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Slow iPhone 3G after iOS 4

Why is my 3G so slow?????????? I updated to 4.0 and my 3G has been having issues ever since. I really cant stand it! the rotation takes like 5 seconds, switching home screens is jumpy, the iPod crashes if you use the purchased link in the iTunes app. Folders open and close slowly, and when I lock it the lock noise plays then it plays like 3 more times. Settings also crashes!!!

is anyone else having these problems? Im really confused. It didn't do this with 3.1. I've also never done anything like jail breaking it....

I've tried restarting but nothing works, any help, Is it time for a 3GS?

Macbook Late '07, iPhone 3G, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Jun 21, 2010 2:38 PM

Reply
331 replies

Jun 25, 2010 8:16 AM in response to qwertyfreak

A lot of you claim that a clean Restore of iOS4 did the trick.

I did that on Wednesday night night and started fresh, then install all the apps.

Worked well until today, it's starting to get slow. I'm sure if I do a reset it will start to work faster again.

It took about two days for mine to get slow again.

Anyone else getting the same results? starts fast but starts getting slow with time.

Jun 25, 2010 8:24 AM in response to Frank Malloy

You guys are not stating the obvious! it is not like installing vista on an old machine...

This was developed for the 3g. If they thought it would bog down phones they should of told us not to upgrade or dont put an upgrade out for the 3g.

I understand its probably too memory intensive for this phone...but tell us that- They never did.
If nothing else give us the option to go back without resorting to google searchs to do so. I did and it works fine again, but Apple should help us out in some way.

Jun 26, 2010 8:58 AM in response to pilfro

A lot of people are saying "It works at first, but then starts to get slow". One possible reason for this is because the "mobilesafari" (browser) app is running in the background. When you first restore and start using the phone, chances are the browser isn't actually running, and everything seems fast. As soon as you visit a webpage and then return to the home screen, safari will continue to run in the background chewing up memory and impacting performance. You can usually mitigate this by closing safari. This is done by first closing all "tabs" you have open in safari before exiting. If you leave safari when there are no tabs open, it will close down rather than remaining open in the background. This can be seen easily with any process monitoring tool (e.g. iStat) which shows that mobilesafari remains open in the background most of the time, and consumes a fairly substantial amount of available memory.

I found this to be a problem in 3.1.3 also, and I pretty much avoid safari altogether now. The "Perfect Browser" app is a better option imo, and has a lot more functionality as well as never running in the background (and thus stealing resources from other apps).

So, bottom line, try fully closing safari before using the other functions on the 3G and see if it helps. I believe it makes quite a noticeable difference in performance.

Jun 28, 2010 3:20 PM in response to cpavlovec

You point is valid so long as i have a choice to stay with the old OS or not. Understand that once you replace 3.1.3 your done. If Apple would have given us the option to stay at 3.1.3 fine. I am sorry but to be forced to change phones and sign another 2 year contract just to please Apple and ATT isn't my idea of being very honest, nor fair...but that is just me.
Crappy operating system releases is what Apple was really able to stick down Microsoft's throat in much of their past marketing; and they had to wear it. Now it is ok that they do it?

Jun 28, 2010 4:58 PM in response to qwertyfreak

iOS4 had turned my 3G 16GB into a piece of junk. Here are my issues.
1. Slooooow! Just playing solitaire is slow.
2. Apps quit. Even ones that never have.
3. Safari is almost non-functional and quits. Never did before.
4. Diminished wifi. Always had full 3 bars. Now have 1 or 2 and it too will quit and revert to Edge.
5. Diminished cell service. Constantly switches to No Service.
6. Have to reboot several times a day.

Steve Jobs should be ashamed! The latest offerings from Apple are far from what loyal Apple customers have always expected. The iPad isn't just an oversized iPod Touch fraught with problems. The iPhone 4. Looks nice but you have to buy armor for it and that isn't even a guarentee that dropping it from the height of a chair to a carpeted floor won't destroy it and void the warranty. And his decision to stick with AT&T is irresponsible at best.

Jun 28, 2010 5:09 PM in response to jappleseed55

I know it's frustrating but the solution has already been mentioned here: Restore your iPhone AS A NEW PHONE. Do not restore from backup. It'll take some extra time to reorganize your apps and re-enter your passwords and settings but it made my 3G a lot better! Some apps may still quit as the developers might not have updated the software to be iOS4 compatible. ***** for now but be patient. I have not had any apps crash since restoring the phone. YMMV.

As for the rest of your comments: Take a pill. Or buy an Android-flavored phone. Do you think their phones will have free, compatible software upgrades in 2 years?

Jun 29, 2010 7:05 PM in response to qwertyfreak

again..... my iPhone 3G is garbage after iOS4. Did restore as new phone, but after a couple days, back to garbage. Even typing text messages is annoying. Delays on the characters, takes forever to open the camera app, forever to open the Photos app, and once open, lonnnng delay to let you select the folder you want to see. Garbage, garbage, garbage. Can apple give us the eff option to select which OS to install? I love apple products!, though I see this company dropping their quality SO FAST. I remember those G4 days.... sigh

Jun 29, 2010 7:13 PM in response to Mike Berson

I find your inane remark about 'taking a pill' to be pretty rude. This is a forum for voicing opinions on products not the people submitting posts.

The real issue here is that Apple is not responding to their customers.
And they obviously did not test iOS 4 on all platforms. I worked with Apple Support to do the upgrade. So they are either ignorant of the issue or are told to ignore it.

I will admit that after several syncs and power downs my phone is not quite as slow. But still not what it was at OS 3.1. I have a reluctance to downgrade as I don't want to spend hours putting my phone back to the way it was. Plus that really is not an acceptable solution as it disenfranchises 3G owners. Ultimately at some point we will have to pony up for a new phone as developers start producing iOS 4 only apps or upgrades.

The entire situation is not any different than what Microsoft did with Vista. They put out a flawed os and then somehow got manufacturers like Dell to void warrantees if owners reverted to XP. It was ok to upgrade to W7 though. I just hate seeing Apple follow the same type of practices.

Jun 29, 2010 7:17 PM in response to jappleseed55

"Steve Jobs should be ashamed! The latest offerings from Apple are far from what loyal Apple customers have always expected. The iPad isn't just an oversized iPod Touch fraught with problems. The iPhone 4. Looks nice but you have to buy armor for it and that isn't even a guarentee that dropping it from the height of a chair to a carpeted floor won't destroy it and void the warranty. And his decision to stick with AT&T is irresponsible at best."

I stand by "take a pill".

Slow iPhone 3G after iOS 4

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