Tech help please - replacing ipad

[Huckleberries]

Help, please anyone in the know

I have an old iPad, I think it's about six years old maybe more

It's now crashing all the time, and I don't know if it's the age of the iPad or if it's iPad itself

I need something new, something like a tablet

I'm not a big fan of android systems

But I'm willing to look at something that's simple

It crashes every single time on YouTube and Instagram. I think what it can't cope with a graphic heavy page. I like to browse fashion a lot so any shop will crash it!

I do have an iPhone, so there is the issue of transferring photographs - when I edit photographs I like to do it on the iPad because I can see better

Is something as basic as a kindle fire going to work? I don't do anything complicated on the iPad. It's just really for browsing. And emails. Everything else can be done on the laptop or phone

Thanks for any recommendations
I don't really know what prices I'm looking at either because I haven't had to do this for a long time!

I like iPad, but I'm worried that I'll update it and it will still be rubbish
There seem to be a lot of complaints about iPad now

Actually, thinking about it, even Spotify doesn't run sometimes on the iPad

But I find it hard to believe that such a major company has got something so wrong - maybe a new iPad will fix everything? Maybe the device is just too old but it can run the updated software so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have a fire tablet and i rarely use it. I far prefer my phone or laptop for browsing as they seem to be quicker. Also the amazon apps store is limited. I mention this because i find that some websites can work better on different web browsers. I don't think that you can get firefox on a fire tablet and i do find firefox useful. I would probably just replace your ipad.

@NimbleHiker that's interesting. I wonder if a change of browser would help me.

Unusual for an iPad to actually crash, or do you mean it just becomes unresponsive? Either way, I suggest

1. Try resetting it (i.e. completely erase) and see if it fixes it.. it might.
2. Make a appointment at an Apple Store (free) if you have one near you
3. Buy a new one, or a previously enjoyed one from Music Magpie

Just get the iPad. Everything transfers by simply holding your phone next to it. It’s seamless. You can probably trade in your old one for £20-£30. I change mine every 2-3 years or so and if I lost mine I’d go straight out and buy another one. They just work and they sync with your iPhone.

They just get slow and apps stop updating. There also isn’t enough storage on an old one for the demands of today’s users.

@Dbank maybe I mean it becomes unresponsive

So it freezes

I can't really use Instagram at all now

Basically, you get stuck on the Instagram page and you can't shift without Switching it off

I'm not anywhere near an Apple Store

Doing a factory reset means losing all my saved stuff, doesn't it?

I wasn't too concerned about getting a new iPad, That's what I had before this one. I think I've had them for about 12 years now. I know it's really easy to transfer

I mentioned the photos because I thought in future when I'm out and about and I take photos with My phone, I'll have to just edit them from my phone rather than doing a transfer if I get a Samsung or something

My parents have Samsung, and it's really not intuitive, but it seems to be more reliable than what I've got - they use there a lot less though

But I was looking online for recommendations for a good tablet and I was struck by how many people are saying that iPad is terrible now. That's what made me think. Maybe I shouldn't get an iPad.

@AImportantMermaid everything seems to be updated fine though

When it runs, it's not running slow

Just a lot of the time when it arrives at YouTube or Instagram - instant crash or freeze or whatever we're calling it

And also clothes shops
it's something to do with a graphic heavy page i reckon
Everything else is fine

i'm sure I saw a thread on here that said iPads are crap now

maybe it is just too old because it seems to charge a bit slower than it used to

How much spare memory does your iPad have? If you’re trying to run it with an almost full memory it will slow down and crash. I’d look at freeing up some memory first. If that didn’t work I’d consider doing a factory reset. Make sure everything is backed up or saved elsewhere first.

If you buy a new/second hand iPad then make sure you buy one with more storage than you think that you’ll need. Like, double the storage.

@FeralWoman 12 GB spare
That's loads, isn't it?

if I do a factory reset

I think I only have to transfer photos

That's not too bad is it? Cause I would just do it from My phone

Thanks for the advice guys
I have to go to the gym now and then I'm off out

So I will fiddle with Settings and maybe factory reset tomorrow

It's probably less hassle than I think it is!

It is worth a go.

Ipads get old slow wont uodate. Trade in fir a new one

12GB is almost nothing. No wonder it’s having problems. I’d aim for 20-30GB minimum. Delete any apps that you don’t use.

How often do you fully shut it down and restart it? Try doing that. Turn it off with the “slide to turn off” thing or whatever it displays after you’ve pressed whatever combination of buttons is needed. Leave it off for about 5 minutes then restart it. I find that it can help.

Make sure you’ve turned off permission for apps to do background refresh. If they’re doing that they’ll be taking processing power from handling the graphics-heavy websites and apps.

A six year old iPad should still be okay. I have an iPad Air 3rd generation which was released in 2019. Bought it second hand. It works great. Runs on iOS 18. Teen DD uses it the most and requested that we not update it to iOS 26 so we’ve left it at 18. She has no complaints about it at all. It has 20GB spare.

Which iPad model do you have? You can see details on the back.

If you want your photos to go from iPhone to tablet automatically, I would stick with an iPad.

I don’t know who said iPads are rubbish but I don’t find that to be true.

It sounds like you are either out of space and/or memory. How old is it?

Model details can also be found in Settings -> General -> About.

12gb isn't much at all, a six year old iPads battery health is probably below 80%, my 2021 iPad Pro is 81% battery health and runs down quite quickly, everything else is fine though. I would probably get a new one.

@FeralWoman "12GB is almost nothing"

I said it had 12 GB remaining So 12 out of 32. That's fine surely? It's got more than a third of it storage capacity left

I can't look up the model number because I'm out now but I'll post it tomorrow

thanks everyone this is really helpful
didn't even know I could look up the battery health, I will check that too!

If it's only 32 gb that is probably the problem, just looked at my 128gb ipad storage and iOS is 26.5 gb and system data, whatever that is, is 23.37 gb. If you get a new one get at least 128 gb

Regarding resetting and erasing the existing iPad.

I would expect that you have any photos and documents saved on your iCloud account, so you just sign into the iCloud account again after you have reset and erased it and they download automatically.

Many ways to check it's back-up on iCloud, including logging in to iCloud.com on another device, and confirming that you're seeing everything you expect.

You will have to re-install the applications, but that's not hard, provided that any purchases were made on the same iCloud account.

I would expect the whole process to take less than 20 minutes.

However you may find the iPad is still a bit slow and unresponsive due to the demands required by newer versions of the operating system.

Check the battery health, as the OS reduces performance to make it last longer.

If it’s only a 32GB iPad then that’s your problem I think. It’s just not big enough to deal with the larger apps, greater resolution and more intense graphics of today. 12GB available just isn’t enough for it to run properly.

Mine froze on Tuesday after an os update. I just did a hard reset and it is fine again now. I do not have much stuff on it, though. It is 9 years old.

Kindle fire tablets in my experience are rubbish. Slow, clunky, not intuitive to use unless you buy the top model and then you may aswell buy an iPad.

This link tells you how to check battery health on an older iPad using the analytics data and other methods because only some newer iPads have the battery health feature

https://www.currys.co.uk/check-ipad-battery-health.html

Thanks, everyone

I have looked it up and it turns out it's eight years old, which is more than I thought

I am prepared to buy a new one so that might just be the answer to the question!

I don't have the battery health feature

I don't want to throw money around, but I think a new one after eight years is reasonable.

Thanks for all your advice - I really had no idea that the memory and stuff could be an issue now basically I didn't know how much these things have moved on

So I have a new toy to play with next week, will try and order one over the weekend