# How can I get rid of IOS 7? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268 "2013-09-19T22:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/21 "2013-09-20T14:22:58Z")
My husband HATES it, so I will be keeping track of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/22 "2013-09-20T14:29:43Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > OP: while I’m not going to tell you that iOS7 is great and you’ll get used to it (although I think it is much nicer looking than iOS6, FWIW) I do wonder why you chose to upgrade if you disliked the look so much. It’s not like the new design was a big secret sprung on you by Apple - there have been pictures and videos of it all everywhere since it was unveiled back in June. Ditto - I was wondering the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/23 "2013-09-20T14:33:50Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’m guessing that you’ve actually died and are posting from Hell. You’ve got over 2 billion emails to read and the number appears to be increasing. > > Get to work, Sisyphus! I got a [screen shot of it.](https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1236596_10151987849613777_1813895631_n.jpg) Looks like I had better get cracking. It did actually decrease by one when I read an email. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/24 "2013-09-20T14:48:33Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Also, right under the Bold Text setting is Increase Contrast. If you turn that on, it will replace the **opaque** backgrounds you see in views like Notification Center and Control Center with **solid** backgrounds. [my bolding] One of these words doesn’t mean what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/25 "2013-09-20T15:05:36Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Ditto - I was wondering the same thing. My husband says he had no idea what it would look like. He doesn’t browse the internet regularly so outside of that how would he know? He saw an update was needed, did it, and now hates the new OS. He honestly had no idea what it was going to look like. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/26 "2013-09-20T15:06:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Hmm…I like the new iOS, but all of a sudden, I have nearly 40K unread messages, when before I had zero. Anybody have an idea of what’s up? What type of email do you have? If it’s a web-based one eg Gmail, you should be able to do a “mark all as read” via the web interface. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/27 "2013-09-20T15:19:40Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > My husband says he had no idea what it would look like. He doesn’t browse the internet regularly so outside of that how would he know? He saw an update was needed, did it, and now hates the new OS. He honestly had no idea what it was going to look like. In the future, iOS updates aren’t “needed”, and he should always research them before downloading and installing them. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/28 "2013-09-20T15:21:31Z")
A few weeks ago I allowed my iPad to update the YouTube app. Then I discovered that to use YouTube I had to register. I LOATHE Google with the heat of all the suns in the universe plus one, so I killed the app. Disgusting bastards. Apparently the new iOS “upgrades” apps whether you want them or not. I’m sticking with 6 for as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/29 "2013-09-20T15:24:11Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Apparently the new iOS “upgrades” apps whether you want them or not. I’m sticking with 6 for as long as possible. No it doesn’t. It gives you the option of doing automatic updates, that’s all. It’s not mandatory. I kept it turned off. Edit: the setting is Settings \> iTunes & App Store \> Automatic Downloads. There’s now a slider for “Updates” below Music, Apps and Books. It also gives you the option to turn it on when you first enter the App Store. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/30 "2013-09-20T15:25:58Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Apparently the new iOS “upgrades” apps whether you want them or not. That’s not correct. It actually gave me an option to auto update (which I turned on), but even I can still turn it off by going to Settings \> iTunes & App Store and click the Updates button off. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/31 "2013-09-20T15:54:12Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > No it doesn’t. It gives you the option of doing automatic updates, that’s all. It’s not mandatory. I kept it turned off. . . . > [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s not correct. It actually gave me an option to auto update (which I turned on), but even I can still turn it off by going to Settings \> iTunes & App Store and click the Updates button off. Thanks for the info/correction. I had read the misinformation on the web, on a site that should have known better. I’ll certainly reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/32 "2013-09-20T16:02:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah…that’s only allowing me to mark them one by one. Yeah I get that too if I use the “Unread” message group. If I go into my individual inboxes for each account though, after tapping “Edit” I now get an option to “Mark All” then “Mark as Read”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/33 "2013-09-20T16:04:59Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > Yeah I get that too if I use the “Unread” message group. If I go into my individual inboxes for each account though, after tapping “Edit” I now get an option to “Mark All” then “Mark as Read”. Yeah, I get the “mark all” option as well, but it appears to only affect the emails that are shown on screen or something, as selecting that doesn’t cause my 34K or 2 Billion messages or whatever to disappear. ETA: OK, well, after it showing 2 Billion unread messages again, I did “mark all as read” and now we’re down to 839. So, progress, I guess, but I can’t seem to drop the 839 and redoing “mark as read” doesn’t work. ETA2: Oh, crap. Now it’s back to 38,994 unread. What the hell is going on here? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/34 "2013-09-20T16:10:50Z")
Anyhow, the nice thing on this iOS is FINALLY Apple decided to let you view the individual time stamps of text messages, as opposed to before, when they were just grouped as “conversations” and only the beginning of the conversation would get a displayed time stamp. I can’t tell you how many times that pissed me off when I needed to figure out when a message was sent, or when a conversation ended, but I had no way of checking an individual message. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/35 "2013-09-20T16:33:13Z")
If you pay your monthly phone bill with a credit card issued by a particular bank, the phone is automatically covered for loss (theft, accident?) to the tune of around $600. It makes it easier to get a replacement phone, presumably without iOS7. Just sayin’. Better yet, get an Android with the same (or better) features at a lower cost. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/36 "2013-09-20T17:13:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I get the “mark all” option as well, but it appears to only affect the emails that are shown on screen or something, as selecting that doesn’t cause my 34K or 2 Billion messages or whatever to disappear. > > ETA: OK, well, after it showing 2 Billion unread messages again, I did “mark all as read” and now we’re down to 839. So, progress, I guess, but I can’t seem to drop the 839 and redoing “mark as read” doesn’t work. > > ETA2: Oh, crap. Now it’s back to 38,994 unread. What the hell is going on here? At this point I think I’d be visiting my local Apple store or calling customer support if a store isn’t located where you live. I’ve always found the employees at the Apple stores to be very knowledgeable and helpful, and they have a hotline to software whizzes in Cupertino in the event a customer has a problem that has them stumped. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/37 "2013-09-20T17:50:52Z")
I’m mixed on iOS7 so far. Some things I think are obviously better. Some things are different but I’m not sure if they’re better or worse. A few things are annoying. That said, it’s clearly the future of Apple’s curated phone experience, which has always been a sort of take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Android lets you do whatever you want, although a lot of the options suck. Apple gives you one option, and it’s usually a pretty good one (often enough the best, in my opinion, to give it some time to prove itself). I have a few months before my contract is up, so that should give me time to decide if I want to take it or leave it with my next phone. I wish they’d give me a bit more latitude to configure things, but on the balance, I think I still prefer the whole Apple package to other offers. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/38 "2013-09-20T18:23:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Anyhow, the nice thing on this iOS is FINALLY Apple decided to let you view the individual time stamps of text messages, as opposed to before, when they were just grouped as “conversations” and only the beginning of the conversation would get a displayed time stamp. I can’t tell you how many times that pissed me off when I needed to figure out when a message was sent, or when a conversation ended, but I had no way of checking an individual message. How? I still only see a timestamp for the start of the “conversation” in Messages. I tried tapping the individual bubbles but that doesn’t do anything. Is there a new setting for this? I don’t see anything in the Messages options. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/39 "2013-09-20T18:25:42Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > How? I still only see a timestamp for the start of the “conversation” in Messages. I tried tapping the individual bubbles but that doesn’t do anything. Is there a new setting for this? I don’t see anything in the Messages options. Oh, sorry. I should have mentioned it, because it’s not exactly obvious, but I had read about the feature being introduced in the new OS. Just go to your messages and swipe to the left. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268/40 "2013-09-20T19:12:41Z")
I’m still running 5.1 on my I4 and am quite content to not update it until I get a new phone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-get-rid-of-ios-7/669268.md?page=3)