Apple iOS 6 Worries? Read This First and Get a Tiny Umbrella

It’s true Apple does host the old iOS version on its servers — here is the IPSW file for an iPad 2, for example — restoring it will just throw a 3194 error back at you. Your problem: missing SHSH blob files.

Now you jailbreakers out there will immediately will recognize that 3194 error, shown below.

During the restore process, Apple servers verify they are installing just the latest operating system revision and, during that verification, its systems are looking for those SHSH blob files. Those are unique software identifiers that associate that device with the latest OS.

Jailbreakers solve this by modifying the host file to point to a spoofed gs.apple.com site — but that takes some planning ahead.

So save those SHSH blob files if you ever think you’ll need to downgrade to Apple iOS 5.11. All you need is a free tool like TinyUmbrella.

If you didn’t use a tool like TinyUmbrella to save those SHSH blob files ahead of time — before the upgrade, that is — downgrading from Apple iOS 6 is going to be practically impossible.

That’s because upgrading over the air deletes those files. The same goes if you upgraded via Apple iTunes.

Notcom’s TinyUmbrella is a lightweight tool I definitely recommend for anyone upgrading their own systems and anyone else’s to Apple iOS 6. It’ll save those SHSH blob files before the upgrade — just in case you want to downgrade back to Apple iOS 5.11 later.

You just might.

Changing the host file is necessary, I should note. If you’re new to that, no worries. Watch this space for more Apple iOS 6 upgrade and downgrade tips. Apple reps were unavailable to comment at this writing.