Shorty after Apple released iOS 7, we began hearing reports that it's buggy on the iPad 2. Everything from crashing apps to general wonkiness seemed to be troubling some users. With that in mind, I updated my own iPad 2 to iOS 7 try it out. Here are my first impressions of Apple's new mobile operating system on an older piece of hardware.
Installation
Installation was a breeze. After backing up my iPad, the process unfolded as expected. It's noteworthy that iTunes would not execute the installation until a full backup was complete. It failed at first as I had to free up some space on my MacBook Air's drive. Once that was done, it went swimmingly.
Installation was a breeze. After backing up my iPad, the process unfolded as expected. It's noteworthy that iTunes would not execute the installation until a full backup was complete. It failed at first as I had to free up some space on my MacBook Air's drive. Once that was done, it went swimmingly.
Issues
The only issue I've encountered is with responsiveness. Tapping a folder to open it sometimes takes half a beat. Likewise, scrolling through thumbnails of running apps via multitasking isn't as smooth as it is on my iPhone 4S. Also, the lovely blur effect that's seen when you pull Notification Center down on more contemporary hardware isn't there on the iPad 2. Instead, you simply see a darker version of whatever is behind the sheet.
I also found a slight delay when pulling up a keyboard, especially in Mail and Messages, as well as when switching keyboards (alpha vs. symbols, for example). Note that none of this is annoyingly bad, but it is noticeable.
There's bad news for One Direction fans: my daughter's beloved 1D app now crashes when you try to play a video. But that's likely an incompatibility bug in the app. Or maybe it's a commentary on One Direction.
The only issue I've encountered is with responsiveness. Tapping a folder to open it sometimes takes half a beat. Likewise, scrolling through thumbnails of running apps via multitasking isn't as smooth as it is on my iPhone 4S. Also, the lovely blur effect that's seen when you pull Notification Center down on more contemporary hardware isn't there on the iPad 2. Instead, you simply see a darker version of whatever is behind the sheet.
I also found a slight delay when pulling up a keyboard, especially in Mail and Messages, as well as when switching keyboards (alpha vs. symbols, for example). Note that none of this is annoyingly bad, but it is noticeable.
There's bad news for One Direction fans: my daughter's beloved 1D app now crashes when you try to play a video. But that's likely an incompatibility bug in the app. Or maybe it's a commentary on One Direction.
The good
The rest, so far, has been all good. Web surfing on mobile Safari is what I expect. Mail does as well. In fact, I haven't had an app crash or refuse to function. It's also notable that the parallax effect works, as does the "dynamic" wallpaper. A few of you had questions about that on Twitter.
I plan on spending more time with it over the weekend, but after a day's use, I can say that, aside from some minor responsiveness issues, iOS 7 seems just fine on the iPad 2. I'll have more after the weekend.
The rest, so far, has been all good. Web surfing on mobile Safari is what I expect. Mail does as well. In fact, I haven't had an app crash or refuse to function. It's also notable that the parallax effect works, as does the "dynamic" wallpaper. A few of you had questions about that on Twitter.
I plan on spending more time with it over the weekend, but after a day's use, I can say that, aside from some minor responsiveness issues, iOS 7 seems just fine on the iPad 2. I'll have more after the weekend.
Data source: via TUAW (By Dave Caolo)
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