How to downgrade an app on iPhone to older version?

Developers always make sure to roll out the iOS app updates, that’s the only way to fix small glitches, errors, and bugs. App updates bring access to the new features and functions, but for some users, they experience app crashing and not launching issues when they update the app to the newest version. In such cases, users prefer to downgrade the app to prevent such issues. However, downgrading is a process that we don’t usually do often, so it’s a little uneasy for some people to do so.

If you are one of them who want to downgrade an app on an iPhone, then you have landed in the right place. Just go through the article till the end, this is not only applicable for iPhone but also for iPad.

In This Article show

1. Locate the old IPA file

You can find the old IPA file on your computer if you have synced your iPhone or iPad with iTunes. The good thing is that iTunes stores your old IPA files whenever your sync your device with it. And that’s how we are going to retrieve the old IPA files.

Your synced IPA files are saved to:

For Mac: Visit /Users/<Username>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Mobile Applications;

For Windows: For C:\Users\<Username>\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Mobile Applications.

And just save the IPA file to a specific location so that we can access it later.

Mind you, IPA files that are downloaded from the internet will not work, because your Apple ID might be unrelated. Also, if you have updated your macOS-to-macOS Catalina or later, you cannot use iTunes to sync data (this is not applicable for Windows as users can sync data with iTunes).

2. Install Previous IPA with iTunes

The next, step is to install the old IPA on your iPhone or iPad. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Launch iTunes on your computer.

Step 2: Visit My Apps, you will get to see all the synced apps.

Step 3: Select the app icon that you want to downgrade > choose to Get Info to see the app version.

If the app is absent from the list, then make sure that the app is installed on your iPhone/iPad device. Else, just download and install the latest app from App Store. Once done, just connect your device to the computer and start syncing with iTunes.

Step 4: Now, just connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer using lightning cable > click on device tab > select to choose Apps option.

Step 5: There will be a Remove button right next to the particular app that you want to downgrade, click on the Remove button, and then click on Apply.

Step 6: Once done, you will get to see the Install button located next to the app > click on the Install button > Apply > iTunes will begin syncing.

Just wait for the process to get finish and then the particular app of the older version will be on your iPhone or iPad.

Install previous IPA using iFunBox

For some users, the above method is not suitable and uneasy to perform. You can also install old IPA using iFunBox without jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad.

Step 1: Download and install iFunBox on your macOS or Windows PC.

Step 2: Just connect your device to the computer and iFunBox will detect the device.

Step 3: Click on Install App in iFunBox > select the IPA from the computer, and it will just install the previous version app on your iOS device.

What if I have not Synced your iPhone?

If you have not synced your iPhone and still want to downgrade the app, you can do that using AnyTrans. Here’re some features of AnyTrans:

Whenever you download or update any iOS app using AnyTrans, it will get stored on your computer.
You can transfer the data from iPhone to your computer in just one click.
Allow you to manage the app even different versions, you can update the app from App Library to device and get rid of unwanted apps.

Follow the steps mentioned below to downgrade the app on iPhone:

Step 1: Download and install AnyTrans on your computer, and connect your iDevice to the computer.

Step 2: Launch AnyTrans and click on Apps from the category box.

Step 3: Once done, just select the app that you want to save into the app library. Click on Download to App Library button as shown in the image below:

Step 4: Get back to the homepage and click App Downloader > Sign in your Apple ID.

Step 5: Search the app that you want to downgrade.

Step 6: Once done, you will get to see applications downloaded before App Library, in case you have downloaded its different versions they will appear there too. Just select to choose the app version you want and click on the More button > Install to Device.

Then wait for the downgrade process to get finished.

How to Backup and Install Old Version of App

If you have successfully had the old app version on your iPhone then you can backup it using the old AnyTrans.

Step 1: Open the AnyTrans app on your computer > select the App Backup option located at the left control panel > click on the Back Up Now button.