CI says I need PHP 8.1

I'm trying to install CI, and when I view /public/index.php on my server, the screen reads:
"Your PHP version must be 8.1 or higher to run CodeIgniter. Current version: 8.0.24"
I thought CI is "intended for use with PHP 7.4+ (including 8.2)." (https://www.codeigniter.com/download)
What's going on? I'm unable to upgrade to PHP 8.1.

If I somehow manage to get an answer to my problem, how do I configure it so that the "/public" folder is not seen. Is that done with .htaccess in the public folder?

I'm thinking of going back to CodeIgniter 3 for this project. I never had such issue with it in the past. Would that be a mistake?

Merry Christmas!!

CodeIgniter 4.5.5 tells you right in the User Guide that it requires php 8.1 or higher.

What did you Try? What did you Get? What did you Expect?

Joined CodeIgniter Community 2009.  ( Skype: insitfx )

Hello
You should be able to change the PHP version according to the requirements indicated

You are without instructions to change the PHP version on a hosting with cPanel

These are other instructions for a normal hosting
Generally the instructions are similar between one hosting and another
It is important to delete the cache to review
It is also advisable to review the results in an incognito window, with different versions of PHP, one by one.
For security reasons it is important to keep the latest versions of PHP running on all applications