As we push away from the iOS 14 release date we’re hearing about a number of issues including a variety of performance problems impacting iPhone models.

While a lot of the feedback about iOS 14 has been great, we’ve been having a good experience across most of our devices, we’ve also been hearing about bugs and performance issues.

The current list includes UI lag, freezes, lock ups, and random reboots. These are extremely common, particularly on older iPhone models. Newer iPhones aren’t immune to them though.

Unfortunately, performance issues such as these can be tricky to fix. While you might be able to fix them on your own, some might require a fix from Apple in a new software update.

If you can’t wait and/or you don’t have time to get in touch with Apple support, we have some fixes that could help alleviate the performance issue(s) you’re seeing on your device.

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Restart Your iPhone

If you start noticing UI lag or another performance issue on your iPhone, try restarting it. Power it down, leave it off for a minute, and the turn it back on.

Update Your iPhone

Apple will periodically release new iOS 14 software. Point updates (x.x.x) are usually focused on fixing bugs while milestone upgrades (x.x) usually deliver a mix of features and fixes. And while Apple might not call out performance fixes in an update’s change log, new software always has the potential to help (or hurt) your iPhone’s overall performance.

For more on the latest version of iOS 14, take a look at our guide.

Update Your Apps

If you haven’t done so already, try updating your applications to the latest version.

App developers are currently rolling out iOS 14 support updates and they could help stabilize iOS 14’s performance on your device.

Before you install the latest version be sure to go into the App Store and read reviews from other iOS 14 users. If the reviews are mostly good, you’ll want to download the latest version.

Reset Your Settings

If you’re still not getting the kind of performance you would like, try resetting your iPhone’s settings. Here’s how to do that on iOS 14:

Go to Settings.

Tap General.

Tap Reset.

Tap Reset All Settings.

Enter your passcode if you have one enabled.

This will restore your iPhone’s settings to their factory defaults so be sure you have your Wi-Fi passwords handy. You’ll need to re-enter them.

Cleanup Your Storage

If you’ve had your iPhone for several years there’s a very chance you’ve got a lot of clutter taking up space on its internal storage. Deleting this clutter could help speed up your iPhone.

To start, you’ll want to check and see how much space is free on your device. Here’s how to do that:

Head into Settings.

Tap General.

Tap Storage & iCloud Usage.

Select Manage Storage.

If you’re getting close to the threshold you’ll want to head back into General and scroll to where it says iPhone Storage. Here you’ll get a detailed rundown of your data.

Apple will make some recommendations based on your utilization of your storage, but you can also just go through each section manually and delete files you don’t need.

Stop Automatic Downloads

iOS’ automatic update feature can be useful, but a constant stream of updates will make your iPhone work in the background.

If you’re alright with manually updating your applications on the App Store, try disabling Automatic Downloads on your iPhone and see if performance improves a bit.

To do this you’ll head into Settings. From there, Tap iTunes & App Store. From there you’ll want to toggle Updates, located in the Automatic Downloads section, off. You might want to toggle the other options off as well.

Disable Widgets

iOS 14 brought some big time upgrades to iOS’ Widgets. That being said, if you don’t use Widgets on your iPhone, try disabling some or all of them to see if that helps.

To do that you’ll want to swipe to the right while you’re on your iPhone’s home screen. After that, you have two options. You can:

Hard press on an individual Widget Scroll all the way to bottom of the screen and select Edit. This will cause them to start wiggling.

If you hard press on a Widget, a small menu will popup. To remove a widget you’ll want to tap on Remove Widget at the top.

If you selected Edit at the bottom, you can tap the minus sign on a wiggling Widget to remove it. You can also scroll down to the bottom and select Customize. This will allow you to quickly add or subtract Widgets.

We recommend disabling Widgets you don’t use. Remember, you can always turn them back on if you don’t notice a bump in performance.

Clear Browser Cookies & Data

Clearing your browser’s cookies and data will free up memory which could have a positive impact on your phone’s performance.

If you use Apple’s Safari browser go into the Settings app, tap Safari, and scroll down to where it says Clear History and Website Data. Tap on it.

Tapping this will remove your browsing history, cookies, and other data from Safari. History will also be cleared from any devices signed into your iCloud account. If you’re fine with that, tap Clear History and Data again.

If you use Google Chrome, you’ll want to head into the app and tap the three horizontal circles in the bottom right corner. They’re in the top right corner if you haven’t updated to Chrome’s new design.

Once there, tap Settings, tap Privacy, and now tap Clear Browsing Data. You can now select what you wish to delete. If you’re noticing heavy lag, you might want to clear everything.

Stop Using Background Refresh

iOS 14’s Background App Refresh refreshes apps in the background to show you the latest data when you open them up. It also makes your phone work in the background so if you don’t need this, you might want to shut it off.

Here’s how you disable it:

Go into the Settings app.

Tap General.

Tap Background App Refresh.

At the top tap Background App Refresh and toggle it off.

If you want to keep it on for some apps, leave it on and then go down your list of apps and manually turn it off for apps you don’t use.

Downgrade

If you were having a good experience on the previous version of iOS, you could try downgrading your iPhone’s software. If you don’t know how to downgrade, have a look at our walkthrough. It’ll guide you through the steps you need to take.

Restore

If you can’t find a fix for your issue, and you want to avoid taking your phone into a store, you might want to restore your device. This should only be used as a last resort.

You can do this via Finder, iTunes, or iCloud.

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