Has iOS4 Ruined the iPhone 3G?
Since the release of iPhone 4 and iOS4, the tech world has been caught up either praising the new device to death or parsing Antennagate into oblivion.
But while so many have been focusing on the glory and flaws of Apple’s newest product, my attention has been squarely on an old one: my trusty iPhone 3G, which is now 2 years old – and is signficantly crappier, thanks to the iOS4 update.
After the initial update, my 3G was so slow as to be almost completely unusable. Basic tasks like checking email or opening a browser could take well over a minute to complete – unless, of course, they crashed first. Using Maps was essentially pointless, and more demanding apps like Evernote were basically rendered useless. Prominent blogger Waxy suggested doing another full system restore after installing the upgrade and that did solve problems. And then, with the release of iOS 4.0.1, some similar improvements were to be found.
But it definitely isn’t perfect. App response is still sluggish. Trying to listen to music and browsing the web at the same time is often an exercise in frustration, and often results in both the browser or the iPod app crashing. Everything is slower. Overall, the device has gone from being a smooth, slickly-functioning device to feeling like an overtaxed, nearly obsolete piece of tech. Searches across the web reveal this to be a seemingly common phenomenon.
This would, of course, not be a problem if one could downgrade back OS 3.1.3. I know I for one wouldn’t miss the few updates iOS4 gives 3G owners to get my regularly functioning phone back. Alas, Apple doesn’t let you. And most users will find the process of downgrading quite onerous, particularly on a Windows box.
So it seems that Apple, whose focus with the iPhone has always been a smooth user experience, has slipped up on this one, simply in allowing the iPhone 3G to have the update – or refusing to allow a downgrade.
But lest we get ahead of ourselves, tell us Techi readers: Has upgrading to iOS4 ruined your iPhone 3G? Or it it just an isolated few cases making a mountain out of a molehill?
iOS 4 on my iPhone 3G was painfully slow, horrible. Most of the new features are disabled (multi-tasking, wallpapers, orientation lock) and still the user experience is sub-par compared to previous versions.
I ended up downgrading to 3.1.2, obviously this is not something Apple supports, but now my phone is back to being usable.
iOS4.0 rendered my 3G unusable. Texting or emailing was an exercise in frustration as the keyboard played catch-up. Turning off auto-correction helped in that regard (the culprit is the new spell checker).
iOS4.0.1 has been an improvement. Hoping for further gains in the next release. It’s worth sticking with it IMO. As tempting as it is to think it’s an exercise to make us all upgrade, Apple haven’t let me done yet. They’ve earned some trust.
My 3G is noticeably slower. I will try a full restore as suggested- thanks.
Hit the nail right on the head! Thought it was just me and the locations that I was using my iPhone! Are they planning on fixing this at all or are they hoping we upgrade to the new bumper phone?
I have noticed no difference after the second iteration upgrade, but after the first upgrade I had to change all my email accounts to Fetch to kill the new “battery life suck”. The only complaint I can think of is that the camera ap takes a few extra second to ready for use, but the shutter button seems much faster on the other side. meh…