How Do I Revert To Wattpad Old Version On IPhone?

Here’s a checklist for you: DO NOT DOWNGRADE APP STORE_VERSIONS DIRECTLY (it won’t work). If you’ve archived the .ipa file or have an older iTunes library of the apps (yes, older iTunes versions managed apps), you can just reinstall the archived .ipa. If you don’t have any of those, go check for a device backup of your apps (MOST recent ones are in the most recent backups), use a manager like iMazing to then extract and install the app from said backup. Sidelload via AltStore (requires older .ipa and a computer to run AltServer on) will also work on non-jailbroken devices and just needs re-signing periodically. (And yes, there are also ways to downgraded jailbroken devices with the help of tweaks like AppAdmin. Just be careful though because it can get really messy really fast.).

Unfortunately, none of these workarounds may be possible in every situation, but you can use web.wattpad.com in the meantime, download the app on an older device or even contact Wattpad Support and explain what you miss on the app and include a screenshot of it. Please be sure to specify the version number as well. And remember to back up your data and be wary of issues with signing and compatibility that could result in you losing your reading lists and/or drafts.

This post took me a week or so to put together, but it’s a nice summation of what I learned in the end. On the iPhone, unlike on a PC, you generally cannot ‘roll back’ an app from the App Store. Apple does not host prior versions of an app for redownload from the App Store for prior versions of iOS as they do for PC applications. The only ways to install an older version of an app on an iPhone or iPad are therefore to have an archived copy of the prior version of the app, a backup of your iPhone or iPad that contains the older version of the app, or use some form of workaround such as sideloading the app or jailbreaking the device and then installing a tweak to administrate apps on the device. Note that you should, prior to attempting to install an older version of an app, first make a backup of your iPhone or iPad to both iCloud and to your computer. The worst thing that could happen to a reader is to lose his or her reading lists, or for a writer, to lose his or her unpublished work.

One of the ways to check for older versions of apps that you have downloaded in the past is by syncing your apps with an older version of iTunes (pre-12.7 that has app management). Once you have opened up the older version of iTunes on your computer, go to the folder where your iTunes backups are stored and find the folder for the date you syncing your apps. Open up the folder for that date and search for the Wattpad app. Wattpad will most likely be a .ipa file. You can then try to install the older version of the Wattpad app via iTunes legacy or via iMazing (an app that installs .ipa files on your iPhone/iPad).

Alternative: Install old apps using side loading via tools like AltStore. The free edition is good for a few months (re-signing up to every 7 days with a normal Apple ID) before you run out of time or need to upgrade to a paid Developer account. Obviously some risk of damage is involved, but provided you download from trusted sources and are prepared to reverse (in Apple’s backup mode), then that’s OK. Note that some apps are perfectly safe to side load, and then there are others that will play up immediately, all depending on what sort of intricacies have been programmed into them.

Unfortunately, none of these methods of reverting to an older version of Wattpad worked for me. However, as a compromise, the web version of Wattpad works perfectly in Safari, and is a fair amount simpler than the mobile app version. (Though, I do admit, I was hoping to get back to the much fuller reading list in the app.) Contacting Wattpad support and giving them your feedback on the current version is also a good idea, as they have, on occasion, gone back to a previous version of the UI, and even implemented certain features as in-app options in the mean time. Ultimately, I went with the web version, and was able to download and back up my reading and unpublished work separately, while continuing to search for a usable .ipa to install.

If you have access to a computer, the desktop version works okay. It doesn’t have as many features that are specifically designed for mobile as the iPhone app does, so you could use the computer for your deep reading and then use the app for quick checks when you’re out and about. It’s not perfect but it could alleviate some of the problems if you split your use between the two. Different contexts call for different interfaces sometimes.