Photon stuck in safe mode while upgrading to 0.7.0

[UMD]

Have you tried OTA update of of the Device OS (ie system) firmware only?

Refer:

OTA system firmware (only) update via CLI

Quick confirmation: it worked as @ScruffR had advised. You OTA download System Part 1 and then wait for the device to come back online, then OTA download System Part 2.

OTA update of 0.8.0-rc.4 app on 0.8.0-rc.2 device

Solution was to OTA 0.8.0-rc.4 system firmware only. At this point, the device came up as expected, running the new app.