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iPad iPad 2 ruined by iOS 8

poiihy

poiihy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 22, 2014
2,301
63
Please read https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20419693/

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iOS 8 has made my iPad 2 so very much slow and laggy. I'd like to downgrade to iOS 7, but all articles I find use the same method that doesn't work anymore because Apple stopped signing iOS 7 or something like that. Is it in any way possible to install iOS 7 or is this iPad 2 ancient trash now?
 
Last edited:
Really?

Because I feel like iOS 7 (actually the very latest iOS 6 updates) really destroyed mine.

iOS 8 didn't make the problem better...

But tbh I agree with the above... 8.1 gave mine CPR, and it's now barely useable, and that's a compliment. I'd run it through another round of upgrades to see if you can bear it, before preparing to go back.
 
There is no way to downgrade your firmware at this point. Once Apple stops "signing" (authorizing with a digital key) a particular firmware, you're out of luck. 7.1.2 has not been signed for many weeks now.

Hopefully 8.1.1 will provide some improvement for you.
 
My iPad 2 is slower, but not unusable. Safari is poor, and so is mail and some other Apps. My iPad 2 ran almost flawlessly with iOS 7, with only a slight degradation of performance from 6, which was totally worth it for the features.

However back to iOS 8, if you're unhappy with performance, turn off transparency, motion, background app updates, automatic app updates, quit apps when not in use etc. In Safari you can also disable preloading of pages and a number of other things to speed it up :)
 
Join the club.

Simple:

iOS 8, and all the subsequent "fixes," RUINED the iPad 2's.

I've spent a great deal of time on all the forums, trying everything, and all the "solutions" barely phase the damage caused by the "update."

It makes me furious that my iPad 2 was PERFECT, then they took advantage of my trust, and gave me a virus disguised as an "update." FURIOUS.

And I don't have the money to buy a replacement, so I have to deal with this piece of junk (that became a piece of junk for so needlessly).
 
Not sure why anyone would want to upgrade an almost 4 year old iPad with the latest iOS. That is just asking for it. I kept my iPad 3 on iOS 6 and never upgraded it. Smooth as butter.
 
Kendo said:
Not sure why anyone would want to upgrade an almost 4 year old iPad with the latest iOS. That is just asking for it. I kept my iPad 3 on iOS 6 and never upgraded it. Smooth as butter.
Click to expand...

The company said it was supported, that would be one reason.

My rule of thumb is 1 iOS update max. My iPad 2 is on ios7, and that was pushing it. My iPhone 4s went to 7 as well, and that was too far. My air is on 8, and there it will remain.
 
Have y'all done a clean install? It's a bit of hassle (you have to re-install all your apps and re-set your preferences and passwords) but fixed my wife's iPad nicely after it had crash and freeze issues after 8.0 and 8.1.

These are complicated computers, and OS updates constitute major surgery. Things can and do go wrong, and the chances would increase with the age of the device and how many previous updates and patches it's received.
 
If the iPad 1 only made it to iOS5, what such hardware changes made you think it would survive on iOS8? I think iPad 2 is lucky to have even gotten past iOS6.
 
I updated my iPad Air to 8 and it made it almost unusable. Luckily it was still under warranty and Apple replaced it with a new unit thankfully on 7.1. Back to smooth operation again.
Recently bought an Air 2 and really should have returned it. Regular crashes and very slow wifi in many locations. Benefits do not outweigh the downsides. Hopefully later iOS releases will fix the issues.
Apple selling millions but this is the first time in many years and Apple products that I can remember this sort of problem.
 
Kendo said:
Not sure why anyone would want to upgrade an almost 4 year old iPad with the latest iOS. That is just asking for it. I kept my iPad 3 on iOS 6 and never upgraded it. Smooth as butter.
Click to expand...

You have to understand 99% of the general public doesnt know a update can slow down a device, in fact most people think itll be better for them when in reality they get robbed a a perfectly good device and Apple knows it. If Apple warned people about it will be a differnet story. Shame on Apple for destroying peoples devices on purpose to buy newer deivces
 
Still on iOS 6 here on my iPad 2. Can't say I'd want to upgrade based on all the horror stories you read. I wonder why others don't do the research BEFORE they upgrade?

And yes Apple could make it easier and provide a roll back software. But let's be honest, they don't want you using the same device for years do they?
 
On an iPad 2, the following will increase performance on the device. You can also benefit from this on the iPad Mini. This is step 1 of my "improve/secure" for family devices:

Settings->General->Accessibility->Increase Contrast

You should also enable Reduce Motion.

The original source is here.

Beyond that, I recommend a jailbreak followed by installing:

AdBlockerNetworks
Light Untrusted Hosts Blocker
NoTracking+

The reduced graphic strain and reduced advertising/tracking/logging go a long way to making the devices much faster.
 
This is what is so bad about Apple. They claim "updates," which implies good things, and they completely cripple the devices so you have to go and buy another one. I'm beginning to think this whole system is criminal. If they would just allow you to go back to an older ios, or simply suggest an optimal ios for each device, then it would be fine. But they're not in the business of being transparent with their customers.
 
If your iPad 2 is slow, make try doing a 'reset all settings' which has worked very well for me. Also make sure background app refresh, app update and as many location services as possible are turned off.

----------
Kendo said:
Not sure why anyone would want to upgrade an almost 4 year old iPad with the latest iOS. That is just asking for it. I kept my iPad 3 on iOS 6 and never upgraded it. Smooth as butter.
Click to expand...


Because you miss out on new features and security and app updates. The iPad 2 still works with iOS 8. Its not as fast as before but if you set it up well, its perfectly usable. I think the problem is that the iPad 2 barely slowed down with 5,6 or 7 so people are used to updates that don't have a massive effect on their devices.
 
iOS7 was a mess on my iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, but 7.1 really sped it up, so I am hoping that 8.2 will do the same thing, and thus wait for that update to be released, before I go iOS8.
 
Kendo said:
Not sure why anyone would want to upgrade an almost 4 year old iPad with the latest iOS. That is just asking for it. I kept my iPad 3 on iOS 6 and never upgraded it. Smooth as butter.
Click to expand...

Probably because Apple always carry on about providing the best user experience. I think now the media is getting a bit more critical of Apple (criticising the 16gb entry level and iOS8 bugs) we may see a change from Apple on the release schedules. Or they may simply believe their sales numbers and carry on as before...
 
On my Ipad2 IOS 8 has ruined copy/paste. It appears the copy buffer is not cleared when something new is put there. Powering off/on the IPad appears to fix this, but it's a PIA. Apps fail to launch, Mail can often have up to 4 tries before starting, happens with all of the apps I've tried. It'll go away for minutes and do nothing.
I'm wondering if code has been put in to ruin the IPad 2 user experience, in hopes those of us still using them will upgrade and improve Apple's declining tablet sales numbers. IOS 8 runs fine on my iPhone 6, 5S and the newer IPad Air.
The frustration in trying to use the IPad 2 with IOS 8 has me looking hard at other options, and NEVER buying another Apple product - and we have quite a few now (MBPro 15 inch, 2 13 inch Air's, IMac, 2 IPads, 2 iPhone 6's and 1 5S and a bunch of iPods sitting around in desk drawers). I've been an Apple fan boy for over 30 years, but this mess with IOS has really put a damper on my supporting them.
 
merkinmuffley said:
On my Ipad2 IOS 8 has ruined copy/paste. It appears the copy buffer is not cleared when something new is put there. Powering off/on the IPad appears to fix this, but it's a PIA. Apps fail to launch, Mail can often have up to 4 tries before starting, happens with all of the apps I've tried. It'll go away for minutes and do nothing.
I'm wondering if code has been put in to ruin the IPad 2 user experience, in hopes those of us still using them will upgrade and improve Apple's declining tablet sales numbers. IOS 8 runs fine on my iPhone 6, 5S and the newer IPad Air.
The frustration in trying to use the IPad 2 with IOS 8 has me looking hard at other options, and NEVER buying another Apple product - and we have quite a few now (MBPro 15 inch, 2 13 inch Air's, IMac, 2 IPads, 2 iPhone 6's and 1 5S and a bunch of iPods sitting around in desk drawers). I've been an Apple fan boy for over 30 years, but this mess with IOS has really put a damper on my supporting them.
Click to expand...

iOS 8 is a buggy mess, but they are not normal bugs. Have you tried either 1. Resetting all settings (Worked wonders for me) or 2. Doing a clean install of iOS 8?
 
Thanks for that tip on the reset. Might have worked, cop you/paste seems to functioning normally now. Haven't had any hang ups or apps failing to start.
 
My 2 is working great under 8.1 - It had been running pretty slow the last few months under 7 and just before 8 came out, I backed up everything important and when 8 came out; I restored as a new device. And it was like getting a new device. Ok, it's not blazing fast like my note 4; but for what it is, it runs fine; in my case.
 
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