Q: How is iPad 2 performance using iOS 9.1?

Do you recommend doing a hard reset of the iPad?

In other words back up all the data, etc, erase the existing iOS and then restore from the back up, installing a new copy of the iOS along with the data?

Have you tried All of these possible fixes?

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.

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 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".

Try a 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.

If these are all a fail for you, do a backup of your iPad connected up to a computer and sync'd and backed up over iTunes.

Make sure your iTunes version is up to date.

Once you have made that iTunes backup, disconnect your iPad from the computer.

From the iPad, in the Settings App under General, in the right column, look for Reset and do a complete Reset and Erase to restore the iPad to like new start.

When going through the setup procedure, initially, setup your iPad as new. NOT A RESTORE FROM ITUNES! Do not do that, yet.

Once, the iPad has gone through the entire setup as new process and you have arrived at the home screen, NOW is the time to connect your iPad 2 via USB to your computer and have it connect with iTunes.

iTunes SHOULD now return a message asking if you want to Restore from Backup. Click Yes or OK and let iTunes proceed with restoring your last iPad 2 backup.

During this, your iPad 2 should have text on the screen saying Restore in Progress. Once this is done and iTunes resyncs the iPad, eject the iPad from iTunes and disconnect the USB cable.

Your iPad is Restored.

Check it out to see how it is performing.

Good Luck!

Thanks !

I believe that I have implemented most of these suggested changes but I will review each suggestion,  and report back to the group asap.

Best regards

Just reporting in.

implemented most the suggested changes and I can report the patient is stable ( still prone to freezing but not so often ) looking better but not completely cured

the remainimg issue is iCloud vs iCloudDrive - when I moved from iOS 7 to iOS 9 I was forced to move to iCloudDrive which means I must upgrade my Mac mini too. Not sure Apple did this

I am trying the last resort procedure of yours.  I will let you know how it goes.

Regards

Yes. it is really slow I also agree that the people who tell you it is fast and smooth probably do not even own an iPad 2 or iPhone 4S for that matter.

Michel.  I did all of the procedure, and it has changed somewhat but not for the better.  Before, most Safari crashes seemed to be connected to using the back arrow while browsing.  Now I can just be sitting there reading a page and Safari just quits at times and goes back to the iPad home page.  I am going to try and get some time on the other browsers.

Regards

Since I updgraded to iOS 9, my iPad 2 has been sluggish - apps crashing -and worst of all, keeps downloading the same 10,000, yes 10,000 old e-mails that were deleted months and years ago - I can click 'delete all' and they delete, but reappear the next time I open the mail app.  I deleted the mail account (which is a pop account that had worked fine for several years) and created a new one and the 10,000 e-mails came back again!!  HELP

I own two iPad 2 models, an iPad 3 and my mother has an iPad 2 and a close friend owns an iPad 4.

As I stated, all of the iPad 2s that I upgraded to iOS 9 went well, but the iPad 2 IS older and underpowered and only has 512 MBs of RAM.

So, I have discovered that our iPad 2 performance was much better when I turned off any background activity and reduced all of the iOS motion graphics.

Plus, I have since discovered that a complete restore has made my two iPad 2 models A LOT more snappy and they perform almost like brand new "out of the box"!

I do not know what commonality of things that this growing minority of iPad 2 users, reporting in here, is causing all of these severe and pervasive issues with their iPad 2s.

I, personally, am not experiencing such issues.

AND I am sure I am not some sort of isolated or fluke case.

The few improvements that older iPads get out of iOS 9. do not appear to be ANYTHING that would tax any older iPad models or cause performance issues.

Have you tried any of my previous suggestions that I posted for other iPad 2 users to try?

After the complete restore, have you tried one more hard reset of your iPad 2?

Also, even with the complete restore you will still need to turn on Reduced Motion and turn off Background App refresh and if you setup iCloud, you still need to check the iCloud Drive settings to make sure iCloud  Drive isn't automatically saving Safari data to Apple's servers.

The restore is supposed to, basically, cleanse your iPad 2 of any type of data detritus that may have been causing the severe performance issues.

There are still resource items that still affect iPad 2 performance, in general, with iOS 9. So, there are some things in my suggestions list that still need to be done.

Good Luck!

Have you tried ALL of my suggested procedures that I have posted for other iPad 2 users to try?

I don't have any solutions for your email issues other than if that account has an IMAP option instead of POP, that may help with ypur email issues.

Good Luck!

I'm afraid not, I'm not sure why people don't post on here, maybe they're fed up with constantly looking for an answer. Since the ios9 update I have had more iPad 2 users coming to me for and answer and I cannot help them, even with complete resets, reinstalls, you name it, we've done it.

Every iPad 2 user that I have spoken to is having the same issue with ios9. In actual fact, it have never really performed correctly since ios7.

It might be time to confront Apple about this and question its motives for making older iPads obsolete?

As stated above DO NOT UPDATE!!

I can only agree with people warning to upgrade to ios9 on ipad2/mini. Since i bought my ipad mini 1st gen i was on ios 7.1 and always happy with the performance. I was aware of the weak hardware but for light web browsing, looking at pdfs and using my favourite language learning app it was **** fine.

I always heard about apple's ios updates slowing down old devices so i resisted to upgrade.

In my ignorance and the fact that my favourite app wants to end support for ios7 I updated my ipad mini a couple of days ago. Right after the update I noticed everything was slower than before. I always justified the purchase of the pricy ipad mini (considering its hardware) with its overall smoothness. But that is all gone.

What especially bothers me is that even the keyboard lags. In safari sometimes it takes serveral seconds to pop up. Zooming and scrolling is also noticeably slower. Especially zooming in pdfs is much slower, no matter which app I use. Overall, now it feels like using an old android tablet.

The worst is I cannot see any benefit from ios9 compared to ios7 that can justify the loss of performance. Why couldn't they just update safari for safety reasons and be done? Of course i know why.....

Right now I am looking for a used ipad mini 2 with ios 7 or maybe the soon to be revealed mi pad 2 to replace my poor mini 1. I will never buy a new product from apple again. That may sound overly dramatic but it is the only power I have as a consumer.

Darren,

I just recently swapped iPads with my wife as I recently purchased a new iPad Pro, but still want to use and travel with our older iPads.

So, I have her iPad 2, now, and she has my iPad 3.

I backed up both iPads to each of our iMacs.

I did two complete restores, but I did the restores a liittle differently.

I restored both our iPads to like new, out of the box condition, first.

I did this to get both iPads to a completely clean and factory default condition with the confidence of no data detritus on either of my iPads.

Then, I connected each iPad up to our iMacs and restored each iTunes backup.

I still had to turn of background app refresh and turn on reduced motion, but I can report that both iPads are running even snappier than before.

I thought they were running fine before the complete erase and restore, but now, they are running like brand new iPads out of the box!

I can't believe the performance difference.

Maybe, before older iPad users attempt an iOS upgrade from iTunes, they should backup to iTunes, disconnected the iPad and do a complete reset and erase and setup their older iPads as new, first, upgrade the OS, then do a restore from backup.