Month: July 2010

How to fix slow iOS 4 on iPhone 3G

So you’re a fan of the iPhone and every software update has brought about new functions and made the iPhone better like cut and paste or spotlight search with iOS 3.

And as there were not many problems with the earlier iOS software updates, your iPhone was quickly upgraded to iOS 4 the moment it was launched.

Now you’re slapping yourself thinking what have I done? The iPhone 3G is now crawling at a snails pace.

The temporary fix is to reset the phone while the other option is to downgrade from iOS 4 back to iOS 3 as discovered and detailed by other iPhone 3G users around the world.

To reset the phone, press the home button together with the sleep button and hold it there till the iPhone shuts off and begins to restart before letting go the buttons. Don’t worry about the information on the iPhone as data is not lost with a reset.

Rebooting probably clears the memory and possibly any cache. In my experience, it did help at times when the phone was extremely sluggish. However, it does not bring back the same level of response from ios3.

The next option is to downgrade the iPhone 3G from ios4 to ios3.1.3 if you prefer speed over the added functions.

Instructions can be found here. For me, I’m going to get the new iPhone 4 although there seems to be a big issue over the reception at the moment and restore the iPhone 3G when I find some spare time.

Mac Mini Living Room Setup

My first Mac Mini was an Intel Core Solo 1.5 ghz model. It was purchased from someone who used for only 6 months. The previous owner also bought a dvi to video adapter for connecting to a LCD television and a set of first generation Apple Wireless Keyboard and Wireless Mouse.

This purchase was actually due to my Black MacBook Core Duo 2.0 ghz giving some problem with random shutdowns. It was a problem that plagued the first generation Intel MacBooks. Having had the MacBook fail on me just before the semester ends left me with unnecessary stress. So the used Mac Mini was a backup system for me as it was small enough to bring along with me to University and takes up little space in the dorm room.

It was particularly powerful compared to the G4 Powerbooks and this was evident when running the iTunes visualiser. It was a lot smoother with faster frame rates. While serving as a backup for studies, it was also used to connect to the television for watching movies. This was particularly useful during parties and gatherings.

Upon starting full time work, the Intel Core Solo Mac Mini was largely left unused. The Black MacBook was also mostly deskbound and used for checking emails and facebook. The Mac Mini was subsequently sold away. The new owner wanted to replace the Core Solo processor with a faster Core Duo. So it’s use would probably be extended for a while longer.

When the Mac Mini was updated in 2009 with a better Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics card vs the old Intel GMA 950 and the Server model introduced, I was really tempted to order one. As I was in the midst of moving to my own apartment, finances were tight and I held of the purchase.

In the middle of 2010, Apple introduced a totally revamped Mac Mini. The form factor was finally revamped to be in line with the rest of the Apple product line. The enclosure was a unibody machined out of a block of aluminium. The memory slots are now easily upgraded with a twist of the bottom cover. This time around, I really wanted a Mac Mini for my living room. I did not have a DVD player and so a Mac Mini was a good choice over other products such as an Apple TV.

In the end, I found a used early 2009 Core 2 Duo 2.0 ghz Mac Mini with 4gb of memory and included a Snow Leopard upgrade disk. It was a good deal and it is now connect to a 42 inch HD Ready Samsung plasma television. I used a Belkin dvi to hdmi cable to link the video output. The dome shaped Airport Extreme wireless base station was retired as the Mac Mini now shared the internet via it’s built in wireless card.

Some of the software installed includes Plex which is similar to Apple’s Front Row but plays a wider range of file types. OSX Mame is also installed for a bit of retro gaming.

The Mac Mini is controlled via VNC (Screen Sharing) through an iPhone or other Macs in the house. With a dynamic IP updater installed, it can also be access over the internet from my office. It is also currently hosting a simple website.

Plans for the future will be a USB TV tuner to record television programmes and an external hard drive for storage of media.

Review of iOS4 on iPhone 3G

Before I upgraded my iPhone 3G to the latest iOS 4, there were many pages of apps which made it frustrating to quickly find the app I wanted.

This problem was partially solved with iOS 3 as it brought spotlight search function from the mac OS X to iPhones. So instead of manually flicking through pages of apps, a few taps of the virtual keypad and I could launch the app from the search result.

However, this did not solve the problem of sorting and arranging the apps easily for people who like to keep things systematic.

As with all new products and software, never upgrade immediately for there is a high probability of issues with a 1st generation product. In this instance, the promise of folders, unified mailbox and dictionary proved far too tempting to wait it out.

After upgrading to iOS 4, the iPhone 3G became as slow it brought back memories of using a HP Jornada running Microsoft Windows CE from the beginning of the millennium. How was it possible for Apple to release the iOS 4 for the iPhone 3G when it created such a terrible user experience?

Perhaps it was meant to be a compelling reason to encourage users to upgrade to the iPhone 4. Bottom line is don’t upgrade if you have an iPhone 3G.