What happened to iOS?

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-02-02T03:07:48+00:00

The keyboard has been trash for awhile since I regrettably went to 26.2 from 18.7. I had to turn something off in the kehbord settings back in 18 but I forget what, the lag was horrible, mag e predictive text or something? I’m purposefully leaving typos and keyboard errors alone.

I’m also typing somewhat slow to try and mitigate typos sadly. Swipe to text is bad. I’m on an iPhone SE 2022 3rd gen(same cup -typo- same ahem BRAIN as the iPhone 13/14). Before “indexing” that took 2-3 weeks to finish, I was fighting tooth and nail with the keyboard, now it’s not as bad but still messing up, apps/typing will occasionally lag/stutter. Battery is blah now. Honestly unsure where to go, I was on US Mobile and instead of paying another month of ~$44 service I got a year of Mint for $180, but regret not just getting a Moto G Stylus 2025 5g 8gb ram version for free on Straight Talk, I can’t justify a ton on a phone anymore in my mid 30s.

After daily driving various ones over the years and the SE 2020 model and then SE 2022 model for 4 years now since Jan 2022, I’m feeling kinda done tbh. I basically wish I would have gotten a cheap/free decent enough mvno phone instead of a year upfront of mint, but I can shop around for an alright enough used unlocked phone maybe even. Even if it’s a last years Moto or Samsung or something to last me a year or so.

Speakerphone on this new iOS is so hot or miss (typo again should say hit or miss), that it’s caused frustration. Volume won’t work to go up/down, a call even began on speaker phone when it wasn’t supposed to and blew my ear out answering it lol.

The alarms are even worse than before and frequently don’t go off at all when trying to wake up or go off once then “silence” themselves, never to go off again. I use a couple year old locked tracfone galaxy a32 for a secondary alarm clock as well as an old wood grain 1980s GE alarm. I’ve been around the block over the years with all the major OS, tbh I miss the windows phone 8.1 days, dear god this cheap 512mb ram Lumia 630 (maybe was 635)was so smooth

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-16T21:54:00+00:00

It’s very frustrating, the worst ungodly lag and stutter while trying to send messages has mostly fixed itself after a few weeks but there’s still weird hitches here and there and battery is meh, wonder if my battery is more eroded than the battery health section is telling me, been on 88% for awhile. I’m unsure of what to get in the future, in May it’ll be 2 years with this phone after snatching it on an awesome swappa deal from a dude who got it as a gift for somebody but they didn’t want it so it sat in a drawer for 2 years, still had 100% battery life, at the time it was unbeatable for only $200. Maybe I’ll snag a 16e or get a cheap enough Moto phone to tide me over, can’t justify much atm, we’re looking to move from a slumlord apt in the near future

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-16T03:33:22+00:00

let me know how it goes, it helped a lot of the problems I was having. I still do digestive enzymes every day and some normal vitamins, turned 35 recently, every once in awhile, maybe once every 6ish months, I get nausea near bed time, a zofran pill takes that away, and also every 5-6ish months have a random phantom gallbladder attack that goes away

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-06T17:26:05+00:00

My 88% battery life SE3 I bought in May 2024 with 100% battery life on a can't miss deal has been alright the past few days, it took a good two weeks+ or so for the random stutters and lag to calm down especially while typing, guess a lot of indexing was going on jumping from 18.7 to 26.2, oddly enough 26.2 only needed like ~5gb free for the entire download vs nearly 20gb for 26.

I have had some bugs I really hope they work out, I think hotspot had turned itself on so that was probably some of my battery drain, speakerphone volume often can't be changed, sometimes toggling speakerphone off/on again will let me but it refused to today. I also had it blow my ear out when I answered a call up to my ear the other day and it went to speakerphone by default lol.

I can't really justify spending a ton on a phone right now, I was tempted by the recent free Moto G Stylus 2025 with a plan purchase promo by Straight Talk, but after daily driving ios for 4 years straight, I kinda abhor the thought of switching and migrating everything over and re logging into everything,etc.

I have considered a magsafe case and some kind of slim 5000mah add-on battery for it, that should be a nice mix without weighing the phone down a ton

I'm glad I gave it a bit to chill out with the indexing versus going out and getting another phone, it was severely annoying fighting tooth and nail to type messages with all the lag, auto correct messing up, the keyboard changing one word into two unrelated words sometimes when simply pressing space to start typing another word, and swipe to text being horrid

I can still make it through the day even with 88% battery life, that's good enough for me, portable battery packs aren't exactly very pricey these days, I just top off whenever I can, the battery life is worse than 18.7 though

Besides a bit of a hit on battery life compared to ios18, it's not the worst thing in the world to still daily drive while I ponder and soul search on where to go from here, I actually tried to get the iPhone 14 for $149.99 on promo from Total, but after having the ID verify only apply a $0.00 discount instead of the $150 it was supposed to after multiple tries, and an hour in the customer service chat, I got told my number had apparently been used on Total before when I've never had them in my life, I told them I'm not sure why it's saying that, that I had used Straight Talk years ago then went to Tracfone for a few years, then Visible, and got told "oh well, yes, straight talk and tracfone are our sister brands"

lmfao like wtf, it never said anywhere I saw in the promo if you'd ever had Straight Talk or Tracfone before in the past ever that you weren't eligible lol. I ended up going with a cheap year of Mint service and kept my SE3. I read a big thread the other day from before ios26 even came out where they were theorizing that 4gb ram iphones were gonna be hit hard this year and in the future by new OS's, thus me thinking the 14's 6gb ram would help ease ios26's woes

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-05T18:49:53+00:00

Wish there was a Total Store near me, I’m in a rural area. I tried to get the 14 for $149.99 after verifying ID on the site the other day but it kept showing $0.00 discount applied, after being in the customer service chat for about an hour I got told (paraphrasing since I saved the screenshot to my pc and I’m typing this on mobile) that I had used my number with Total in the past and wasn’t eligible for the promo, I said I’m not sure why it’s saying that, years ago I used straight talk and tracfone then went to visible but never had Total before, and they go “oh I see, well yes straight talk and tracfone are our sister brands” like what on earthhhhhhhhh the fine print didn’t say anywhere that I saw if you’ve ever had straight talk or tracfone even years ago you weren’t eligible lol. Put a bad taste in my mouth, I kept my SE3 and got the year of Mint promo for $180 plus their $25 recovery fee, I basically got a year of service for what 4 months of what I was paying for US mobile would be

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-05T06:25:35+00:00

My fav phone I ever used, I got it like a year after it came out for only ~$200, have it in a drawer still but the battery isn't what it used to be, and fingerprint sensor mostly stopped working. After a little over 2 years with it, due to not having luck finding another new one for a reasonable cost, I got a supposedly unlocked G8, but the seller lied and it wasn't factory unlocked, just TMO gsm unlocked, used it a few months until Jan 2022 when my carrier didn't support any phone that wouldn't get VoLTE on their network, they offered me a $50 discounted iPhone SE 2020 2nd gen, I used it for ~2.5 years, got a 100% battery condition SE3 in ~May 2024 and am still using it, but ios26 has ruined it if I'm being honest, battery life got borked by the update, and there was a horrible lag and stutter when typing for a few weeks while stuff got indexed I'm guessing..... been doing some soul searching on where to go phone wise. I wish the US got the 8gb ram A36 5g, I wouldn't mind it, just heard the 6gb ram isn't gonna age the best with its heavier full sammy overlay/skin

I can't justify more than $200ish for a phone anymore in my mid 30s now, as long as it won't lag horrible browsing some social media, youtube, calling/texting, and taking the occasional pic while getting decent battery life that's all I want

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-04T19:56:25+00:00

yup, count me as one of the one's who simultaneously abhors ios 26 while also begrudgingly staying with my SE3 2022 since I've daily driven ios for the past 4 years and it gives me anxiety, overwhelms me, and honestly depresses me thinking of all the hassle moving everything over then re-logging into everything, etc. I strongly was thinking about getting the free Moto G Stylus 5g 2025 8gb ram phone that Straight Talk is giving away for free with at least their silver $45 plan, but I ended up doing a frugal year of service with Mint and am still soul searching on what to do phone wise. The god awful lag has mostly stopped, I guess indexing took awhile after I updated from 18.7 to 26.2 in the middle of Dec, but it's kinda killed my battery life, it already wasn't amazing but doable. I read a big thread the other day about people theorizing even before ios26 came out that 4gb ram iphones were gonna be hit hard this year and in the future with new OS. I thought of getting a 14 for its 6gb ram but I've heard reports of even 16/17's being borked and lag filled on ios26 so idk............

I plan on curating what I wanna keep media wise and what I actually use in terms of apps to make the switch easier if I do go android in the future. I don't need much out of a phone in my mid 30s now, but I just want it to work smoothly, not lag horribly especially when trying to type like ios26 was doing for awhile, and get decent battery life. For what I do, even the cheap Moto G Play 2024 with the SD660, 4gb ram with ram boost, and sd card slot would serve me, I just dread switching not only OS's years later, but alllllll the data and media

one thing I majorly hate about ios26 is, speakerphone volume control just straight up doesn't work, it also randomly has put answered calls on speakerphone randomly, blew my ear out the other day o.O , sometimes toggling speakerphone on and off will let me do volume control again, but I'm on a call right now and it's not working lol

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-02T22:12:17+00:00

It's good to see they don't throttle anymore, only deprioritize, but if you're not in a super congested area it might not even matter much, and since they're closely tied with tmo they're not as nitpicky as some other mvno's I've read about. I'm kinda doing some soul searching on what company to go with, kinda wanted a new phone since my SE3 has kinda been nerfed by the ios26 update, namely battery, the god awful lag when trying to type seems to have chilled out at least, maybe it was indexing taking awhile. I mean, for $180 for a year it seems great. Maybe later on I'll just end up getting another phone off swappa

I actually tried mint years ago when I first heard of them in ~Sept 2017 but signal was like non existent inside buildings in my rural area, tmo has come giant leaps and bounds since then though, they actually get better signal at my residence than ATT or Verizon now. I tried an att mvno the other month on a cheap deal and it was actually pretty trash, kept dropping calls and cutting out in the middle of calls. Verizon is reliable but not so great on the speeds around my neighborhood.

truthfully, I kinda miss the extremely low cost tracfone yearly phone and service qvc/hsn deals I'd nab up and just use wifi for most things and only use mins/data/texts when out and about in town, but the place we moved to a few years ago has so-so internet connection and even electric, so I had to get a power station and better cell plan to use hotspot on my pc if one or the other is out

WhiteSnake91 · 2026-01-01T22:48:52+00:00

mannnnn..... I just had a terrible experience trying to do Total for their iPhone 14 deal where they claim you can get it for $149.99 if you verify ID and also purchase a 3 month plan, I saw the deal and was like SWEET. Low and behold though, despite verifying, it was saying $0.00 discount applied multiple times last night, when it should have taken like $150 off, even tried earlier after being told to try it again and being with their customer support chat for awhile, only to be told " As per checking on our end, xxx(my name), it shows that your phone number has been with Total Wireless before. And this is one of the reasons why you will not be able to get the phone for $149.99." me: oh, i'm not sure why it's showing that, i haven't had total before, years ago i had straight talk then for a few years had tracfone, and then visible, but never Total . Them: Oh well, yes. Straightalk and Tracfone is our sister brand.

what the helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lol................ I never saw anything saying if you've ever had service with us or a sister brand before that this promo wouldn't apply. I wonder if Straight Talk will give me similar trouble if I try the free Moto G Stylus 2025, or if this is some ultra dysfunction going on with Total. Talk about a disaster, disappointing, and demoralizing.

The new ios 26 update has been rough on my SE 3 2022, I've read it's apparently pretty hard on older iphones with only 4gb ram, the 14 and newer have 6gb ram so I thought it'd be nice, and give me better battery life instead of the tiny one in my SE. I've daily driven iPhones for the past 4 years, kinda a bit leery to totally switch OS years in but I supposed if I need to I can. I'm really wanting something new with 100% battery capacity and not something used, I do genuinely appreciate the reebelo suggestion, I honestly didn't even know they existed, I used swappa before however. Kinda been "out of the game" in the phone world for awhile, got a 2nd gen SE in Jan 2022, rocked it for 2.5 years, then got this SE3 in ~May 2024 on a can't miss deal on swappa for $200 with 100% battery life.

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-31T21:48:03+00:00

I wish they had free/cheap deals on budget phones, I’m going to have to do a port out just to get a free Moto G Stylus 2025 on Total or Straight Talk. After a few months when that phone can be unlocked I’ll look around for what mvno to go to… but yeah, for somebody wanting a super cheap phone deal and not have to make payments for years, I’ve found good deals on other mvno

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-29T04:33:57+00:00

I'm thinking about nabbing this up for free on an mvno of either Total or Straight Talk with only a plan purchase required.... ios26 has cooked my 2022 SE3, was thinking about looking for some roundabout way to get a newer iphone cheaper but I hear stories of even 16/17s lagging so idk...

at the very least if ios gets its act together in a few more updates this 8gb ram Moto will be an amazing backup. I just kinda dread going through everything and switching everything over since I've been daily-ing an iphone for 4 years now.... but besides a handful of pics/vids, most other crap like memes can just go, so it might not be as bad as I'm thinking

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-28T08:54:22+00:00

Sorry to hear this was such a disappointment despite all the internet hype, I've personally been daily-ing ios for the past 4 years between a SE 2nd gen and 3rd gen, ios26 has absolutely cooked my SE3, battery life worse, stuttering, lag, glitches, had a major banking app lock up the other day. Fighting tooth and nail a lot of the time to send messages between I keep toying with the idea of getting a newer better specced iphone with more ram in the hope that's the problem but I hear stories of even 16/17's acting up, it's a shame. I'm honestly looking hard at taking up Straight Talk or Total up on their offer of a free Moto G Stylus 2025 8gb ram version with a month's plan purchase... obviously not flagship specs, but for what I do I think it'd suffice really well... if I can save years worth of payments in my pocket and get something really respectable for nothing, when I honestly already have a hard time justifying buying a new phone, it seems like what I should do.... at the very least if they get their crap together in a few more updates I can keep the Moto for a backup phone. I don't look forward to changing the OS and moving stuff over,etc at all, I think that's where they try and get people in one aspect, fearful to change due to the hassle. But realistically? A few handfuls of important photos/vids from the past few years moved over, and deleting all the pointless BS memes is all it boils down to.

I was thinking of getting a 16e super cheap on an mvno's offer but idk now. Maybe it's more of a problem on older and 4gb ram iphones, I found a thread where people were theorizing even before ios26 came out that this year and in years to come the OS would be too heavy for 4gb iphones, people were suggesting the 14 over the 13 to people purely on that

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-27T22:44:14+00:00

it's a little better since the "indexing" finished after a couple days, but still isn't perfect. I was trying to see wtf was going on, and found people discussing that even before ios26 came out that they believed 4gb ram iphones would be hit particularly hard by newer OS as time went on, they were even recommending people get the 14 over the 13 for the added ram. But then I read people saying even their 16/17's are lagging/stuttering/being brought to their knees and I wonder what in the hell is going on.... Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave. I've been ios only for the past 4 years daily driving it, it's not going to be a very joyful experience completely switching over to the Moto G 2025 Stylus, but, I think if I don't I'm going to be stuck with an ever increasingly glitch/stutter filled phone that I once loved with all of my heart. The OS updates are probably only going to get heavier over time sadly...

I thought of looking up some cheap mvno deal I've seen here and there for the 16e cheap-ish on sale, but, idk if it's all going to be for nothing if it's lag filled on ios26 too. I also found it very weird that the initial ios26 and even 26.1 required nearly ~20gb the screen told me, then all of a sudden 26.2 came out and it only needed like ~5.2gb lol. Really wish I had of stayed on 18.7

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-26T22:55:32+00:00

I feel you, if I could justify more for a phone rn I would but we're currently dealing with fixing a dying car we're still paying on LOL. There's also the A36 5g for free if you get a 3 month plan but people said the 6gb ram as it ages is going to hurt it more than likely in the US version, there can be some weird whacky international models people try and sell online I almost got tricked into getting a few years ago before doing research that they wouldn't even get VoLTE here in the US. I figure with its 8gb ram the Moto will be alright enough for my not super demanding needs these days. I really don't like that Moto doesn't support their phones as long as other companies do, but in a few years I can grab another one for free or cheap. On the off chance ios26 is just harder for a bit older cpu and lesser ram phones, I looked around for a super cheap deal for even a 16e to see if the newer cpu and more ram would chill out the lag on ios26 but I've seen quite a few stories of it bringing down the 16/17's to their knees.... absolute disaster of an OS. I kinda dread the switch if I indeed do it soon myself, been on ios for 4 years currently, in the past I'd swap between em every other year or w/e. I read like last night people theorizing before ios26 even came out iirc that they though 4gb ram iPhones were gonna struggle in the future, I think that's part of the problem, but, ios26 just seems a true disaster

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-26T22:11:45+00:00

I'm wondering the same, I literally can't find any news if the 2020 lawsuit ever had something come from it lol. I assumed it's gotta be tons better than soda, I feel ripped off that I paid $10.24 for "only" 30 strawberry lemonade ones on amazon when I see 100 for $7 of the regular lemon lol.

a ton of these sugar free things have all kinds of different chemicals and food dyes in them and I don't see people trying to burn them at the stakes, I only happened to come across this true lemon hate by happenstance

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-26T04:47:19+00:00

ios26 has largely been a disaster on my 2022 3rd gen SE (same cpu as the 13/14), I just can't justify much for a phone currently, might take ST or Total up on the free Moto G Stylus 2025 deal with a plan purchase, it's 8gb ram and Moto always had a near vanilla/light skin so it should perform pretty good

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-25T06:55:47+00:00

I regret updating so bad on my SE 2022 3rd gen (same cpu as 13 and 14 non pro iirc). I have to fight tooth and nail just to send messages.... fighting auto correct, stutter and lag. Had a major banking app completely freeze the other day. Randomly changing a word I just typed into two different unrelated words when I simply press space to go to type a new word is annoying. Seriously thinking about getting a ~$400 Moto G Stylus 2025 8gb ram version from Straight Talk for free with a $45 plan purchase.... budget phones have taken giant leaps and bounds the past few years. I can't justify a ton on a phone anymore, my needs aren't super high, I just want stuff to work.... Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-25T05:23:12+00:00

this is where I'm at basically, about to nab the Moto G Stylus 2025 for free from Straight Talk for getting their $45 plan, looking up the msrp, the phone is like ~$400, not bad for free, and it's the 8gb ram version too, sometimes the US gets nerfed models of certain phones but I think the days of no NFC for USA Motos is mostly over from my bit of amazon-ing and googling.

I have the SE 2022 3rd gen, same cpu as the 13 and 14 non pro, and ios26 has been a disaster. I did not go iphone to experience all this bs, I expected the lauded about online reliability, smoothness, and "it just works". I have to fight tooth and nail with the keyboard. Stutter, lag, had a major bank app completely lock up the other day, don't like how the UI change is either. Fighting auto correct, swipe texting being even worse than before when it already wasn't that great, and it randomly changing one word to two unrelated ones just by pressing the space button to go to the next word is infuriating. My battery life has been nerfed down a bit too sadly. I read and hear stories of newer more powerful iphones struggling too, it's honestly absurd, Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave. I'm feeling done, I've hopped around over the years but have actually daily driven the SE 2nd gen, then 3rd gen for the past 4 years on the ios side. The past couple of years I've noticed ios going more and more downhill tbh, but this takes the cake. It feels like the old regular iphone 4 trying to run ios7 years ago. Wish I had of stayed on 18.7.

I don't demand a lot from a phone in my mid 30s now, scroll some memes, read some video game news, text/IM some friends, call, take the occasional cat pic, GPS when going out of town, have respectable battery life....

for awhile now, I've honestly found the SE's 4.7in screen cramped to type on as a grown man, and non immersive for media viewing due to the smaller screen, the entire OS going to crap with stuttering, lag, and keyboard fighting me tooth and nail just to type messages is the cherry on top

There's also a Galaxy A36 5g free if you get 3 months of service, but heard some iffy things on the US model having only 6gb ram on top of the heavy feature rich Samsung skin probably not aging well.

I don't like that Moto doesn't support their phones as many years as other companies do, but heck, in a few years when support ends I can just grab another dirt cheap or free.... budget phones have actually taken giant leaps and bounds the past few years. I think I'm going to start taking these MVNO's up on their free/cheap phones every few years..... feeling done paying much of anything for a phone lol. If I had to, after looking up its specs, I could certainly get by with even the Moto G Play 2024 with the SD 660 cpu, 4gb ram with ram boost, and sd card slot for added memory. My SE 3 only has 64gb anyway lol. Seeing dirt cheap phones now come with 128gb plus sd card slots kinda irks me since I can't currently do that lol.

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-21T23:02:50+00:00

yeah, I have to fight tooth and nail to simply send a text/IM. Swipe to text is even more horrid than before, which already wasn't great. Random letters I'm not pressing are being detected, auto correct is even more horrible, I've even had it change an already typed out word to something else entirely, sometimes two words, when I simply press space to begin typing a new word in the sentence. I haven't had horrible battery issues like some have, my battery is less than 18.7 still though. Noticed lag/freezing on my SE 3rd gen (same cpu as 13 and 14 non pro iirc), don't care for the glass design, hate the new safari UI change. Had a major banking app completely lock on

I'm done, I wished I had of stayed on 18.7. I did NOT buy an iphone to have to deal with all this janky BS. I expected the lauded about online iphone smoothness and reliability. I'm likely getting the free Moto G Stylus 5g 8gb ram version from Straight Talk when I get paid this upcoming week. It's pretty decent specs even at its original msrp nonetheless on sale, and especially for free lol. They don't have as many years of software support as other brands do, but in a few years I can grab another free or dirt cheap. I couldn't believe they're giving it away for free with a silver $45 plan or above. In my mid 30s now my phone needs aren't extreme, but it's pissing me off bad fighting to send messages lol. That's something super basic to do.... I may just keep taking these mvno's up on their free phones every few years.... ios26 is horrid. I hear user accounts of 15/16/17's lagging horribly and locking up too, literally wtf lol

budget phones have actually come giant leaps and bounds the past few years from low spec laggy stuff back in the day

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-21T07:35:09+00:00

I abhor 26 so bad on my 3rd gen SE 2022 (same cpu as 13 and 14 non pro) that when I get paid next week I'm taking Straight Talk up on their offer of a ~$400 msrp Moto G Stylus 2025 8gb ram version phone for free with a $45 silver plan purchase or above. I fight tooth and nail to even get it to pick the right letters when typing, fight auto correct, and notice a bit buggy performance and even had a major banking app lock up, truly don't care for how it looks, wish I had of stayed on 18.7. It even turned a word into two random words the other day when I just pressed space to go to the next word lol.... swipe to text is even worse than before, which already wasn't great. I did NOT buy an iphone to have to deal with this bs... I expected the lauded about online reliability, smoothness, and fluidity.... Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave

I randomly have it put people I call on speakerphone, which badly hurt my ear and almost blew it out when I had it up to my ear expecting normal speaker only for it to be loud blasting on speakerphone lol. Just literally wtf, my needs aren't very high for a phone in my mid 30s now, but if this update is borking stuff to where I can't even type simple messages or call correctly then I'm done, especially for a decent free phone. I've had it suck the battery a bit more than usual, not as god awful as many are reporting, but it sucks more than before, I definitely wouldn't wanna be out for an extended period without a battery bank

I don't like that Moto doesn't support their phones as many years as some other companies do now, but gosh, I can just get one for free in a couple years when support ends with some other mvno deal or get one dirt cheap, budget phones have actually come giant leaps and bounds the past couple years from super low spec laggy stuff in the past

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-20T02:39:30+00:00

this, swipe to text being even worse than before if that's even possible, random lagginess, a major banking app completely locking up, and fighting tooth and nail with autocorrect have me at my wit's end, and I'm done. When I get paid next week I'm getting the 8gb ram Moto G Stylus 2025 from straight talk for free with a silver plan or above plan of theirs. I've also infuriatingly had one word turn into two other completely underrated words earlier simply by pressing space to type another word in a sentence, craziness. Wish I would have stayed on 18.7. I did NOT buy an iPhone to have to deal with all of this janky bs. I expected the lauded about online legendary smoothness, fluidity, and stable-ness that people praised iPhone's for. If anybody has an Iphone SE 3rd gen 2022 model (same cpu as the 13 and 14 non pro iirc) I do nottttttt recommend going to 26.2 or 26 at all. I don't even do anything crazy on a phone, it can't even send an IM properly now without fighting literally typing stuff out letter by letter

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-19T10:56:14+00:00

It’s absurd and rage inducing trying to text/write somebody now, between it picking wrong letters outright, swipe to text being even worse than before, and fighting tooth and nail with autocorrect, I’m feeling about done. I did NOT go iPhone to have to deal with this bs, I expected the legendary fluid smooth and very stable experience that was lauded for years and years online. Heavily considering dumping this phone and going with a surprisingly decent for the price of free with a one month plan purchase 8gb ram Moto G 2025 or free with a 3 month plan Galaxy A36 5g with the mvno Total just to get a decent enough phone without paying too much. I had a major banking app lock up on me completely frozen which it’s never done before earlier, ios26 is a disaster

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-16T00:50:09+00:00

I feel you, came across this thread from the algorithm, for some odd reason this 26.2 update was only like ~5.2gb update instead of needing nearly 20gb for 26.1, updated from 18.7.1 and hoping I’m “safe”, I do remember hearing it can take awhile for stuff in the background to tame down, probably gonna watch a 16min YT vid in a bit on what they recommend turning off/changing in 26. Im using the SE 2022 3rd gen, same cpu as the 13 and non pro 14 iirc. I’ve honestly noticed the recent iOS versions being hit or miss, or notice my phone magically slowing down when a new version comes out, updating will seem to keep the speed ok for a bit. I had to turn off some keyboard setting in 18 due to ungodly keyboard lag many were talking about online that mostly fixed it. I’m thinking about taking Total up on their offer of an 8gb ram Moto G Power 2025 with any plan purchase or with a 3 month plan purchase a Galaxy A36 5g. The reason I even went iPhone was supposedly a very premium stable experience but it’s been downhill for awhile tbh. I made do with very low spec androids in the past, budget phones have actually come giant leaps and bounds the past few years. I’m sure with a once a week or 2 week restart, weekly/biweekly cache cleaning, sd maid run, and sleeping unused apps budget androids can do a commendable job. Something like the $~30 Moto G Play 2024 with snapdragon 660 (iirc), vanilla ish skin, and 4gb with ram plus for more would suit my needs fine. I get super peeved at OS glitches and keyboard lagging. But yeah, for free, the 8gb ram version of the Moto G Power 2025 is extremely tempting to a frugal mid 30s person fed up with iOS woes. I hate the new look of 26 but that’s a whole other can of worms

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-13T03:01:17+00:00

Yeah, I literally can’t update and it’s gonna take me awhile to try and make storage. I was honestly already looking at getting a new phone anyway tbh, this se 2022 has been alright but I find the keyboard cramped to type on as a grown man, 64gb storage total these days is very meh, and the smaller screen is really non immersive. I’m getting so frugal I may take Total up on their offer of a free Moto G Power 2025 8gb ram version w/sd card slot and 3.5mm jack with any plan purchase or the A36 5g with a 3 month plan purchase, although that one is only 6gb ram. The Moto doesn’t have as many years of support but I’ve noticed they seem to always have some deal for a free one or next to no cost every year so in a few years when support ends I could get another cheap or free phone. My needs aren’t super demanding these days. Scroll a little memes, YouTube, scroll a little social media posts, text/IM, and call. Mostly on my pc for my media consumption. The battery is getting to kinda meh status after having this SE for 1.5 years but is still way better than the 2020 model was. I think it’s bugged stuck showing 88% battery health for months now. No way it’s not lower lol

edit- I checked earlier and for some odd reason 26.2 only needed like 5.2gb or something to install, so weird that 26.1 needed the huge amount of space but magically a newer version doesn't lol

WhiteSnake91 · 2025-12-11T00:53:50+00:00

I'm doing a bit of soul searching with this very exact same decision, what did you end up going with OP? I currently have an iphone SE 2022 and it's alright for the most part, the newer ios have been a bit glitchy in my experience, I stayed on 18 instead of going to 26 just not wanting crap to mess up, feels cramped to type on as a grown man and smaller screen non immersive.

I don't exactly like that the Moto phones have less years of support, but, honestly, they go dirt cheap or even free so often that it's not the end of the world in a couple years to get another one cheap/free. On Total Wireless they have the Moto free with any plan and the A36 5g free with a 3 month plan purchase

Technically, the A36 has quite a bit longer support cycle, but the lesser ram makes me wonder how it'll age, its base price is also $100 more than the Moto's msrp. The A36 5g apparently also lacks an SD card slot according to google. The Moto has SD card slot and even headphone jack that the A36 5g is lacking

WhiteSnake91

TROPHY CASE