Iphone 3G slow after update to IOS4

I agree with your workaround.


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 one or two 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 -

Group, Please let the forum know if this worked. It takes about a minute or so to do.

Message was edited by: Kasaar

hey, guys - ours seems to be fixed, even on Maps & Camera, and now it's real slick, on everything we've tried so far (and hopefully it'll last) ... and it took just a few minutes, with no loss of data etc, so the Spotlight fix must be worth trying ...

however, there's a subtlety that was important, at least for our situation, as follows :

===

this didn't work, for us (result was a bit better, but not a fix) :

Monday, 26 Jul'10 - 14:47 BST

from: Kasaar, Dallas TX

There are quite a bit of posts on here regarding this issue. I believe this may resolve your performance issues. After the iOS4 update all of your Spotlight search options may have been selected. There are many more search options in iOS4 than 3.0 - on the 3G iPhone go to :

Settings > General > Home Button > Spotlight Search

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

Reset 'phone - please let the forum know if this works ...

===

but this did (very marked improvement, immediately) :

Friday, 30 Jul'10 - 00:58 BST

from: RationalGuy

I had slowness on my 3G after upgrading to iOS4, but I found a simple fix here :

http://www.davekawalec.com/2010/07/3-steps-to-fix-iphone-3g-slowness-after-ios4- upgrade/

1. turn off Spotlight Search : go to Settings | General | Home Button | Spotlight Search, and uncheck everything

2. reboot your iPhone 3G : just a normal power down and restart

3. turn Spotlight Search back on : go back to same screen as step 1, and re-check everything you unchecked in Step 1

It looks like it's some sort of problem with search. I followed those steps and my slowness problems were gone ...

===

definitely made a difference ... indeed, wow, it seems even better than it was before (which may be an illusion, brought on by the intervening trauma) ...

haven't tried everything, yet, but hopefully it reached all the right places, for all apps, and fingers crossed that it'll last ...

NB: we did the second one a day or two after doing the first, and tried other things in-between ...

now, I think, I can believe Apple were caught-out by this - ie: maybe it wasn't sloppy work they did, and maybe it's possible to understand that not all 'phones are affected !!

Message was edited by: Christopher John Hunter

So I may have a functioning iPhone 3G.... I too have the slowness in iSLOW4, I mean iOS4.

I tried the hard reboot, that helped for like 10 minutes. Then I tried to disable Search Spotlight (unchecked all). That made no difference. I did the double hard-reset thing, that did nothing.

What did work for me was to disable MMS (and a hard reset). I did this two days ago and it has made a world of difference. I can't say if it's back 100% to it's v3 speed, but it is at least 95% better. Opening Safari, email, etc is all way faster. Opening the iPod app is slower than before, but I can live with that since everything else seems OK. The thing that's made me the mad is how Apple is thumbing their noses at us 3G owners, they aren't even officially recognizing the problem, even though this is one of the most popular discussions on the forum here. I feel like they're trying to get us to drop more cash on an iPhone 4. Shame on you Apple!

*So, if the Spotlight Search doesn't fix your problem, try disabling MMS.*

Go to Settings -> Messages -> MMS Messaging (turn this off)

Let us know if that helps.

I also experienced a slow iphone after upgrading to ios4.

Now my iphone is fast again and the battery life is good, but there is still some strangeness with the battery METER (battery life is ok, but it sometimes looks like the thing is not taking a charge)

I originally upgraded by the backup and upgrade option, and my 3.xx version of the software was at the time jailbroken. This backup and upgrade took FOREVER and when it was done the iphone was super slow. I suspect that this process doesn't work well on jailbroken software. So after a few days I synced my iphone and then did a full restore, and set it up as a new iphone. This process is much, much faster. Make sure you have transfered all of your iphone camera pictures to your computer as well as voice recordings, etc. Anything that doesn't transfer in a regular sync. you will of course have to manually enter your desired settings, since it is treated as a new iphone.
But, my iphone was still quite slow - somewhat faster than after the first upgrade, but much slower than it had been under 3.x.x

I found the solution in another thread :

Do 2 hard resets and the iphone is restored to its previous speed. Didn't really believe this would help, but I can afford to waste 10 minutes...
Hold down both POWER and HOME buttons, ignore the message to turn off, and wait until the phone shuts down. Wait 15 seconds, start up the iphone again. When it is up and running, do the same thing again.
This really did help! My iphone is acceptably fast again.

I have had all these issues, too after installing iOS4 on my iPhone 3G. First, I wrote Apple. They had me keep a log of the problems for 24 hrs. and email it to them. They said they were gathering data to show the Apple engineers. I hope that iOS 4.1 (now in beta 3) will help us.

In the meantime, these tweaks have just about restored my phone to the pre-iOS4 condition. I reboot the phone several times a week, holding down the on-off switch and home button, until the Apple logo appears.

I deleted about 40 little-used apps off my phone for now.

The biggest helpof all was unchecking all the items in Spotlight search, under settings/ home button. I did that, rebooted and then re-checked just the apps under Spotlight (which is all I used when searching.)

After doing the above steps, the folders and other iOS features in mail, etc., are working perfectly and my phone is now as fast as it used to be.

I hope a software fix is coming to correct everything for us iPhone 3G users.

flac7 You are missing the point. I run my own company and sometimes inevitably, things do go wrong. You can lose a customer if you handle the situation badly, but if you are seen to be quick to react and effective in your remedy you can tie the customer into you, bring with it even greater loyalty.

Apple have done them selves no credit with this upgrade, it should not have been released for the 3G in its present form. An approved upgrade is expected to bring benefits not render a perfectly good device useless. By ignoring the problem it just makes matters worse. I don't hold with the conspiracy theory of promoting 4G sales, you only have to read this thread to know that wouldn't work.

BTW if anyone is still considering sticking with the upgrade I can recommend the Lifehacker downgrade http://lifehacker.com/5572003/how-to-downgrade-your-iphone-3gs-from-ios-4-to-ios -313 . Couldn't be easier; a pre update sync before I did the installation of iOS4 saved a lot of grief on this occasion.

Without one I would probably have hung on in the hope Apple will respond and bring out an iOS4 Lite for the long suffering 3G users of this inappropriate upgrade. Come on Apple it still not too late to save something of your reputation!

I just returned from an appointment at the Genius Bar in the nearby Apple Store about the maddening slowdown of my G3 iPhone, due to the upgrade to iOS4. Here are the highlights

1) Apple techs are well aware of the slowdown and other problems on the G3 as a result of upgrading. The young, helpful guy I spoke with acknowledged the slowness of my iPhone. He performed a diagnostic check and said that some of the background apps performing OS functions (which we users never see) are not performing well, as some of the dynamic code they read, and maybe portions of these apps, are garbled. Of course, he can not extend his findings to all of the G3's out there that are experiencing problems, since other people have symptoms that I do not have.

2) This tech had heard a RUMOR within the Apple grapevine that a new upgrade is being considered and/or is in the works. He and other store techs have not been told anything directly, so there is no known date of its release. The techs, like us, must wait for movement from Cupertino.

3) In the meantime, his best recommendation is to perform a restore in iTunes from NEW, and NOT just a restore from the latest backup, which would only restore garbled, damaged code. After restoring to factory condition (but with iOS4 still installed), I can sync all my personal data (Address Book, Calendar, Apps, databases, etc., back to the iPhone, and I must re-set my Settings and probably any preferences I that applied to specific third-party Apps. What I will lose in this process is all text message strings and any recent phone call info that is stored on the phone.

Again, the tech could not guarantee total resolution of my slowdown, but he is convinced it will help.

4) He also said I should NOT do a Hard Reset by holding down the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button (at the top) simultaneously. This is akin to unplugging a computer while it is running, and, performed only a few times, it can potentially damage the electronics. I had thought this maneuver was similar to "zapping the PRAM" on a Mac, but he said absolutely not. I have seen this step suggested in this thread (cultofmac.com suggests this), so I want to pass on this warning.

5) On the theory that the memory demands of iOS4 are too taxing for the G3, the tech said it might help to turn off Apps that are constantly going online for info updates. So, log off in your Facebook App, Yelp, etc., and don't leave multiple windows open in Safari.

6) Do turn off your iPhone 3G whenever your can.

That's it. Rather than revert to iOS3, when I can find several hours, I might do a restore from NEW, but, for now, I am stuck, like the rest of you, waiting for Apple's official response.

Oh, and I have already added my complaint to Apple at the link below. You should, too.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

<Edited by Host>

Message was edited by: Fastdude

Message was edited by: Fastdude

I have successfully "Downgraded" my iPhone 3G to the last working version of the iPhone operating system v. 3.1.4

The good news is that the phone now performs just as expected with a noticeable increase in speed and performance as compared to iOS-4. I followed the instructions found on lifehacker showing both written instructions and a short video on how to complete the "downgrade".

The bad news is the phone is still vulnerable to any of the known bugs/hacks that have been addressed in recent iOS updates, notably the PDF hack recently patched in iOS4.2. So, note to self, don't open any PDF documents on my iPhone 3G unless I am certain they are from a Safe source.

I'm looking forward to an iPhone 3G compatible version of iOS-4, but until then, I'm sticking with iPhone version 3.1.4

I tried to downgrade my iPhone 3G, carefully following the insructions on Lifehacker.com, but it won't finish, telling me that the firmware is not compatible with my phone.

So after trying so many temporary fixes, like deleting apps, hard resets, unchecking everything in Spotlight search, I finally RESTORED my phone as a NEW phone. What a difference! It was worth the time it took. Now iOS 4.0.2 seems to be working nicely on my "new" 3G. I know others have mentioned doing this, but I didn't want to spend the time on doing that and reinstalling apps, customizing contacts, reinstalling all my videos, etc. My phone works great now! I wish I had done this sooner. Now I have a "new iPhone 3G!"

Oh, yes. I also wrote Apple again, too. Please do write Apple. They need to know how MANY of us are affected.

I had the same problem, doing a full restore, then restoring from my latest backup fixed the problem. I would rename your iphone in itunes to the calendar date with your name, that way it is easy to see in your backups. Do a sync, then a backup with the new name, then a full restore, then a restore from backup. make sure your new iphone name with your name shows up in the recent backups tab when clicking option right click on the iphone, that way you know for sure all your stuff is backed up.
Fixed all of my slow processing problems on my iphone 3g after updating from 3.0 to 4.02. see my thread about disabled wifi problems on iphone 3g with os 4.02
My iphone 3g with os 4.02 works perfect.

Plug into iTunes
Double click on iPhone in iTunes.
Change phone name to today's date.
Option click on iPhone and perform a sync.
Option click on iPhone and perform a backup.
Option click and click restor from backup and see if your phone with new name(today's date) is in the list, do nothing .

Now cancel out of that window .
Make sure you have properly downloaded the new os4.02.
Instead of hitting update, which millions of people did and Apple didn't tell us not to, hit restore. This will wipe all data on the iPhone, and resetting essentially erasing all data on the iPhone.
Next, after this long and boring process, remember not to be in a rush. The software is very sophisticated, let it do it's job. After the iPhone has restored it's firmware and os4.02, let the phone startup and connect to the cellular network, do not unplug phone at all yet.
Most restore mistake are users being too impatient and unplugging the phone during installs, and this corrupts the install and the phone will never work right.
Now your iPhone thinks it just came out of the box new. Leav it alone.
Now option click the iPhone in iTunes and select restore from backup, a list appears, choose the new iPhone name, (the date) I had you change it to and select it.
Your iTunes will now put back all of your music, text messeges and contacts .you may have to resync iTunes after the restore from backup.
The only other thing you may have to redo or reinput is your wifi passwords and your voicemail password.
This fix worked for me.

Remove all of your content.
wipe the device.
restore from a good backup.
Your problem with os4.02 may not be with the software running the hardware, but a corrupted backup.
Try backing up and syncing again, and try restoring from a fast computer like a 2.33 or greater intel processor with lots of ram. The iphone is plauged with problems that occur from users putting too much data on them. Memory is a function of performance on the iphone. the memory is static, not rotational. the memory on the iphone can be severly compromised if you pile it in. I have a 16gb iphone 3g, and it works perfectly with the new software now. The iphone 3g basically became a paperweight after an """""""upgrade""""", not to be confused with a restore. A restore wipes the device, meaning every "bit" of data is erased and when you lay down the new 0s 4.02 on your iphone 3g, it puts the data at the "head" of the memory . Basically after a restore and install, it puts the data in one large block. If you do an "upgrade it puts bits and bytes of data in different places. The iphone 3g now has become a super fragmented device, and the lack of builtin memory only makes the problem worse.
Stripping the device and laying down a new os is always the answer with any computing device. It places the os in one place, not all over the drive, making read write access faster and more efficient. If I put data in nNew york and you live in LA, it might take you longer to get it. But if you put data in Culver city and you live in LA, it will take less time to get it.
GIGO

Can someone/anyone take this advice , try it, and if it doesn't work, try it again. It worked for me.

Message was edited by: highdef

Thanks for the link, Mb702LL. That's encouraging news that Steve Jobs actually admits that there is a problem and that they're working on a solution! Here is the text of the article:

"A new email from Apple CEO Steve Jobs appears to confirm that the company will soon be issuing a software update to address issues with the iPhone 3G's performance under iOS 4. Late last month, the company acknowledged that it was "looking into" user reports of the issues.

The new email came in response to feedback sent by a customer who expressed frustration over the performance of his iPhone 3G, calling it "dog slow" and pointing to problems with system responsiveness when scrolling, zooming, and typing.

I've waited patiently through 4.0.1 and 4.0.2, looking for a fix that will make my phone work again. I've read the forums that advise me to jailbreak my phone or use some other method so I can downgrade back to a version of iPhone 3, however I'm not prepared to use a method that is not supported by Apple.
Jobs' response was unsurprisingly terse:

Software update coming soon.

Sent from my iPhone

While Jobs did not offer details on the planned software update, he was most likely referring to iOS 4.1, which has been in testing with developers. Anecdotal reports have indicated that the iOS 4.1 betas do seem to be improving performance on the iPhone 3G, but confirmation that the company is addressing the issues will be welcome news to users who have been frustrated by iOS 4 performance on their devices."

In the meantime, restoring my 3G as a NEW PHONE is still working great with iOS 4.0.2

I own an iPhone 3G
I admit that is a piece of hardware 2-years old
I admit that iOS4 is a new software full of nice features
I admit that I like all this features
but I can't admit that all this new features must work really fine in a hardware so old...


When iOS4 came out I upgrade and iPhone go slow... and this is totally normal... how can I expect that will work so fine than in the new iPhone 4?... this is impossible... iPhone 3G isn't iPhone 4...

I start to quit features and things start to came back to work fine...


turn off spotlight
turn off MMS
turn off locations (only works in maps...)
turn off push email
turn off autobrightness
turn off notifications
turn off genius in appstore
don't use folders


ok... all of you can say that without this I don't have an iPhone with iOS4... but I disagree


I have new email inbox unified.. nice feature
I have calendar and contacts sync with google account... nice feature

I have my iPhone 3G working fast like first day
I can use a lot of apps
and the most important... I have the latest upgrade in terms of security bugs solved


I think that the problem is that we want to use all features that we can... but we must use the features that we need... and forget features that really we don't need




I really want to have a phone that makes a lot of things... but I can't expect that the phone makes more that it can be done... and more than really I need


the best feature is the lack of features

Just an FYI for people "stuck" on IOS4:

If you download an old ipsw file (thats the firmware for your phone, you can get it from: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=750 its also on Apple's website somewhere) you can restore it to the old firmware by holding alt (on a mac, maybe ctrl in windows) and clicking on the "Restore" button on the iphone page in iTunes, then browse to the firmware you want to use (i.e iPhone1,2 3.1.3_7E18Restore.ipsw) and follow the prompts, admittedly you will likely lose all your data but its a small price to pay to get a phone which actually works 🙂