Stop iPhone from downloading iOS6 OTA

With all respect, I made a test when iOS 6 was published. I leave 2 devices without update. No one pushes the button "Download and Install". Believe me! After 10 days or more I found the update already downloaded and the option was "Install". I never turned on "Automatically Downloads". I have no idea when and why this happened.

I will make the test again with my wife's iPhone that she wants to keep it in iOS 6 for a while.

Sorry for bad English.

With all respect, apple themselves state in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4623?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US that "Available updates download automatically if your device is connected to Wi-Fi and a power source".

I suspect this explains different peoples experiences...

There doesn't appear to be any way to prevent auto downloads when connected to power and WiFI concurrently.

This is a big problem for those connected on limited download plans via 3G MiFi type devices...

On Friday, I finally witnessed an iDevice downloading updates by itself.

We have 15 iPads mounted in locked brackets in our facility and use guided access to restrict access to a single app. Being a small organization with a relatively slow (but sufficient for our needs) internet connection, you can imagine my shock when our internet access basically ground to a halt. 6 of our iPads were in the process of downloading iOS 7... I had to black-hole the update servers they were talking to (actually, I black-hole'd the entire IP address range the servers are in just to be safe) to stop it. It was a brute force approach, but it was 4:30 on a Friday and I wasn't going to waste time on it.

Quote:With all respect, apple themselves state in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4623?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US that "Available updates download automatically if your device is connected to Wi-Fi and a power source".

Thank you for providing that info, and I'm hilariously happy that the posts by the apple apologetics fools are proved incorrect.

We own 2 iPhones and 3 iPads and I work on a Mac Mini, I'm not so much an Apple fan as I am a M$ despiser, but pushing a new operating system into my iOS REALLY agitates me. That is exactly the kind of crap I despise M$. We all know Apple designs a product to be used a certain way, but forcing an entire new operating system goes well beyond that scope.

This happened at our work also, 200 student iPads are at least locked down to prevent the update but faculty and staff were not.

I understand Apple designing this structure for the smooth operation for the lowest common denominator, but it really is a major nuisance for the power users who want control.

Where did you find the IP addresses to block?

I had to look at our firewall to see what IP addresses they were communicating with. There were 2 or 3 outside IP addresses owned by Akamai that they were hitting and generating all the traffic. As soon as I black-hole'd those, it stopped. I'll have to take a look at the firewall when I'm back in the office Monday to see what they were exactly. Don't recall off the top of my head.

You stated earlier in this thread that "There is no more possibility that the download happened by itself than there is that the Earth is flat and only 6000 years old." Does this mean given what you've experienced at your facility, that the Earth really is flat and only 6,000 years? Sorry, but I couldn't resist. I just hope that in the future, you think twice before criticizing others, and having their posts and/or threads deleted, which I experienced just the other day. Anyway, enough said.

How would one go about blocking an IP address on an iDevice, so that it wouldn't automatically download iOS 7?

Seanachai wrote:

Does this mean given what you've experienced at your facility, that the Earth really is flat and only 6,000 years?

Well... since I work for the Church... it might be... as much as I hate to think about that.

How would one go about blocking an IP address on an iDevice, so that it wouldn't automatically download iOS 7?

I don't think you can. I blocked the addresses on our network firewall.

I knew I wasn't crazy. This automatically-pushed download happened to my iPad mini sometime between Sept 18 and Sept 20.

See this topic for more info on this unauthorized download of iOS 7

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5343653?answerId=23165769022#23165769022

I've found a reference in another thread on the server to block (appldnld.apple.com). I dont have access to the iPad mini nor my other network until the weekend to test this. I also cannot say what exactly will be blocked. Here's the link if anyone is interested to try it out:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4370705?start=0&tstart=0

@KiltedTimyou are wrong!! Do a search. It's happening to a lot of people. Automatic DOWNLOAD is not under user control. So previously, because you didn't witness it personally, it DIDN'T happen. Oh my.

@timborama

You clearly didn't read past the first page to see KiltedTim finally witnessed iOS devices automatically downloading the update.

I presume his earliest statements were based on his extensive use of iOS devices as an administrator, not just a consumer with a few at home.

If you want the iOS7 update download to get deleted off your device you can:

• Backup
• Restore
• Sync and load enough apps to leave only 1GB left
• The iOS7 update will not have room to download

As per above replies.

The red badge on settings indicates the update is available for downloading, it shows on three of my devices but it has not downloaded. I will just ignore it until the many current bugs are resolved :-)

Just had a long chat online with Apple support as I had this very problem (iOS 7 downloading without my consent). It appears that all you have to do is OPEN Software Updates whilst power and WiFi are available and it will automatically download. When I pointed out that "Having a download button implies consent. You can't just fill up my storage space without my consent and then make it difficult to recover the space" he replied "I do apologize for that." His solution was to erase all content and settings and then restore a backup and this option will not update your device to iOS 7. I'm not convinced that their terms & conditions allow them to do this. Very frustrating!

Les-UK.

The advice you got, didn't work in my case. I restored my iPhone 4 as new... twice, and even though I never went into Software Update, it redownloaded OS 7 each time. Fortunately, I have a 32GB model, so even with all my music and apps on it, I still have 10.5GB of free space.