iPad 2 iOS 8 Performance

[Dino F]

I said it elsewhere. It's better, but not really decent.

Browsing is improved. Typing anything or opening an app feels like a time machine.

...ok, so iOS 8.1.1 is marginally better than 8.1 but not by that much!! I still get noticeable lag when typing in Safari (not as bad as before but it is still there), also, stutter is still present (again, not as bad as before but its still there) when opening and closing apps (the 'zoom' animation still slightly stutters when you tap on a folder to open it).

I have found, however, that it vastly improves the speed on the iPad 2 if I turn off the 'Transparency' and also the 'Reduce Motion' features, both which can be found in the 'Accessibility' section. Have also turned off 'Background Refresh', which has also helped. Looks wise, its not as pretty to look at but I can take that hit if it improves the overall performance of my iPad 2 - which it has!

 

[oldmacs]

...ok, so iOS 8.1.1 is marginally better than 8.1 but not by that much!! I still get noticeable lag when typing in Safari (not as bad as before but it is still there), also, stutter is still present (again, not as bad as before but its still there) when opening and closing apps (the 'zoom' animation still slightly stutters when you tap on a folder to open it).

I have found, however, that it vastly improves the speed on the iPad 2 if I turn off the 'Transparency' and also the 'Reduce Motion' features, both which can be found in the 'Accessibility' section. Have also turned off 'Background Refresh', which has also helped. Looks wise, its not as pretty to look at but I can take that hit if it improves the overall performance of my iPad 2 - which it has!

Have you tried a 'reset all settings'? Also in Safari, try turning off Javascript. There are a few other things you can also turn off in safari to speed things up.

 

[Dino F]

Have you tried a 'reset all settings'? Also in Safari, try turning off Javascript. There are a few other things you can also turn off in safari to speed things up.

...haven't tried the 'Reset All Settings' yet - what exactly does it reset? Will I lose all my installed apps/music/photos, Contacts, etc?!

As for the Javascript in Safari, I have actually tried disabling this before but some web pages just did not look right so I re-enabled it.

 

[oldmacs]

...haven't tried the 'Reset All Settings' yet - what exactly does it reset? Will I lose all my installed apps/music/photos, Contacts, etc?!

As for the Javascript in Safari, I have actually tried disabling this before but some web pages just did not look right so I re-enabled it.

Resetting all settings resets some of the settings on the iPad and seems (to me anyway) to speed up my iPad..)

Just found out that it used to have some sort of bug in ios 8 that it also deleted iCloud drive sertings... Not quite sure if this has been fixed...

 

[Morac]

Resetting all settings resets some of the settings on the iPad and seems (to me anyway) to speed up my iPad..)

It resets the most of the non-app settings (General, Display & Brightness, Wallpaper, etc). It also wipes all known Wifi networks and Bluetooth devices, so you'll need to enter that again. It doesn't touch settings for apps or delete data.

The only thing you might lose is if you have custom wallpaper. You'll need to set that up again, so make sure you have the source image somewhere.

Personally, I find my iPad 2 usable after updating. Based on the Ars Technica article and Facebook pages like this one, I was afraid to update, but really it isn't that bad. I did have mail crash on me once though, but overall apps seem to work well, albeit a bit less responsive at times.

The most annoying thing I've found, and it happened under iOS 7.1.2 as well to a less degree, is apps getting almost immediately swapped out of memory when I close them. With 512 MB of RAM and iOS 8.1.1 using close to 300 MB of that when not doing anything, though it's not surprising.

 

[Dino F]

It resets the most of the non-app settings (General, Display & Brightness, Wallpaper, etc). It also wipes all known Wifi networks and Bluetooth devices, so you'll need to enter that again. It doesn't touch settings for apps or delete data.

The only thing you might lose is if you have custom wallpaper. You'll need to set that up again, so make sure you have the source image somewhere.

Personally, I find my iPad 2 usable after updating. Based on the Ars Technica article and Facebook pages like this one, I was afraid to update, but really it isn't that bad. I did have mail crash on me once though, but overall apps seem to work well, albeit a bit less responsive at times.

The most annoying thing I've found, and it happened under iOS 7.1.2 as well to a less degree, is apps getting almost immediately swapped out of memory when I close them. With 512 MB of RAM and iOS 8.1.1 using close to 300 MB of that when not doing anything, though it's not surprising.

...why would a 'Reset all Settings' reset though, make your iPad run any faster/better?

If it just resets the general settings (wallpapers, wifi, bluetooth, notifications, etc), it seems that it doesn't actually touch anything which would improve the performance?

 

[Morac]

...why would a 'Reset all Settings' reset though, make your iPad run any faster/better?

If it just resets the general settings (wallpapers, wifi, bluetooth, notifications, etc), it seems that it doesn't actually touch anything which would improve the performance?

Technically there's no reason a 'Reset all Settings' would make things faster. It can fix problems if configuration is corrupted (bad upgrade), but normally that manifests itself as an actual problem and not a performance issue.

It doesn't hurt to try it though as it's a lot faster than doing a complete restore and restore from backup, which can fix performance issues by cleaning out garbage left around by the upgrade.

 

[Hexley]

If you don't need the new iOS 8 features... I wouldn't bother. Even though 8.1.1 is an important on 8.1 and 8.0, you're going to take a performance hit.

Thanks. I saw the Arstechnica time benchmarks and you are right. It just slows it a tad bit.

 

[Dino F]

...ok, so iOS 8.1.1 is marginally better than 8.1 but not by that much!! I still get noticeable lag when typing in Safari (not as bad as before but it is still there), also, stutter is still present (again, not as bad as before but its still there) when opening and closing apps (the 'zoom' animation still slightly stutters when you tap on a folder to open it).

I have found, however, that it vastly improves the speed on the iPad 2 if I turn off the 'Transparency' and also the 'Reduce Motion' features, both which can be found in the 'Accessibility' section. Have also turned off 'Background Refresh', which has also helped. Looks wise, its not as pretty to look at but I can take that hit if it improves the overall performance of my iPad 2 - which it has!

...just to update on this - I am finding that my iPad 2 is flyingly fast now, after having turned the above features off!!

Now, as soon as I tap on a folder, it opens right away (the zoom animation would stutter before). Same goes for closing folders as well. Even hitting the Home button is pretty much instant - it returns me to the Home screen (always stuttered before!). Safari is also a HUGE improvement as well - switching tabs and even hitting the Home button to exit - it exits right away (doesb't just sit there thinking about it!!)

I for one, are happy!!

 

[cattpowerer]

It runs wonderful.

Air 2 is the newest version. ios 8 is produced for it. By the way, if your ipad air runs out of storage space when upgrade, here are the solutions:

One way to maintain your privacy is to delete cache manually. But you might delete some important files by mistake.

Another way is using clean tools such as Mac go iPhone Cleaner:
You download it in your computer (it has mac version and pc version).
Second,start the cleaner Connect your iPhone to Mac and open this cleaner, just two simple clicks and you can start the clean now.
Then, deselect the files that you wanna keep and click on Clean your iPhone button to start cleaning.

 

[Nikholai]

8.1.1: faster, but still slow compared to ios 7

I made the mistake of updating to ios 8 without first read the reviews (never again) mostly because I have never had a problem before. I thought Apple would've tested thoroughly the new software before approving it to this device. What a disappointment.
Now, with the last update, my iPad 2 is behaving better than with the previous versions, but still doesn't catch up with the last version of ios 7. What a shame. Mainly because I don't see nothing –to my particular use, of course– in the newer models that justify an upgrade.
Hope they refine ios 8 a little more to give me back the marvelous user experience I always had with the iPad.

 

[oldmacs]

I made the mistake of updating to ios 8 without first read the reviews (never again) mostly because I have never had a problem before. I thought Apple would've tested thoroughly the new software before approving it to this device. What a disappointment.
Now, with the last update, my iPad 2 is behaving better than with the previous versions, but still doesn't catch up with the last version of ios 7. What a shame. Mainly because I don't see nothing –to my particular use, of course– in the newer models that justify an upgrade.
Hope they refine ios 8 a little more to give me back the marvelous user experience I always had with the iPad.

I don't mean to criticise but the iPad 2 is getting on to 4 years old, which is extremely old in technology years, so the fact it actually gets iOS 8 is pretty remarkable. (That said they were still selling them this year, so its reasonable to expect some level of performance).

I would think that Apple first prioritised getting iOS 8 ready for the iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, and is only now going back and optimising for older devices.

I think all people on older devices, who are not willing to take a performance hit should not update straight away, as its always going to be a disappointment.

 

[Liam Steven]

To be fair they did release iOS 8 with the iPad 2 as a supported device! They did it with the iPhone 4 and iOS 7 and they've done it with the iPad 2.

I would have seriously preferred that they dropped support for iPad 2 and iOS 8.

Let's hope that they learn from their mistsake (let's be clear here, it was a bad call) with iOS 9 and don't make it available to the oldest device.

 

[Nikholai]

I don't mean to criticise but the iPad 2 is getting on to 4 years old, which is extremely old in technology years, so the fact it actually gets iOS 8 is pretty remarkable. (That said they were still selling them this year, so its reasonable to expect some level of performance).

I would think that Apple first prioritised getting iOS 8 ready for the iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, and is only now going back and optimising for older devices.

I think all people on older devices, who are not willing to take a performance hit should not update straight away, as its always going to be a disappointment.

Of course, blame the victim...

 

[oldmacs]

Of course, blame the victim...

How are you the Victim? You could have waited till people had upgraded to find out. Its common knowledge that new software slows down old devices. iOS 4 slowed down the 3G. iOS 7 slowed down the iPhone 4. Its not like its never happened before! And besides, iOS 8 on an iPad 2 is nothing like iOS 4 on the 3G, and its better than iOS 7 on an iPhone 4. iOS 8 on the iPad 2 is relatively decent.

You had the choice to stay on iOS 7, but you choose to upgrade. I would say that Apple should have advertised that it did slow down the iPad 2 but oh well.

Would you rather be on Android where devices get next to know software support? If the iPad 2 was Android, I doubt it would have even gotten iOS 6.

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To be fair they did release iOS 8 with the iPad 2 as a supported device! They did it with the iPhone 4 and iOS 7 and they've done it with the iPad 2.

I would have seriously preferred that they dropped support for iPad 2 and iOS 8.

Let's hope that they learn from their mistsake (let's be clear here, it was a bad call) with iOS 9 and don't make it available to the oldest device.

I hope not!! The iPad 2 runs iOS 8 reasonably and it means that it is still useful. Dropping it would have meant lack of security patches + incompatible apps almost immediately. The iPad 2 is still the most used iPad, and the iPad Mini 1 is the second most used, and they are both the same architecture so hopefully they both get further support.

 

[sualpine]

To be fair they did release iOS 8 with the iPad 2 as a supported device! They did it with the iPhone 4 and iOS 7 and they've done it with the iPad 2.

I would have seriously preferred that they dropped support for iPad 2 and iOS 8.

Let's hope that they learn from their mistsake (let's be clear here, it was a bad call) with iOS 9 and don't make it available to the oldest device.

Easy to say that, when your counterpart will make the same amount of complaints about it not being supported.

 

[oldmacs]

Easy to say that, when your counterpart will make the same amount of complaints about it not being supported.

Considering that iOS 8 performs below par on even newer devices, It would not surprise me to see iOS 9 putting a focus on performance.

I for one would rather be given the choice to update then being left behind on a buggy and unsupported by Apps platform. EG. Those who would like to remain behind with better performance should just not update, and those who want the fixes and don't mind about performance should update. Thats a far better idea than banning everyone from the latest version. Its a Win Win situation.

 

[Nikholai]

I would say that Apple should have advertised that it did slow down the iPad 2 but oh well.

Exactly. If a new OS slows down some devices, don't include them in updates. Or make the OS works from the start. I believe everyone here would like if iOS 8 worked as iOS 8.1.1. Ain't you?

Would you rather be on Android where devices get next to know software support? If the iPad 2 was Android, I doubt it would have even gotten iOS 6.

I wouldn't even consider change to an Android tablet, I'm highly invested in the Apple ecosystem and believe, I'm mostly satisfied with my experience. But I'm a professional photographer and everything I own is a tool to me, so when something like that happens, it's really annoying.

 

[Morac]

Exactly. If a new OS slows down some devices, don't include them in updates. Or make the OS works from the start. I believe everyone here would like if iOS 8 worked as iOS 8.1.1. Ain't you?

If Apple did that the iPad 2 would never have gotten iOS 7, which was sluggish on the iPad 2 when it was released.

As for iOS 8, pretty much everyone except Apple agrees it was released way too early. The feature set wasn't even finished yet, let alone having been optimized. Unfortunately that's the new norm in the software world. Put out a half-assed release and patch it later.

 

[oldmacs]

If Apple did that the iPad 2 would never have gotten iOS 7, which was sluggish on the iPad 2 when it was released.

As for iOS 8, pretty much everyone except Apple agrees it was released way too early. The feature set wasn't even finished yet, let alone having been optimized. Unfortunately that's the new norm in the software world. Put out a half-assed release and patch it later.

Exactly... I would say maybe warn customers not to upgrade straight away, but that would backfire as people would see it as Apple not having faith in its own updates.

iOS 8 performs poorly on even the latest hardware, so its obviously not going to be a speed demon on the iPad 2. The solution is easy. Nobody is being forced to upgrade. If you don't want the slow down just don't update. I updated knowing there would be a slow down and I've just had to accept it as I wanted the update.

 

[Nikholai]

If you don't want the slow down just don't update. I updated knowing there would be a slow down and I've just had to accept it as I wanted the update.

That's why I started my post making "mea culpa". It was a first –and a last–, because for my use iOS 7 was fine. Won't be caught in another one for sure.

 

[Liam Steven]

How are you the Victim? You could have waited till people had upgraded to find out. Its common knowledge that new software slows down old devices. iOS 4 slowed down the 3G. iOS 7 slowed down the iPhone 4. Its not like its never happened before! And besides, iOS 8 on an iPad 2 is nothing like iOS 4 on the 3G, and its better than iOS 7 on an iPhone 4. iOS 8 on the iPad 2 is relatively decent.

You had the choice to stay on iOS 7, but you choose to upgrade. I would say that Apple should have advertised that it did slow down the iPad 2 but oh well.

Would you rather be on Android where devices get next to know software support? If the iPad 2 was Android, I doubt it would have even gotten iOS 6.

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I hope not!! The iPad 2 runs iOS 8 reasonably and it means that it is still useful. Dropping it would have meant lack of security patches + incompatible apps almost immediately. The iPad 2 is still the most used iPad, and the iPad Mini 1 is the second most used, and they are both the same architecture so hopefully they both get further support.

I think we can confidently agree that the iPad 2 will not be a supported model in 2015.

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Easy to say that, when your counterpart will make the same amount of complaints about it not being supported.

Well they are more than happy make a choice between sticking with what they have or upgrading their hardware.

 

[TheLondonFella]

Animations are laggy on my iPad 4, too ...

 

[oldmacs]

I think we can confidently agree that the iPad 2 will not be a supported model in 2015.

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Well they are more than happy make a choice between sticking with what they have or upgrading their hardware.

When 27 Percent of iPad users are using the iPad 2 (More than any other iPad) and when a further 20 percent are using the original iPad mini which is the same as the iPad 2, you've got to wonder if Apple would abandon a quarter of its users. I highly doubt it.

 

[TheLondonFella]

Unfortunately that's the new norm in the software world. Put out a half-assed release and patch it later.

As a gamer, I wholeheartedly agree!

More and more games are being released in a broken state these days.

It appears to have become the norm in many cases ...