iOS 5 worth it?

[Lynx]

I have the ability to get iOS5 Beta 2 and use it. Do you think its worth it to try out? Also how long does it take to upgrade to it, and downgrade back to 4.2.8 if I decided to go that route?

 

[Jeremy]

If you plan on upgrading to a beta on your daily driver I would highly recommend you not go through with it. Once you move up there is no going back down. At least any easy way to do so.

 

[phinx404]

i like it so far. few minor bugs here and there. all the apps i use work like normally. calendar is laggy at times and camera preview icon after taking the pic even after you delete it stays there until you take a new one. also sometimes after writing and email and sending it parts of the screen have black blocks in them.. just home button out or rotate and it goes away. all good though. if you like everything to work 100% or near it then stay stock. if you like to test new things and dont mind working through or around them then upgrade! =)

 

[BLiNK]

i think it is important to realize that it does come with a price.. for example: some of your favorite or most used apps may not work and will not until after the final release. the workability of the device will have little issues here & there. battery life could be a deal breaker. fortunately i am near a power source most of my day(s) so i can go heavy with usage if i choose to do so

most importantly, it is a beta so when the "newness" finally wears off try not to come here, or other forums, and complain about it

 

[Lynx]

I am by a power source the entire day so im not to worried about battery life. Has anybody downgraded from 5b2 back to 4.2.8?

 

[Ipheuria]

I say live on the edge, Do it, Do it, Do it Can you tell which kid I was in high school?? lol

I'm not going to add anything because I think everyone has given you a pretty good idea of what to expect. I don't think it's that hard to downgrade because you're going back to the latest firmware which is still being signed by Apple. However I'm not sure if there is a difference between Windows and Mac so maybe that is something to consider? I just downgraded my iPad from beta 1 back to 4.3.3. I'll be getting beta 2 this weekend but I like to go back to official firmware then go to the beta instead of beta to beta just the way I roll. It took about 15 minutes I downloaded the firmware and opened iTunes, hold down Option/ Shift on Windows and clicked restore in iTunes. I pointed to the firmware I downloaded and let iTunes do it's thing. I tried to restore from a backup it said my firmware was older so I went to the older backup and boom it is now restoring.

This is the main reason I always tell people to stick to the most simple method to JB. I see some people trying this, then this because it might work, then this and their hosts file gets edited, etc. So this can also add to the problems of restoring because I have never had any of the problems I've helped people with on these forums it's always been a one shot deal for me.

 

[Lynx]

I think the main reason I wanna do this is because I miss ROMing my Android Devices lol. I was always tinkering with those. Hmmmm I may pull the trigger and do it. I dont think going back to stock is that difficult from what ive read online.

 

[Jeremy]

I say live on the edge, Do it, Do it, Do it Can you tell which kid I was in high school?? lol

I'm not going to add anything because I think everyone has given you a pretty good idea of what to expect. I don't think it's that hard to downgrade because you're going back to the latest firmware which is still being signed by Apple. However I'm not sure if there is a difference between Windows and Mac so maybe that is something to consider? I just downgraded my iPad from beta 1 back to 4.3.3. I'll be getting beta 2 this weekend but I like to go back to official firmware then go to the beta instead of beta to beta just the way I roll. It took about 15 minutes I downloaded the firmware and opened iTunes, hold down Option/ Shift on Windows and clicked restore in iTunes. I pointed to the firmware I downloaded and let iTunes do it's thing. I tried to restore from a backup it said my firmware was older so I went to the older backup and boom it is now restoring.

This is the main reason I always tell people to stick to the most simple method to JB. I see some people trying this, then this because it might work, then this and their hosts file gets edited, etc. So this can also add to the problems of restoring because I have never had any of the problems I've helped people with on these forums it's always been a one shot deal for me.

You can not downgrade the iPhone the way you do iPad. When you install the iPhone beta you are making changes to the radio firmware as well which is not reversible.

 

[hellomiggy]

i have been downgrading my iPod from beta to stable 4.3.3.

for some reason its easy as pie on the iPod? to downgrade, i just press option my mac and click restore.

now for some reason the iPhone is much more difficult, i had to download TinyUmbrella, RedSn0w, RecBoot, and so on.

hopefully it is much more easier for you to downgrade 0_o?

 

[Jeremy]

i have been downgrading my iPod from beta to stable 4.3.3.

for some reason its easy as pie on the iPod? to downgrade, i just press option my mac and click restore.

Again, it could be due to the radio firmware being changed in the phone. Direct from the Apple Developer page "Devices updated to iOS 5 beta can not be restored to earlier versions of iOS. Devices will be able to upgrade to future beta releases and the final iOS 5 software.".

Maybe they are lying... no idea but I have no reason to attempt it. Previously it was possible but not by simply restoring in iTunes. There was way more to it than that due to the radio firmware.

 

[ghostface147]

You can revert to the 4.3.3 official release, but it has a few hoops to jump through. You CANNOT downgrade your baseband however.

 

[bizfox]

The beta is worth it to me since first, I like to tinker... and second, I love my notifications haha.

 

[Jon Seals]

If you have SHSH's (they aren't hard to get) you can.

 

[OKCChuck]

You can not downgrade the iPhone the way you do iPad. When you install the iPhone beta you are making changes to the radio firmware as well which is not reversible.

Well, you can go back to 4.3.3. at least. I did it last night without and SHSH

 

[Garz]

There are some bugs. Notifications are not reliable. Facetime has been disabled until beta 3. Its your call. Do you want.

 

[Dryland]

Beta 2 feels much smoother compared to beta 1, and has better battery life (I get almost 24 hours on a full charge, and ye's I'm a power user). Unless apple does something to change that, it safe. As mentioned, some apps will crash, but most will work. ( I haven't found any that don't) Notifications are the best thing about iOS 5 IMO. Playing Modern Combat and getting fragged cause a modal alert has stopped my game play. Wireless syncing and backups are cool as well.

 

[iV1SHAL]

Apple is still signing 4.3.3 so you can just hit shift restore and downgrade to it. Works on iPhone too

 

[Jeremy]

Apple is still signing 4.3.3 so you can just hit shift restore and downgrade to it. Works on iPhone too

That's odd, but there you go.

 

[Alli]

I think the main reason I wanna do this is because I miss ROMing my Android Devices lol. I was always tinkering with those. Hmmmm I may pull the trigger and do it. I dont think going back to stock is that difficult from what ive read online.

If that's your reason, you should jailbreak instead of using a beta.

 

[Lynx]

If that's your reason, you should jailbreak instead of using a beta.

I was jailbroken, now im running iOS 5 for the day to see how it is. So far I like the notifications, but we will see how everything throughout the day goes.