Is there a way of reverting an app update on iOS?

September 23, 2020 7:43 AM

Asking for an artist friend who uses Procreate for her work. She says she just updated Procreate on her iPad and it’s really impacting her ability to continue working on a year-long project with an upcoming deadline. Is there a way of reverting this update somehow? Thank you!!!
posted by vocativecase to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Did they also update to iOS 14 or just Procreate?
posted by terrapin at 7:54 AM on September 23, 2020

There really isn't an easy way to roll back iOS updates.

There's a lot of activity on the Procreate forums in the last day or so suggesting that your friend is far from alone, but you're at the mercy of the App Store for software versions.

Cold comfort now, but iOS users can turn off automatic updates, and should if they're facing an upcoming deadline.
posted by mhoye at 7:57 AM on September 23, 2020

Here is an article on rolling back apps, but I don't know if it works. I have never had a need (thankfully).
posted by terrapin at 7:59 AM on September 23, 2020

If the friend has a backup on their computer of their phone from before the update, they can restore it. Depending on how old it is, that might not actually be a good idea, but it might be worth looking.
posted by likedoomsday at 8:04 AM on September 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

I don't know anything about Procreate, but some apps when updated also update the format of the data they're working on, which means that after downgrading the older version of the app cannot open its data. Your friend should be cautious about reverting to her previous app version, and absolutely make sure she has the data backed up onto some other media before she tries to revert.
posted by anadem at 11:13 AM on September 23, 2020 [1 favorite]