iOS: Annually slowing down our devices

[I7guy]

i recently took my 4s from iOS9 back to ios6. The difference was incredible. The device ran pretty much as fast as my 6, and the little icon based multitasking activates a full second faster than the overly flashy mess that Apple has foisted upon us.

Im happy for those of you that are happy with where things are at. But this experience galvanized for me just how much better the software engineers were at making lean, pleasing experiences a few years back. Short of the control centre, I'm not even missing any of the newer features.

I like some of the integrated features between my iphone on 9.0.2 and ipad on 9.0.2. IOS 6 to me after having been on the redesign now, wouldn't go back there. I'm sure if I could install the original IOS 4 on my ipad 2 and do some testing it would be slightly faster than 9.0.2, but I wouldn't go back.

 

[stevemiller]

I like some of the integrated features between my iphone on 9.0.2 and ipad on 9.0.2. IOS 6 to me after having been on the redesign now, wouldn't go back there. I'm sure if I could install the original IOS 4 on my ipad 2 and do some testing it would be slightly faster than 9.0.2, but I wouldn't go back.

Well that's the wonder of differing opinions.

Being that I generally hate using my iPad stuck on ios9, I would go back to ios6 a million times over if I could. No new features are worth an overall miserable experience in my mind. If features over experience was my goal I'd probably get android!

Also after having tried a fresh install to see how it would help things, the process of getting the iPad to coordinate messaging with the iPhone involved about 20 minutes of confirmations and verifications and digging through settings. Seemed even worse than when I first tried it on ios8.

 

[I7guy]

Well that's the wonder of differing opinions.

Being that I generally hate using my iPad stuck on ios9, I would go back to ios6 a million times over if I could. No new features are worth an overall miserable experience in my mind. If features over experience was my goal I'd probably get android!

Also after having tried a fresh install to see how it would help things, the process of getting the iPad to coordinate messaging with the iPhone involved about 20 minutes of confirmations and verifications and digging through settings. Seemed even worse than when I first tried it on ios8.

I don't know why it was such a hassle to get messages coordinated, I don't even think I did anything specific...but maybe I did and I don't remember.

 

[philipyoungg]

i recently took my 4s from iOS9 back to ios6. The difference was incredible. The device ran pretty much as fast as my 6, and the little icon based multitasking activates a full second faster than the overly flashy mess that Apple has foisted upon us.

Im happy for those of you that are happy with where things are at. But this experience galvanized for me just how much better the software engineers were at making lean, pleasing experiences a few years back. Short of the control centre, I'm not even missing any of the newer features.

OdysseusOTA works from iOS9? If yes, I'll stop waiting for 8.4.1 jailbreak.

 

[Merkie]

Fwiw my recollection matches c dm but not everybody experienced issues to the same degree, if at all. Rinse, larger repeat, except iOS 9 has been one of the better releases since iOS 6.

In some areas yes, in some areas no. Depends on what you think is important. I prefer a release with more bugs and less stutter, you prefer less bugs and more stutter.

 

[Radon87000]

I like some of the integrated features between my iphone on 9.0.2 and ipad on 9.0.2. IOS 6 to me after having been on the redesign now, wouldn't go back there. I'm sure if I could install the original IOS 4 on my ipad 2 and do some testing it would be slightly faster than 9.0.2, but I wouldn't go back.

Slightly?LOL The difference is night and day

 

[vertsix]

I should add that my 5s has been as fast since I bought it almost two years ago on 7.0.4.

I'm on 8.4.1 and it's just as fast as 7.0.4 a year and a half ago. It's in pretty good condition too. Nearly new.

That's not the case with 9.0, but that's with all devices I've noticed.

I restore every 6 months to reset caches and free up storage. Maybe this has to do with why it's still just as fast for me. I also keep at least 5GB free.

 

[Radon87000]

I should add that my 5s has been as fast since I bought it almost two years ago on 7.0.4.

I'm on 8.4.1 and it's just as fast as 7.0.4 a year and a half ago. It's in pretty good condition too. Nearly new.

That's not the case with 9.0, but that's with all devices I've noticed.

I restore every 6 months to reset caches and free up storage. Maybe this has to do with why it's still just as fast for me. I also keep at least 5GB free.

From observation never update iPhones beyond 2 major updates.They run like molasses down a hill

In comparison my Lumia 820 from 2012 is still as fast as ever.Its even got Windows 10 on it now.I respect MS for that.The OS may not have good apps but they care for the customer better

 

[C DM]

I should add that my 5s has been as fast since I bought it almost two years ago on 7.0.4.

I'm on 8.4.1 and it's just as fast as 7.0.4 a year and a half ago. It's in pretty good condition too. Nearly new.

That's not the case with 9.0, but that's with all devices I've noticed.

I restore every 6 months to reset caches and free up storage. Maybe this has to do with why it's still just as fast for me. I also keep at least 5GB free.

7.0 and 7.0.x releases were rather bad with lag and animations (among other things), most of which which didn't get addressed until 7.1.

 

[Sonnto]

Off topic but one area I found to be MUCH smoother with Metal being implemented in iOS 9 was Weather. When switching between locations in the "list" view (after hitting the icon at the bottom right corner), the animations that occur during the switch (where the weather "minimizes" into the list view) is no longer laggy and stutter as in (my experience of) iOS 8.

 

[stevemiller]

OdysseusOTA works from iOS9? If yes, I'll stop waiting for 8.4.1 jailbreak.

It did! Although not having messed with anything other than supported OS's for a while it did take a bit of troubleshooting.

The ios9 jailbreak required iTunes to be installed on my windows partition, which wasn't immediately obvious to me! And the hack to get to ios6 using terminal based tools on OS X apparently has issues under El Capitan, but I found a windows based gui for it that did the trick!

The 4s still works like new on ios6!

Ps trying to type this on an iPhone6 is hell due to the terrible changes they've made to text editing tools. It's super hard to get the cursor to move anymore. But omg my phone is a year old so I can't expect ancient hardware to work after so long - I'd better go out and get 3D Touch!

 

[Radon87000]

It did! Although not having messed with anything other than supported OS's for a while it did take a bit of troubleshooting.

The ios9 jailbreak required iTunes to be installed on my windows partition, which wasn't immediately obvious to me! And the hack to get to ios6 using terminal based tools on OS X apparently has issues under El Capitan, but I found a windows based gui for it that did the trick!

The 4s still works like new on ios6!

Ps trying to type this on an iPhone6 is hell due to the terrible changes they've made to text editing tools. It's super hard to get the cursor to move anymore. But omg my phone is a year old so I can't expect ancient hardware to work after so long - I'd better go out and get 3D Touch!

They should have kept the two finger support from Early betas but hey that would be one less reason to buy the 6s

 

[philipyoungg]

It did! Although not having messed with anything other than supported OS's for a while it did take a bit of troubleshooting.

The ios9 jailbreak required iTunes to be installed on my windows partition, which wasn't immediately obvious to me! And the hack to get to ios6 using terminal based tools on OS X apparently has issues under El Capitan, but I found a windows based gui for it that did the trick!

The 4s still works like new on ios6!

Ps trying to type this on an iPhone6 is hell due to the terrible changes they've made to text editing tools. It's super hard to get the cursor to move anymore. But omg my phone is a year old so I can't expect ancient hardware to work after so long - I'd better go out and get 3D Touch!

On iOS 6 on 4s now. B-) no joke it's super fast. Too bad several apps that I need aren't available on iOS 6. No problem though, it's a viable backup phone!

Tracking back to iOS 6 makes me realize iOS have lots of unnecessary blur. For example, the app switcher have aggressive blur & fade on the left side—which not present on Mini 1. Keyboard blur on safari is also redundant.

 

[MacVault]

My iPhone 6 is very much, without a doubt, noticeably "laggy" since recently upgrading to iOS 9. I've tried quitting every running app, powering off then back on but annoying-as-hell lag persists. And since Apple allows no downgrade option, I CALL FOR A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT! APPLE IS DOING THIS INTENTIONALLY TO PUSH USERS TO UPGRADE HARDWARE! THIS IS CRAP! I AM PISSED! I would expect a lag with iOS 11 or 12 but 9 which is just 1 version up from what it shipped with!!

 

[C DM]

My iPhone 6 is very much, without a doubt, noticeably "laggy" since recently upgrading to iOS 9. I've tried quitting every running app, powering off then back on but annoying-as-hell lag persists. And since Apple allows no downgrade option, I CALL FOR A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT! APPLE IS DOING THIS INTENTIONALLY TO PUSH USERS TO UPGRADE HARDWARE! THIS IS CRAP! I AM PISSED! I would expect a lag with iOS 11 or 12 but 9 which is just 1 version up from what it shipped with!!

Have you tried resetting all settings to see if that would change anything for you? If that doesn't work, perhaps restoring as new?

 

[vertsix]

From observation never update iPhones beyond 2 major updates.They run like molasses down a hill

In comparison my Lumia 820 from 2012 is still as fast as ever.Its even got Windows 10 on it now.I respect MS for that.The OS may not have good apps but they care for the customer better

iOS 8 (and even 7) still support pretty much everything on the App Store, so I'm not inclined to upgrade and degrade my experience with lag and instability of iOS 9.

I'll certainly jump on iOS 9 once I can see that it's just as fast as 8.4.1 though.

 

[Act3]

iOS 8 (and even 7) still support pretty much everything on the App Store, so I'm not inclined to upgrade and degrade my experience with lag and instability of iOS 9.

I'll certainly jump on iOS 9 once I can see that it's just as fast as 8.4.1 though.

Same here. I do use my wifes iphone 6 and my air 2 as test platforms for iOS 9.. my iPhone 6 remains on iOS 8.4.1 since I use that the most. And even with beta 5 on the other devices, my iphone 6 running 8.4.1 is a more enjoyable user experience.

 

[vertsix]

Same here. I do use my wifes iphone 6 and my air 2 as test platforms for iOS 9.. my iPhone 6 remains on iOS 8.4.1 since I use that the most. And even with beta 5 on the other devices, my iphone 6 running 8.4.1 is a more enjoyable user experience.

Excellent. You've done a good decision to stay on it.

It's for the best, trust me.

 

[MacVault]

Is Apple ever going to fix iOS 9? They certainly must know how it destroys my iPhone 6 experience. Are they really OK with that? They should be working 24/7 to resolve this!!

 

[C DM]

Is Apple ever going to fix iOS 9? They certainly must know how it destroys my iPhone 6 experience. Are they really OK with that? They should be working 24/7 to resolve this!!

Their cameras have been monitoring your use wherever you are and they are most certainly aware of your personal experience and are working hard do everything in their power to make it better for you.

 

[Altis]

i recently took my 4s from iOS9 back to ios6. The difference was incredible. The device ran pretty much as fast as my 6, and the little icon based multitasking activates a full second faster than the overly flashy mess that Apple has foisted upon us.

Im happy for those of you that are happy with where things are at. But this experience galvanized for me just how much better the software engineers were at making lean, pleasing experiences a few years back. Short of the control centre, I'm not even missing any of the newer features.

On iOS 6 on 4s now. B-) no joke it's super fast. Too bad several apps that I need aren't available on iOS 6. No problem though, it's a viable backup phone!

Tracking back to iOS 6 makes me realize iOS have lots of unnecessary blur. For example, the app switcher have aggressive blur & fade on the left side—which not present on Mini 1. Keyboard blur on safari is also redundant.

How did you guys put your iPhone 4S back to iOS 6? I would love to do that with mine -- it's stuck on 7 now.

I was under the impression that it was impossible to do since Apple no longer signs anything but the latest version of iOS that a device can accept.

EDIT: I looked it up and have figured out that it's not some hidden little secret. I'm going to give it a whirl and see how it goes!

 

[Act3]

Excellent. You've done a good decision to stay on it.

It's for the best, trust me.

I learned that last year with iOS 8. I put iOS 8 on my 5s and suddenly the iPhone 5's in our household still running 7.1.2 were smoother user experience and faster rendering in safari.. And I gave in and bought an iPhone 6.

 

[sanke1]

I don't expect any improvements for iPhone 6 or any lower devices. Apple doesn't care for those devices anymore. They rather work hard to make sure their flagship 6S models work perfectly om iOS 9.X

 

[C DM]

I don't expect any improvements for iPhone 6 or any lower devices. Apple doesn't care for those devices anymore. They rather work hard to make sure their flagship 6S models work perfectly om iOS 9.X

Why? Things improved for pretty much all devices with later updates to iOS 7 (compared to 7.0) and later updates to iOS 8 (compared to 8.0).

 

[Radon87000]

Have you tried resetting all settings to see if that would change anything for you? If that doesn't work, perhaps restoring as new?

Reset never fixes stuttering and lag.The problem is in the OS itself