Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad OS 4.2.1 performance issues

jonnyb098

jonnyb098

macrumors 601
Original poster
Nov 16, 2010
4,392
6,989
Michigan
So......I upgraded to the latest 4.2.1 last night. I first want to say that is its really great having multitasking and folders, etc. at my finger tips. However, there are a few performance issues with the overall OS that I have noticed.

1. Performance: There is a noticeable delay between hitting the home button and returning to the home screen. (Much less fluid than on iOS 3.2.2)

2. Multitasking: When switching between apps and you try to scroll, sometimes it is unresponsive for a second or 2.

3. App Store: There is a problem sometimes when switching between landscape and portrait in the app store. The screen doesn't scale properly

4. Overall Performance: After having more than a few apps running, I noticed the iPad was kind of chugging to catch up when launching apps. The app would just be pokey and stutter. Granted this only lasted a few seconds.

I know these are not MAJOR issues, but all of them clumped together kind of hamper what was EXTREMELY fluid and slick performance on the iPad. LEt me know if any of you notice these things.

I realize that it is not officially released yet, but apple seemed to have taken away some of that "dazzle" that was originally there in favor of multitasking. I would think that they have been planning on this for so long that putting 256MB of RAM in the device would have sent some bells off at apple when it comes to performance of the iPad.

Just my personal opinions.

Im ready for the barrage of insults now......:)
 
I totally agree with you, the keyboard is laggy, folder animations are choppy and generally apps tend to get flushed sooner than you'd want.:(
 
I haven't noticed this so far with 4.2GMb. Did the performance change between 4.2GMb and 4.2.1?
 
8767092 said:
I haven't noticed this so far with 4.2GMb. Did the performance change between 4.2GMb and 4.2.1?
Click to expand...

I did not have enough time to thoroughly test in-depth performance on 4.2. The only thing that stood out on 4.2 was the app switching performance lag and when multi-tasking back to the app store would make it un-scrollable for upt o 5 seconds. This issue seems a tad better on 4.2.1. Still no excuses IMO.:rolleyes:
 
I did a bit of testing for your issues. I can confirm issue 2. It's not major, just a little annoying if I need to switch to a different app and scroll down right away. I suppose I can say I confirm number 4 as well, but it is minor and a hit to performance was to be expected once multitasking was implemented.

I noticed some home button to homescreen and home button to wake up delays even in 3.2.2, so this doesn't seem abnormal to me. I could not reproduce the App Store layout error. And I cannot see a lick of difference between 4.2 and 4.2.1.
 
I wish there was something like a 5-finger gesture to do multitasking:

-Down: Show the task manager
-Left: Previous App
-Right: Next App
-Up: Close the task manager.

This would be much better than having to hold the Home button, which eventually it may break from overuse.
And if the Home button takes some time to respond, impatient people may press it harder and cause it to break.
 
HelveticaNeue said:
I did a bit of testing for your issues. I can confirm issue 2. It's not major, just a little annoying if I need to switch to a different app and scroll down right away. I suppose I can say I confirm number 4 as well, but it is minor and a hit to performance was to be expected once multitasking was implemented.

I noticed some home button to homescreen and home button to wake up delays even in 3.2.2, so this doesn't seem abnormal to me. I could not reproduce the App Store layout error. And I cannot see a lick of difference between 4.2 and 4.2.1.
Click to expand...

A delay is to be expected, as the system needs to differentiate between a short-press and a long-press of the Home button.
That's the main reason why I prefer a 5-finger gesture to interact with multitasking.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
A delay is to be expected, as the system needs to differentiate between a short-press and a long-press of the Home button.
That's the main reason why I prefer a 5-finger gesture to interact with multitasking.
Click to expand...

Whoa, I didn't know there was a difference between short press and long press Home button detection. Um... what does short vs long do? I wonder if this is why the Home button on my iPhone 4 gives me grief on a daily basis. Maybe I'm clicking it wrong, haha :D
 
Amazing Iceman said:
I wish there was something like a 5-finger gesture to do multitasking:

-Down: Show the task manager
-Left: Previous App
-Right: Next App
-Up: Close the task manager.

This would be much better than having to hold the Home button, which eventually it may break from overuse.
And if the Home button takes some time to respond, impatient people may press it harder and cause it to break.
Click to expand...

I fully agree with you.

Given the whole hi tech build of the iPad, the fact we have to keep hammering away on one single popper button

Which is actually based on the same sort of tech as the 1970's Atari VCS joystick controller buttons is pretty lame.

There MUST be a better way of making a touch screen device change what it's doing that pressing one button thousands of times
 
I upgraded from 3.2.2 to 4.2 last week and to 4.2.1 last night. Seems pretty zippy to me - could there be a difference based on how much unused memory we have? I have a 64gb iPad with 55 mb of unused space - maybe since all the storage (hd and ram) is flash, the iPad uses all available memory to speed processes?

I do agree that there should be a better way to multitask than banging on the button. A gestural system would be ideal. Nice idea.

And I can confirm that Issue #3 is affecting my iPad - when I g from Landscape to Portrait mode in the app store, it still scales for landscape. Odd.
 
Last edited:
I upgraded from 4.2 to 4.2.1 today and am pretty impressed with it so far.

1 Performance - now you have mentioned it I do now notice a very slight delay once the home button has been pressed. I rather think it is waiting to see if there is to be another input, perhaps another reason for not using the home button to close apps and multitask. Although when the app does close it is very fast and smooth.

2 Multitasking - sorry not noticed that and have just tried to replicate it but scrolling was instant.

3 App store - yep same here strange glitch

4 Overall performance - I have not noticed any lag there but I am not one to have loads of apps open at the same time but it does seem to cope admirably with my 3-4 running no probs.

This is the first time I have typed anything of length on the iPad since updating and I felt the keyboard coped well I didn't notice any lag and as for the folder animations silky smooth is all I can say :)
 
I can confirm the App Store issue, but not the rest. But then again I am not a "heavy" user. I'm guessing that there'll be an App Store update soon.
 
I'm not experiencing those issues but could possibly be with the App Store but have not noticed.

I can confirm that the Origami Screen Saver lockup is no longer a problem. Now that was a serious issue. Hahaha.

Battery life seems VERY good as well even though I've had it running less than 24 hours.
 
No issues

Mine running very fast and smooth not sluggish at all multitasking is quick .printing even working had beta since it came out I think November 2 .would not recognize my printer for weeks I have new hp printer all of a sudden 2days ago I look over at printer and it says you have update waiting I hit ok didn't what the update was few hours later for the he'll of it like I did last 2weeks I tried printing from iPad and low and behold was waiting to see no printer found .guess what it found my printer :)
 
HelveticaNeue said:
I did a bit of testing for your issues. I can confirm issue 2. It's not major, just a little annoying if I need to switch to a different app and scroll down right away. I suppose I can say I confirm number 4 as well, but it is minor and a hit to performance was to be expected once multitasking was implemented.

I noticed some home button to homescreen and home button to wake up delays even in 3.2.2, so this doesn't seem abnormal to me. I could not reproduce the App Store layout error. And I cannot see a lick of difference between 4.2 and 4.2.1.
Click to expand...

Re: Issue #2

When apps become active again, they can do several things before turning over control to the user - like housekeeping or restoring states. This is part of the new iOS SDK. I have an app that shuts down the network communication when it goes to "sleep" and re-establishes communication when re-activated. This takes a second or two to accomplish but is far faster then quitting and restarting the application.
 
I just updated to 4.2.1 GM today however since doing the upgrade I am getting issues where Safari suddenly decides that websites aren't responding. Currently to cure this I need to switch over to another app, do something that requires internet, and then back to safari and then suddenly remembers that I actually have a network connection! Obviously, this would be rather annoying if it was a final build.

Anyone else see the same issue? Apart from that, I've found performance to be fine. FYI. I have the 16gb WIFI model.
 
zetsurin said:
I just updated to 4.2.1 GM today however since doing the upgrade I am getting issues where Safari suddenly decides that websites aren't responding. Currently to cure this I need to switch over to another app, do something that requires internet, and then back to safari and then suddenly remembers that I actually have a network connection! Obviously, this would be rather annoying if it was a final build.

Anyone else see the same issue? Apart from that, I've found performance to be fine. FYI. I have the 16gb WIFI model.
Click to expand...

I dont have this issue. Safari works without any issues.
 
I installed 4.2.1 (an upgrade from 4.2gm-a version) last night. Was planning to just go from GMa to 4.2 final but since they're taking their sweet time I decided to upgrade.

I can only confirm the App Store quirk, otherwise everything is running fine and snappy and not having any crash / memory / lag issues whatsoever.
 
petvas said:
I dont have this issue. Safari works without any issues.
Click to expand...


Yeah, it's strange as after more experimentation, this issue I am experiencing with 4.2.1 seems to be the same as the one they found with the first 4.2 gm. I'm getting quite frequent connectivity drop-outs and the way I can solve them is to turn airplane mode on and off. I haven't otherwise changed my usage habits and this happens with a strong wifi signal and even when sitting right next to my router. The issue was apparent about 5 mins after doing the 4.2.1 update.
 
For whatever it's worth--

I just picked up my iPad on Thursday. (Thanks, TJ Maxx.)

I upgraded to 4.2.1 right out of the box and I can't replicate any of these issues. Yes, that includes that App Store bug.

Perhaps this is only affecting people upgrading from the 4.2 beta?
 
I upgraded from 3.2.2 to 4.2.1 yesterday and can replicate the performance issues. I have not noticed the App Store issue, yet. Strangely enough, Safari seems to load web pages quicker in this version even though many other system elements seem to be a tad slower. It's nothing major, but I agree that it does take some of the shine off the user experience, so to speak.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back