How to fix programs and apps that keep freezing and crashing (iOS)

As programs are more than they appear, i.e. they are actually a set of tasks and processes working together, errors are bound to happen, especially if one of the components becomes unresponsive. By restarting your device, you will reinitialize all the stuck components of the program (unfreeze it), as well as the operating system.

Turn off your device, and turn it back on after 2 minutes.

Just like we need air to breathe, programs need space to work. When a program runs, it requires memory which can be used associated to it. Another reason for a program or an app to freeze is due to lack of disk space or memory. Remove files you don't need, especially from the internal memory of the device, and run the program again.

Check out the running out of disk space / no space left guide to learn how to free up disk space (or memory).

Updating the operating system to the latest version is more than patching bugs. It brings speed improvements, as well as the latest system tools and trends the apps need to be aware of. One of the reasons why app(s) might be freezing is because of incompatibility of the app with the system. In this case, updating your operating system via Settings might fix the problem.

If you are not sure how to update your operating system, check out the how to update my device's operating system guide.

The fastest and easiest way to unfreeze a frozen app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is to force-quit it.

In order to do that, follow the steps below:

1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen (if you use iPhone X or newer), or double-tap the Home button to open the App switcher (iPhone 8 and older models);
2. Swipe to the left and right to find the app you want to close;
3. Tap and hold the app's thumbnail and slide it upward and off the screen;
4. Open the app, which should work fine now.

The app might be crashing and freezing due to an error which might have occurred during the installation, or update process (e.g. unstable Internet connection, unresponsive process). In this case, uninstall and reinstall the application again, a course of action that will remove corrupt files, and replace them with clean versions.

To reinstall an app, follow these steps:

1. Tap and hold the icon of the app you want to remove;
2. Tap on the (X) or (-) icon when it shows, and confirm you want to delete the app;
3. Open the App Store and Search for the app (or go to the Purchases tab);
4. Find the application you just deleted, and install it.

As pieces of software, extensions, and websites rely on your RAM to be able to stay as they were, the browser can crash if the RAM is overloaded by too many requests (e.g. too many tabs are open).

In this case, to resolve the issue, you need to close the tabs you don't need, and then reload the ones you need. You can also close the web browser, and reopen it.