iPad Apps Crashing more and more

[SEODave]

Hi all!

I have an iPad 1 (16BG 3G) which I bought through a contract in March/April 2011. The iPad has been fasntastic ever since, at my side constantly and integral to organisation and work among other things.

About 3 months ago, I noticed that apps started crashing more and more. Recently downloaded "Spice Invaders", "Unbeatable Zorg" amongst others and they all keep crashing. Even basic apps such as Evernote, Pages, Google and the App Store are crashing more and more (I can't even get into "For Business" part of App Store. Neither can a few other friends with iPad 1).

I just wanted to know if other people with 1st Gen iPads are finding the same thing?

I have yet to call support (although according to Apple, the 90 days in which I can get support have expired) but just wondered if anyone has any suggestions? I'm going to try the obvious like letting the battery run flat, turn off and turn on completely and finally, total restore.

Again, just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same problems and how you solved them?

Thanks - Dave

 

[skimonkey]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

There have been reported issues with the ipad1, since members have updated their IOS. You may find it worth while to look at some of these to get a better feel of what solutions others have done to resolve it.

I didn't see whether you mentioned what operating system (OS) you are on? The latest for the ipad is iOS 5.01. Verify that on your ipad under Settings/General/About/Version


If you have not done this already, give this a try: May want to try these in order and proceed to the next step if it does not work.

Try to quit the apps that are an issue. To do this by pressing the home button twice to see the bar of apps on the bottom of the screen. Find the apps that are not responding and long press onto the app until it shakes. When it starts to shake, touch the red negative sign in the corner of the app. This will not delete, but will close the app. Than open and retry to see if it works.

If not, than restart the ipad. Press the power switch until you get the slide lock to power off. Turn back on and retry.

If not, than reset the ipad. Press the power switch and the home button until the screen turns off. May take a few seconds to power off.

Let us know if this is still giving you a problem.

 

[monkeyboy]

What I read is that most testing particularly within Apple is now done on iPad2's and so the memory shortage problems on iPad1's are an increasingly common cause of crashes on iPad1's...

 

[SEODave]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

SKIMONKEY - I'm on the latest iOS 5.0.1 - I'll try each of those in order and reply with what has and hasn't worked. If not, I'll back everything up and see about doing a complete reset.

MONKEYBOY - I suspect that is the case, especially with number 3 on the way. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to upgrade just yet, but once I am, believe me, I will! Memory shortage is certainly what I suspect is the problem.

Thanks again for your feedback, will give it all a go and let you know how things pan out!

Regards, Dave

 

[Ruthie]

I have an original iPad and have the same problem. Some of my apps get to the point where they won't even open. It is particularly frustrating with games that you have spent a lot of time building up levels and then suddenly they just won't open. I was really enjoying Forestville but had to give up in the end as it just kept crashing.

If this is a problem with the iPad 1 but doesn't happen with the 2 then maybe it's time for me to upgrade!

 

[skimonkey]

Hi ruthie, I own the iPad2-so have not experienced these issues as 1st gen iPad users have. Many of the moderators and members with the 1st gen have said that RAM is much less than the current version iPad since the update to IOS 5. Because of that, the immediate recommendation has been to close out all apps by doing a 4 finger swipe upward or by pressing the home button twice and quitting each app. That way you are freeing up the system and hopefully won't experience some of the issues you have had.

I think that many members with the 1st gen will be looking at the ipad3, since the current version seemed to really hamper their use so to say. Hope that helps.

 

[Ruthie]

Thanks for the advice Skimonkey. Unfortunately your suggestion doesn't help as I had already tried that. Sometimes it helps to delete the app and reinstall it, but that doesn't always work either. If the new iPad 3 is coming out in March as people on the forum are predicting, maybe I should just invest in one!

 

[skimonkey]

Well it was worth mentioning since I did not see any mention of what you had done already to try to resolve on your own.

Seems like the iPad 3 is just around the corner-so not too long to wait now!

Best wishes!

 

[leelai]

Yes this is a problem we are seeing more and more with ipad1. I really do feel it's a ram issue here. Besides skimonkeys's great advice to quit all apps completely to clear more ram, you can also do a few other things that use ram. Have a look at Location Services and keep these to a minimum. Safari can be a huge user of ram depending on the sites visited, go to Settings - Safari and clear your History and Cookies and Data. Now press the Advanced tab at the bottom then Website Data. Here you will see all the sites that you have visited, clear this also. Have a play on your iPad now and see if this has made a difference, let us know.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[skimonkey]

Leelai, clearing history, data and cookies...should this be a frequent task to do as what we would do with our PC?

Also, good to know about location settings being on. Good to know, thanks for the tips. Will keep. This in my bank of learning!!

 

[foslock]

Yeah I've noticed my iPad 1 also crashing on random Apps a lot as well. I think most of this is due to developers testing on the newest hardware (iPad 2s) with a little more generous memory limits than our "old" generation one devices. Apple might be able to do something in an iOS update, but my bets are that apps are just going to get less stable on our old devices.

 

[leelai]

Leelai, clearing history, data and cookies...should this be a frequent task to do as what we would do with our PC?

Also, good to know about location settings being on. Good to know, thanks for the tips. Will keep. This in my bank of learning!!

Yes I guess that's a good way to view it, the iPad needs some maintenance to run well same as a PC does.
Members with ipad1's will just have to do it more regularly and it's such a simple task to do, so it shouldn't be a problem. Putting up with apps crashing, that's the headache!

I have so many notes now, all gleaned from this Forum and our members, so it's good to just keep putting the info out there.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[skimonkey]

Thanks, Leelai!!

 

[b00bie]

There is no guarantee that this will work for you but it did help me on my iPad 1. I read that cloud services use a bunch of main memory which makes less available for other programs so I turned off some of the ones that I don't use and that has considerably reduced my crashes. I turned off bookmarks, mail and notes, I don't use Safari or my me.com mail address and while I do synch my contacts, calendars and reminders with my wife's iPad 1 I do not use notes, so for me this was a good way to free up a little space in RAM....YMMV. i will be replaceing both of my Pads when the 3 arrives.

 

[Ruthie]

Yes this is a problem we are seeing more and more with ipad1. I really do feel it's a ram issue here. Besides skimonkeys's great advice to quit all apps completely to clear more ram, you can also do a few other things that use ram. Have a look at Location Services and keep these to a minimum. Safari can be a huge user of ram depending on the sites visited, go to Settings - Safari and clear your History and Cookies and Data. Now press the Advanced tab at the bottom then Website Data. Here you will see all the sites that you have visited, clear this also. Have a play on your iPad now and see if this has made a difference, let us know.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

Thanks, I've done what you suggested so will see if it makes a difference.