Given the popularity of our post ‘10 Coolest Features of iOS 9′, it isn’t hard to guess that people are loving the new operating system on their iPhones and iPads. Apple supported our hypothesis by announcing that more that 50% of iOS devices have already upgraded to iOS 9, making it the fastest adoption of a mobile OS ever!
Does this mean that iOS 9 is a perfect software? No, not if you ask the unlucky few who are finding it a recurring nightmare. There are complaints of battery drain, unresponsive apps, and some weird issues like contacts not showing up in spotlight search – a problem our team experienced firsthand.
So what’s the fix? Well, we tried all the standard tricks like hard restart, deleting and reinstalling apps etc. Sadly they work in very few cases. Finally, we were left with 2 choices – to wait for Apple to issue an update (many problems are still unresolved in 9.0.2) or to go for the ultimate solution – formatting the device! We chose the latter.
Besides being a time consuming chore, formatting is not a straightforward process either, especially if you’re using the beta versions. So we decided to lead the way by formatting our iPhone and noting down the following steps for you:
(Please read all steps before starting the process)
Step 1: Download Software Files Download software files. Sounds simple enough, but it isn’t. There’s a small problem – you won’t be able to find the software files on your iPhone or iTunes. Why? Because you’d already upgraded your software, remember?
But, worry not. Use the relevant link from the list below to get the latest iOS 9.0.2 files:
- iPad Air 2 (6th generation WiFi)
- iPad Air 2 (6th generation Cellular)
- iPad Air (5th generation Cellular)
- iPad Air (5th generation WiFi)
- iPad Air (5th generation China)
- iPad (4th generation CDMA)
- iPad (4th generation GSM)
- iPad (4th generation WiFi)
- iPad mini (CDMA)
- iPad mini (GSM)
- iPad mini (WiFi)
- iPad mini 2 (Cellular)
- iPad mini 2 (WiFi)
- iPad mini 2 (China)
- iPad mini 3 (China)
- iPad mini 3 (WiFi)
- iPad mini 3 (Cellular)
- iPad mini 4 (WiFi)
- iPad mini 4 (Cellular)
- iPad 3 Wi-Fi (3rd generation)
- iPad 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular (GSM)
- iPad 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular (CDMA)
- iPad 2 Wi-Fi (Rev A)
- iPad 2 Wi-Fi
- iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G (GSM)
- iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G (CDMA)
- iPhone 5 (CDMA)
- iPhone 5 (GSM)
- iPhone 5c (CDMA)
- iPhone 5c (GSM)
- iPhone 5s (CDMA)
- iPhone 5s (GSM)
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 4s
- iPod touch (5th-generation)
- iPod touch (6th-generation)
Source: Redmond Pie
Step 2: Backup
Connect your iPhone to iTunes and take a backup. Make sure you select ‘This Computer’ and ‘Encrypt local backup’ to ensure that it’s saved.
Step 3: Find my iPhone
Turn off ‘Find my iPhone’ by going to Settings > iCloud.
Step 4: Restore
Hold down the Option key on your Mac and click on ‘Restore iPhone’ in iTunes. It will show you a pop up to choose the software file. Navigate to the location where you stored the file downloaded in Step 1.
Step 5: Setup
Wait for the iPhone to format and when you get the welcome screen (as shown above), you have two options – ‘Set up as a new iPhone’ and ‘Restore from this Backup’. We recommend the latter. Make sure you select the latest backup you took few minutes ago.
Warning: For Beta Testers
If you were using iPhone beta and had upgraded to iOS 9.1 or above, you WON’T be able to restore from the backup as the new OS is an older version. You’ll be forced to select ‘Set up as a new iPhone’.
That’s it! Your iPhone should now be free of all irritating bugs and errors. The process is tedious, we grant you that; but formatting your phone is worth the time and effort. Our phones definitely works much better now and we hope yours does too. Let us know how it went.
PS: You can follow same steps to restore iPads as well.