can I and should I upgrade to iOS 5 beta?

Question

Level 1

141 points

can I and should I upgrade to iOS 5 beta?

I'm not enrolled as a developer so the check for updates in itunes doesn't show me any iOS updates for my iPhone 4 but a friend of mine told me its possible to upgrade the iOS to 5 with beta releases even if ur not a developer. I have an officially sold factory unlocked iPhone 4 here in India. I wanted to know if I should go ahead with the upgrade?

Since its beta and can have bugs, will I be allowed to downgrade?

Please give me your suggestion.

Neerav

MacBook 7,1, Mac OS X (10.6.7), iPhone 4

Posted on Jul 13, 2011 8:29 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Julian Wright

Level 8

35,014 points

Jul 13, 2011 8:34 AM in response to AceNeerav

Only registered developers can use the iOS 5 beta. Anyone else using it has obtained them from unofficial (and possibly illegal) sources.

If you're not a developer who needs to test his Apps on the new OS, why would you want to risk running beta, and possibly buggy, software?

Wait until the final, ready-to-use, release.

Reply

Answer 2

Tamara

Level 6

13,738 points

Jul 13, 2011 8:42 AM in response to AceNeerav

You cannot downgrade and the iOS 5 beta is only available to registered developers. Get it from any other source and you're asking for trouble.

Reply

Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,357 points

Jul 13, 2011 8:52 AM in response to AceNeerav

If you do, don't come whining to us when your phone becomes a brick.

Reply

Answer 4

modular747

Level 6

19,656 points

Jul 13, 2011 8:56 AM in response to AceNeerav

Not only can you NOT downgrade, but pirating this private beta is a criminal violation under all intellectual property and copyright laws.

Reply

Answer 5

modular747

Level 6

19,656 points

Jul 13, 2011 9:15 AM in response to AceNeerav

I've heard that US Predator drones with Hellfire missiles may be targeting iPhones with illicit iOS 5 installed...

Reply

Answer 6

AceNeerav Author

Level 1

141 points

Jul 13, 2011 9:20 AM in response to AceNeerav

I get the picture. It's not legal. Worst, not downgradbale. I don't want to turn my new chic iPhone 4 buggy! But some curiosity, as I would be enrolling in about 4 months to iOS development, when developers try new betas and if it turns their iPhones into a brick, what do they do?

Reply

Answer 7

modular747

Level 6

19,656 points

Jul 13, 2011 9:29 AM in response to AceNeerav

Developers agree to install the beta only in devices dedicated to development and beta testing, not devices they use for personal or business purposes.

Developers know how to "un-brick" if necessary. (Virtually all truly bricked iPhones occur because of prior hacking, commonplace among those who pirate private betas).

Reply

Answer 8

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,357 points

Jul 13, 2011 9:44 AM in response to AceNeerav

AceNeerav wrote:

I get the picture. It's not legal. Worst, not downgradbale. I don't want to turn my new chic iPhone 4 buggy! But some curiosity, as I would be enrolling in about 4 months to iOS development, when developers try new betas and if it turns their iPhones into a brick, what do they do?

Actually, it IS illegal. You don't have to believe that, but it won't change reality.

Reply

Answer 9

AceNeerav Author

Level 1

141 points

Jul 13, 2011 10:04 AM in response to modular747

I had once hacked my old iPhone 3G to get battery % and multitasking. Then when I restored to factory with original firmware and synced back my backup, inspite of not hacking it again the battery % appeared! It got carried forward to my iPhone 4 as well and as a result I cannot disable the battery % on my new phone. I also feel a lot of lag in typing like right now as I'm typing this. Unfortunately the only suggestion I was given was to start all over. But I could as my games had saved history. I am wondering if these hack leftovers will be carried over to icloud as well with ios5. Should I just start over?

Reply

Answer 10

modular747

Level 6

19,656 points

Jul 13, 2011 10:07 AM in response to AceNeerav

There are settings and hacks left over that can be transferred in the phone backup. I suggest restoring as new, without the backup to clean out any residual crap that could bite you in the future.

Reply

Answer 11

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Jul 13, 2011 10:08 AM in response to KiltedTim

I think you misread, Tim. Ace said "It's not legal". Perhaps you misread and thought he's said "It's not illegal".

Regards.

Reply

Answer 12

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,357 points

Jul 13, 2011 11:59 AM in response to varjak paw

You're right. Sorry about that. Guess I need to up my afternoon caffiene intake.

Reply

Answer 13

AceNeerav Author

Level 1

141 points

Jul 13, 2011 2:19 PM in response to modular747

actually i was thinking that if these settings and hacks are not a part of app data then maybe i could use icloud to backup my app data, restore to factory, and then restore from icloud? that way i can still have my app data without the hacks and settings.

could you verify this?

Neerav

Reply

Answer 14

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Jul 13, 2011 2:26 PM in response to AceNeerav

iCloud has not been released yet, so no, no one can verify anything to do with iCloud. Nor can anyone verify what settings are part of the backup in iOS 5, nor discuss hacks at all.

Reply

Answer 15

modular747

Level 6

19,656 points

Jul 13, 2011 2:32 PM in response to AceNeerav

There's no way to backup app data separately from the rest of the backup.

What you can try is reset all settings. There may be some altered settings inputed by the hack that get carried with the backup.

Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

Reply