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If you have an iPhone 3GS or 4, an iPad, or an iPod Touch, an updated operating system with many new features is available to you, iOS 5. I strongly suggest waiting a few days to update as Apple servers are becoming overloaded with people trying to update and many people are reporting difficulty with the process. The update may take hours, depending on how full your phone is with apps, photos, music, etc.
If you simply can’t wait, please make sure you follow these steps for the smoothest possible update:
- Close your apps. Double click the Home button and a bar will appear at the bottom showing the open apps. Press on one of the app icons in the bottom bar and hold it until they wiggle with a red circle at the top left corner of the icons. Press the red circle of each app until they are all closed.
- Whatever you do, please back up your phone before you update! You will have to restore your phone during the update and you want all of your information to be current. To update, plug your iPhone into your computer. When iTunes opens, find the name of your phone in the left column of iTunes and right-click on it. Choose Back Up.
- Update iTunes. You cannot update your device to iOS 5 without updating iTunes to version 10.5. To update iTunes go into the Help menu at the top of iTunes and choose Help => Check for Updates.
Only after you have completed these steps should you update to iOS 5.
For a very useful step-by-step guide on how to update to iOS 5, check out this link from Gizmodo: The Complete Guide to Updating to iOS 5.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for further details on the new features in iOS 5!
Have you updated to iOS 5 yet? Did you have any problems? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Okay Carolyn, here comes the dumb question! What the heck is IOS? See I told you it was dumb…
Is that something you suggest I do with my iPod Touch? I really don’t use a lot of the features on it right now. Hopefully I will in the future but I am loving it. I trust your judgement so will await your reply.
Thanks for showing us how this is done. What would I do without you!
Have a glorious day my friend.
~Adrienne
Great question, Adrienne! Just like computers have operating systems, Windows vs. Mac, smartphones do too. iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices all use an operating system called iOS. Just like Windows was updated from Windows Vista to Windows 7, iOS was updated from 4.3.5 to 5.
This update is a big deal, with 200 new features being introduced in iOS 5. Yes, you should update, Adrienne, but please wait to do so. I’m thinking sometime next week would be good. I’m happy to help you, Adrienne, as you go through the steps. Since you don’t have a lot on your device yet, the process shouldn’t take too long if you’re able to wait till the hoopla dies down. 🙂
Thank you Carolyn, that makes perfect sense. You know how new I am to this so now I know. See, that was really easy.. I got that!
I will definitely wait, I’m in no hurry. I’m sure it will benefit me but I don’t want to worry about my device right now since everyone else is frantically trying to update theirs. They have a lot more things on theirs then I do so I’ll patiently wait. I probably will be back for some advice before I began so stay tuned.
Thank you so much Carolyn, you know how much I appreciate you! 🙂
You’re welcome, Adrienne. Anytime, my friend! 😀
Adrienne, aloha. Glad you asked the question so Carolyn could answer so brilliantly. Though I knew what IOS is, I did not know the “why” you should update. Now I do.
Carolyn, you are the best. Aloha. Janet
Thanks, Janet! I love questions because then others learn too. I am happy Adrienne asks the questions I know others are wondering too. 🙂
Carolyn – I tried the download, it really takes a lot of time to finish the upgrade to iOS5. There are couple of nice features available in the new OS – slide down from the home screen of your iPhone lists the top apps and the weather(configurable). Also there have been some reports of a bug in the upgrade process, not sure if it has been resolved until now.
Hi Praveen, people are reporting problems with the upgrade process, but I believe the problems stem from the Apple servers being overloaded, not from a bug in the software. That’s why I’m suggesting that readers wait to upgrade if possible. But you’re right, the features are very cool!
If you are getting errors like 3002 or 3200 these are Server errors from Apple.. As though there is no fix for them yet but some people have said that if you wanna update it right now then do it by manual one..
If you want to know the manual method read the latest post which is linked here below
Hi Rohit, I heard of the errors from Apple, but I believe those occurred last week and that the update process is going more smoothly now. That’s why it’s better to wait a few days to update if possible so you’re not competing with the early adopters to update.
Thanks for suggesting a manual update for those who encounter the error messages.
Hah – I wish I had read this two days ago! When I downloaded, my iPhone crashed – shut down completely. Apple suggested that I not only upgrade to the latest version of iTunes (which I did indeed have) but that I make sure that there were no updates for my computer. After I checked for software updates on my computer, rebooted, and restored my phone, the new software was safely installed (and no data lost…thankfully). The only problem that I’m having is that Facebook won’t scroll…hmmm…..
Hi Ruth, this update is challenging, but full of features. It’s a trade off, the more features, the more challenging the update.
My suggestion to you for fixing the Facebook app problem is to close the app fully, then do a hard power off of your phone (holding the power button until you see the swipe command). If that doesn’t work, uninstall the app and re-install it (you won’t lose any data, but you will have to log in again). If that doesn’t work, look for an update to the Facebook app soon. 🙂
Thanks Carolyn! FB is scrolling now 🙂
I upgraded on both my iPad and my iPhone without reading anything and following any instructions. For a while I thought a lost all my apps, and I was really worried 🙂
I also upgraded my Mac, so now everything is working perfect, and I really mean perfect. I’m have bought both Keynote and Pages for my iPad/iPhone and it works perfect with iCloud.
Hi Jens, I know just what you’re talking about. There was a point in the upgrade when I panicked and thought I lost everything. I searched on Twitter and realized I just needed to restore the phone. Phew! I’m now setting up the iPhone 4S as a restore from my iPhone 3GS. 😉
Carolyn, aloha. Thanks so much for this great post which will help non-techies understand. What I am going to do is share the link in an e-mail with some people along with your response to Adrienne. A couple of the people have iPods so they need to know this.
Mahalo nui loa. You are indeed, a Wonder of Tech!”
Enjoying a fabulous week ahead. Aloha. Janet
Janet, I appreciate your spreading the word about The Wonder of Tech. I love helping others learn about tech, so the more people I can help the better.
I hope you have a fabulous week too, Janet! 🙂
I waited until today just today so that any quirks in the upgrade process get worked out – had a few horror stories from friends! Just updated and the new features are AWESOME! Messenger, notifications and more 😀
Cant find any reason to upgrade to the 4S now..
Hi Sandip, I’m glad you’re so pleased with the update to ios 5. There are so many vast improvements over the old iOS that it must seem as if you have a new phone!
Thanks for letting us know about your experience upgrading. It’s good to know the fervor to upgrade has died down a bit so others may be able to upgrade without issues.
Hi Carolyn,
Very nice and a quick wrap up about iOS5. The new features looks pretty cool unless one or two issues have been reported at forums about some error message. Yet to see what’s going on there 🙂
I have yet to upgrade mine and I hold 1st generation 3G IPhone. Let me see how it goes 🙂
Thanks for sharing post Carolyn.
Hi Manickam, I’m sorry to tell you that if you have an iPhone 3G, you won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 5. The upgrade is only available for the iPhone 3GS and 4. The update is very powerful and a bit more than the iPhone 3G can handle.
The good news is that the newer phones are very inexpensive if you are renewing your contract with AT&T. The 3GS is currently free and the iPhone 4 is $99 with a two year contract.
Carolyn,
I have a question related to an ipad. I have a friend who is absolutely reliant on the ipad, but is absolutely not tech savvy. She has recently stopped receiving her emails via the ipad and brought it to the apple store for them to fix. They sent her home with the instructions to “just plug it into your computer” and click the new update. She did not do this because it is overwhelming to her. Again, she just doesn’t deal with technology at all. So, she brought it to us. She asked us if we can do this for her. I am assuming that we would have to connect it to HER computer, correct? Or is there a way to get the new software she needs just at the apple website? I’d like to do this for her, but do not know her password to her account and do not personally have an ipad so don’t know the process. What would you suggest?
Hi Tracy, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech. Great question! You’re absolutely right, she needs to connect her iPad to her computer so it can sync with her iTunes account. If she plugs her iPad into your computer, it will sync with your iTunes account and wipe out her iPad.
Since your friend is reliant upon her iPad, she probably has her iPad already synced to iTunes on her computer. To help her with upgrading to the new software, check out Upgrading Your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch to iOS 5.
If you have access to her computer, you can help her upgrade her iPad to the new software by following the instructions in that article. If not, she can follow along and upgrade the iPad herself. The process may seem overwhelming but once she starts the process, she should be fine.
Keep me posted and let me know if you or she need further help.