It was, but Apple is no longer signing the old releases. (https://ipsw.me/iPhone14,4).

I downgraded about 10 minutes after trying iOS 26. Sorry to all who missed the window.

Wow, didn’t know that. Really ticks me off.

I'm still on 17.7.2, hoping for a jailbreak one day...

You can still upgrade to 18 using delayed OTA (which extends the deadline by up to 90 days): https://dhinakg.github.io/delayed-otas.html

It’s only when you’re already on iOS 26 that you can’t downgrade anymore.

Only for a very limited time after the release. And you can’t strictly “downgrade“ it, you have to restore it from factory with the older OS and then reload your back up.

Then you would be forced to upgrade after factory reset (basically digital sisyphus)?

No, you can go back for a while. They’ll certainly ask you, but you can say no.

At a certain part they stop signing the OS. At that point because it doesn’t have the cryptographic signature you can’t install it at all and your only choice is something newer.

With point releases or security updates that tends to be pretty fast because they don’t want people downgrading to something vulnerable. When going from iOS X to iOS X + 1 grace period is usually longer before they stop that.

And, of course, if you try and install an iOS 26 backup on the phone that you just moved back to 18… you’re just gonna be on 26 again. So you better make sure you have the right back up.

Apple is pretty good in not forcing upgrades as far as I remember. You can stay on an older OS until you personally run into app compatibility issues

They’re getting bolder about pushing you to upgrade with badges on settings and push notifications and defaulting people into automatic updates.

But you can turn that stuff off. They may try to trick you so you have to remain somewhat vigilant. But I don’t think they ever absolutely force you to upgrade.

Even with updates turned off I get nagging notification in the messaging app and on the lock screen as well as the appstore. Still on 17.7.2.