We’ve got some good news and some bad news. If you have an iPhone 4, a Windows PC and you retained your SHSH blobs from 6.1.3 or earlier, you can revert to iOS 6!
It’s bad news if you have any other iOS 7 handset, as you’ll be stuck on this latest version. If you’re on an iPhone 5, an iPhone 4S, any of the iPads or the fifth-gen iPod Touch, you’re stumped.
Assuming you have the iPhone 4, how do you downgrade?
It’s a bit fiddly, but if iOS 7 isn’t buttering your parsnips, then it’ll be worth the effort.
You’ll need iTunes 11.0.5 or earlier for this. If you’ve already got iTunes 11.1 or later, you’ll need to uninstall it. Download 11.0.5 from Old Apps.
Download iFaith from GitHub and unzip.
Plug your handset into your PC.
If you have your SHSH blob ready, and you know how to use it, move to the next steps. If you’re unsure, use iFaith to find it. Double-click the app and select OK, then show your available SHSH caches on the server. Click on yes and show the list of available SHSH blobs on the TSS server. You’ll get a list, so download the one you need. Then exit iFaith.
Using iFaith to revert to iOS 6
Your phone should still be plugged into your PC. Go into iFaith again and select the build “signed” IPSW w/ blobs. Browse for SHSH blobs and choose the one you want from wherever you’d previously saved it.
You’ll then need the iOS firmware file, but you can hit “download it for me”. When it’s ready, carry on and choose IPSW. This can take some time, so take a break.
Once it’s done, jot down the name of the IPSW file it’s made and hit “OK” to continue.
Now put your iPhone into DFU mode – hold the sleep/wake button down and slide to power down. Hit start on iFaith and follow the instructions to press and hold the sleep/wake key and the home key for 10 seconds. You then need to release the sleep/wake key, but carry on holding down the home key for a further 30 seconds.
You will now see a message saying that you’re in DFU mode, so click OK and leave iFaith.
How to restore from iTunes
You can now launch iTunes 11.0.5, and it should detect your iPhone 4 in recovery mode. Hit OK.
Hold the shift key and hit “restore iPhone” (the button is in the summary pane) then head over to the IPSW file you made in iFaith and choose it.
The restoration will take some time, so just go away and do something else!
Once it’s done, follow the onscreen directions to set up your handset, and it should be reverted to iOS 6!
