3.1 turned my iPhone slow - unusable and lacking in all tasks

Whatever, whatever your real name is - hiding behind some BS alias.

Here are more semantics. You aren't addressing anything to Apple here.

If your iPhone is a brick after installing firmware update 3.1, which means completely unusable - not it takes several seconds to respond when you "slide to unlock" - what a joke if that is what you are calling a brick, you can call AppleCare at (800) 694-7466, or make an appointment at an Apple store if there is one nearby.

Restlessfool's suggestion to do a reset seems to have improved performace--for the slow unlocking at least.

Nevermind, if it rests long enough it won't turn back on. What a garbage update.

I'm really getting sick of people blaming the update and Apple for their problems. IF THE UPDATE ITSELF WAS THE PROBLEM, EVERYONE WOULD BE HAVING PROBLEMS (and I certainly am NOT having any). The problem is YOU AND YOUR PHONE. Have you contacted Apple directly? If not, keep your misguided judgements to yourself until you exhausted all corrective options. The update is NOT garbage.

My iphone is now very slow to boot since upgrading to OS 3.1.

Also my music libraries don't contain the same tracks as the docked iphone with itunes, nor the original itunes playlist which have been selected. I have tried to reload music onto my iphone several times and still have the same problem. When I select ipod.... it says "Updating library" and all the playlists are random.

How do I downgrade my iphone back to 3.0.1?

Wow, aren't we a little testy today? Why are people so defensive? I don't understand. Please take your dingaling out of your macbook for a second and be reasonable.

The fact is that a number of people had their phones working flawlessly under 3.0 or 3.0.1 and upon updating to 3.1 they became "bricky". So, yes, it obviously has something to do with the update. There may be other factors, like specific apps that are installed that are somehow affecting performance, but this was not a problem before the update.

Also my music libraries don't contain the same tracks as the docked iphone with itunes, nor the original itunes playlist which have been selected.

You have tracks in a playlist on your iPhone that are not in the selected iTunes playlist with iTunes?

I have tried to reload music onto my iphone several times and still have the same problem.

In which way? Have you tried deselecting Sync Music under the Music tab for your iPhone sync preferences followed by a sync, which should remove all music from your iPhone followed reselecting Sync Music and your selected playlists under the Music tab for your iPhone sync preferences followed by a sync?

Man you people are jerks...the guy has every right to be frustrated with his phone. Giving him a lecture of a geek term like "brick" doesn't do the user or thread any good...it just strokes your ego or pet peeve.

So to give some useful life experience...

I did a reset on the phone and restored from backup. Also make sure that "fill up space" with songs item is not checked for safe measure.

So my issue was not mean and my phone...it was complex software with unforseen consequences, lighten up "so called" helpers...so people are not as hard core as you!

The proposed solution has not worked for everyone who has tried it, I think it might be something else.

If there's one thing this has taught me, it's to wait a week or so for everyone else to upgrade and see what problems arise before putting my cell phone at risk for some lame new feature like genius mixes.

What problem or problems are you having, and which proposed solution have you tried that hasn't worked?

Thank you sperlyjinx and carboncow. The Apple-zombie retorts really don't fly when you're running iphones at an enterprise level for a major medical institution. We're running them alongside a BEZ for our blackberries, so when the cardiologists and ER complain because their iphones are now "bricks," bye bye iphones. All semantics aside, of course.

All selected playlists are in random order.

My top 40 playlist on my iPhone is different to the iTunes playlist.

Yes, I have deselected the music, unticked sync, resync back to iPhone. I have even restored my iPhone. Yet the problem remains.

Folks, I think this is a solution. Looks like what is happening is that the treatment of PUSH email in 3.1 has changed, and more resources are spent doing that resulting in more memory use, more cpu use (and heat), and decreased battery life and responsiveness.
This particularly affects folks who have many email accounts being pushed (synced) constantly.

Solution: turn off Push for all but the most necessary of email accounts. You can turn off Push in general in the Mail Settings section, then go to advanced to turn it on for the one or two accounts you absolutely need it for.
Second thing I did as well, which I think is less important, but haven't verified is to turn off notifications for things I don't really need them for.

****! That is one step forward (in improvments for what I don't know) and two steps backwards for me. Many complain of battery drain in the past but I do push, bluetooth and wifi 24/7 and tend to get (almost) two days out of my phone...

I hope I don't become a battery burner now due to software upgrades. I think a 3Gs may be in my future to resolve my 3g getting slower with every upgrade!

FYI that my hard reset and restore did improve some speed in software and such (did it defrag the SSD?) but I still have a 1 sec delay that my slider will not respond when I wake up the phone.

Hard to believe nobody on the Apple developement team saw these issues...or maybe they don't care as the software needs have to be more robust (you know to sell more on itunes) as the hardware gets older...

The problem is you and your phone's ... hmmm.

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of disapproval. My iPhone 3G was perfect until I upgraded to 3.1. Now it is virtually unusable. The battery life has dropped to about 1/3-1/2 of what it was before; it is extremely slow and unreliable; and apps crash all the time. It is pretty close to being a brick! I've tried hard resets and full restores to no avail.

Just because many people are all right with 3.1 does not mean it isn't Apple's fault IMO. People's phones, configurations, and apps differ enormously. I haven't done anything usual to my phone. There's nothing unusual about its configuration. There are clearly a sufficient number of very unhappy people for there to be a significant underlying problem that is Apple's fault, not ours.

However, I do agree that everyone that has a problem should complain loudly to Apple and their service provider.