Iphone 3G slow after update to IOS4

I downloaded the iOS 4.0.1 and found my 3G phone to be significantly slower.

I have tried the backup/restore technique and the double "hard" reboot and found the phone just a bit faster, but still much slower than before Ver 4.0.1.

The new feature of storing multiple apps in one folder is awesome, but after reading some info on this thread I decombined all the apps so there are no folders anymore. This did improve the speed even more BUT it is still SLOWER than before Ver 4.0.1. That feature was the biggest draw for me and now I can't use it if I want my phone to move somewhat fast.

Please post up any other "fixes" that I haven't tried, besides downgrading to ver 3.whatever again. That'll be the last resort.

Just put 3.1.3 on the one you have now by yourself. Making companies go through unnecessary expenses isn't very honest.

http://lifehacker.com/5572003/how-to-downgrade-your-iphone-3g%5Bs%5D-from-ios-4- to-ios-313

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oABVOajGfW8

Smythley,

Option 3 worked for me. I tried restoring as a new phone. Didn't help. I used this article to downgrade (I'm sure this post will get removed, so I hope you see it soon):

http://lifehacker.com/5572003/how-to-downgrade-your-iphone-3g%5Bs%5D-from-ios-4- to-ios-313

Cheers,
Leann

Smythley wrote:
I posted to this forum earlier about the same sluggish problem everyone else seems to have. Seems to me that I have several options. Which direction do you suggest I go? (Ive tried all the relatively easy fixes...)
1. Stay with 4.0, and restore as a new phone.
2. Upgrade to 4.0.1, and restore as a new phone.
3. Downgrade back to 3.x.
4. Visit apple store.
5. Throw phone out window.

If you value your time and want the highest liklihood of a positive outcome, go with option 3.

If you enjoy frustration and have time to waste on useless activities, go with 4. Note, for efficiency you could combine 4 with 5. Ensure not to injure any Geniuses or passers-by with the projectile.

Regarding the apps updating to iOS4 and becoming unusable on OS3 - I too have been concerned about this, to the point of looking into buying an iPad (and VERY begrudgingly paying more to Apple) to continue using the apps I've paid for over the last 18 months. BUT! I've got an iTunes backup on an external HD from March, and have been able to restore the few that were already incompatible with my reverted to 3.1.3 software back to earlier, compatible versions. It's a bit of a timewarp and doesn't solve the problems of future apps ONLY working on OS4 and forward, but it does mean that I can keep my 3G iPhone just as I like it as it is now, until such time as I choose to switch platforms.

Make a separate copy of your iTunes library if you don't already have one, then if you find that app updates no longer work with OS3, you can revert to earlier versions.

All is not lost, Apple would just have us think it us so we run out and give them some more money 😉

Cincinnati Apple Fan wrote:

Seriously, why can't a 3G device show a picture behind the home screen????


Well, technically, it might can... BUT...the fundamental problem with iOS4 and iPhone 3G is the lack of RAM. The OS plus video demands use enough that larger apps already cannot even launch. Add to the load a background image and you have used even more of the lacking RAM. Trust me, you DON'T want to push the phone like that...

Did you hard reset after the disabling the spotlight search? That part is key to getting it work. I have 20 iphones under my care and it has worked every time for my users. 9 of them are 3G. The rest are a mixture of 3GS' and 4's.

Kasaar wrote:
HERE WE EFFING GO AGAIN!

I had considerable performance issues with multiple phones. I applied the changes and performed a reset afterwards. No real issues . I asked users to post success / failure rates but I've only seen on so far.
After the iOS4 update all of your Spotlight Search options may have been selected.

On the 3G iPhone Go to SETTINGS> GENERAL> HOME BUTTON> SPOTLIGHT SEARCH

On the 3GS Go to SETTINGS> GENERAL> SPOTLIGHT SEARCH

De-select the search options you don't want (I just use messages notes). The more options selected the more processing / memory is used by your phone.

Reset Phone -

No. This hasn't helped me. My phone showed no improvement after your suggestion.

a few days ago I sent a short & polite note to Apple, and they came back asking if they could 'call me to discuss - so I've been trying to make a succinct list :

+ we were early-adopters of iPhone 3G, and when our contract came-up for renewal, we put both our 'phones onto a regular monthly holding contract, while we waited for iPhone4 to be announced & released in the UK ...

+ when update to iOS4 was offered for 3G, we said yes & and the update went smoothly, as usual, but the result was a horribly inhibited 'phone (se we left the second one on 3.1.3) - by inhibited, we mean :

+ hesitant & slow, often very slow, with apps taking time to open & sometimes not opening at all, and some often being hardly usable at all - eg: Phone & Camera ...

+ very variable, though - snappier sometimes than others ...

+ double hard reboot (holding down power & home buttons until Apple logo, then doing it again immediately, without doing anything in-between) can help, for a while ...

+ running Memory Sweep (an app) shows Free Memory varies, second to second, but also time to time - often under 2MB, sometimes around 10MB, occasionally up around 20MB - always better after reboot, but declines with use & time ...

+ battery life worse - have to charge much more often, especially when using some apps - eg: Camera ...

+ have updated to 4.0.1 - seems a bit better, but still very far from OK ...

+ have tried unchecking Spotlight options, some & all - can help, but gives lost functionality !

+ ... any more ??

Message was edited by: Christopher John Hunter

I spoke to Apple Support (Australia) today. Was informed by a senior support manager that they are aware of the problem, Engineering is working on a fix which will resolve all 3G speed issues occurred as a result of iOS4 upgrade, this fix will soon be released via iTunes.

Stay tuned!

Kasaar, I tried your fix on my 3G and it made a huge improvement. I shut off all of the Spotlight Search options, actually, and it's running very quickly and smoothly again. For the record (as I've seen other folks ask this question), I have a 16GB 3G, with 631MB free (55 apps).

Thanks for the very helpful tip.

I finally gave up on iOS 4 on my 3G and rolled it back for the same reasons. I got tired of waiting on everything. And after the install and restart of my phone the restore failed multiple times and I lost a bunch of pictures that I had not pulled off yet.

I have monitored the number of Page-Ins and the situation with memory on my iPhone 3G with iOS 4.0 (and now 4.0.1) installed. It seems iPhone 3G has too little RAM for this OS version.

Apple, please optimize things. For example, why do I have accessory daemon, bluetooth daemon in memory if I never use accessories or bluetooth? Could you launch them on demand?

Just spend some time on memory optimization already!

I had to turn off my exchange sync, the situation has improved a bit. If I turn off my mobile.me sync, the situation improves further, but I cannot - I use it for my personal contacts, mail and calendar.

To add yet another voice to the chorus...

I will admit to using a "Jailbreak" tool to enable background tasks and wallpaper when I first installed iOS 4 on my 3G. I did NOT install the third-party app store "Cydia", I only enabled the not-officially-allowed-on-3G built-in iOS 4 features. I found it slow, unresponsive, and app-crash prone.

So, I figured Apple had disabled those features for a reason, and a few days later did a complete restore to "stock" iOS 4. Losing wallpaper wasn't a big deal, losing background tasks (notably Pandora) was annoying. But hey, I'd get responsiveness back and less crashing, right?


And discovered it was just as slow... Just as unresponsive... Just as app-crash prone...

The YouTube "iOS 4 on iPhone 3G (Parody)" video sums it up perfectly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdk2cJpSXLg even down to the massive delay answering a call.

If you're going to disable features for the sake of "performance and stability", then the system should have acceptable performance and stability with them OFF, at least.

I haven't gotten around to re-jailbreaking to re-enable background tasks and wallpaper, but I might as well, I don't see any speed improvement leaving them off. (When I had them on, I could stream Pandora while playing X-Plane just fine.)

This may be a difficult issue to track down, as it doesn't seem to be affecting all 3G's. Case in point, my wife and I both have 3G's, bought refurbished at the same time. My upgrade has gone without a hitch and I am lucky enough to report that everything is working great without any of the problems being reported. My wife wasn't so lucky. After she upgraded, she felt like heaving the phone out the window. She finally did a full wipe and reloaded without restoring any data. After rebuilding her contacts list and resyncing her apps, she's happier with the performance (though my phone is still working better). Why the difference?

My theory is that the issue is likely an incompatibility with one of the sourced components in the iPhone. Something that isn't exactly the same between production runs. Hope they get it fixed soon.