This week Apple released iOs 8.2 — its largest update for iOS 8 to date. The update can be installed on the iPhone 4s and later, iPad Touch (5th generation) and iPod 2 and later. As with all updates, the question is… should you install it?
What’s inside iOS 8.2?
iOS 8.2 is packed full of updates, bug fixes and security fixes. Oh, and of course a new app which you won’t be able to remove – the Apple Watch. Specifically, the update includes improvements to the Health App, Stability enhancements for the Music, Mail and Maps apps and fairly significant bug fixes in the Mail, Maps and Calendar apps. Let’s take a deeper look at the details.
Update Size?
The size of the update depends on your device however on my iPhone 6 Plus, the update was 565 MB. Not bad overall as long as you have the drive space. If you’re bothered with “not enough drive space” head over to Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage for a report on what’s taking up all the space on your device. In regards to time-to-upgrade, if you have the space, the update should take no longer than 3-5 minutes.
Apple Watch Support
As mentioned earlier, iOS 8.2 contains the following updates to support the new Apple Watch on iPhone 5 and later:
- New Apple Watch app to pair and sync with iPhone, and to customize watch settings
- New Activity app for viewing fitness data and achievements from Apple Watch; appears when Apple Watch is paired
Health App improvements
- Adds the ability to select the unit of measurement for distance, body temperature, height, weight and blood glucose
- Improves stability when dealing with large amounts of data
- Includes the ability to add and visualize workout sessions from 3rd-party apps
- Addresses an issue that may have prevented users from adding a photo in Medical ID
- Fixes units for vitamins and minerals
- Fixes an issue where Health data wouldn’t refresh after changing data source order
- Fixes an issue where some graphs showed no data values
- Adds a privacy setting that enables turning off tracking of steps, distance and flights climbed
Stability enhancements
- Increases stability of Mail
- Improves stability of Flyover in Maps
- Improves stability of Music
- Improves VoiceOver reliability
- Improves connectivity with Made for iPhone Hearing Aids
Big fixes
- Fixes an issue in Maps that prevented navigating to some favorite locations
- Addresses an issue where the last word in a quick reply message wasn’t auto-corrected
- Fixes an issue where duplicate iTunes purchased content could prevent iCloud restore from completing
- Resolves an issue where some music or playlists didn’t sync from iTunes to the Music app
- Fixes an issue where deleted audiobooks sometimes remained on device
- Resolves an issue that could prevent call audio from routing to car speakers while using Siri Eyes Free
- Fixes a Bluetooth calling issue where no audio is heard until the call is answered
- Fixes a timezone issue where Calendar events appear in GMT
- Addresses an issue that caused certain events in a custom recurring meeting to drop from an Exchange calendar
- Fixes a certificate error that prevented configuring an Exchange account behind a third-party gateway
- Fixes an issue that could cause an organizer’s Exchange meeting notes to be overwritten
- Resolves an issue that prevented some Calendar events from automatically showing as ‘Busy’ after accepting an invite
Security Updates
As with most iOS updates from Apple, iOS 8.2 is also packed full of Security updates. If you want more details on the security updates included in the release, visit this Apple KB article – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204413.
The Verdict
The VerdictAlthough I normally like to take things slow with iOS updates, my recommendation is to go ahead with the 8.2. Included are several key bug fixes and stability updates you really don’t want to miss, not to mention security patches. Although the update doesn’t mention performance updates for older devices… past experience shows Apple likes to slip that in from time-to-time. With that in mind, if you have a 4S device, would love to hear how 8.2 performs on your device after the update.
26 Comments
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Brian Burgess
March 12, 2015 at 5:30 pm
Yay! Support for Apple Watch! I can’t wait.
Alyssa Pepper
March 13, 2015 at 7:28 am
Hi Steve,
Love your emails! I have a 4S and so far so good with the new iOS8.2 download. I did however have many problems when I downloaded the iOS8.1.3. I had to do a complete factory reset on my phone as I had problems getting into many of my apps. I plan on upgrading to an iphone 6 plus this summer when I qualify for an upgrade.
Thanks!
Alyssa
Steve Krause
March 13, 2015 at 8:11 am
Perfect! You’re exactly who I was looking for! I have an iPhone 4S which I gave to my Daughter (as an iPod…. she’s only 7). I updated it early to iOS 8 however it was soooooo slow I removed the update and went back to iOS 7. Since then, I’ve been waiting for an update which fixes some of those early performance issues.
Since you have the same phone, how would you compare iOS 7 to iOS 8.2? Is the performance better? Tolerable? Would love to hear your thoughts! Perhaps it’s time to update the phone. Would be nice as then I could add it to my Family Share group.
Thanks,
-Steve
Eric
March 29, 2015 at 7:44 am
Hi Steve, I don’t usually leave comments on websites, but as it’s for a good cause (the little lady’s first iPhone!!!) I thought I’d write and let you know that I installed 8.2 on a 4s yesterday, having given up the idea of upgrading it to iOS 8 entirely because of disastrous reviews of earlier iterations of it. But I finally tried it, first on an iPad 2 and it was excellent and since the 4 s has the same processor I thought I’d risk it. It’s only been 24 hours but so far it is not only NOT worse than iOS 7 but better ! It even feels faster, if such a thing is possible. Obviously other people might have different experiences, and I feel their pain, but this has been my experience and I thought I’d share it. Good luck.
Steve Krause
March 29, 2015 at 8:41 am
@Eric….. did you say FASTER!
Wow, I really appreciate ya taking the time to share your feedback. I’m going to actually make the leap the do the upgrade from your feedback. I really like some of the new features around family sharing and app approval so I’ve been wanting to however bricking the phone was my main worry. Sounds like 8.2 might be the key on the 4S. Will post my feedback shortly!
Here we go!
Eric
March 29, 2015 at 9:08 am
Hi Steve I was really surprised. I put off upgrading and.read. Lots of different reviews, and rightly or wrongly I live on my phone and I can’t afford to replace it, so I can’t afford to brick it. The iPad 2 wouldn’t kill me if performance suffered so I put iOS 8 on there first (while holding my breath) On the iPad, with iOS 7 (7.1) I think it was, things were beginning to lag and get slow. That’s all gone in iOS 8 ! I enjoyed iOS 8 so much (especially Swype since I type a lot) that it revived my yearning to put it on my phone. So the other day I was feeling brave (or reckless) and just did it. On the phone, while it FEELS faster overall, some apps are probably faster and some a tiny bit slower (based on side to side comparison videos on YouTube) but some of the new features like answering messages straight from the lock screen and adding widgets to notification centre like Evernote, and entering text with Swype etc cancel out the slight loss of speed in individual apps. Obviously those last three functions aren’t so relevant to seven year old, but hopefully it will all work out well- a first iPhone is a momentous thing!!!!
Jennifer
March 13, 2015 at 10:14 am
I got the update and now my phone is acting stupid. I want it off NOW. Somebody please tell me how to do it. >:(
Edgar
March 13, 2015 at 3:03 pm
You can still downgrade back to iOS 8.1.3 and I suggest you do it now before Apple stops signing the firmware (could be next week, nobody knows.) Google “downgrade iOS 8.2 to 8.1.3,” and follow the guides that are available. I am on iOS 8.1.3 once again, and my battery life is not draining as fast as compared to 8.2. Be warned that downgrading will wipe everything off your phone so you will have to start fresh.
Valery
March 13, 2015 at 11:06 am
@Brian — why do I get the feeling your not being sincere?
… Microsoft Fanboys are everywhere these days. :) :)
Brian Burgess
March 13, 2015 at 1:29 pm
Who me… :)
Valery
March 13, 2015 at 11:19 am
So I just upgraded my iPhone 5, no issues. Still zippy and working without issues.
I used your trick on disk space however. I was full so I had to delete a few games my kids installed…..
Edgar
March 13, 2015 at 3:01 pm
I wouldn’t recommend updating, the update drains battery life for my family and I and seemed to have made things worst. I am beginning to lose faith in Apple and their updates.
Alyssa Pepper
March 13, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Steve, I am assuming you are talking to me? I do not recommend going up to any of the iOS 8’s. Stick with the ios7. I wish I never downloaded ant of the ios8’s. iOS 7 works much better on the 4s….trust me! She is only 7. No need to go to ios8. I can’t wait to upgrade my phone to resolve all my problems.
Alyssa
Scott Robinson
March 15, 2015 at 11:21 am
I just tried to sync my iPhone 6 to iTunes and got a message that my phone wasn’t “authorized.” When I click the button to authorize it, it said that the iTunes Store was not available and try try again later. ???
Sue Chamberlain
March 18, 2015 at 1:59 pm
I have a 4S for work and updated to 8.2 yesterday. My emails hit my inbox but won’t load when I try opening it so I can only read whats on the screen when I get the initial mail. Have left this with the IT department but would like to know if anyone has experienced this and how they fixed it.
Steve Krause
March 29, 2015 at 8:46 am
My advice would be to reset your inbox. It should be a fairly transparent fix. Just remove your account and re-add it. Everything should sync back including contacts, calendar and email. I didn’t have to do this with 8.2 however, a few ppl at work had issues with delayed emails and syncing issues and after the reset their exchange account, it fixed everything.
Oh Apple What Now!!
March 19, 2015 at 12:14 am
iOS 8.2 DONT DO IT, I cant connect to iTunes, cant update apps, cant load new aps! Apple has yet to comment or assist, we all use apple in our company and we are all having the same issue!!! I would love it if anyone could help!!!! I think it is time our company changes from apple, any recomendation :)
Steve Krause
March 29, 2015 at 8:43 am
Yikes — what Version of iOS did you upgrade from?
Oh Apple What Now!!
March 29, 2015 at 11:19 pm
Hey, To this iOS8.2. Manage to get them updated if i delete the app and then reinstall. If i select update it’s back to square one.
Alyssa Pepper
March 19, 2015 at 3:40 am
The recommendation is to call apple. When I had that problem, they walked to through a factory reset. They did not charge me because it was their fault. You have to tell them that your phone was always fine until you upgraded. You do the factory reset through iTunes on your computer.
Oh Apple What Now!!
March 29, 2015 at 11:21 pm
Thank for the advise, i managed to et it sorted by deleting the app and then reinstalling it. I will give the reset a try and see what happens. My iPad is also having the same issue. Will try both :),
Jesse
March 31, 2015 at 6:09 am
This update has caused my iPhone 5s to use all available storage space! At least a few others have reported the same problem: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6871320
This is very frustrating considering with all apps, texts, photos, and Safari cache, i’m using ~2gb of space.
Steve Krause
April 6, 2015 at 10:26 pm
Might be something funky going on with an app compatibility problem. You should do a full backup and do a fresh install (As suggested by S. Brennan below) and see if this helps at all. On my PC’s at least, I always find a fresh install is healthy from time-to-time.
Scott Brennan
April 6, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Hi Steve,
I read the piece you did on iOS8 with some interest as I, like others, have an aging iPhone 4S that I wish to keep going as long as possible. I had previously upgraded to iOS 8.1.3 and the results were not promising. After reading a couple of other articles (including yours) I figured things couldn’t get much worse so why not give it a try?
I did a full backup, then wiped the phone completely, and did a fresh install. So far so good. iOS 8.2 seems to be running OK. Granted the phone is not as speedy as it was when new (but what phone ever is?). Also considering when new I had iOS 5 installed. Overall the only mark against this upgrade is I’m noticing a rather substantial battery drain. Again, this has been reported at length so it’s not surprising. Plus the iPhone 4S approaches it’s third birthday so there’s not much left in the battery anyway.
If anyone is doubting the upgrade I’d re-read Steve’s piece here for the points he discusses. If you expect a slightly slower phone with reduced battery life then you won’t be disappointed. The trade off is the phone is also nice & secure thanks to Apple’s security updates. I’d also recommend a full backup of the phone and then doing a fresh install.
The kids have a 5th generation iPod and first generation iPad mini. I’ll hold off a bit longer but will probably end up migrating those over ti iOS 8.2 at some point. Again, thanks for the good writeup Steve.
Steve Krause
April 6, 2015 at 10:23 pm
Hey Scott, you’re very welcome. Thanks for the detailed debrief on your upgrade experience. Appreciate the tip on the full upgrade and fresh install.
Like you, my daughters 4S is running 8.2 without much of a problem. She normally runs it dead then plays it plugged in…. so no complaints from her on battery life so far. ;) Plus, she runs it normally with airplane mode enabled so I’m sure that helps also.
Thnx again!
angela
April 10, 2015 at 3:42 pm
so I didn’t update my iPhone to ISO 8.2, and now since there’s a new update, iOS 8.3, I can’t download and install it. How can I get it to update???