iOS 8 - How to (potentially) fix a slow device

One of the main issues I had when updating my iPad 3 to iOS 8 was a drastic issue with responsiveness. Especially Safari started to become extremely slow, but also switching between apps would keep me counting seconds between bursts of activity.

Surely, iOS 8 couldn’t be that bad of an operating system? Also, an iPad 3 isn’t the slowest of devices, so what gives?

I started researching the topic and came across a post on Apple’s own support board (i.e. where you write your issues into a “case” and other users respond). Apparently, folks had the same issue when upgrading from iOS 6 to 7 on iPads.

The key when experiencing performance issues right after doing an iOS Upgrade is to reset all settings to default. This includes data like WIFI passwords, etc. This may not sound very logical - we’re talking about various login data here, right? But apparently, there are settings from the previous iOS version that play serious havoc with the new version.

I tried it and - lo and behold: my iPad is, once again, as fluid to use as it was under iOS 7!!! Yeah!

Personally, I don’t think doing OS upgrades is a good idea in general - usually, I re-install the device from scratch when a major release comes around. This involves a lot of re-installation of apps and accounts, which makes the idea of a simple upgrade enticing. However, I’m going to stick to my story: when iOS 9 rolls around, I’ll reinstall, not upgrade.

If your iPad or iPhone is having performance issues, give this a try.
Open the Settings app and go to:

General --> Reset --> Reset All Settings

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