Q: Iphone 3G slow after update to IOS4

I got so frustrated, I went to the genius bar. He pretty much acknowledged that "some" iphone 3Gs are sluggish after upgrading. He immediately said to do the following:


1. Plug into iTunes, sync (backup) and then restore to factory default.
2. Once it's wiped your phone, it will reinstall a free iOS 4
3. Then re-sync you iphone

I have to admit. It's MUCH better than before. Still not as good, but very usable. In a way, this is like doing a clean install.

Hope this helps.

Though I was happy with performance after previous measures (see earlier post), last night I decided to do a complete restore/setup as new phone. I'd done a good sync/backup but when the restore option offered to setup as new phone I chose that. I lost all my data in a few apps (only CardStar is difficult to replace) but I now have a "new" phone.

Restore/setup as new addressed everything, even text message app comes up quickly. My early 3G with iOS4 is as fast or faster than original.

null

Good reading, this thread is filled with good information. I decided to give iOS4 a second try and did the update and restore as new phone with great success. My 3G is running reasonably fast and text messaging does not lag. Thanks to Apple for their swift action, tongue pressed firmly against cheek.

Couldn't wait it out any longer. I reverted back to 3.1.3 using these instructions.

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/downgradeiphone_os40

dannyboy360 wrote:
Couldn't wait it out any longer. I reverted back to 3.1.3 using these instructions.

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/downgradeiphone_os40

@dannyboy,
Could you confirm that you used the MacLife prescription on a 3G? The article indicates that they only tested the procedure on a 3GS.

Thanks.

Yes, I used the maclife link to reinstall OS3.1.3 on my 3G. After reading the comments using the update, store as new phone, I went forward with OS4 and regained the speed that I was used to.

Make sure you're all leaving your comments (even copy paste) somewhere Apple actually read them http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

Ive restored my iphone 3G & tried the double hard reset, neither helps.(+ the restore you loose your ringtones & everything but phone numbers in contacts)
im convinced its memory managment by the firmware, so no matter what you do, untill they fix this in a update, were stuck with sluggish phones, im sure apple would recommend purchasing a new iphone maybe......

not sure we're all using the same terminology - reboot (*) & restore (**) & reset (*) are all different ...

we found double reboot (**), which takes under a minute, fixed our's (3G with iOS4) pretty OK ...

-

(*) reboot is what can be done at any time on the iPhone by pressing Home & Power buttons simultaneously ...

(**) restore is what can be done from the iTunes / Devices / (name of iPhone) / Summary screen when the iPhone is connected to iTunes ...

(*) reset is what can be done on th eiPhone from the Settings / General / Reset screen ...

(**) double reboot = press power button and home button at the same time, hold until 'phone reboots (ignore the power-off prompt slide bar, keep holding) ... let 'phone start-up normally (Apple logo) ... when it's all done & ready for action, immediately do it again - ie: repeat this process (don't be tempted to do anything in-between) ...

Message was edited by: Christopher John Hunter

Message was edited by: Christopher John Hunter

Message was edited by: Christopher John Hunter

theosib wrote:

As you know the iPhone 3G has only 128MB of DRAM. When that's not enough, like any modern OS, it swaps pages to "disk", that disk being the flash drive (16GB in my case).

No it doesn't. iOS, in contrast to most computer OSs, does NOT use virtual memory and page swapping.

My theory is that with so little free space

Your theory is based on a falsehood, so it is, unfortunately, a load of rubbish.

amyraasch wrote:
I updated to 4.0 two days ago... I also love the fact that the wallpaper is now visible behind the icons at all times.

Being able to change the wallpaper for the home screen is an iOS4 feature not enabled for the 3G, precisely because it uses too much memory, so your phone is not a 3G, or you've enabled that feature via jailbreak. Either way, it makes your post irrelevant to this thread.

Christopher John Hunter wrote:
not sure we're all using the same terminology - reboot (*) & restore (**) & reset (*) are all different ...

we found double reboot (**), which takes under a minute, fixed our's (3G with iOS4) pretty OK ...

-

(*) reboot is what can be done at any time on the iPhone by pressing Home & Power buttons simultaneously ...

(**) restore is what can be done from the iTunes / Devices / (name of iPhone) / Summary screen when the iPhone is connected to iTunes ...

(*) reset is what can be done on th eiPhone from the Settings / General / Reset screen ...

(**) double reboot = press power button and home button at the same time, hold until 'phone reboots (ignore the power-off prompt slide bar, keep holding) ... let 'phone start-up normally (Apple logo) ... when it's all done & ready for action, immediately do it again - ie: repeat this process (don't be tempted to do anything in-between) ...

I tried all of those but none of them really fixed this slowness with my wife's 3G after the upgrade to iOS4. She's still unhappy.

I know for a fact that an occasional "restore" can slightly improve the phone's overall performance depending on how much the contents of your phone got fragmented over the time, however, I didn't see anything more than that with iOS4.

OS4 for the 3G is a joke. Basically the phone before the upgrade was a polished device now its a clunky and unenjoyable to use. Lesson learned the hard way... but future hardware purchased from Apple should not be upgraded after two years of use! I wish I would have know before upgrading. Be warned, do not upgrade if you have not done so, you will be

The restore and reboots are temporary fixes. After a day or so of use, its back to slow as molasses on the 3G. I'll wait till the next IOS 4 update. If that doesn't help, its downgrade time.

I have just ended a phone call with O2 (UK) after speaking with one of their techie guys about the os4 problems on 3G. They (O2) acknowledge that there are problems with the new os4 that Apple are doing very little about (if anything) and suggest to those who have the abilities too to downgrade the software back to the 3.1 by the "unofficial" methods. They also stated that Apple will not inform customers on how to do this downgrade because, and I quote "Apple want customers to switch and stay with the new software".

What Apple want and what they get are two differant things.