Fixing “Software Update Failed” While Downloading iOS 9

Update 16th September, 2015: Now that iOS 9 stable version is out, we have received complaints regarding this issue. We have updated the post with more solutions.

Whenever you are trying to upgrade from iOS 8 to iOS 9 firmware from your iPhone / iPad, you end up with this error message: “Software Update Failed. An error occurred downloading iOS 9.”

In our case, the software update failed appeared while trying to download iOS 9.1 public beta 1 as shown:

Reasons to get such errors? Blame the Apple server that gets busy with massive hits, ultimately “halting” the entire download process.

You may also get this error if you do not have any free space on your iPhone / iPad.

Solutions Worth Trying:

In our case, a quick reboot fixed the problem and we were able to start downloading iOS 9 without any problems.

You can also ignore this pop up and go back the home screen. Your device will automatically show poke you whenever the update is ready for install.

Make sure you have enough free space on your device. We recommend at least 1.5 GB of storage space before you can get the iOS firmware.

Charge your device. This is yet another reason that may stop you from getting iOS 9 via OTA update. So make sure your devices are fully charged before updating to the latest iOS software.