14 DAY TRIAL // A number of iPhone 4 users are reporting a terrible experience with the new iOS 7, with some incurring an unacceptable lag when trying to use the virtual keyboard.
Commenters responding to our June 11 article on the iPhone 4 experience with the early iOS 7 betas are revealing that nothing has changed since.
With the final version of iOS 7 out and into end users’ hands, the same issues are being reported by some, confirming out fears that the A4 chip inside the iPhone 4 is no match for the new software.
“iOS 7 has basically ruined my iphone 4,” writes a reader identified as micwich.
“There is at least a 5-15 second delay whenever I used the keyboard to type anything - pw to open phone, text, email, notes..... It is awful. I wish I could remove it and go back,” this person says.
“i hope they fix this soon my phone is so slow and i cant type without a delay,” writes another.
Others claim iOS 7 works fine on their iPhone 4 handsets, but that the battery now heats up tremendously.
“I installed iOS7 last night on my iPhone4 and my battery is worthless and my phone is HOT to the touch-burning hot....not a fan of that, otherwise, it seems to be working well...for the 5 mins it holds a charge,” writes a user identified as MP.
A reader using the handle TinMan chimes in to say, “I upgrade on my iPhone 4 to iOS 7 and now the typing is very slow. It takes over a minute and a half just to type in a 10 letter password. Can I go back to my old OS?”
Finally, Betty tells us, “My iphone 4 is so slow, it's almost unusable. I'm no longer even able to text because of the delay when I type and the time it takes for the letters to appear ten or twenty seconds later. You'd think they'd warn the customers of the pitfalls. My phone is only 2 years old.”
Numerous others are describing similar scenarios, but many of them seem to be unaware that downgrading to iOS 6 is not only possible, but really easy to do.
Users looking to revert back to iOS 6 can check out our comprehensive tutorial: “Guide: How to go back to iOS 6.”
UPDATE: A quick workaround has been discovered by reader "Samsamsamsam" and it appears everyone is reporting positive results with his solution to the iPhone 4/iOS 7 lag.