Being an iDevice owner means you never have to worry about NOT having the latest greatest operating system on your device. As long Apple decides to keep supporting your specific hardware model, you know you’re going to get an upgrade when the next version comes out, and that’s actually pretty cool. It’s also one of the best things about owning an Apple device – it’s (more than likely) going to upgrade to the next version of iOS when it comes out. You can’t say that about most Android devices (where it’s up to not only the hardware manufacturer but also the mobile carrier) where this is a larger problem.
However, it’s not always sunshine and daisies when you upgrade or when you get the next version. Sometimes you bump into problems. Here are some of the most common iOS 9 problems and the easiest way to solve them. Let’s jump in and take a look.
Problem 1: Wi-Fi Issues
This is one of the most common problems in the history of the Internet, and it doesn’t really matter WHAT version or type of operating system you’re using – WiFi is slow, WiFi keeps dropping a connection, or worse yet, WiFi won’t connect at all.
1. Perform a Reset
Press and hold both the Home button and the Wake/Sleep button on your iDevice until you see the Apple logo appear on your screen and then let go of both. This simple reset won’t erase any data on your device and gets any crusty or corrupt settings out of the way. This usually takes about (literally) fifteen to thirty seconds to complete, depending on your iDevice type and model, and will usually get you back up and surfing in record time. This should be your go-to solution for most iOS problems, as its likely the first one that Apple Support will tell you to do if you ever call or contact them for help.
2. Turn Wi-Fi On and Off
You can do this either on the WiFi Settings page by tapping the Toggle switch, or by swiping up from the bottom of your screen and tapping the WiFi icon in Control Center.
3. Forget and Rejoin the Network
Open Settings on your iDevice and choose WiFi. Locate the offending network and tap the circled blue “i.” On the details screen for that network, tap the option “Forget This Network.” You’ll see a warning dialog indicating that your iDevice and any other device using iCloud Keychain to connect to that Wi-Fi network will no longer be able to join it. Tap “Forget.” You’ll be taken back to the WiFi settings page where you’ll see the network in the “Choose a Network…” section. Tap it and rejoin the network by typing in its password. This will also re-establish the wireless network on all iCloud Keychain connected iDevices.
Problem 2: Frozen or Unresponsive Touch Screen
When this happens, there are a few things you can do. You may find that you may need to do one or more of these if the one you tried doesn’t work or if your iDevice starts exhibiting additional issues.
1. Quit the Offending App
Double tap your Home button to bring up the Task Manager/Task Switcher. From there, swipe up to quit the frozen app. After that you can restart the offending app and try what it was you were doing again.
2. Perform a Reset
If quitting the app doesn’t work, perform a reset by pressing the Home and Wake/Sleep button on your iDevice until you see the Apple logo appear on your screen and then let go of both. After the device recycles, restart the offending app again and see if that’s solved your problem.
3. Turn the Device Off and On
Sometimes a reset doesn’t go far enough. If your app is still freezing or misbehaving, turn your device off. Press and hold the Wake/Sleep button until you see the “Slide to power off” screen. Slide the button to the right and then wait at least thirty seconds (to insure everything is off and all power has drained from the internal electronics) before turning the device back on.
4. Delete and Reinstall the Offending App
If your app still freezes and/or misbehaves, delete and reinstall it. Press and hold the app’s icon until it starts to shake and you see an “X” in the upper-left corner of the icon. Tap the “X.” When asked if you really want to delete the app, press the “Delete” button on the dialog box that appears. After that, go back to the App Store and search for the app you deleted. Reinstall the app by tapping the iCloud icon. Set up the app again, and you should be good to go.
5. If All Else Fails, Restore
If all else fails, grab your USB cable, your Mac or PC, connect the two, bring up iTunes and restore your iDevice. You can try to restore from a known, good backup first. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, you can do a restore and then set up the device as a “new” device and rebuild it from scratch.
Problem 3: Bluetooth Connectivity Issues
Resolving Bluetooth connectivity problems may differ from accessory to accessory or from accessory type to accessory type. However, after an OS upgrade, don’t be surprised if you have to try one, some, or all of these suggestions to get your iDevice and your accessory talking again. You may also need to do these more than once or in varying orders in order to restore communications between your iDevice and your accessory.
Turn Your Bluetooth Radio Off and On
Sometimes simply turning your iDevice’s Bluetooth radio off and on again, after waiting fifteen to thirty seconds to make certain the accessory doesn’t think it’s connected to your device any longer, can get you connected again. Try this first.
Re-pair the Devices
If turning the radio on and off doesn’t get you connected, go into Settings and choose Bluetooth. Verify that your device is NOT connected and then tap the blue circular “i” icon next to your device. When taken to the details page for the accessory, tap “Forget This Device.” Tap the “Forget Device” button that appears out of the bottom of your screen when it appears. When you return to the Bluetooth Settings page, you should see the device appear in the “Other Devices” section of the Bluetooth Settings page if you’re still in range of the accessory and it’s available for use. Tap on the device name to restart the pairing process.
Delete Old Pairing Profiles
Sometimes having old, unused pairing profiles stored on both your iDevice and your accessory (if it has a screen) can cause connectivity and pairing issues between your iDevice and your accessory. Make sure you delete any old partnerships that aren’t being used on either your device or your accessory.
Perform a Reset
If this looks like a common solution, it is. You’ll likely be using this process a lot here. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button until you see the Apple logo appear on your iDevice screen. Then let go of both.
Check for an Accessory Firmware Update and Apply It
Sometimes it isn’t you. Sometimes it’s the hardware that doesn’t play and work well together, especially after an iOS upgrade to your iDevice. If you suspect this is the case, check the support website for your accessory. It may have a firmware update available for it. If it does, download and install the update, following the instructions on your accessory’s support page.
Problem 4: Battery Life is Noticeably Reduced
Battery life on ANY mobile device is a big deal. It’s often that any change to your device – a new app, new accessory, OS upgrade, etc. – can result in your battery life tanking. That’s not good when you’re out and about and can’t get to a power outlet and don’t have a portable battery you can hook up to. When this happens try these things to make your iDevice live longer.
Operating Temperature
Batteries are finicky and often bleed power when they’re too cold or too hot. If you find your iDevice in either of these temperature extremes, do your best to bring it back within its operational temperature range.
Check which Apps You Have
Apps are the number one cause to bad battery life. Many of them require the use of either WiFi or mobile data. Start by checking “Settings -> Battery” in the Settings app to see which apps have been using the most battery life. You can see what’s been eating the most power over the past 24 hours or the past week. Apps that use background processes will be identified under the name of the app. Some apps just aren’t well behaved. If you find one that really gobbles up the power, and it’s not one you feel you HAVE to have, consider deleting and replacing it with another similar app or simply doing without it.
Lower the Brightness of Your Display
Your display’s backlight eats up a lot of power. Turning the brightness down can really help extend your battery life.
Use Lower Power Mode or Airplane Mode
Low Power Mode is a new feature with iOS 9, and it usually tries to activate on its own when your battery hits 20% or lower. Low Power Mode will turn off background app activity, deactivate push mail and automatic downloads and reduce or turn off some visual effects. If you know you’re going to be away from power over the course of a day or more, activating Low Power Mode shortly after you charge your iDevice to 100% can dramatically extend your battery life on extended stints away from a power outlet. Alternatively, turning on Airplane Mode to turn off all your iDevice’s radios (Wi-Fi, Cellular and Bluetooth) will also help extend battery life but will prevent you from using any wireless radio (like the cellular radio on your iPhone). Low Power Mode extends battery life without temporarily depreciating its functionality.
Problem 5: Consistent TouchID Failures
TouchID is the key to unlocking your (more recent) iDevice and to Apple Pay. Intermittent fingerprint reading issues are common and are usually resolved by simply having your iDevice try to read your fingerprint again. When that doesn’t work, additional troubleshooting may be necessary.
Clean Your TouchID Sensor
I’ve had sweat or water drops on my trained fingers prevent my iDevice’s TouchID sensor from reading my fingerprints correctly. When this happens, make sure your Home button/ TouchID sensor and your hands are clean and dry, and try again.
Perform a Reset
Hold down the Wake/ Sleep button and the Home button until you see the Apple logo; and then let go of both. Again, this should be one of your go-to troublshooting tools for your iDevice.
Add Additional/ Retrain Your Fingerprints
Sometimes the biometric data in your iDevice can get messed up. When this happens, you can add additional fingerprint data. Giving your TouchID sensor more than one finger to read is a good idea for when you bump into issues. You can also delete your fingerprints and retrain all of them, if needed.
Have You Had Your Screen Recently Repaired?
If you have had your screen recently repaired by a third party, and you see a dialog box referencing Error 53 on your iDevice, then it’s possible that your repair has permanently cut off access to your iPhone’s Secure Enclave. If that’s the case, upgrading to the latest version of iOS will fix any activation or phone usage issues you may have; but you won’t have access to Apple Pay or any other TouchID features on that iPhone any longer. If you want that back, you may need to get the device repaired or replaced directly by Apple.
Problem 6: Poor or Slow iDevice Performance
Depending on what device you’re running the latest version of iOS, it’s likely that the new version is a little overwhelming when it comes to your legacy hardware. If this is the case, and you’re experiencing this after an OTA or in-place upgrade of your iDevice, there are a couple things you can try to make certain you get the best performance out of your device as possible. These troubleshooting tips should work for any device running any version of iOS.
Perform a Reset
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button until you see the Apple logo and then let go of both. This will reset all settings and get you back to a better spot. Again, this should be one of your go-to troublshooting tools for your iDevice.
Restore Your iDevice from a Backup
If you have a backup of your iDevice from a point in time where you weren’t bumping into the performance issues that have you at this spot, then restoring your device to THAT state may solve your problems. While you can do this over the air, the best and fastest way to do this is while connected to iTunes via a Lightning cable. To do this, connect your iDevice to your Mac or PC with your Lightning cable.
1. Open iTunes. Click the iDevice icon.
2. On the iTunes screen of the iDevice, click the Restore <iDevice> button and follow the onscreen and on-device instructions.
3. If you need to download the latest version of iOS from Apple to do this, allow it to download. The process will continue after the download completes.
4. When iTunes is finished restoring your iDevice, it will ask you if you wish to restore the device with a specific backup (your most recent backup will be selected by default) or if you want to set it up as a new device. Choose the restore from backup option and follow the onscreen instructions. It may take a while for all of your content to copy back over to your device, but it will be quicker via cable than OTA.
Rebuild Your iDevice from Scratch
This is the same thing as restoring your device from a backup, and you should follow the same steps. When you get to the point where iTunes asks you if you want to restore the device from a backup or set it up as a new device, choose set up as new device. Again, you’re going to want to do this via a Lighting cable connection to your Mac or PC. You will need to identify what apps, music, video, etc. to install on your iDevice, but that’s a small price to pay for ensuring that the performance issues you had won’t come back for a while.
Problem 7: Device Won’t Activate
This problem usually occurs after an iOS update. If you find that you’re bumping into a situation where your iDevice won’t activate after an update, you can try these steps
Update the Device Again
It might be quicker; it might not be, but any way you look at it, cable your iDevice to your Mac or PC and stat iTunes. Click on the device icon in the main iTunes Window and then click the Update button. Run through the update process again as far as your computer and device take you. You may have a “dirty bit,” and it’s just possible things didn’t install right.
Verify and Update the Version of iTunes You’re Using and Bounce Your Computer
You need to make certain that the version of iTunes you’re using is the latest greatest version. If it’s not, update it and restart your computer. If it is the latest version, simply bounce the box and try the update process in step number above again.
Restore Your iDevice
Instead of trying an update via iTunes, try a Restore. The steps are similar to number 2, above, but instead of clicking the Update button, click Restore.
[/accordion-item][accordion-item title=”Problem 8: Mobile Data Won’t Use LTE Speeds”]
Some users have reported issues connecting to LTE after an update.
Perform a Reset
You know the drill. Press the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time until you see the Apple logo. After the device restarts, check to see if you can get on the LTE network.
Install Any Pending Carrier Updates
On the device, go to “Settings -> General -> About.” If there IS a carrier update available, a dialog to that effect should pop up and ask you if you want to install it. Install it and then try to get on the LTE network again.
Reset Your Network Settings
Go to “Settings -> General -> Reset” and tap on Reset Network Settings. You’ll have to set up all your WiFi networks again, but this might just do the trick.
Contact Apple or Your Wireless Carrier
If you’re still having issues, this could be evidence of a hardware issue. Go to your local wireless carrier store or make a Genius Bar appointment at an Apple Store and see if they can help you.
Problem 9: Spotlight Search Results Don’t Include Contacts
After updating to iOS 9, some Spotlight users are reporting that their search results don’t include information from their Contacts. This can happen even when the contact in question is on the device and the contact’s name is used in the search terms.
Tweak the Settings
Go to “Settings -> General -> Spotlight Search” and make sure Contacts is toggled on. Open up Contacts and tap the Groups link in the upper left corner. Toggle the Hide all Contacts link on and off.
Toggle Spotlight, Perform a Reset
Go to “Settings -> General -> Spotlight Search” and turn off Spotlight for all apps. Then hold the Wake/ Sleep and Home buttons down until you see the Apple logo and then let go of both. After the device reboots, go back to the Spotlight settings and turn Spotlight Search back on for all apps, including Contacts.
Remove Facebook Contact Links
Syncing your Contacts with third party apps, especially Facebook, can sometimes cause this problem. While it can be very time consuming, removing the Facebook link in each of your individual contacts has been known to resolve this issue for some. To do this, you have to edit each of your contacts, and in the Linked Contacts section near the bottom of the Contact Edit Screen, remove the Facebook link.
Conclusion
Upgrading your iDevice to iOS 9 can bring extended value and longevity to its use. However, it can also introduce a number of complex problems. Resolving them is easy if you take a methodological approach, and there’s often more than one solution, too. Have you bumped into iOS 9 problems not covered here? Why don’t you tell us about both the problem and the solution that worked for you in the Discussion area below?