Q: Ipad really slow after update to iOS 9

RIght...

SInce updating to iOS 9, this first gen iPad Mini 1 was unusable for Safari. It was so slow and painful with everything it did. It would take 20 seconds to open a web page. Facebook also took an age to load.

I found that anything that retrieved information from the Internet ground to a halt so I came here and read through the 10 pages and went off to try the various solutions.

The latest iOS update came today to fix a few things so I started with that. Things were still slow so followed the advice of someone else further back the thread that stated to reset network connections. I had to put in my WiFi password again but combined with clearing all data from Safari (cookies & cache) has speeded up the iPad Mini 1 back to normal.

I do think the resetting of network connections is the key here. I noticed that often I got the little spinning icon next to the WiFi strength meter and now that's gone. Kudos to whoever suggested this as its fixed it for me. I'm not suggesting it will sort out everyone's problems but I'm now a happy guy again.

Even a factory reset didnt sort it so think it was the combo of new iOS, resetting network settings and clearing everything from Safari fixed it.

The thing is, the iPad worked great on apps that didn't require data online but even Chrome wasn't any better. Now websites load much quicker and finally I don't need to go and make a cup of coffee while a website loads.

This actually hhelps a little. It doesn't get to be fast again but it gets faster than almost dead which is after iOS 9

http://osxdaily.com/2015/09/18/slow-ios-9-speed-up-tips/

No, Apple does not read these forums, that’s not what they’re for. This old belief persists tear after year!

And no, the point is not to buy newer an newer iPads. How much free space have you got on yours? Look up the suggestions, per model.

These forums are community-supported. There are Apple Support pages … which I find only by googling & bookmarking. And plenty of advice on the better known Apple blogs.

I’ve always updated just fine on my iPad 2, including 9.3.2 - though for this one, seemed to me too much cruft on my pad, so did a real backup via iTunes to my computer, then an upgrade - no Restore. Install, but not much.

Back to App Store, see what they thinks needs updating, & go to Purchased, iPad.

BTW, with that “trick”, my free space literally doubled. And I haven’t all that much, this is only a 16GB. Not surprised, there are million logs, website data and such on the pad. I’ve got ecamm’s PhoneView, and wow.

The IPAD Mini GEN 1 only has 512MB of RAM and this is the core problem with this device on IOS 9. My son uses his just to play games and Netflix. It works well for these tasks but forget web browsing on it. This is where I see the most problems since there isn't enough RAM to open pages effectively making it drag on everything when you web browse. It would be nice if there was a virtual memory app for older devices to use your internal storage as a swap file. This would improve performance significantly on these older devices. Apple I feel uses planned obsolesce of their devices with every upgrade for older devices. Apple should be putting 2 to 3 gigs of ram in all of their devices so these problems don't arise to begin with. 512 MB of RAM is a joke even in 2012 when this device was released.

Not entirely true,

My 64 GB iPad 2 is running just fine on iOS 9.3.2, but I ditched Safari as a regular web browser loooong ago, as it ssemed to always have issues with some websites I regulatly visit. So, I use a third party web browser, instead, that has seemed to eliminate those issues.

Website content varies, I you dealing with websites that have a lot of ads or just have scads of content on their pages, any mobile web browser, and even some web browsers on regular computers, will struggle with the content.

Most of the websites I visit aren't too intense, plus I use web browsers that block pop-up ads and banners ads to keep website cruft to as much a minimum, as possible.

On an iPad 2, I can effectively browse with 3-4 website tabs open (sometimes 5 website tabs) before my web browser freezes and crashes.

May try a more robust web browser like Perfect Web Browser or iCab web browser. Just because all web browsers on iOS all use the same basic developement code, doesn't mean that all of work or function the same.

Plus, maybe there is something wrong with your iPad 2. Maybe ot has accumulated a lot of data cruft and maybe needs some system tweaks

Apple is not "out to obsolete any of their devices to get your money for a new iPad". Ridiculous!

And, BTW, the iPad 2 is a 4 year mobile device that has seen 5 generations of improvements since.

So, it is never going to run or function as well as a brand new, up to date iPad model.

It's the same with ANY older computing tool that uses a new OS. That OS is going to run a whole lot better on newer computing devices than on older ones.

This fact has never changed.

Have you look at this entire post and found my suggested fixes and suggested solutions to cure your iPad 2's ills?

Here's is my latest updates to my own possible iOS fixes, solutions and custom restore procedures.

Posting this here for the last time as I have not updated this list in quite awhile.

A disclaimer.

I make no guarantees, expressed or implied, that any of my own procedures will return EVERY older iPad to a usable, running condition.

Try all of the following:

Try resetting All Settings found in the Settings App under General and in the right column under Reset.

Try resetting histories and deleting/resetting caches in all of the web browsers you use.

If you use Safari, these functions maybe in the Settings App under Safari.

Other web browsers have their settings inside of the running app, itself.

If your iPad has been activated for iCloud, in the Settings App under iCloud, to the right, under iCloud Drive, tap iCloud Drive and make sure Safari is turned off for saving Safari data to iCloud Drive.

Also, under iCloud in the Settings App, in iCloud Drive, disable the saving feature for any other apps that you DO NOT want data being saved automatically to iCloud Drive.

OR turn off/disable iCloud and iCloud drive entirely if you do not use any iCloud functionality.

If using Safari is still causing issues,

Try changing/using another, different third party web browser.

I don't use iOS Safari too much any longer because I found it causing me some headaches on certain websites I, regularly, visit.

I commonly use another third party web browser, Perfect Web Browser (there are others that may suit your web browsing style better, so look at all of them first to see which third party browser may work better for you) and I never experience a lot of the issues that Safari was causing.

In Settings app, under the Safari settings panel, tap the panel and in the right hand window, turn off/disable Safari Suggestions.

In Settings App, under the General settings panel, tap the panel, in the right hand column, tap Spotlight, then turn off/disable Siri Suggestions.

In the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight search, try disabling the search under apps that really do not need a search, like some games, remotes, apps that really do not need to be searched, etc., to reduce the list for Spotlight to search.

In the Settings App under the General Tab, in the right column, look for Background App Refresh and turn this setting to "off".

Try turning on Reduced Motion.

This is found in the Settings App in the General tab the left panel.

In the right panel look under Accessibility, the look for Reduce Motion and turn this feature "On".

You should see an appreciable performance increase on all iPad 2, 3 and 4 models.

Make sure you do not have a lot of apps running in the background in the iOS App Switcher.

Dbl click the Home button to check this.

If you have a lot of apps still active, tap and hold a finger on one of the apps and slide your finger up to quit the app.

If you can reach another app with another finger, you can quit more than one app simultaneously.

If you have the iOS Mail app set to automatically fetch mail at one of the default fetch time intervals, in the Settings App, under the Mail, Contacts, Calendar settings panel, tap this panel, in the righthand window, turn off/disable Push Mail and set fetching mail for either every hour or set for manual fetch only for all of your mail accounts.

If you are willing to do this (I, personally, wouldn't recommend this), some users have reported that turning off Find My Phone/iPad, in Settings App under iCloud, has improved iOS performance, although I don't how this feature could be causing such a performance slowdown, unless its a bug in iOS  that is only affecting some iPad users.

Try another hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

Good Luck!

If not all of my suggested fixes or possible solutions have completely returned your iPad to acceptable, normal or improved performance,.

Here is my own modified backup/restore procedure that has already worked, successfully, for quite a fewl iPad older iPad users, so far!

I have done this and my iPad 2 and 3 are working like new, " out of the box" units!

THIS PROCEDURE DOES NOT RETURN YOUR iPAD TO ITS PREVIOUS iOS VERSION.

Also, as a disclaimer.

I make no guarantees, expressed or implied, that any of my own procedures will return EVERY older iPad to a usable, running condition.

First, connect your iPad to USB and sync and backup your iPad to iTunes (make sure,FIRST,  your iTunes is up to the most latest version).

Then disconnect/eject your iPad from the computer.

From just the iPad, in the Settings App under the General setting, look in the right column for Reset option, then erase and reset your iPad to completely erase your iPad and then, again, from the iPad, set it up as a new iPad setup to factory "out of the box" operation.

Then reconnect your iPad to the computer and make sure to cancel the syncing, by tapping the small X to the left in the top  center iTunes display box.

iTunes should detect your iPad. If iTunes begins to try and sync, again, cancel the sync.

Select Restore from Backup instead and pick your last backup to restore back to your iPad.

Once the restore is complete, finish setting up the iPad and let it sync back to iTunes you can either cancel the sync, again or let it backup, again.

Then disconnect the iPad.

Do one hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

Once your iPad is back to the Home screen,

In the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight sesrch, try disabling the search under apps that really do not need a search, like some games, remotes, apps that really do not need to be searched, etc., to reduce the list for Spotlight to search.

In Settings app, under the Safari settings panel, tap the panel and in the right hand window, turn off/disable Safari Suggestions.

In the Settings App under the General Tab, in the right column, look for Background App Refresh and turn this setting to "off".

Try turning on Reduced Motion.

This is found in the Settings App in the General tab the left panel.

In the right panel look under Accessibility, the look for Reduce Motion and turn this feature "On".

You should see an appreciable performance increase on all iPad 2, 3 and 4 models.

If you have the iOS Mail app set to automatically fetch mail at one of the default fetch time intervals, in the Settings App, under the Mail, Contacts, Calendar settings panel, tap this panel, in the righthand window, turn off/disable Push Mail and set fetching mail for either every hour or set for manual fetch only for all of your mail accounts.

If you purchased any music from iTunes, you will need to redownload that content back to your iPad for playing directly from your iPad and not from Apple Music servers.

Also, if your iPad contained a lot of images in the Photos app, these will take time to regenerate the original AND thumbnail images themselves inside of the Photos app when you first launch it.

Good Luck!

Yes I bought a first gen iPad mini as a cheap media device to watch Netflix and other content. But IOS 9 isn't the best for a older device and I totally agree the limited RAM and A5 CPU don't help. Generally I think this is typical for these devices.

My iPad 2 ( which is functionally equivalent to your iPad Mini)  runs and works fine on the latest iOS 9.3.2.

It's pretty snappy.

How much free space is left on your iPad Mini?

Maybe it's time for a backup and restore over the latest iTunes version on a computer.

Thank you! I agree With your post responding to the other.

The post has no proven numbers, statistics, or credentials to prove to me to be nothing more than a troll trying to rub salt into the eyes of already hurting people.

GO take a hike, troll!

I Wish everyone having problems the very best.

and I suggest we all write real written letter to Apple suggesting they have plenty of money to test older devices and give us warnings Before We upgrade.

we should also be able to revert to older iOS, even if we have to pay for it. Perfectly capable of Apple to provide us with and absolutely only the fair thing to do.

if we speak to Apole in our numbers, I'm sure it will make a difference. But here on the forum, just seems to be a place Apple hopes we all go to figure out our "own" problems that they happen to have caused by greed or laziness.

Same thing happens to me even when i try to type it goes really slow i am using a ipad mini to i wish i can downgrade to ios 8.4 but i cant since apple isnt signing it anymore i have ios 9

I found suggestions on this site which might be helpful.

https://www.igeeksblog.com/fix-ios-9-lag-and-slow-performance-issues/

What they are suggesting is reducing some animations, app background refresh, and ui transparency.

I have posted my list of very similar things to try multiple times in this thread!

You are not adding/contributing anything new here.

I have been posting all of this, now in a link, for many, MANY times since the very start of this thread post.

Slow iPad 2 on iOS 9

My apologies MichelPM. I seemed to have scrolled down and all I found were lengthy text which was very hard to follow. Being at work I only have a few minutes to fix certain issues.

I thought the advantage this link would give other users is to see actual screenshots and be able to follow the solutions in a couple minutes. I believe that alone adds something.