
iOS 7 “activation required” error on iPhone and iPad - zengr
http://www.graphitas.co.uk/blog/2013/10/ios-7-activation-required-error-on-iphone-and-ipad/
======
taspeotis
This seems like a non-issue (only affecting users with beta versions of iOS 7)
and a generally uninformed article:

> Apple seem to have pushed out an update that forces users to update to the
> current version of iOS 7

Previous betas have had expiration dates hard-coded into them. So the "update"
that Apple "seem to have pushed out" is probably "the future".

EDIT: It seems like this is the first time an iOS beta has expired for some
developers. Get a GM release and (command|shift) click [1] on "check for
updates" in iTunes [2]. This is basically how you do non-OTA updates between
different beta versions.

EDIT 2: The blog post has been updated and "Apple seem to have pushed out an
update" no longer appears in the body text. I wonder why... [3]

[1] Some modifier key is the right one. I don't remember which.

[2] [http://www.jailbreaksquad.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/01/Bro...](http://www.jailbreaksquad.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/01/Browse-and-Select-iOS-6.1-IPSW.png)

[3] [http://i.imgur.com/zN2EttW.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/zN2EttW.jpg)

~~~
chucknelson
I love how basically every headline for this event makes no mention of
expiring betas. This is not that exciting, but gotta get those clicks and make
it seem like iOS 7 in general is crapping out across the globe.

~~~
nonchalance
The main reason I like HN is because of this: one of the first few comments,
in pretty much any discussion, points out that the title is sensationalized
(and gives a more levelheaded discussion)

~~~
jasonlotito
I'd rather people just flag false articles like this so it gets removed.

------
mortenjorck
There are lots of comments here that rightly point out that you have no
reasonable expectation of uninterrupted functionality using beta software. But
to me, there's a bigger, more interesting picture here: There's clearly a
demand for pre-release Apple software among people who don't really have any
need for it.

I'm sure I'm not alone in having seen people this summer running iOS 7 betas
on their personal phones, even people with no software development experience
who probably couldn't tell you what Xcode is. It's not in Apple's interest for
this to be happening, as it leaves a bad taste in people's mouth when things
like this inevitably happen.

Restricting access clearly doesn't work. Everyone who knows the beta exists
knows someone who can hook them up. There's got to be something else, some
other way Apple can make these betas less appealing to the casual user,
without lessening the betas' usefulness for people actually trying to test
things.

~~~
misiti3780
I agree - they should change the registration process so each developer
account only install firmware on a single phone

~~~
objclxt
That's a terrible idea that assumes each developer only needs one phone. But
someone who is making a full-time living off iOS development probably has
several devices: a 5/5x for the taller screen, a 4/4S, until recently maybe a
non-retina model...

~~~
MaysonL
As well as a number of beta testers (who when they offer useful feedback can
be worth their weight in gold).

~~~
misiti3780
ya i guess i didnt really think that one through ...

------
MiguelHudnandez
Got this on my iPad, thought "ohh shit, I should back up my phone right now,
it's next..."

I backed it up and within 20 minutes it had been disabled.

Interestingly, it put it in a state in which it was unable to ring for
incoming calls.

I wish Apple would not report that your iOS version is "up to date" in iTunes
if you are running a time-bombed beta build. Even if they don't want to
support a direct upgrade path from beta to GM, they could indicate in their
software that your software is not up to date.

Not everyone can afford dedicated dev devices--even though that is in their
terms of use.

~~~
wymy
I too was 'told' I was up-to-date, and lost a ton of parade pictures of the
family from this morning. Badly done, Apple. Badly done.

~~~
taspeotis
You didn't have to lose those photos. You can "update" to a particular IPSW in
iTunes [1].

So just download a "production" iOS 7 IPSW and "update" to it.

That's what I did to update when the iOS 7 GM came out, and I've used it in
the past when I unintentionally let an iOS 6 beta expire.

[1] [http://www.jailbreaksquad.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/01/Bro...](http://www.jailbreaksquad.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/01/Browse-and-Select-iOS-6.1-IPSW.png)

~~~
hcal
Apple was also nice enough to allow the device to sync in the background while
the requires authorization screen is up.

------
far33d
For everyone saying "you should have read the release notes" \- yes I agree.
However, there are two things that made this very opaque and should have been
better.

1) all sources indicate everywhere that the software is "up to date". I
realize that as a developer I should be keeping better tabs on things but I
usually trust things not to just lie to me. It's pretty opaque.

2) The error you get when the beta expires makes no mention of the fact that
the beta expired. Without judicious twitter searches and a quick look on
hacker news, I didn't know what the source of the error was and assumed
something was wrong w/ apple's activation or that someone had compromised my
account in some way.

~~~
yeldarb
So much this. And since it happened with no warning on a weekend evening I was
not at home and wasn't able to even look it up since my phone all of the
sudden self destructed _AS I WAS USING IT_. It just rebooted and all of the
sudden was non-functional.

As the responsible DD for tonight this put me in a tough spot where the
drunkies I was responsible for were unable to contact their driver.

This was a ridiculous way to handle this. I had even tried to manually update
to the public release manually via iTunes last week and since it said "Up to
Date" I thought it had worked.. but apparently not.

------
eggbrain
Just hit this error myself -- found an easier way than restoring from backup.

First, download the latest iOS7 version (I used an ipsw from this website:
[http://www.iphonehacks.com/2013/09/update-ios-7-beta-
ios-7-p...](http://www.iphonehacks.com/2013/09/update-ios-7-beta-ios-7-public-
release.html))

Open up iTunes and go to your iPhone, and press alt/option + the "Check for
Update" button.

This will open up a window that will allow you to browse to your ipsw
download. Choose the iOS7 ipsw you downloaded for your phone, and choose it.
After 20 minutes, your iPhone will update, and you'll be ready to go -- no
restore required.

~~~
benguild
That's lucky. It didn't use to work. Before the iTunes Betas would expire and
the beta iOS versions would only sync with those. Also they wouldn't allow
updates to the final GM.

------
31reasons
Did anyone find this extremely rude. I was suddenly locked out of my own
hardware for which I paid hundreds of dollars. I stopped receiving calls in
the middle of the day. Why do they have to treat people who installed beta
like they are criminals on a parole. Where is the magic Apple ?

~~~
jrockway
Why did you use a test operating system on your production device? The beta is
for testing compatibility with apps you're developing, not for daily use.

~~~
swalsh
Because apps on make on the side are a hobby. At work we have test devices,
but for my home stuff i can't justify a second phone for test only.

~~~
jrockway
Yeah, mobile development sucks for personal projects. You always end up
needing ten different devices with ten different operating systems or screen
sizes.

------
sausman
I was able to update my 4S by downloading the official release and updating it
in iTunes by option+clicking "Check for Update" and selecting the file.

If you have a 4S:
[http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8936924/iPhone_4S_iOS_7.0_(11...](http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8936924/iPhone_4S_iOS_7.0_\(11A465\)_Official_Release)

~~~
objclxt
You can also just download the IPSW directly from developer.apple.com, if you
have a paid-up developer account. And if you don't you probably shouldn't be
using iOS betas on your device.

------
klimthn
I understand the misfortunate situation revolving around this "issue", but
shouldn't this of been seen miles away? I mean a beta version/GM version were
running on the phone. A developer would know that beta/GM development release
are mean't to expire, and for good reason.

Heck this even happened to me and it was my own fault. I knew that I needed to
update to the public release of iOS7. This reminds of the kids who were buying
developer accounts just to get the iOS7 betas, and walking into the apple
store when their phone takes a dive.

Finally, a developer or a person who reads the TOS know that shit happens, and
when it does, usually they know the instructions to recover from this.

~~~
taspeotis
> Heck this even happened to me and it was my own fault.

You sound like the type of developer that would read the manual before asking
for help.

------
dangero
This is semi related tangent.

I've worked in at a lot of software companies where they spent a lot of time
being concerned about small groups of customers that were using old builds,
how we would keep their setup working, etc. It always impresses me how Apple
moves forward in spite of who may be left behind and I assume that this is a
conscious choice they constantly have to revisit. The counter example would be
Microsoft that still supported DOS for more than a decade after they moved on
from it.

I don't know any engineers who like maintaining legacy systems, so it seems to
be a perk of working with Apple and I also think that this lack of concern for
legacy is allowing Apple to move forward faster. At my last job every time a
new project was requested by management I would ask, "What old project will we
remove then? Because maintenance takes time." I pretty much never got an
answer on that. It takes discipline to stay lean and to non-engineers legacy
costs can be invisible a lot of times.

One area where I see progress accelerating is XCode. You basically need to be
running latest XCode to publish apps to the App Store, so people always run
latest. On the other hand, I've got Visual Studio all the way back to 2003 on
hand because clients don't want to take the time to upgrade. It drives me
nuts.

There's something satisfying about progress and something very depressing to
me when I sit down to make changes to a project using Visual Studio 2003 .NET.
Anyone know what I mean?

------
wavesounds
I was just in the apple store and heard someone complain about this. She was
there for some other reason and it just so happened to strike her phone while
she was waiting. The guy helping her was pretty puzzled and kept insisting she
must have reset her phone.

------
jonhmchan
This happened to me less than an hour ago - it puts you on an infinite loop if
you try and do a login from the phone without a USB connection.

I'm a developer that's been using the beta - it seems to have only affected
those that haven't upgraded.

------
RMacy
Good luck if you had "find my phone" turned on.

~~~
emp
Required starting in DFU mode + restore. Didn't think to try option + update
as eggbrain mentioned above. Does this mean Find My iPhone can be circumvented
with a DFU mode restore?

~~~
taspeotis
> Does this mean Find My iPhone can be circumvented with a DFU mode restore?

I am just speculating, but perhaps iOS 7 GM and later cannot be circumvented
but the beta versions could be. This might be intentional - after all, it's
beta code. The circumvention might be a plan B.

