Downgrading question and an age verification question

By natalija Lambert, 12 August, 2026

Forum
Apple Beta Releases

Hey all.
I’m thinking of downgrading to ios26 but wanted to ask whether there is a way to do this without needing to restore my device to factory settings or is this the only way?
I also just got a pop up on my device not long ago asking me to verify my age and wanted to ask, how easy is the scanning process and can it be done independently or do you need sighted assistance to do it?
If someone has an answer to one or both of these questions, I’d love to hear from you.

Natalija :)

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Comments

By Brian on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 02:05

Hi,

Is that true even if you were trying to downgrade from a beta version of iOS?

By Tyler on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 03:55

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

My understanding is that in order to downgrade from an iOS beta, you must restore your device using Recovery mode, which erases all content and installs a fresh copy of the shipping version.

By kool_turk on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 04:14

Many years ago, I downgraded from an iOS beta back to the main release. From memory, all I did was select the backup I wanted in iTunes and restore from it. I don't think I had to do a full factory restore first.
That was a long time ago, though, so things may work differently these days. A factory restore would actually make more sense, given that a beta could leave behind system files or other changes that don't belong in the stable version.

By Lee on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 09:08

Did this recently. You restore to factory settings then as part of the initial setup use a backup of say 26,.6. However, Apple devices is a pile of **** and it was an absolute nightmare as it would not complete the process so had to take it to a shop. Sorted now.