Your Guide to Getting Through iOS 8 Update-Gate

Whoa boy. First the U2-iTunes invasion, then the HealthKit bug, followed by big bendy phones.

Now, the latest software update for Apple iPhones has been pulled, after some users complained that their phones were rendered unusable.

Here’s a short guide to getting through what we’ve labeled iOS 8 Update-Gate — including steps to take to restore the previous OS.

What the heck is going on?

Apple released an update to its new operating system for iPhones earlier today. The new version was called iOS 8.0.1. It was supposed to fix existing issues in iOS 8, which it may have done; but it also introduced a host of new problems, according to some users.

You can see these complaints on Twitter by searching for the hashtag #iOS8bugs, but to summarize for you: Some users were unable to make cellular calls or use TouchID, and some saw their virtual keyboards disappear.

What has Apple said about it?

See here. Again, to summarize: We’re working on it and in the meantime we’ve tried to obliterate every single trace of iOS 8.0.1 so people will stop tweeting about it.

Can I go back to the earlier version of iOS 8?

You can certainly try. But note: One of our Re/code colleagues was unable to restore iOS 8 to his iPhone using the steps below, and had to put it in recovery mode to force the restore.

I’ll take my chances. How do I go back to iOS 8?

1. Download a copy of iOS 8. You can find it for the iPhone 6 here and the iPhone 6 Plus here. If you have an older iPhone, you can find and download the iOS 8 firmware from various sites, such as ipswdownloader.com and idownloadblog.com. Note that the file might take some time to download.
2. Turn off Find My iPhone. On your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone > Off.
3. In order to revert to iOS 8, you’ll need to completely restore your phone, so you’ll want to backup your device. To do so, connect your iPhone to iTunes via USB cable and then select “Back Up Now.”
4. In iTunes, hold down the Option key on your Mac (or Shift key on PCs), select the file you downloaded earlier, and then click “Restore iPhone.”
5. Once iOS 8 is installed and your phone reboots, select “Restore Backup.”

It worked! My iPhone should be bug-free now … right?

One would hope, but as we mentioned before, the initial version of iOS 8 also had a few bugs, including app crashes, reported third-party keyboard problems and that whole HealthKit hindrance. (For what it’s worth, many software updates come with bugs.)

AAAAAHHH! I’m totally freaking out! My phone is borked! I can’t call people, take selfies, Snapchat, ignore my boss’s emails or refresh Instagram 27 times a minute while I wait for new likes. This is insane! This is the apocalypse!

Stop. Take a breath. Repeat. A bunch of times. Watch this. Try to remember your pre-smartphone brain. Better yet, remember your pre-Internet brain. If you have a brand-new phone, you still have it pretty good.

P.S. Apple: Get it together.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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