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iOS 7.0.4 on iPhone 5: Impressions & Performance

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Earlier today, Apple released a brand new iOS 7 update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users dubbed iOS 7.0.4. The update follows in the footsteps of iOS 7, iOS 7.0.1, iOS 7.0.2 and the iOS 7.0.3 update that rolled out at the end of October and it promises to fixes and enhancements for Apple’s iOS 7 users. Here, we take a look at our first impressions of the iOS 7.0.4 update on iPhone 5.

Back in September, Apple rolled out the iOS 7 update, an update that offered some massive changes to Apple’s mobile operating system and, for the first time, delivered a brand new look is and was, vastly different from previous iOS updates. Since then, Apple has delivered several new iOS updates in an attempt to iron out the software and squash any remaining bugs. And as many iPhone and iPad owners have learned, there are bugs lurking inside iOS 7.

The iPhone 5S release date is confirmed by multiple sources for September 20th.

Ever since the arrival of iOS 7, we’ve been hearing about issues residing inside of Apple’s new software. Those complaints really started to pick up steam after the iOS 7.0.2 and iOS 7.0.3 updates and culminated in the pleas for an iOS 7.0.4 or iOS 7.1 update from Apple to help alleviate the issues that apparently still plague iOS 7 users around the globe.

In recent days, we saw iOS 7.0.4 and iOS 7.1 make appearances in our server logs, a sign that something was close. However, we didn’t know if the next update would be iOS 7.0.4 or iOS 7.1. As it turns out, it’s iOS 7.0.4, a small, incremental bug fix update that advertises a fix for one specific issues, a problem with calls being made over FaceTime.

Apple says that the update, which landed earlier today, has other enhancements and fixes on board but it provided no specifics. As many iDevice owners know, iOS updates typically bring bug fixes but can also bring bugs of their own. This leads many owners to hold off on installing the software on day one.

In an effort to provide feedback, we wanted to share our own impressions of the performance of the iOS 7.0.4 update for the iPhone 5 and offer advice on how iPhone owners might want to proceed.

Quick & Painless Installation

One thing that always concerns people about iOS updates, likely thanks to past horror stories in iOS release days, is whether the installation process is a smooth one. For the most part, incremental iOS updates have been relatively painless and I can’t remember the last time that Apple’s servers were slammed on a non-major iOS release.

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iOS 7.0.4 does not break this pattern. Instead of a chaotic release, the download and installation process here was extremely painless. The update appeared ready to download in the device’s settings and I was able to get the 17MB file downloaded and installed in about 10 minutes or so. I didn’t have any issues OTA but for those that do encounter any, iTunes is also an option and one that typically works.

iOS 7.0.4 Performance

User Interface

The other thing that I typically get asked about when it comes to incremental iOS updates is about performance. These smaller iOS updates usually don’t bring any surprises or big time features, iCloud Keychain in iOS 7.0.3 was an exception, so it’s more about how the software handles with the hardware. So let’s take a look at how the iOS 7.0.4 experience has been thus far.

I’ve mentioned, numerous times, that I’ve been dealing with UI lag with iOS 7 on my iPad 3. I haven’t, however, seen any UI issues, lag or otherwise, with my iPhone 5. Of course, I’ve heard about a number of them, including missing text, multitasking not showing cards and more, but I guess I’ve been lucky.

In iOS 7.0.4, my luck hasn’t changed. I haven’t run into any lag issues with the software and things appear to be opening up and closing like they normally do. Scrolling and touch gestures are working properly as well.

Battery Life

So far, so good when it comes to iOS 7.0.4 battery life. While I can’t speak to whether it has improved or gotten slightly worse, I can say that over the past few hours, I haven’t experienced any abnormal battery train that tanks my battery when I browse the web, talk on the phone or check my email. Everything appears to be stable, at least thus far.

These types of issues typically manifest themselves in the days after a release, not on the day of a release, so I could run into some problems over the next week or so. I wouldn’t count on it though. I’ve had pretty good luck with battery life on my iPhone 5 and I get the feeling that iOS 7.0.4 doesn’t have a widespread battery drain bug on board.

And yes, I have been switching back and forth between Wi-Fi and 4G LTE for the past few hours in an attempt to gauge whether one is acting abnormally or not. So far, it has been business as usual.

Bugs

As we’ve pointed out, numerous numerous times, iPhone owners have been experiencing bugs in iOS 7.0.3, iOS 7.0.2, and iOS 7. There’s no getting around it, there are issues. I’ve been sent hundreds of screenshots and unless these iPhone owners have a hidden agenda or a ton of time on their hands, I sincerely doubt that they are lying.

That doesn’t mean that I am experiencing the same bugs though. In fact, my experience with iOS 7 has been relatively stress free. I did run into the iMessage issue after installing iOS 7.0.2, but that bug hasn’t returned since the arrival of iOS 7.0.3 last month.

Thus far, nothing is jumping out at me in iOS 7.0.3. That’s not to say that iOS 7.0.4 doesn’t have bugs, it is to say that I am not seeing any on my iPhone 5. Bugs often don’t show themselves until a few days after a release, I didn’t notice the iMessage issue on day one, so I could potentially run into some problems later on. However, it seems like iOS 7.0.4 is pretty stable.

I still am having issues with FaceTime Audio wherein sound is choppy when on Wi-Fi. At this point though, it may just be my router rather than a problem on Apple’s end. I never experienced the dropped calls that iOS 7.0.4 supposedly fixed.

Connectivity

I’ve been using Wi-Fi and 4G LTE all day and I can say that my connections on a Belkin router and AT&T’s 4G LTE network are as good as they were inside iOS 7.0.3. Nothing has changed and both connections still provide me with a solid data speeds. Keep in mind, I’ve never seen the grayed out Wi-Fi issue that iOS users have been seeing since the introduction of iOS 6.

Applications

I won’t bore you with all of the applications on my phone but I will say this. I haven’t run into any major issues with any of the applications on my device. I’ve literally gone into each app, one by one, to test it too. Troublemakers like Chrome and Facebook are functioning fine, as are Twitter, Instagram and Spotify. Apple’s stock applications seem to be functioning well too.

Should You Install iOS 7.0.4?

I’ve only been using iOS 7.0.4 for a few hours but during those few hours, I haven’t run into anything catastrophic. Everything, including battery life, appears to be stable. So at this point, it’s hard for me not to recommend installing this, considering it has the potential to fix some of the issues that users have been experiencing. with iOS.

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One group that may want to hold off on upgrading are those that are looking to jailbreak. The developers behind the jailbreak have told users to exercise caution and patience but from here, it doesn’t appear as though upgrading to iOS 7.0.4 is going to kill off the ability to jailbreak iOS 7. In fact, the coast looks clear.

Those that are skeptical, hold off for a few days. We’ll keep you posted on any issues that we might run into between now and the next iOS 7 update, an update that should be iOS 7.1.

33 Comments

33 Comments

  1. Alex

    11/14/2013 at 3:48 pm

    What I’ve noticed is that on my wifi and LTE is taken longer to download stuff. For example, it’s taking really long time to log in and download information on Facebook. Photos take long to show. I didn’t have this problem when ios 7.0.3 was installed!

    • Jamell

      11/14/2013 at 5:46 pm

      I’m on 7.0.3 and my Facebook app is acting the same way. The latest Facebook update is probably to blame. It was working fine before then.

  2. Chad Nagy

    11/14/2013 at 4:33 pm

    How is it on the iPad 3?

  3. Prashanta

    11/14/2013 at 5:14 pm

    After downloading painful 1.68GB of the update file on my windows computer, it wont update & keeps crashing.

  4. Kace

    11/14/2013 at 5:19 pm

    I was like “does this road trip have a destination???” This seriously could have been summed up in the length of a tweet…

  5. Larry

    11/14/2013 at 5:55 pm

    Not updating I just gets worse,rather wait for a jail break anyways

  6. Michael

    11/14/2013 at 6:00 pm

    updated to 7.0.4 over wifi, and lost my data connection (wifi is fine). rebooted, reset my network connections. spoke with at&t, and yada yada yada, its a freakin’ restore for me tonight!

    • Joe Gualtieri

      11/14/2013 at 6:41 pm

      It brought a bunch of other problems. And besides….nothing was wrong with my FaceTime on 7.0.3… Come on Apple, I know it’s a brand new iOS but there are still a bunch of other bugs.

  7. Tim Luna

    11/14/2013 at 7:01 pm

    Wi-Fi connection still sucks on the iPad 2.

  8. Colin

    11/14/2013 at 7:19 pm

    I live in Canada (we don’t have iRadio here yet) and iRadio didn’t even appear on the screen in the Music app however after the update it appears but gives you an error when you try to use it stating that it’s temporarily unavailable. This is the most exciting part of the update for me.

  9. Christopher

    11/14/2013 at 7:24 pm

    I haven’t updated yet. But the only problem I’ve experienced with ios7 and the updates after that is the laggy keyboard. After switching settings the battery life is decent. I have an iPhone 4 and an iPod 5 gen. It might be because my iPhone 4 is newer because I got it at the end of September. Te components aren’t old yet

  10. Fabian

    11/14/2013 at 7:57 pm

    It forced me to restore. I’m furious. I wish I hadn’t updated now. And no, it’s not jailbroken

    • Larry

      11/14/2013 at 8:05 pm

      You NEVER!!!!!! Update with a jb!!!!! Not on iTunes !!!! I feel ya apple store did the same to me, only good thing was back then I get a new phone out of it

      • Fabian

        11/14/2013 at 8:20 pm

        I think you mis-read, Larry. My phone is NOT jailbroken. I simply tried to update. Anyhoo, I’ve now just restored from my last iCloud backup so all is good again! :)

  11. Yogesh

    11/15/2013 at 5:18 am

    Can someone tell me how much battery talktime you getting after updating to ios7?.Well i’m only getting atmax 2-3 hours on playing games like asphalt 8 or injustice gods among us & on normal usage getting 5-6 hours max.
    Can some1 tell me is ever1 facing same problem or its happening to me only…
    Solutions are highly accepted.

  12. Yogesh

    11/15/2013 at 5:23 am

    iphone does have any chance of being the best when it was with ios6 not with this ios7.!!..

  13. Iphone5

    11/15/2013 at 6:02 am

    7.0.4 update drains battery much worse than my 401k…
    100% at 7AM
    78% at 9AM with minimal web and email use…

  14. Abe

    11/15/2013 at 1:02 pm

    seriously when does apple is gonna release a new update with no bugs…I didnt have any problems with facetime or security issues. Now I have a slightly problem…it drain my battery quick. 67% 6:00am – 1% 8:00 and WITH NO USE of the phone at all

    • Donnamaria

      11/16/2013 at 7:07 am

      Same here.

  15. Kera

    11/15/2013 at 1:14 pm

    Tried updating my 5s this afternoon. I’m at work, so I wasn’t watching it closely. But sometime after I selected to download and install the update over wifi, my phone stopped working. It was 100% charged at the time I chose to update it. It won’t turn on now. I can’t get it to reboot or to boot in restore mode. I guess it’s a trip to the Apple store for me tonight…

    • Donnamaria

      11/16/2013 at 7:09 am

      Same issue I’m having. Closest Apple Store is an hour away minimum.

  16. SpadeMaster

    11/15/2013 at 9:10 pm

    I can not get my alarm to work when its charging….

  17. Carlos Campano

    11/16/2013 at 4:46 am

    in my case ios 7.0.4 killed the known connections and new

  18. Donnamaria

    11/16/2013 at 7:06 am

    iOS 7.0.4 has been a disaster. Updated phone while connected to power. Phone rebooted at the end with no problem. Used the phone sparingly for about 3 hours and battery drained like lightening. Background apps not running. Put on charger (Apple charger) for 8 hours before fully charged. Phone died that night after minimal use. Put on charger for 6 hours to gain 62% charge. Phone is now dead again and I have clients to reach this weekend. Tried all the methods to get phone on, nothing works. its now been on the charge for 2 hours and not even a wink. Although it won’t sink with the 6 Mac computers I have, the Galaxy S4 is starting to look good.

    • Tom

      11/16/2013 at 11:13 am

      Immediately after installing iOS 7.0.4 on my iPhone and iPad wifi stopped working. I’m still able to connect to my access point, but I have no internet. I’m using AT&T U verse.

    • Andrew

      11/17/2013 at 3:12 am

      Similar issue with my 5S. I just did an OTA update with the battery at over 80%. The phone restarted afterwards with no problem but stopped working about half an hour later. I can’t get anything to display on screen, not even the insufficient battery indicator. No response to holding down the power button. Plugging it into a power outlet or a Mac makes no difference. But perhaps it’s just pining for the fjords.

  19. R. Krupp

    11/17/2013 at 2:37 pm

    My iPhone 4 (just updated to 7.0.4) won’t stop launching iTunes. I CAN’T KEEP IT OFF!
    My partner’s iPhone 4S randomly calls people — today, so far, 14 people. She is not making these calls. Sometimes the phone “calls” and it is sitting on the dresser! Help, please. Long-time Apple user / supporter here — but I’m feeling really unloved by Apple Minus Jobs — and I never thought I would say it – but a Droid is sounding really good these days! Not connected to my computer? I think I will live — and right now, if the phone would just work, I would prefer it.

  20. NJ

    11/19/2013 at 12:24 pm

    i updated to 7.0.4 on my (previously perfect working 4S) and the battery dies within 4 hours. even if i only used the phone to check an email. Previously, i could be on my phone all day long and it would last 12 hours. i am so frustrated and i hope apple fixes this immediately.

  21. K

    11/20/2013 at 9:31 am

    I just updated mine today and now I cant text is there a fix for this or what do I do????

  22. Chris

    11/25/2013 at 9:51 am

    Immediately after loading IOS 7.0.4 the battery life on my iPhone5 has been severely compromised. From fully charges to flat now in less than twelve hours with only minimal text use. No wi-fi blue tooth or data usage. This is horrendous!! Any advice.

  23. Hafsal

    11/26/2013 at 1:47 am

    While i start updating to ios7.0.4 i got stuck..!!! and cudnt reach to ios7.0.4 from IOS.7.0.3.

    Since i updated to ios 7 im getting started too much issues with my phone, ie.hang, not getting ring while someone calling, getting switched off frequently.. etc etc..!

    plz advice if any solution other than thrugh this phone in to garbage bin…!

  24. aroopk

    12/02/2013 at 6:40 am

    This update kills battery for quite a few users. Please read these posts and there seemingly is no fix available https://discussions.apple.com/message/23867306#23867306. My phone heats up and bettery just drains in no time.

  25. Dee Danielson

    12/26/2013 at 4:39 am

    It is taking longer than I imagined, updating iOS 7.0.4 from iOS 6 which is on both my iPad and iPhone. I have been here from 19:00 and now it’s 14:30, the next day and I have 5 hours to be here for24 hours monitoring this stuff. Hoe does stuff at apple updates works?

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