iOS 9 Keyboard/messages locking/lagging...only hard reboot as option

Question

iOS 9 Keyboard/messages locking/lagging...only hard reboot as option

Has anyone experienced this? It seems to be related to the keyboard or the messages app, I can't tell which. Basically it starts with lag. But then it completely locks up the keyboard. So if I click in anything that requires a textbox (Facebook status update, text message app, Google Chrome address bar, etc), the keyboard is unresponsive. In other words, you can't click anything at all.

Eventually if you do this in the message app, it crashes the app. Opening it back up doesn't fix it.

Only a hard reboot fixes it, and even then, sometimes it takes me 2-3 times before it's fixed. I don't know what it is, but it's royally ticking me off. Aside from a complete wipe of the phone and start from scratch, I have tried just about everything, like restoring, deleting all text threads, uninstalling anything but the english keyboard, force closing the message app, etc.

Anyone have any idea why this is happening? It's almost impossible to troubleshoot, because I can't get it to replicate. So I can't do X and then know immediately if it's solved the problem or not.

Posted on Sep 26, 2015 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

May 7, 2017 6:24 PM in response to Matthew110607

Bumping a pretty old thread here, but for anyone who is still dealing with this issue: resetting iOS settings (Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings) seems to have resolved it for me after a few weeks of dealing with this problem and no help from a Genius Bar visit. It's a bit annoying having to re-enter some Settings, but not nearly as bad as using Erase All Content and Settings, which completely wipes all data and factory resets your device - and feels great to be able to type along with no freezing/lag.

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Answer 2

sterling r

Community Specialist

Sep 27, 2015 11:29 AM in response to Matthew110607

Hello Matthew110607,

It sounds like your keyboard is not behaving consistently and seems to be becoming unresponsive. When you performed the restore if you did not restore the iOS software and just reinstalled a backup, I would restore it as new, then restore your backup to get your phone back to where it is now:

Use iTunes to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings

If that doesn't work then I would next have to suggest restoring as new without restoring from a backup and testing the issue to see if it recurs or not. You've done some great troubleshooting already so these are the next best steps to take.

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 3

Sep 27, 2015 11:33 AM in response to sterling r

Yes, that's what I did. I have the 6+.

I restored the phone to factory new settings THEN I restored from a backup. I'm hoping that fixes it. It's been about 18 hours since and no issues - however, it's hard to replicate, so it could come back at any time. I'll let you know.

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Answer 4

sterling r

Community Specialist

Sep 28, 2015 7:47 AM in response to Matthew110607

I can understand that, intermittent issues are the hardest to troubleshoot. I hope it continues to work as it should for you!

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Answer 5

Sep 28, 2015 9:59 AM in response to sterling r

WWell it's not fixed. After the reboot

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Answer 6

sterling r

Community Specialist

Sep 28, 2015 1:38 PM in response to Matthew110607

I'm sorry to hear that restoring it as new, then from a backup didn't resolve it of you. Next I would have to recommend restoring it to factory defaults with the article one more time, but NOT restoring the backup as that is the last troubleshooting step to be done in this situation:

Use iTunes to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings

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Answer 7

Sep 28, 2015 1:44 PM in response to sterling r

I Will never ever do that nor should I have to.

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Answer 8

Sep 28, 2015 1:46 PM in response to Matthew110607

I Would consider switching to android before I torpedo my entire phone

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Answer 9

Oct 9, 2015 4:06 PM in response to Matthew110607

I'm having the same problem. The keyboard just freezes and becomes ULTRA LAGGY!! If a keep typing even after it stops working and wait a little bit, after a few LONG seconds, everything i wrote and wasn't appearing starts estou appear by it self. It is VERY frustrating. I contacted apple's support and they told me to restore from scratch, but that didn't work. After that they told me to do the same thing, but in a different computer and different network. Honestly, i don't see how this would solve this problem...They also told me that it could be a firmware problem...It all started after IOS 9.0.2. I'm VERY FRUSTRATED with this problem!!!

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Answer 10

Oct 10, 2015 1:09 AM in response to Bob_Lelys

OOne thing that I think has worked for me is up the phone and then editing the backup and deleting every file from the keyboard folder. I used this same workaround to fix the shortcuts that kept reappearing. It's not completely solved, I think iOS 9 ***** balls, but it doesn't happen as often.

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Answer 11

Oct 11, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Matthew110607

Hey there,

i had the exact same thing. Keyboard just locking up etc. Tried the restore of the Phone and such like and that did nothing to help at all. I did find something that worked for me. I installed another keyboard. It was swiftkey that I chose and trying it no stalls at all. Buttery smooth! Interesting fact though is I have switched back to the default keyboard and its fine now. Somehow installing another keyboard has kicked it into life. It's worth a try.

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