iOS 7 on iPhone 4

[John T]

I have an iphone 4 on 7.1.1 and an ipad mini retina which is a high end ios 7 device and I still think that 7 runs ok on iphone 4. Just restore the iphone, keep only 3 rows of icons per page and disable everything you don't use, or your father.

There's a fair bit of logic in this suggestion.

Instead of just arguing back and forth, just look at the facts.

Due to the vast number of satisfied users, there appears to be nothing wrong with iOS 7 on the iPhone 4.

It is often nothing to do with the OS but with an incompatible installed App.

Those who remember the days when ultra slow backups via iTunes were the scourge of the early iPhones will remember the solution was to delete all Apps and reinstall them one by one until the offending one was revealed.

That's why, in my opinion, rrares1996's suggestion is worth trying. Don't forget that not all Apps have been updated are therefore not necessarily compatible with iOS 7.

 

[CB1234]

There's a fair bit of logic in this suggestion.

Instead of just arguing back and forth, just look at the facts.

Due to the vast number of satisfied users, there appears to be nothing wrong with iOS 7 on the iPhone 4.

It is often nothing to do with the OS but with an incompatible installed App.

Those who remember the days when ultra slow backups via iTunes were the scourge of the early iPhones will remember the solution was to delete all Apps and reinstall them one by one until the offending one was revealed.

That's why, in my opinion, rrares1996's suggestion is worth trying. Don't forget that not all Apps have been updated are therefore not necessarily compatible with iOS 7.

You are right and so is rrares1996, but when you are suggesting to people whose 'idea of slowness' is based purely on their own individual perceptions and expectation, then the suggestions are a bit wasted....

I have iPhone 4 on iOS 7 which my son is using it heavily, especially for gaming, and it genuinely works really well....

This argument will continue until hell freezes over.....

 

[sunking101]

Some are satisfied with the fact their iPhone 4 is running the latest software, and that it still 'works'.
However, NOBODY can deny that the phone was a lot faster, a lot smoother and a lot less frustrating to use whilst running iOS6. I have seen it with my own eyes.

 

[John T]

when you are suggesting to people whose 'idea of slowness' is based purely on their own individual perceptions and expectation, then the suggestions are a bit wasted....

Where on earth did I say that? !

 

[iFarmer]

Loading a newspaper site on my i5 takes 7 seconds. On my father's i4 running 7.1.1 it takes 21 seconds.

I put my 5th gen iPod Touch iOS 7 next to my iPhone 4 iOS 7, both on the same WiFi, and loaded the same pages to test this out and used a stopwatch to time it.

nytimes.com loaded first on my iPhone 4 at 6.8 seconds, then at 7.1 on my iPod touch.
ESPN took 9.9 seconds on my iPhone 4 (and then got a stupid ad across the screen) and 7.2 seconds on the iPod Touch.
NPR took 9.76 seconds to load on my iPhone 4, 8.25 seconds on my iPod Touch.
USA Today took 4.2 seconds on my iPhone 4, 2.25 seconds on the iPod Touch.
Daily Mail took 17 seconds on my iPhone 4, 15 seconds on the iPod Touch (geez that's a bloated site LOL)
The Independent took 11.7 seconds on my iPhone 4, 8.03 seconds on my iPod Touch.

Is the iPod Touch faster? Sure! It's not so much faster that I feel the iPhone 4 is majorly outperformed. Sounds like your Father's phone may have some hardware issues perhaps directly related to the WiFI.

 

[sunking101]

Not sure what you're doing wrong but I put my 5th gen iPod Touch iOS 7 next to my iPhone 4 iOS 7, both on the same WiFi, and loaded the same pages to test this out and used a stopwatch to time it.

nytimes.com loaded first on my iPhone 4 at 6.8 seconds, then at 7.1 on my iPod touch.
ESPN took 9.9 seconds on my iPhone 4 (and then got a stupid ad across the screen) and 7.2 seconds on the iPod Touch.
NPR took 9.76 seconds to load on my iPhone 4, 8.25 seconds on my iPod Touch.
USA Today took 4.2 seconds on my iPhone 4, 2.25 seconds on the iPod Touch.
Daily Mail took 17 seconds on my iPhone 4, 15 seconds on the iPod Touch (geez that's a bloated site LOL)
The Independent took 11.7 seconds on my iPhone 4, 8.03 seconds on my iPod Touch.

Is the iPod Touch faster? Sure! It's not so much faster that I feel the iPhone 4 is majorly outperformed. Sounds like your Father's phone may have some hardware issues perhaps directly related to the WiFI.

My family must be cursed with Apple hardware failures then. My father's iPhone 4 worked perfectly right up until the exact moment iOS7 was installed, and my iPhone 5 battery life went from exceptional to terrible at the exact moment iOS7 was installed.

Daily Mail - 7 seconds on my i5 and 18 seconds on my dad's i4. That's way too slow in my book.

 

[iFarmer]

Daily Mail - 7 seconds on my i5 and 18 seconds on my dad's i4. That's way too slow in my book.

Sounds like you need to contact the Daily Mail then ;]

 

[Jr. Pac]

It's a 5 year old device.

Tell me, what other smartphones from 2009/2010 are you aware of that run the latest operating system from their manufacturer? Or is capable of running apps the iPhone 4 does?

It's OLD. It isn't going to be lightning fast like the iPhone 5. Opening iMessage will take longer. Switching apps will take longer. Starting the phone up from boot screen will take longer.

It isn't obsolete or unusable. It's this sense of privilege everyone thinks they should have that is ruining your experience on the device. Accept it for what it is.

4 years is not long enough to make a device obsolete. Does it still do its job perfectly? Then it isn't. Where are the days when manufacturers actually gave a crap about older devices? Atari 2600: Loved from 1977 to 1992.

If it really is obsolete to Apple, why not let us downgrade as we please to a faster version? They don't necessarily have to provide support, just the allowance and I'm certain we'll be happy.

 

[sunking101]

4 years is not long enough to make a device obsolete. Does it still do its job perfectly? Then it isn't. Where are the days when manufacturers actually gave a crap about older devices? Atari 2600: Loved from 1977 to 1992.

If it really is obsolete to Apple, why not let us downgrade as we please to a faster version? They don't necessarily have to provide support, just the allowance and I'm certain we'll be happy.

Exactly. If they want to stop supporting an older version of iOS after X amount of years, then that's ok. They shouldn't cripple a device though and make (a percentage of) users NEED to upgrade immediately because Apple has ruined it. How is that 'supporting' a device anyway?? Ruining it and forcing an upgrade ASAP is somehow supporting the iPhone 4?

 

[iFarmer]

Ruining it and forcing an upgrade ASAP is somehow supporting the iPhone 4?

As people have repeatedly said (and you've repeatedly ignored) "ruining" it is subjective

 

[sunking101]

As people have repeatedly said (and you've repeatedly ignored) "ruining" it is subjective

That's why I put 'a percentage of'...

 

[iFarmer]

That's why I put 'a percentage of'...

Technically 'a percentage of' applied to the number of users who NEED[ed] to upgrade, and not to the statement about ruining the iPhone 4. But I suppose that's a sentence structure quibble!

 

[sunking101]

Technically 'a percentage of' applied to the number of users who NEED[ed] to upgrade, and not to the statement about ruining the iPhone 4. But I suppose that's a sentence structure quibble!

I meant upgrade their phones, not iOS.

 

[AeroBar]

You are right and so is rrares1996, but when you are suggesting to people whose 'idea of slowness' is based purely on their own individual perceptions and expectation, then the suggestions are a bit wasted....

I have iPhone 4 on iOS 7 which my son is using it heavily, especially for gaming, and it genuinely works really well....

This argument will continue until hell freezes over.....

I've been considering upgrading myself. Would you say that there are any drawbacks in using iOS 7 on iPhone 4?

 

[C DM]

I've been considering upgrading myself. Would you say that there are any drawbacks in using iOS 7 on iPhone 4?

Certainly quite a few as mentioned in this thread.

 

[AeroBar]

Certainly quite a few as mentioned in this thread.

Yes, and I saw those but I was asking CB1234 about drawbacks because it wasn't clear if game play was the only positive or whether other functions were sacrificed in favour of better gaming.

 

[CB1234]

I've been considering upgrading myself. Would you say that there are any drawbacks in using iOS 7 on iPhone 4?

Apart from gaming, the phone functions as it should. It makes/receives calls, you can email, browse and use most apps without any problems. It will really depend on what you want to use on the phone. If you want to use latest Apps on the phone with iOS 7, then you will struggle, because a lot of app developers are now moving onto iOS 8/9, and you will find less and less support for iOS 7....

For my son needs, iOS 7 is perfectly fine for the use he has. He refuses to upgrade and if he is happy, I will let him continue...

Hope this answers your query...

 

[AeroBar]

Apart from gaming, the phone functions as it should. It makes/receives calls, you can email, browse and use most apps without any problems. It will really depend on what you want to use on the phone. If you want to use latest Apps on the phone with iOS 7, then you will struggle, because a lot of app developers are now moving onto iOS 8/9, and you will find less and less support for iOS 7....

For my son needs, iOS 7 is perfectly fine for the use he has. He refuses to upgrade and if he is happy, I will let him continue...

Hope this answers your query...

For the most part, yes that answers the query.

The only question I have left is what is the speed like on both gaming and and non-gaming?

Does the iPhone struggle with some games but your son finds it worth that problem? Is it as fast as ever on other functions?

Cheers

 

[CB1234]

For the most part, yes that answers the query.

The only question I have left is what is the speed like on both gaming and and non-gaming?

Does the iPhone struggle with some games but your son finds it worth that problem? Is it as fast as ever on other functions?

Cheers

I will ask him tonight and let him demonstrate to me. I will reply you tomorrow..

 

[AeroBar]

I will ask him tonight and let him demonstrate to me. I will reply you tomorrow..

Thanks.

 

[CB1234]

Thanks.

Ok. I had a demonstration of the games he was playing - 'minecraft' being the most he played with. He plays a Quiz game with his brother/sister and friends. He also plays a game involving planes (can't remember what it is called).

He played for about an hour and minecraft crashed once, he says that happens to him 2 or 3 times a week approximately, but he wasn't complaining about it. Everything else on his phone worked as it should - no lag - no stutters - which amazed me.

The speed of his phone is not as fast as my 5s, but it isn't slow by any means. If there were no new phones or iOS's available, I would be quite happy with the phone on iOS 7...

Hope this helps.

 

[oldmacs]

I used my sisters 4 today and I was pleasantly surprised - it runs decently. It doesn't render animations amazinlgy, but it doesn't have the sort of lag I get in iOS 8 (eg folders stuttering before opening, apps lagging before opening) sure things take a while but its a pleasant surprise.

 

[Mendozart]

I just picked up an iPhone 4 32gb in excellent condition off Craigslist for $80. It works really well on iOS 7. I was using an entry level Windows phone, so this is a nice upgrade. I figured I could even use it as an iPod/itouch if I pick up a 5 or 6 down the road.

 

[crashnburn]

I used my sisters 4 today and I was pleasantly surprised - it runs decently. It doesn't render animations amazinlgy, but it doesn't have the sort of lag I get in iOS 8 (eg folders stuttering before opening, apps lagging before opening) sure things take a while but its a pleasant surprise.

Wondering about the ways that animation stuff can be 'disabled' on iOS 9?

 

[C DM]

Wondering about the ways that animation stuff can be 'disabled' on iOS 9?

As in using the "reduce motion" and "reduce transparency" options in the accessibility settings?