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iOS 9.2 iPhone 4s Reviews: Should You Upgrade?

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Should you install the iOS 9.2 update on the iPhone 4s? We’re hearing this question from many owners of this older iPhone, which is the oldest that can still run iOS 9.

Is iOS 9.2 worth installing on the iPhone 4s? This update packs in a lot of features and bug fixes that are important to consider, but older phones don’t always handle new updates as well as the rest of the lineup.

First off, the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 update is real and available. We routinely hear from users who don’t think the iPhone 4s is capable of running the latest iOS 9 update — including iOS 9.2.

We spent the last day reading through the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 reviews from average users to find out how the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 performance is and if the new features work well on the iPhone 4s.

What you need to know about the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 update.

What you need to know about the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 update performance and speed.

This is a closer look at what you need to know about running the iOS 9.2 iPhone 4s update and if you should install iOS 9.2 on your iPhone 4s now.

iPhone 4 iOS 9.2 Installation

The iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 installation is fairly smooth, with no major issues reported overall or for the iPhone 4s specifically.

We still recommend backing up your iPhone before you install iOS 9.2 and taking additional steps to prepare your phone for this update.

Wait to update until you are at home, connected to WiFi and you have enough power and you should be good to go.

iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Performance & Speed

How good is the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 performance? Watch the video below to see how iOS 9.1 and iOS 9.2 compare in speed on this aging iPhone.

The iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 update appears to perform slightly better than the previous version, especially in animation speed while switching and closing apps. This can add up dramatically over the course of a day while you use the phone over and over.

We haven’t seen many user reviews yet, that focus on the performance. If you search, be careful as we found a number of complaints from iPhone 4s users on iOS 9.0.2, mistakenly calling it iOS 9.2 and from users on other versions or beta releases.

iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Apps

Right after the speed of iOS 9.2 on the iPhone 4s, app performance and app reliability is a major concern. We are not able to find many complaints about apps not working on the iPhone 4s after installing this update. You should research specific apps that are critical to your work or life before you update, but popular apps should run just as they did on iOS 9.1.

iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Battery Life

Reports of iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 battery life are scarce, which is actually a very good sign. We saw some reports that the battery life is better after installing the iOS 9.2 beta on the iPhone 4s.

At this point there are very few complaints about bad iPhone 4s battery life after upgrading to iOS 9.2. We typically see more complaints than we see praise for an update so the lack of tweets and support threads is a good sign. If you run into problems, use this document to fix bad iOS 9 battery life.

iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Connectivity

Installing an update like this can cause issues with Bluetooth or cellular connectivity. There is even a chance that you could run into WiFi problems after an upgrade.

There are no reports of broken WiFi, Bluetooth or cellular connectivity on the iPhone 4s with iOS 9.2 installed. These types of problems can greatly impact usability, so we typically see problems surface fast.

Read iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 reviews to find out if you should upgrade.

Read iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 reviews to find out if you should upgrade.

iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Bugs

There may still be some iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 bugs that have yet to surface. Sometimes problems will appear after extended use, but with no major issues arriving in the first 24 hours, there is a good chance that major bugs are not present. This is what you need to know about iOS 9.2 problems.

Should You Install the iPhone 4s iOS 9.2 Update?

If you are already on iOS 9 or iOS 9.1, it make sense to install the iOS 9.2 update now. This upgrade brings a lot of new features and bug fixes that users will appreciate. Another reason to try this upgrade today is that it is still possible to downgrade to iOS 9.1 from iOS 9.2. This is an option that Apple typically leaves open for a week or so, essentially allowing users to try the update.

Users on iOS 8.4.1 or another version of iOS 8 should approach with caution. There is no way to go back to iOS 8.4.1 after you upgrade to iOS 9.2. The video below shows the performance of iOS 8.4.1 against the iOS 9.2 beta on the iPhone 4s and iOS 8.4.1 is faster.

At this stage if you are on iOS 7, it makes sense to stick with the software currently running on your iPhone. You will likely notice speed differences when you upgrade to iOS 9.2, and you may be better off waiting until you get a new phone to upgrade.

It is also worth noting that there is no current iOS 9.2 jailbreak, so if that is important hold off on upgrading.

The slides below outline what is new in iOS 9.2 compared to iOS 9.1, including new Siri Arabic iPhone support.

iOS 9.2 vs iOS 9.1: What’s New in iOS 9.2

iOS 9.2 Fixes iOS 9 and iOS 9.1 Problems

iOS 9.2 Fixes iOS 9 and iOS 9.1 Problems

Perhaps one of the biggest changes with the iOS 9.2 update is that it fixes a lot of iOS 9 problems and iOS 9.1 problems for iPhone and iPad users.

We see small fixes come in targeted updates, but the iOS 9.2 update packs in a lot of new fixes that may solve a problem that annoyed you for the last several months. Here are the new fixes in iOS 9.2.

  • Fixing an issue that caused mail attachments to be inaccessible for some users with POP email accounts
  • Resolving an issue for some users that caused attachments to overlap text in mail
  • Fixing an issue where Live Photos could have turned off after restoring from a previous iCloud backup
  • Addressing an issue that could cause search in Contacts to display no results
  • Resolving an issue that could have prevented Calendar from displaying all seven days in week view
  • Fixing an issue where Camera screen on iPad could be black when attempting to capture video
  • Addressing an issue that could cause instability in the Activity app when viewing the day of Daylight Savings Time transition
  • Fixing an issue that could prevent data from appearing in Health
  • Fixing an issue that could prevent Wallet updates and Lock screen alerts from displaying
  • Addressing an issue where updating iOS could prevent an alarm from going off
  • Fixing an issue where some users were unable to login to Find my iPhone
  • Fixing an issue that prevented some manual iCloud Backups from completing
  • Addressing an issue where using the iPad keyboard could unintentionally trigger text selection mode
  • Improved keyboard responsiveness when using Quick Reply
  • Improved punctuation input on the 10-key Chinese (Pinyin & Stroke) keyboards with new expanded view of punctuation symbols and better predictions
  • Fixing an issue on Cyrillic keyboards where caps lock would be enabled when typing in URL or email fields

You'll notice that many of these are targeted, but cover things that can easily annoy users. Slow keyboard response in Quick Reply is one of our frustrations with iOS 9.1 that this fixes. Other upgrades fix alarm bugs, iCloud backup problems and much more.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Frankdwalker

    12/10/2015 at 7:10 am

    0=12 my best friend’s half-sister makes $87 /hr on the laptop . She has been out of a job for eight months but last month her check was $16467 just working on the laptop for a few hours.
    find more info….. See More

  2. Caroline

    12/15/2015 at 11:11 am

    I have a 4s and as soon as I updated to 9.2 I lost my phone capability. Can’t call out, nobody can call in (but can leave a voice message). How to fix this serious issue?

    • prayersanddreams

      12/23/2015 at 12:16 pm

      Me too, and my wife as well. For me, taking the SIM card out and putting it back in worked, but not for my wife. We stumped Apple Chat as well. Her phone is still not working. The same thing happened to me when I installed 9.1, so I think this is my last update.

  3. Michele

    01/28/2016 at 1:05 am

    After attempting the update, my iPhone 4s is stuck in permanent recovery mode (i.e., error 29). I’ve run all the fixes, called Apple Support (who took over control of my computer to fix the problem), and on the Support rep’s advise took it to an Apple repair store who told me it was useless. I have gone from a functioning phone to a brick! I never would have tried to update the phone if I knew this was likely.

  4. sarah

    02/01/2016 at 12:13 pm

    fone working fine but now lots of issues with 4s since 9.2.1 update, all the ones that Apple claims that it has fixed – cant access camera screen, contacts have suddenly disappeared, cant access mail…. and intermittently slow or frozen.

  5. mark

    03/25/2016 at 12:34 am

    I finally updated, but the battery seems to wear down really fast, with otherwise normal usage.

  6. Krishna moorthy

    03/30/2016 at 1:00 am

    Health app is possible in iPhone 4 s

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