iPhone 4s Users May Want to Avoid iOS 8 Due to Performance and Screen Size Issues

69Mustang said:

I'm always amused by these type of posts. A mere hint of something wrong with Apple products or services brings out the "but the other guy" excuses.

I'm pretty sure the 4S owners really appreciate the PSA on Android. It's a good thing they can console themselves in the tribulations of Android users. Cuz I know the only thing that could make me feel better about my own possible misery is knowing someone else using an entirely different product may be affected as well.

I bolded possible because YMMV with this install. Some will see unacceptable degradation, some will see acceptable performance drop, and others be fine. Either way, is pointing out issues of an entirely unrelated OS is really helpful for a 4S owner?

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Um... maybe I didn't word it right but I was saying I'm glad Apple still supports older devices like the 4S. A friend of mine is still using the 4 though so he's SOL for the iOS 8 update sadly. I've owned many Android devices before and I always wished all other manufacturers/carriers would be able to push out and support the latest firmware as frequent and long-term as possible.

Pointing out Android fragmentation in an iOS 8 article isn't entirely unrelated... remember WWDC? Apple never fails to mention it every year.

iPad 3rd Gen on iOS 8

Has anyone upgraded to iOS 8 on an iPad 3rd Gen yet?

After iOS 7 making my iPhone 4 completely horrendous last year, I don't want to make the same mistake, so I'm going to wait for some reviews on how it performs on an iPad 3rd Gen.

However, if iOS 8 is compatible with an iPad 2, then surely it should be fine on a 3rd Gen?

I'd be really happy if anyone with an iPad 3rd Gen could tell me if it's worth it or not

iphone 4s and ios 8

lunarworks said:

Meh. Works fine for me.

A bit slower, but I can deal with it.

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Hi there

I am interested to hear if you are still happy?

Kind regards

Dave

It works perfectly fine on my 4S. No problems whatsoever.

The only thing that I had kept an eye on was battery usage, as I had the impression at first that the battery meter went down a bit more quickly, but at least in standby, it was not a problem. Charged the phone to 100% yesterday evening. Down to 98% this morning.

mondaz said:

Hi there

I am interested to hear if you are still happy?

Kind regards

Dave

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MentalFloss said:

It works perfectly fine on my 4S. No problems whatsoever.

The only thing that I had kept an eye on was battery usage, as I had the impression at first that the battery meter went down a bit more quickly, but at least in standby, it was not a problem. Charged the phone to 100% yesterday evening. Down to 98% this morning.

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Thanks very much

I plan to buy a 4S soon. Will iOS 8 be taking up space in my auto downloads even if i don't want to install it?

After reading a few of the people on here who have actually used the device with iOS 8 it appears macrumors has duped us with a sensationalist clickbait article. Figures.

This article came to the conclusion that the other phones didn't get bigger. In fact, the it's the iPhone 4S that got slightly smaller.

I mean, including such a HUGE keyboard and FIVE GIANT rows of app icons in the 4S. Apple, what were you thinking???

mw360 said:

The thing is, most ordinary people (non-technies) would be perfectly happy to keep an iPhone for years, oblivious to the new features. Apple don't want to give those people that choice. They force the update which they know perfectly well hobbles the device so it suddenly runs like crap.

It works perfectly. My wife swears at her iPhone 4 every single day since she conceded to allow the update to 7. She blames the old phone and eyes the new ones with envy, not considering that it's Apple who made it run that slow, deliberately.

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What do you suggest, they not gives phones OS updates? If you're implying they slow the OS down on purpose for old devices then please take the tinfoil hat off.

QCassidy352 said:

Except they don't force anything. My ipad 2 is on iOS 6 and shall remain there as long as I have it. Just because there's an upgrade option doesn't mean you have to blindly click it.

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So your iPad doesn't validate security certificates and you're 'blindly' leaving it that way? The fix for the serious goto fail bug was developed and tested for iOS6 but Apple deliberately withheld it from any device capable of upgrading to iOS7 in order to _____ users to upgrade.

What word fits in the gap there? Something meaning 'to give no reasonable option'?

I've been using iOS8 since the 1st beta and its been fine. Obvious beta issues but now with teh GM the phone runs really well.

I honestly don't understand where all this negativity has come from??

Yeah, it's very slow for me. I'm going to downgrade back to iOS 7 if I can. I don't mind the worse performance in general, but the delay loading up the Call app and even just the delay from pressing a name to the phone calling them is really bad.

mrgraff said:

Wow. I had no idea that my 4S was so worthless.

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It's not. Read the thread and disregard the BS article.

Does anyone know if you can fresh install iOS versions? And if it even makes a difference?

I am actually wondering if this Macrumors articles was written by an iPhone newbie.

MacRumors said:

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]
To maintain compatibility with the device, Apple has removed some features from iOS 8, including AirDrop and Handoff for apps.

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Actually AirDrop was already removed from iOS 7 for the 4s.

iOS 8 on the iPhone 4s also drops underlying support for OpenGL ES 3.0, the Metal graphics API, and 64-bit ARMv8 apps. As a result, overall app performance is slower and animations often are choppy.

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Yes, I guess apps which use Metal will be slowed on the 4S or will not work at all. But I am not noticing any problems for already existing apps.

Apps appear cramped, and those such as Mail that require text input provide very little space to compose a message.

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Why that? Newsflash: The text predictions can be removed by swiping down.

4S had noticeably slowed down when I upgraded to iOS 7. Upgrading to iOS 8 has brought back some performance for me. The phone definitely feels better than when it was on iOS 7.

I come from iPhone 5, and my father uses the 4S. Whenever I use his phone for updating his apps and such, I always smile at the way that phone has held, and iOS 8 does it. It can take one more year. Don't know if iOS 9 will support it, or the hardware will be able to take it. But as far as iOS 8 goes, it's a hell lot better than 7 for me on the 4S. I do not need airdrop or wifi ac/ 5GHz anyway. We use wifi only to get internet connectivity for all our devices through a single WAN connection that comes from the provider.

2011 to 2014, and since iOS 8, till 2015 also, is pretty good. Pretty good. iPhone 5 seems to have gone obsolete faster than 4S.

I'm an iOS developer and have also been using a 4S on iOS8 beta as my daily phone since beta 1.

The first 2 or 3 betas were (typically) very low performance. However by around beta 3 or 4, everything was pretty snappy.

iOS8 is far better on the 4S than iOS7 performance-wise, although of course the phone still struggles particularly in low-memory situations.

One surprising performance improvement I found was when I changed the battery. My 4S was not holding a full charge, and was constantly freezing up (even while still on iOS7). After replacing the battery with a brand new one, performance improved dramatically.

To anyone with a 4S, I'd recommend upgrading to iOS8 asap. And if your battery is unreliable or fading, look into replacing it. It practically rejuvenates the performance (I wish I knew more about electronics to understand why that is!)

Looks great, running great with no performance concerns. Loving it so far.

The larger text and better propagation of accessibility text size through apps is much appreciated by someone who's eyesight isn't as sharp as it was.

Fzang said:

This article came to the conclusion that the other phones didn't get bigger. In fact, the it's the iPhone 4S that got slightly smaller.

I mean, including such a HUGE keyboard and FIVE GIANT rows of app icons in the 4S. Apple, what were you thinking???

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I love it, perfect for me. I have accessibility text set to large anyway fyi so I can read phone easily without my glasses.

lotzosushi said:

Um... maybe I didn't word it right but I was saying I'm glad Apple still supports older devices like the 4S. A friend of mine is still using the 4 though so he's SOL for the iOS 8 update sadly. I've owned many Android devices before and I always wished all other manufacturers/carriers would be able to push out and support the latest firmware as frequent and long-term as possible.

Pointing out Android fragmentation in an iOS 8 article isn't entirely unrelated... remember WWDC? Apple never fails to mention it every year.

Image

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I think it may be an unconscious move by you. You did it again. 1 sentence about the actual topic, 1 that's related, and all the rest about Android. Look at that image you posted. I'll ask again, how does it address iOS8 and possible issues with 4S'? It's completely okay to have an opinion about the rumored 4S issue without bringing up Android, Windows, Samsung, etc. To be fair, it's completely okay to do what you're doing as well. My opinion is no more important than anyone else's. So please take it with a grain of salt.

I just wonder if it's possible for some to discuss an issue critical of Apple without using another vendor to deflect blame. This is less a criticism and more of an observation.

Was on a Jailbroken 4S 7.1.2, installed iOS 8, it flies.

Had same glitches with 2 Factor authentication but it solved itself, restoring had some issues as well but it now runs smoothly.

Wish apple allowed downgrading, would solve all complaints

I finally got the courage to install iOS 8 on my 4S.

However, to avoid problems I did a clean install. And at least the couple first hours I dont really see a difference with this and iOS 7.

iOS7 actually used to run super badly on my phone before I did a clean install - (Hence the reason I did it now right at the start)

O

george-brooks said:

Just tried to update my 5S and it put itself into recovery mode, so now I'm gonna lose all my data since I haven't backed up to iCloud in weeks since I'm out of storage. GREAT!

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I'm sure you've heard it before, but now you'll remember it: ALWAYS back up before doing an update

mw360 said:

The thing is, most ordinary people (non-technies) would be perfectly happy to keep an iPhone for years, oblivious to the new features. Apple don't want to give those people that choice. They force the update which they know perfectly well hobbles the device so it suddenly runs like crap.

It works perfectly. My wife swears at her iPhone 4 every single day since she conceded to allow the update to 7. She blames the old phone and eyes the new ones with envy, not considering that it's Apple who made it run that slow, deliberately.

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I respectfully disagree.

They force nothing. You don't have to upgrade. iTunes specifically asks if you want to upgrade or not. Users, 100%, have a choice.

Sure, there will be those less techie folks who click on it, but then again, that's their own fault. You don't have to be that techie to decline an update.

I know plenty of folks who haven't upgraded squat on their iPads or iPhones and they're as content as can be.

Cheers,
Keebler