ios 9 has turned ipad 2 very very slow

I have the same problem, but I found that the Facebook app is the main culprit for me. I removed the app and it is much better. Yes, the browser still crashes a lot, but the 3-4 second delays when tapping icons, etc are mostly gone. It still could be a lot faster in my opinion, but I can now actually use the iPad, whereas before it was a paper weight.

Try to reset your device. This won't delete your data stored on this device.

• Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button
• Press and hold on the Home button
• Keep holding both buttons until the display turns off and back on with Apple logo on it.

Alternatively, you may go to Settings - General - Reset - Reset All Settings

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201559

If this does not help, restore your device to factory settings. Note that this will erase the data from your device.

Take a look this Apple Support article: Use iTunes to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support.

Have you updated your iPad 2 to iOS 9.1 yet? If not, then I would recommended updating your iPad 2 to iOS 9.1.

If you update your iPad 2 to iOS 9.1 and your iPad 2 is still having issues.

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.

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.

Try a 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!

I ran across an article that provided a couple of tips that fixed my performance issues. Now my IPad 2 is actually pretty fast now.

Article is located here: http://neurogadget.com/2015/09/22/ios-9-fix-slow-performance-and-lag-on-iphone-o r-ipad/15970

Basically the 4 things I did that fixed the problem were:

1) Reduce Transparency - Settings->General->Accessibility->Increase Contrast

2) Background App Refresh - Settings->General->Background App Refresh and disable it.

3) Reducing Motion - Settings->General->Accessibility->Reduce Motion

4) Disable Siri Suggestion - Settings->General->Spotlight Search and turn off this option

Once you make the changes noted above, you will notice that the device will react faster than before. However, you will see that most of the effects will not exist anymore, but it's certainly better to have a faster device rather than some awesome effects that slow it down.

Hoping this helps.

UH...my guess is you didn't read through this post AND/OR you do not pay attention much.

I have been posting thi s EXACT same troubleshooting advice, plus additional advice you didn't find, RIGHT ABOVE YOUR POST!

PLus, iPad 2 owners don't have the Siri functionality, so the last advice about Siri suggestions won't apply and older iPad models, for some unexplainable reason, do not get the Siri suggestions functionality.

😉

Dude, lighten up. I read your post it is not the EXACT same advice; the only thing you noted that was the same is the commentary in regard to "Reducing Motion". I tried "resetting" in all of the variations that you noted and that did NOT help me. Anyway, I was basically noting what fixed my problem and sharing with everyone. Sorry I offended you...

...

There was no offense.

My list of suggestions does contain what you posted, but my postng above wasn't the complete list as I edit items based on what the iPad user is using for model of iPad.

The original poster uses an iPad 2.

Here's my own list of troubleshooting advice that I have accumulated so far.

I update this troubleshooting list fairly regularly.

This should tally with yours.

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 l 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.

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 lookk 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 the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight search, try disabling the search for individual 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.

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.

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

Try a reset of your iPad by holdings 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!

I realize that the article I posted from was not specifically related to the iPad 2, however I have an iPad 2 and it was the only thing that I ran across that helped. You are correct and maybe I should have not posted the item in regard to Siri, however I just quoted the steps that were noted in the article. My bad. Hopefully the info helps others as much as it helped me, as I was at wits end and about to relinquish the device to pasture with all my other obsolete tech toys.

In regard to your list, thanks for the info. It is very thorough and certainly something I will go to should I run into any issues in the future, which I am sure I will.

I had used the same suggestions as this article and I didn't get much improvement until I went to General > Spotlight Search >> and untoggled all the apps listed there. When I got about half way done I noticed an improved response. Its still technically slow, but at least more manageable. Apple should be more respectful of older hardware, at least have versions over newer IOS that doesn't include the 'bloat' that comes with the newer iOS version and hardware My old iPad 2 does not have siri capability, or the faster hardware. Apple could make the IOS aware its on older products and adjust itself accordingly. IOS 6 and 7 were acceptable, but I can't really stay with those either. I realize its easier said than done, but my old ipad2 used to zip really fast and with each successive update its getting slower and slower. Soon my perfectly good hardware on my iPad will be useless if it gets any worse.

If, IF you tried every single suggestion in my list, but still your iPad 2 isn't as responsive as you would like it to be.

I have something new you should try as this has made my iPad 2 and 3 even faster.

Here is my own restore procedure that has already worked, sucessfully, for a couple of iPad 2 users, so far!

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

First, connect your iPad to USB and sync and backup your iPad to iTunes (make sure your iTunes is up to date).

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.

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.

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

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!

Hi, it's almost six month after your post here but I'm interested: did you find that disabling all the apps in Spotlight Search helped speed up your iPad generally, or just for the Spotlight Search itself?

I Have the same problem. Apple is not offering any help. The solution would be to allow downgrade of iOS or providing a modified iOS 9 for iPad 2 to resolve the problem.

After updating to iOS 9 which was advertised as recommended for compatible devices and included improved performance, my iPad 2 has become practically not functional. I feel robbed out of a perfectly working device.

Called apple multiple time and went to Apple Store. Finally someone decided to issue a free replacement with another iPad 2 despite me pointing out its not a hardware issue. Guess what the replacement is just as bad as my original one.

a Tech in store was telling me we should all expect that devices get slower with every update. A point that I protested and the store manager disagreed. But that's been the attitude.

Apple is basically blaming it on the devices age.

the customer service over the phone was implying that software issues are not covered and Apple engineers wouldn't issue an update if it was not compatible with the device.

this solution would be useful for a first time apple device user. Not at all useful.