safari iOS 8.1 freeze and slow

I tried this too. I can confirm that this is a workaround. Testing procedure:

1. Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced.
2. Disable JavaScript.
3. Enter search term in search field at the top of Safari.
4. Immediately tap a result, page loads.
5. Enable JavaScript, repeat test, the issue returns—links are unresponsive to taps for a second or two.

Something that's odd with JavaScript disabled: you can tap a link and get an immediate response, but there's no visual feedback that the tap has registered.

Please be so kind as to attempt to answer these for the users of this forum -

• What do you think is the reason for the "spinning wait cursor" incessantly spinning in Safari on an iPad running iOS 8.1, whilst Safari on another iPad with identical hardware and Apps running iOS 7.1.2 loads pages double-quick with a few spins of the wait cursor?
• What do you think is the reason for out-of-the-box hardware exhibiting the same as above?
• What do you think is the reason that most no-one on this forum has found a real solution?

Many thanks.

<Edited by Host>

Thanks Jeff12. I followed your simple steps of clearing the history and web data...

1) Settings -> Safari -> Clear History and Website Data

2) Turn off the device (hold the power button and slide to turn off) and turn it back on

On reboot I noticed immediate improvement in Safari functionality, including

• no page freezes or 'dead' links
• increased page load speed
• increased speed when switching between apps
• no more loss of unsaved data during app switch (ex: typing in FB then switch to Safari and back, my unposted comments are still there)

I was about to follow ST's very detailed process but decided to try all the easier fixes that were suggested first, and started with yours. I'm thinking there's no one guaranteed solution for everyone as it depends on what went wrong on each individual iPad during the iOS 8 upgrade. Just glad the short fix was in my path.

Feels good to have my iPad back!! Thx

*Note: bookmark all open Safari windows/tabs you want to save before clearing the history or browsing data

1. THe sad fact is that ios8 will not run smoothly on any device with a processor below an A7. There are major bugs in Safari that appear on all devices, such as pages reloading, but they are far less annoying on the faster processors as they recover quickly and very rarely totally freeze.
2. gen1 ipad minis with A5 processors and ios8 installed are still being sold so Apple have a duty to fix these problems but seem unwilling or incapable of doing the right thing.

I agree with Sengadog. Check to make sure whether you have iO 8.0.1 or 8.1 (which just became available today). I have an iPad 2, which had numerous problems with Safari, as well as other bugs. Now with iOS 8.1 installed, many of those bugs have been fixed. I'm still checking to see which if any of the previous bugs still remain.

Same problem here with two iPad mini's. One upgraded to 8.1 and the other restored from fresh. Laggy performance in Safari, failed page loads, delayed keyboard response, links don't open when clicked.

Apple router reset.

all very poor Apple.

les

Just to make it perfectly clear to Sengadog and Virtualgeo -

I can confirm that both momolorient and les are correct - Safari under iOS 8.0.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.2 AND 8.1 is cripplingly slow when compared to Safari under iOS 7.x

A side by side test comparison between two iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular illustrates it as self evident that there are a genuine issues here, along with delayed keyboard response and links that play dead!!

FYI - I'm wholly disinterested in being advised to "reset this, reset that, restore this, restore that" because none of that hocus-pocus works any better than crossing your fingers and spitting into the wind!

How can Apple take an application that worked just fine under iOS 7.x and "upgrade" it so that it's barely usable!

Any connected device that falters on the most crucial of functions is analogous to having the newest car on the block only to have it keep stalling every 10 yards (metres)!

Apple need to focus on getting the engine running properly and not on spurious functions like Continuity, iCloud Photo Library, Apple Pay etc. - which the majority of users never even bother with!

I was no fan, but Steve Jobs' legacy is just being p!$$3d up the wall!

I Just installed ios 8.1 on my ipad air. I previously had 8.02 which was terrible because the wifi kept dropping out. Ios7 was good with wifi but safari would crash occasionally for no reason. But safari on 8.1 seems awful. It's extremely slow and clunky. Sometimes pages don't load completely and very often links don't seem to work unless I reload the page. Almost unusable. I regret changing from ios7.

Had the same problem, did a "Clear History and Website Data" and it solved the problem on an iPad 2, iPad 4 and an iPod 5. Safari was unusable on all of them prior to the cleaning. Hope it work for you guys.

Following the update on my Ipad Air to 8.1 I did a reset, followed by a reset network settings. Ihave had no problems with safari or speed so far. I know this doesnt help people who having issues but should give some hope that it can work.

Just to be perfectly clear here -

Application of either "fixes" posited by both Jeff 12 and Sengadog DO NOT work For my iPad 3, nor any other combination of "reset this, reset that, restore this, restore that" - and suspect they don't for any of the aforementioned hardware.

Only by benchmarking 8.1 against 7.x are you able to imperically gauge the true lag of Safari under 8.1.

This is an ongoing problem that's being posted all over the web, and one that just wont go away with a few resets/ restores.

How difficult can it be for Apple to fix?

THis problem is terrible and unlike issues with ios 7, I cannot work with this one. If you have to fill out forms on the web, forget it. It's so incredibly slow and clunky that you'll have to give up. So if you need ipad for anything useful, you are SOL. Does anyone test ios anymore before it's released? I am honestly going to go to the Apple store to demand my money back.

Hello guys.

IPad 2 64 Gb here.

Again I thought "How worst this can get?" ... And Apple dident disappoint me. It can get worst.

Excuse my english im Argentinian.

I have extreme lag and slow tipping when serching in google. And i dont know if someone else get this but I experience the black screen with the apple logo for like hours, I thought that I was going to restore my Ipad with no previus back up.

I Jus want to go back ios 7, tha is all. Is it so difficult Apple? This divice just shouldn't be update.

Just comparing how iOS 8 performs next to iOS 7.2.1 on an iPad 3 makes totaly clear that there are huge issues with performance and memory management.

My iPad 3 with iOS 7.1.2 is totally responsive and smooth. With the release of iOS 7 performance was also horrible. But 7.1 finally fixed this. It seems that we are again on the same history, but now 8.1 still doesn't fixed this.

I was lucky enough to roll back from 8 to 7.1.2 wile Apple signed this, and my iPad works great. But it's a shame I can't upgrade to the new version without ruining my iPad and now with no option to go back. Any way 7.1.2 is the demonstration that an iPad 3 can run fast and smooth with this iOS. There's something very wrong on 8.1 that needs to be fixed fast, or many customers will get disapointed.