A number of iPhone 3G users have experienced a significant degradation in performance after the iOS 4.0 update. iPhone 3GS users generally report across-the-board performance improvements with the new update, but original iPhone 3G users have reported slow app launching, delayed reactions to taps, and generally poor interface responsiveness.
Fixes
Perform a “hard reset.” Hold down the sleep/wake and home buttons simultaneously for roughly 15-20 seconds, until the screen powers off then an Apple logo appears, which signifies a reboot. Some users have (oddly enough) reported that performing two hard resets resolves the slowness issue.
Restore, but not from backup. It appears that bad holdover data from iPhone backups can cause performance problems. Restoring as a new phone will delete contacts and other data, but may resolve this issue.
To do so, connect your iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, click “Restore” in iTunes, then choose “setup as new phone.”
Free up space. Make sure that your iPhone has at least 10% of its available memory free. OS X-based systems, such as iOS 4.0, may require some free space to operate properly.
Close open Safari windows. One iOS application that consumes memory in the background is Safari. Close all unused windows in the application by pressing the page switch button in the lower right portion of the screen then clicking the X at the top left of each page. See this page for screenshots.
Turn off Spotlight. Navigate to Settings -> General -> Home Button -> Spotlight Search and turn off all the options by tapping each one. Next, perform a hard reset by holding down the sleep/wake and home buttons simultaneously for roughly 15-20 seconds, until the screen powers off then an Apple logo appears, which signifies a reboot.
You can experiment with turning off only some options, but most users only report a meaningful speed boost if all options are turned off.
Turn off MMS. Navigate to Settings > Messages > MMS messaging and slide MMS Messaging to “Off,” then perform a hard reset as described above.
DFU Restore. A tedious process, but one that has yielded dramatic performance improvements for some users.
To perform a DFU restore, follow these steps:
1. Backup your phone and preserve data. Follow the steps in this Apple Knowledge Base article to transfer your purchases and backup your iPhone.
2. Put iPhone into DFU mode. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes (if it doesn’t open automatically). Hold down both the top (sleep/wake) and home buttons for exactly 10 seconds, then release the top (sleep/wake) button but keep holding the home button until iTunes displays a message stating that a phone in recovery mode has been discovered.
3. Restore. Press the restore button and allow the phone to complete the restoration data. After it is done, select setup as a new phone.
4. Restore your backup (optional). Next, you can restore the phone again in the normal fashion (not DFU mode) using the most recent backup rather than setting up as a new phone. However, this may cause the original problem to return in some cases. If the problem returns, follow steps 1-3 again and do not restore your backup.
Feedback? info@appletoolbox.com.
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July 13, 2010 at 3:27 PM
i am amazed to see apple turning into microsoft. this ios4 “upgrade” pissed me off so much (my phone became unusable, imagine vista running on pc with intel 8080) so i went to get an android phone (acer liquid) today. sadly, i returned it the same day – it was overheating 10 min after i started configuring it. do i have to go back to blackberry buttons??
July 13, 2010 at 5:45 PM
I have the same issue, apps are slow to load, slow response times, everything sucks since I upgraded my 3G to 4.0. Seems like Apple wants us 3G users to pay for upgraded phones.
I called Apple and they wont tell you how to restore back to the previous version.
July 13, 2010 at 7:55 PM
“Kai said at 1:41 AM on July 2nd, 2010:
I did this hard reset trick and yes, the phone went more responsive, but not as good as it was before the update. But of course, if the OS is offering more functionality in the background scene then it is not so strange the old 3G phone is getting slower, what do you expect people? Keep always in mind that a major update might use a little more resources than your hardware really have to give because it is too old. It is as with computers. Why should you expect Apple doing magic in this field? They are bound to the same laws as all other software/hardware manufacturers, a more advanced software need more from the hardware. Easy, right?”
Kai,
No, and it’s because Apple is NOT bound to the same laws as all other software/hardware manufacturers… The difference is they are the hardware AND the software manufacturer and therefore has NO excuse to have the same problems that the other desktop developers have. They have a proprietary testing bed and can design their software specifically for their chip sets which sets them apart in the ability to create a much more stable and usable environments on their devices.
What do we expect, you ask? Simple. If the overhead on the software is too much for the hardware to handle, DON’T RELEASE IT AS AN UPDATE. That is not asking too much, and if you think it is, you’ve been watching too much tv.
July 13, 2010 at 7:55 PM
I read some reviewer refer to the iPhone 4′s interface as “hot butter” well my iPhone 3G after the 4.0 update is more like cold peanut butter. Even though 3G users were given the crumbs of OS4 (no wallpaper, no rotate lock) I already had this functionality before the upgrade and it didn’t turn my photo into a laggy piece of shit. Apple has bigger problems on their hands than to care for customers with three generation old hardware. Jailbreaking is the best thing you can do for an iPhone.
July 13, 2010 at 8:36 PM
I have the same sloness problem on my 3G after installing iOS 4.0. I have tried all the tricks to no avail. My main issues are MMS (long delay at start-up); camera (delays and failure to store data); third party apps broken; can’t seem to reboot individual apps; and long delays in typing and tapping. Also, lost all my contacts during the 4.0 install. Apple, are you listening? You should at leas let us go back to OS 3.1.3.
July 13, 2010 at 11:43 PM
I had exactly the same problem but after turning off all the Spotlight Search buttons it’s back to normal. It would be nice of Apple to let you know though.
July 14, 2010 at 2:55 AM
I updated my iPhone 3G to the latest iOS4.0. Now my iPhone resembles a virus ridden 10 year old PC. It’s slow, non responsive and often crashes. As suggested by many bloggers and chat room users on internet to manually downgrade back to iOS3, I have no interest spending any time to fix my phone. I demand that Apple gets the update as soon as possible or make it possible to downgrade back to iOS 3. This is ridiculous. Apple is deliberately misleading consumers by suggesting to upgrade to iOS 4 thus infecting our phones with virus and forcing us to buy the latest iPhone 4.
I visited the store I bought my phone – they don’t give a shit. I visited the local Apple Service Centre, they pretend nothing is wrong with my phone and recommended “restore”. Everyone I know with iPhone 3 has the same problem, but Apple is in a state of denial. It’s like we have imaginary problem and we are just shit stirrers. Has anyone noticed any official response from Apple in regards to iPhone 3G pathetic performance after iOS4 update? This is not one off thing. Apple!!!! Get your act together.
July 14, 2010 at 8:09 PM
Apple dropped the ball.
So sad and frustrating.
Goes to show- we can’t count on technology.
My 3g is as slow as the rest of yours after the os upgrade.
I feel like smashing my apple computers & phone. I think I’ll move to the country and start a garden…. after I go buy another crappy phone from another crappy company (not apple).
okay, i’m being dramatic, but really- whay does apple feel like they have to put out new products every year? why can’t they put out some amazing/ quality products that will last a lifetime, then, every 5 years or so (or however long it takes) put out another amazing product that blows our minds and enhances the functionality of the former products instead of making them obsolete?
why?? why put out a mediocre product just to put out a product?
lame! F U Apple.
July 15, 2010 at 8:06 AM
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I have the iPhone 3G 8gig and after updating to os4.0, I experienced lag with just about every function. However, after performing 2 hard resets (as outlined above), my phone is back to normal as it was when it had os3.1. I also had 4 safari pages opened in the “background” which was using up valuable memory, so it’s best to close out of safari after viewing. I have tested several of my free apps, including purchased ones, and all seems to be smooth again. Texting, calling and emails are running normal again too. Hope this helps!
July 15, 2010 at 8:11 PM
Well, I just gotta put my 2 cents in on this Iphone 3g upgrade. I upgraded and was pissed off after I learned that my phone ran like a mouse was in side turning the inside system. Did two hard resets and its running better, but upset that Apple has not acknowledged the issue. The could have done something to warn us. They better stop messing around before DROID takes over!!!!!
July 16, 2010 at 5:51 AM
Just wanted to thank you apple for the new update…NOT. After downloading the new software for my 3G, I have experienced nothing but problems. It is SO slow and apps always shut down. After TWO times of restoring my phone to factory, I have seen no change. Nice try on making me want to spend a “discounted” $400 dollars on the new phone. I used to love your product, lately however, not so much.
July 16, 2010 at 5:53 AM
Apple is deliberately misleading consumers by suggesting to upgrade to iOS 4 thus infecting our phones with virus and forcing us to buy the latest iPhone 4.
JK you said it best…
July 16, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Hi ! my iphone 3G is dead slow in starting Applications after I upgraded to IOS4.0!. I shud have waited and read these blogs and comments. I also think Apple did this for us to upgrade to iphone 4.0 ! or else they shud have informed about slow performance in 3G on upgrade! HARD RESETS dont help much.
Is there any who could help me in backing up contacts from Iphone to PC? i want to try RESTORE.
Thank you !
July 16, 2010 at 1:07 PM
I have the same problem with my 3GS iPhone, the apps are extremely slow, and even without using my phone at all the battery will drain too quickly. If i listen to music for about 30 minutes, my battery goes down about 10% which in my opinion is a bit to dramatic. Anyone have any solutions?
July 16, 2010 at 2:26 PM
iOS4 update on iPhone 3G is pathetic. Just don’t do it if you are happy with your phone. Keep the 3G and wait for the next hardware update, sadly.
Apple has released it’s “vista” AND “bob” all at once. I am waiting for next year. It’s not worth it.
July 16, 2010 at 7:12 PM
Here’s what I did, which seemed to speed it up alot. 1.) turned off all spotlight searching 2.) deleted as many apps as I could that I didnt need anymore 3) Deleted/closed all open Safari pages 4.) turned off multimedia mms messaging 5.) performed 2 hard resets . It’s much more responsive when entering text, moving through screens, etc. So far so good.
July 17, 2010 at 3:38 PM
Same problem here. Very slow 3G after 4.0 ‘update’. Total crap from Apple; Personally I’ve still got 6 months on the 2 year contract. And there is now way the 3G hardware is “getting old” as suggested by one poster; so as to have performance slow downs.
Feels exactly like deliberate software tampering to prompt new phone purchases. Bullshit.
July 19, 2010 at 4:03 AM
I’m one of those iphone users who bought a 3g about 2 months out from 3gs. Yes, could have waited but I needed a phone and this looked good. Loved my 3g for the past year but then the OS4.0 release has slowed it down…embarrassingly so.
Since I’m on a 24 month contract it looks like I’m a sucker for the last 12. Sigh.
BTW, 3gs and 4.0 owners shouldn’t laugh. If this is how Apple are going to operate, wait a year and the same thing will probably happen to you.
July 21, 2010 at 2:13 PM
It’s a good thing that I have a work-issued BlackBerry. I’ve set my crippled iPhone 3G with the OS 4 update on “Unconditional Forwarding” to my other phone. I have not missed my iPhone in weeks. Sad but true…
July 22, 2010 at 7:03 AM
I think we have a WINNER!
I found a thread to fix slow os4 for 3g… It said to turn off MMS and restart. (that’s it)
I have opened and closed multiple apps since doing this and it’s been about a half hour of normal phone use, so far, (crossing fingers) no problems! I’ve gotten a notable increase in running speed. Go under: >settings>messages>mms messaging> (turn off) Reset phone. (I did two hard resets previous to this, so for me it was just a regular reset.
I have read so many posts and didn’t want to downgrade so finding this was a great relief. Please let everyone know if this works for you too…
July 23, 2010 at 12:11 AM
Solution for slow iPhone 3G with iOS 4
The performance of the 3G can be improved significantly by disabling most Spotlight-searches / indexing. To deactivate specific Spotlight indexing:
1. Settings -> General -> Home-Button -> Spotlight Search
2. deactivate almost all Spotlight searches (except e.g. Contacts)
Works perfect for me since a few days and my 3G is running as fast as before with iOS 3.x.
July 26, 2010 at 2:10 AM
Hoera, my 3G is fast again.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I have switched off spotlight search (Settings-General-Home Button-Spotlight search-switch off all you don’t use). And I performed a hard reset.
July 26, 2010 at 8:43 AM
This is the sort of destructive update crap that made me leave using Microsoft products for Apple ones altogether. What are Apple doing?? Did they not test the software on a 3g phone??? Come on Apple you can do better than this!!!!
July 26, 2010 at 10:50 AM
I don’t understand.
Apple owns the OS
Apple owns the apps
Apple ons the h/w specs
If Apple delivers POS all of you should NOT try to get it fixed but go to Apple store and say
“Hey, you! Your last update screwed my phone! Fix it for free and give me a replacement phone until you figure it out!”
Why do you spend your OWN time for the obvious flops of this company?!
Don’t you know that the ONLY resource that cannot be replenished is TIME? It is priceless! You spend part of your life instead of making fun things solving problems of a company that charged you a huge fee in the first place!
This is ridiculous!
July 26, 2010 at 12:25 PM
I have to agree with many of the posters here… It really feels that Apple is forcing people (or at least motivating them) to buy new hardware to support the software changes. The new features are not that intensive. I always get a kick out of how people say they don’t use Microsoft products due to stability issues (just look at Apples recent marketing campaigns). Having used extensively OS X, Windows 7, and iPhone OS 4…. Apple has fallen way behind the curve. Google and Microsoft are going to eat them alive if they don’t shape up.
Oh.. and has anyone else noticed since the 4.0.1 iPhone update that your signal strength is lower EVERYWHERE? Wonder if that was done on purpose. My house used to have full bars all the time, now it never gets above 2. Talk about misrepresentation. I hope Apple and AT&T get the asses sued off in this class action lawsuit.
July 27, 2010 at 4:54 AM
Slow performance, battery draining prematurely. Upgrade, Restore, Setup as new phone, Hard Resets, disable this, disable that etc etc etc
This is all beginning to sound like the plot of a very bad movie. These problems with Iphone have been recurring time and time again now for several years. No soon as you have wasted weeks sorting them out, along comes another Firmware update and you are back to square one again with the same problems.
There are some fundamental design issues with the Iphone and its Upgrade/Restore process and its about time that Apple finally addressed this once and for all.
It should not be Rocket Science for a user to connect his Iphone to his or her computer, start Itunes, be prompted that there is a new Firmware Version, follow the steps and not end up with these bloody issues everytime.
For christ sakes Apple… sort this bloody thing out once and for all.
I love the concept of the Iphone, but the last 2 years of owning a 3G has been one recurring problem after the other and makes the product next to useless for day to day real time usage.
As it currently stands, after trying all the suggestions, I have a 3G that is as slow as a wet weekend and I am lucky if I get 12 hours battery life out of it.
July 27, 2010 at 6:49 AM
My iphone 3g was so slow. I did the safari close down thing and its back to normal. so simple but worked!!! Try it now
July 27, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Everything was slow for me on IOS4 on my 3G. GPS was pretty much non functional. My kids even said the phone was too slow. So, I “downgraged” my 3G iphone to 3.1.3 last night. I had to restore to the last back up prior to IOS4.0 upgrade. I did loose a few text messages because it had been a month since I upgraded the software. It is well worth the “downgrade” I followed the directions on lifehacker website.
July 27, 2010 at 3:47 PM
I have performed 2 hard resets and much better, also made sure I have at least 1gb free.
July 28, 2010 at 11:59 AM
I got a 3GS and it got slower too. Not as bad but it did! I think iPhone users should sue Apple!
July 31, 2010 at 2:35 PM
Long story short…I too had the issue of a very slow 3G after updating to iOS4 & I went back to the last version of iOS3 using the DFU Restore method listed above…worked great but I really wanted iOS4. Decided to do a DFU Restore to iOS4 and I’m happy with the results. I read a post above stating that Apple shouldn’t have made the newest iOS available for the 3G but lets look at it this way people…iOS4 on a 3G is like installing Windows Vista on a PC designed for Windows 98…it may work but it’s not gonna be as zippy as a brand new PC.
July 31, 2010 at 4:06 PM
yes I upgraded too and yes my phone is also brain jarringly slow. it seems to me its got slower everytime theres a major update since the days of 2.X. apple you have really disappointed me, i wont be buying another iphone what with the signal issues with the 4.
August 1, 2010 at 11:17 AM
I had horrible performance issues with my 3G after upgrading to 4.0 and then to 4.0.1. I found a tip which worked wonders for me:
1. Turn off Spotlight Search: Go to Settings | General | Home Button | Spotlight Search, and uncheck everything
2. Reboot your iPhone 3G: Just a normal power down and restart
3. Turn Spotlight Search back on: Go back to same screen as step 1, and re-check everything you unchecked in Step 1
You can more read about it on my blog:
http://www.davekawalec.com/2010/07/3-steps-to-fix-iphone-3g-slowness-after-ios4-upgrade/
August 3, 2010 at 3:16 AM
I did the Reboot twice and closed all the spotlight options and now it’s much faster, happy now
August 3, 2010 at 10:49 AM
I have had enough. I was was with Cingular and was pissed when it switched to AT&T but gave them a chance started getting used to them and right after renewing with a new phone started having problems. iPhone has had issues all along and just when they get the bugs worked out I forget and move on then crap like this happens. No more times up soon and I think it is time for a new phone with Verizon…. Droid…….X
August 4, 2010 at 7:06 AM
I have experienced the exact same problem.
I have a 3G iPhone that I upgraded when iOS 4.0 came out.
Text messaging, Maps, Safari, even the Phone application are all basically unusably slow now. It takes 8 seconds to launch the text message app. The lag when I type is so bad that its unbearable. I clean installed the system with no apps, no music, nothing and it was still unusable. When I went to the apple store they helped me clean install everything, and after it didn’t work they basically said this was a common issue and there wasn’t anything I could do except upgrade or go online and figure out how to downgrade the software. But apple doesn’t officially support the downgrade so I’m on my own with that. So just to be clear – the phone broke because of an official software upgrade and the solution is I have to buy a new phone.
What I keep hearing is the iPhone 4 is blazing fast and works great. Up until now I’ve been a big supporter of Apple but this is just too far. No way am I going to spend my money to fix a problem apple created. Not sure if it was intentional or not – but by screwing my phone up Apple isn’t driving me to upgrade to the iPhone 4 – they’ve pushed me to get an Evo. To wait out the next 4 months of my contract and them move over to Sprint. I’ve been with Cingular/At&t for 8 years. Good bye iPhone and getting over charged and hello Sprint Evo on a 4G network with the 69.99 simply everything plan.
http://forums.wireless.att.com/t5/Apple/Slow-after-update/m-p/1990872
August 4, 2010 at 11:17 AM
the reboot worked for me…
August 4, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Turning off Spotlight and MMS really helped… my iphone has not been this fast in ages
August 11, 2010 at 12:50 PM
UNUSABLY slow after 4.0. Its ridiculous. I want to crush it under my cars wheels! I hear clicking when typing and the letters dont show up for a minute…all applications crash…keys get stuck…minutes go by after clicking a button…blank screens for minutes…I can’t have a phone that doesn’t work.
If this is apple’s way of getting people to upgrade to another phone, forget it! My phone worked just fine under 3.0, THEY f***ked it up with 4.0. THEY need to fix it. Or I’ll get a phone that works, like an android.
August 11, 2010 at 5:22 PM
its like they are forcing you to get rid of your 3g and upgrade it to a new phone
August 14, 2010 at 8:46 AM
I learned how to fix my slow 3g. I went and bought the iPhone4.
August 16, 2010 at 7:18 PM
This was Apple’s way of having everyone buy the iPhone4 and put more money in their own pocket!! Well, I for one am not, I will NEVER own another Apple product! They are nothing but crooks and care nothing about their customers!! I’m going to Verizon and getting a Droid!!! Screw you Apple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 16, 2010 at 9:18 PM
The majority of 3G and 3Gs owners don’t realize that you now have to double tap the home button and shut down most apps manually.
If you’re rig is slow manually close down all apps and it’ll bring you’re performance back to normal (as long as you have at least 10% of your space free).
August 17, 2010 at 3:40 PM
people saying apple doesn’t care and they are some evil corporation, do your research and go back to your windows machine that gets slower and slower everyday, talk about a HORRIBLE company then you should be talking about microsoft. Vista was a JOKE, windows 7 should be called VistaFixed… Win7 is better, but once again it is a polished version of OSX. Tell me why companies who are still enslaved with Windows still use XP??? That is because Microsoft doesnt care before they release software… and I work at a huge drug company, and can confess the IT people are terrified to roll out ANYTHING new by Microsoft… so lets be fair here. BTW I have had every model of iPhone since they came out, and they ALWAYS fix the issues… if you are comfortable with the previous OS, then downgrade.
August 17, 2010 at 5:55 PM
It’s kind of nice to know I’m in good company (i.e. it’s the OS and not a virus). Combined effect of shutting down Safari windows, turning off MMS and turning off Spotlight (with multiple hard resets) seems to have restored the 3G to its formerly perky self. I suspect, however, that it is feeling its age. After all, it is about 77 in cool gadget years. I get the message, Mr. Jobs. Time to get the iPhone 4.
August 19, 2010 at 3:05 PM
people who don’t know why they can’t get the homescreen working, and the multitasking: these features arent supposed to work on the iphone 3g. they only work if you have your device jailbroken. even then, it will decrease your speed. I installed something that disabled the multitasking (which is seriously useless), and kept the homescreen. works pretty good, it’s slow, but my device was slow to begin with, it was used by a reckless douchebag previously.
hope this helps!
August 19, 2010 at 6:30 PM
After upgrading to 4 my phone substantially slowed down. Turning off Bluetooth (when not needed) performance returned to normal.
August 21, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Did the two resets and it did the trick – night and day difference! Thank you!
August 21, 2010 at 10:16 AM
To Derrick – I’ve used Vista for years and love it – never had a problem. Not a one. Also I refused to buy virus protection because I’m convinced the security companies invent the viruses so we have to buy virus-protection. Guess what? With my Vista OS I’ve never had a virus. Not a one. Most of us can’t just “hang in there” till apple fixes our phones. I’ve already had to purchase a new phone because of the 3G myth, (says I have a full signal but can’t make a call,) and AT&T complete crap service. It’s really stupid on Apple’s part to slow down my phone thinking I’ll drop a few hunny on an iPhone4. They’ve got too much competition out there – not all of us blindly buy products because there is a piece of fruit on it.
August 21, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Hey all, I’ve been thinking about upgrading the FW on my iphone 3G but havent as of yet. Its currently running FW 2.2.1 and is jailbroken. I feel like an upgrade is neccessary, but not sure which version to upgrade to after reading this thread… any suggestions?