

  • Reply 16 of 29
    Quote:



    Originally Posted by DewMe View Post



    Too bad because iOS 9.1 has something seriously wrong in the battery drain department. Since updating to iOS 9.1 every one of my devices sucks through battery life like there is no tomorrow. No I don't have Facebook installed. I really don't know why these problems seem to pop up every now and then, where a particular iOS release will be so far out in the weeds like it was thrown out the door without any testing. There is really no excuse for a company with so much on the line to allow sub par releases like iOS 9.1 to end up in customer's hands. Very frustrating.



    This happened to my iPhone 5.  I took my phone into Apple and talked to a genius. She checked the phone and said it looked like a software bug.  She could tell because hardware checks indicated the battery was ok and checking the 'Battery' option in Settings showed the 'usage' and 'standby' times weren't displaying anything.  The fix was to do a DFU recovery and setup the phone as a new device, i.e. do not use a previous backup.

  • Reply 17 of 29
    mnbob1mnbob1 Posts: 269member
    proline wrote: »

    OS X is much less secure than iOS, and releasing updates for OLD versions of OS X simply drains resources from other more useful development efforts. OS X users of course are safe because OS X has tiny market share and isn't a target for hackers. iOS on the other hand has absolutely huge market share- over 44% of Americans for example. The same model of security simply wouldn't work at the higher threat level. 

    As for Apple letting people pass on updates- sure that results in a small pool of vulnerable users. But two wrongs don't make a right- there's no good reason for Apple to make that pool any bigger than it has to be. You on the other hand, should probably just stop doing the updates and stop whining at the same time.

    I wouldn't call Mac's OSX 14% of the PC market "tiny". That puts them at 3rd behind Dell and HP. IBM is showing that Mac's can be deployed in the enterprise and reduce support costs while reducing employee training time. Look for their market share to continue to increase. Do research before spouting off about things you don't know about.
  • Reply 18 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post



    I really wish Apple would stop doing this. Sometimes there's a really good reason why someone wants to go back to a previous version. Updates very often break something that was previously working fine, or take away a feature that you really liked. I can go back several versions in OS X, I should be able to do the same in iOS.



    Wrong. The essence of life is "change." Something is either expanding, or it's contracting—it never stays the same. iOS is continuously expanding and improving. Move on or move out.

  • Reply 19 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SergioZ View Post



    Yap-teereedoo Mr. Ikrupp again you're wrong! The main reason Apple keeps up this, is because of obvious war on jailbreakers.

    There is real legit reasons why someone might want to go back to older version of iOS.



    That's funny! As if "jailbreakers" deserve a break!

     

    NO, they don't!

  • Reply 20 of 29



    "I really wish Apple would stop doing this. Sometimes there's a really good reason why someone wants to go back to a previous version."

     

    Amen.

     

    ?Since moving to iOS9, then to its successor, my iPad 2 Air, in Safari, will not open the comments on NYT, WP, et al. A really high-powered tech guy on Apple support couldn't help me via phone, told me he'd research it, but eventually came back to tell me he had been unable to find a solution.

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