Significant lag using brush after latest PS update on iPad

[Brent Dutton]

Since the update to PS 7.1.1, I am experiencing a horrible lag when using any brush to sketch in exactly the same conditions as prior to the update. This is a make-or-break deal for using PS in my work. It has been working beautifully for 3 years across many updates but this last one is terrible. Running PS 7.1.1 on an iPad Pro, 4th Gen.

[Aleke]

Hi @Brent Dutton, welcome to the community!
Could you share a bit more about what you’re experiencing? When you say “lag,” do you mean the brush stroke doesn’t appear right away when you draw, or is the app freezing?
Also, are you drawing with a pen or your fingers? If it’s a pen, which model are you using? And could you let us know the iPadOS version you’re on?
Thanks so much!
Alek

[Brent Dutton]

Hi Alek

*Experience*
By "lag", I mean that the stroke appears significantly behind the tip of
the Apple Pencil, and then seems to be unable to catch up, resulting in a
stroke that stops short of where the Pencil is. The PS app doesn't freeze.

*Facts*
iPadOS 18.7.2
Photoshop 7.1.1
Apple Pencil model A2051

*What I've tried*
Shutting down iPad and rebooting
Closing down Photoshop and reopening
"Forgetting" Bluetooth connection to Pencil and then reconnecting
Verified battery levels of Apple Pencil and iPad

Thoughts?


*Brent Dutton* |
[Personal info removed by moderator]

[Srishti Bali]

Hi @Brent Dutton

Thanks for reporting this. Sorry to hear about the lag, let’s get a bit more information so we can narrow this down.

• Does the same lag happen in all files, or only in specific documents (e.g., large canvases or many layers)?

• Are you noticing the issue with all brushes, or only certain ones?

A few quick checks that might help:

• Free up storage: Low iPad storage can impact brush performance.
  Go to Settings → General → iPad Storage and check how much free space is available.

• Close other apps running in the background to free up memory.

• If nothing changes, please try reinstalling Photoshop (make sure all your documents are synced to the cloud before doing so).

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Srishti

[Brent Dutton · Accepted solution]

Hi Srishti

Given that I have more than 50% free storage on the iPad and only run a small number of apps, I opted to delete and reinstall Photoshop. This has solved the lag issue completely and the performance is back to normal. Thank you for your help.

Brent