Slow iPad on iOS 11, 12, and iPadOS

by: MichelPM

Last modified: Dec 22, 2020 1:09 PM

2 9808 Last modified Dec 22, 2020 1:09 PM

Slow OR Optimise iPad on iOS 11 through iOS 12 and iPadOS.

A disclaimer.I make no guarantees, expressed or implied, that any of my own procedures will return EVERY older iPad to a usable, running condition.

Make sure your iPad has, at the vey least, a minimum of between 2-4 GBs of free storage space or greater.2 GBs of free data storage space is the absolute minimum for free data storage space.Anything less than this amount and you risk the beginning of erratic operational and general performance behaviours of your iPad or iDevice.

Freeing Up Needed iDevice Data Storage Space

If you need to free up free data storage space on an iPad/iDevice, you need to start by backing up your iPad to either Apple's iCloud or by connecting your iDevice to a computer running the latest iTunes or some other offsite, “cloud” data storage service, like Google Drive/Photos, BOX, DropBox, Flickr ( for photos/images and videos ) or any other similar online, offsite, “cloud” data storage/backup service.

Then, delete any installed apps that you no longer use or use infrequently enough that they aren't missed ( you can always reinstalled any purchased or free apps at some time later, as you need them ).

Thin out/delete any music/videos/movies/TV shows/images/eBooks/eMagazine/iBooks/

audio books/Podcasts/Documents/PDFs, etc..

If you use a POP email account on your iPad, delete/thin out any old saved emails that maybe saved to your iPad.

To permanently delete photos/images off of your iDevice go into the Photos app and find the Recently Deleted folder/album and permanently delete any photos/images stored in that folder/album.

Also, you can check to see what stuff is eating up all your valuable data storage space by going into the Settings App,,General Settings Panel, in the right hand column, tap Storage & iCloud usage panel ( in iOS 11 and later, it’s now called iPad Storage ), in the top Storage Panel, tap the Manage Storage panel, wait for a list of apps to generate that will tell you how much space each app is taking up on your iDevice.

Then, if your iPad still uses a Lightning port/connector and a Home button, do a hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

The new hard reset method for newer iPad Pro models that DO NOT have a Home button.

Try the new hard reset procedure for the new 2018/2020 iPad Pro models.

1. Press and Release the Volume Up button.

2. Then immediately Press and Release the Volume Down button.

3. Then, Press and Hold the Power Button at the top. You will see the Slide to Power off button, but keep on holding down the Power Button until you see the Apple logo, then let it go.

Once you have performed all the steps, wait for a few seconds and your 2018 iPad Pro will boot up completely to the iPad Pro’s Lock screen.

Next.

Try all of the following below:

Make sure that the display brightness is adjusted for legibility, but isn’t so bright that it is adversely affecting battery life.

Try a hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

Try resetting All Settings found in the Settings App under General and in the right column under Reset.

Try resetting histories and deleting/resetting caches in all of the web browsers you use.If you use Safari, these functions maybe in the Settings App under Safari.Other web browsers have their settings inside of the running app, itself.

Make sure you DO NOT have 20-30 OR EVEN MORE of active website tabs running in any running web browser.

Also, under iCloud in the Settings App, in iCloud Drive, disable the saving feature for any other apps that you DO NOT want data being saved automatically to iCloud Drive.

turn off/disable iCloud and iCloud drive entirely if you do not use any iCloud functionality.

Some minority of user have been turning ON and leaving ON iCloud backups continuously backing up on a constant and daily basis. If you are one of these users, turn off iCloud backup and only turn this on to do daily backups either when you are not using your iPad for a prolonged period of time (like when you are sleeping), then turn iCloud backups OFF when actually using your iPad

only perform your backups on a lesser time schedule.( like once a week, twice a week, once every two weeks, once a month, etc.)

In Settings app, or by invoking the iOS Control Panel by swiping a finger down from the upper right corner of the iPads's screen, make sure Bluetooth is turned off when not in use.

Make sure there are no long running iCloud services trying to constantly update or you have an iCloud device trying to backup while you are actually using the iDevice (normally, iCloud backups only take place while your iDevice is locked, in sleep mode, WiFi active, and your iDevice is plugged into wall power).

In the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight search, try disabling the search under apps that really do not need a search, like some games, remotes, apps that really do not need to be searched, etc., to reduce the list for Spotlight to search.

In the Settings App under the General Tab, in the right column, look for Background App Refresh and turn the global setting to "OFF” if you don't want ANY apps to refresh in the background OR individually/selectively turn off Background App Refresh for those apps you feel don't really need any data refresh in the background.

In Settings app, under the Accesibility Panel, tap the panel.In the right hand colunm, again, look for and tap the Display and Text panel, in the list that follows toggle ON Increase Contrast.

Under the Reduce Trasnsparency panel, tap the switch button at the far right of the screen to the green "ON" position to turn on the reduction of transparency of the overall UI of iOS.

If you don’t like this look, then turn/toggle OFF Reduce Transparency.

In the Accessibility Panel under Motion, try turning/toggling ON Reduced Motion.

You should see an appreciable performance increase/response time when this feature is toggled on.

Make sure you do not have a lot of apps running in the background in the iOS App Switcher.

Dbl click the Home button or to check this or swipe a finger from the bottom of the screen half way to the middle of the screen to invoke the iOS App Switcher.

Keep active App Switcher Apps to a comfortable minimum.

DO NOT leave dozens and dozens of apps simply “hanging out” in the iOS App Switcher

If you have a lot of apps still active in the iOS App Switcher, hold a finger on one of the apps and slide your finger up to quit the app.

If you can reach other apps with other fingers, you can quit more than one app simultaneously.

If you have the iOS Mail app set to automatically fetch mail at one of the default fetch time intervals, in the Settings App, under the Mail settings panel, tap this panel, in the righthand window, tap Accounts, then tap Fetch New Data, turn off/disable Push Mail and set fetching mail for either every hour, every 30 minutes or set for manual fetch only for all of your mail accounts.

In Settings app, Notifcations, minimise the amounts and methods of notifications you are getting from apps and reduced the amount of apps that you are getting notification from.

You do not need notifications from every single app on your iPad!

After you have implemented some or ALL of these tips,

Try another hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons ( for iPads with a Home button and Lightning connector port ).