Is your iOS device giving you grief? Perhaps your battery is draining quickly or apps are quitting spontaneously. If so, try one of the following fixes. We don’t guarantee these will work for you, at at least one is applying the nuclear option: a full restore.
At the very least, these tips give you something to do while you’re waiting for your Genius Bar appointment.
And bonus: No chicken sacrifices needed!
Reboot. A super fresh reboot can fix a multitude of woes, especially when you have runaway items. Rebooting quits all apps, re-initializes all processes and gives your device a chance to start fresh. Press-and-hold the sleep/wake button until you see “slide-to-power-down.” Perform the power down, wait, and then restart the phone by pressing-and-holding the sleep/wake button again until you see the white Apple.
Reset. Sometimes resetting your device (Settings > General > Reset) either partially or entirely can clean up lingering issues. A nice Network Settings reset may return your MIA tethering options. A simple Settings reset will clean up your system without affecting any content, data or media.
Restore. A fresh restore cleans all the lint off your system. Instead of restoring from backup, set up your device as a new unit. Then slowly add back all the items you need and see if your performance improves. Plus, it gives you a chance to proactively spring-clean everything. Re-sync all the contacts, bookmarks, and apps you need — it takes a bit of time but the result can be well worth it.
If you can, always take screenshots of problems as they occur. Press and hold the home key while pressing the sleep/wake button The screen flashes white and you hear a camera click as the screenshot gets saved to your onboard album (the Camera Roll). These photos help prove you have real problems when dealing with an Apple Genius. And yes, sometimes their diagnostics don’t match up with your real world problems. Screenshots help.
Do it yourself iPhone fixes: The three R’s originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.