Here's a thing: is your PlayStation 4 running slower than you remember? We're not talking about a crippling sluggishness – you may want to contact Sony about that – but a subtle lag when you're browsing through the home menu or trying to boot apps? It's never been 100 per cent perfect, but we've definitely noticed a few extra hicks of late, and apparently we're not alone.
A Kotaku report has put a spotlight on the issue, noting that the issue is most problematic around the 'What's New' area and the apps ribbon in general. We're definitely seeing a similar issue on both the PS4 Pro and the PS4 Slim, so it doesn't appear to be a hardware problem; it's a bit better when the console's disconnected, so could perhaps be related to an abundance of server requests?
It's worth noting that this isn't an apocalyptic issue; all of our consoles are operating as expected, and honestly, until we read this Kotaku report we hadn't given it much thought. But y'know what, we figured we'd poll you on the problem and see if it's as prevalent as the rest of the web seems to think it is. Either way, hopefully that new firmware update Sony's been teasing smooths things out.
Is your PS4 running slower than usual right now? (256 votes)
- Yes, I’ve noticed a few extra hitches and delays actually
- Hmm, I couldn’t say for sure
- No, my system’s running the same as it always has
Please login to vote in this poll.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 89
I've also noticed that there's a delay with the share menu appearing recently.
"What's New" tests my patience most of the time, even on the PS4 Pro. Otherwise it's all good, generally I just press X and go straight into Elder Scrolls Online anyway
I've noticed the What's New has been slow for awhile. But my first reaction is to always blame my ISP for throttling my speeds.
@get2sammyb I haven't played my PS4 in the last week or so, but for me the share menu has always taken a while to appear. In fact when I was playing GR2, it seemed to appear quicker than usual.
Since I just got my Slim a month ago I'm still trying to figure it all out, not sure I'd notice any lag. That said, when I hit the PS button to get out of FFXV last night it didn't come right up with that left sidebar, it just took me out. Maybe I'm supposed to hold it, I forget.
I'll pay more attention tonight. Or just go to bed and forget about it.
@ThroughTheIris56 It used to be almost immediate for me, but since they've changed it it takes like five or so seconds.
Again, not a big deal, but just something I've noticed.
@rjejr You have to hold it for the side-bar.
Nothing too big. My internet is not stellar anyway.
Can't say I've noticed anything out of the ordinary, but now I've read about it, I'm sure I'll at least start to think there's some lag.
I have noticed it. I feel like it takes a bit longer to boot up when I turn it on as well. It's not a huge deal tho.
So the Pro has it as well? I noticed my PS4 isn't as snappy as it used to be but figured it's because I can't play on my Pro atm; I assumed there was some new firmware which is poorly optimized for the base PS4 because the Pro is the new benchmark.
My regular PS4 was starting to lag, probably because of all the stuff on it. Since I got a PS4 Pro I haven't noticed any lag but I am keeping it much lighter content wise.
For me it's mostly when selecting TV & Video. It started happening at the same time the Close Application option disappeared from the Options menu.
Definitely noticed it. Mostly on the loading tbh. Especially the store. The what's new section a little too. There's too much going on on it tbh. Don't need half the section. Old style was way better and smoother.
@OldSchoolHeel look forward to the next system update for xbox one (i have it in preview right now) it really speeds up the system!
my PS4 is as fast as ever.
@OldSchoolHeel The Xbox One is way slower than the PS4, even with this issue taken into account. I dunno what the hell they were thinking with that console...
@get2sammyb it's not that much slower. also it has way better data management.
Nah, I mean there's definitely lag, but I feel like I've noticed that since launch day, can't say it's been any worse.
I may be in the minority but the whole PS4 interface seemed laggy to me since I bought it back close to the launch. Upgrading to a HSSD fixed some issues that definetely returned when I installed more games. Checking the installed games, the share button everything has lag.
It is not the same as the slow as hell wii u and 3ds though but the lag was there since launch.
It usually takes me a few attempts to get on the store and sometimes the Share isn't as quick as I want it to be. Apparently there's an issue of the rest mode on Pro too, hopefully the new firmware update will fix things.
My 500GB 1215A purchased Dec 2015 has seemed to have slowed down after some firmware updates. The first i noticed was a spring update, 3.50, last year.
Of late, past 2-3 weeks the ui and browser seems slower. More so with javascript enabled.
I think the browser and internet connection is in need of an update. That is since the PS4 is always online unless we disable the connection, and since net sites change and have updates. Changes like how Bing maps stopped working on the PS4 browser.
One thing i do is always keep javascript disabled and only enabled for the use of a site that works well with it enabled. Thankfully this site, playstation forum, and youtube work well with javascripted enabled. Unfortunately most sites either load much slower or fail to load and or work properly with javascript enabled.
I've also noticed that I no longer have any options other than "delete" on video apps. I used to be able to close out YT in order to force a refresh, which I can't do anymore.
@adf86 Share is rough for me lately. Last night it took about twenty seconds for the "save screenshot" option to light up. Keep in mind the game is running that entire time, you just can't interact with it. Loads of fun. :/
No, not really. My PS4 is running the same.
Mine hates to close apps and loves to make me wait while it gets around to it
My PS4 seems to be working fine, at least I haven't noticed anything different.
I don't use share options or what's new though.
Worse than the menu lags are the download speeds. My internet connection is fast and at normal - top speed I can download 40gb games in about 20 minutes. But recently the download speed is dropping significantly after a few minutes in. Pausing and restarting the download usually fixes the problem for another few minutes but it's super annoying. I guess die to all the sales and increased user numbers their servers are struggling to keep up with demand. Hope they are going to address that issue soon.
My ps4 doesn't lag but download speed when downloading games is slow, maybe because I'm using wifi instead of cable. I hope ps4 pro wifi speed is better.
Its been getting worse over the past few months.
I've had gaming issues on the launch PS4. Not so much after deleting a few games, and changing the dynamic theme. Had major framerate issues while playing madden and mount&blade. I installed a 2TB a while ago, I still had plenty of space left prior to deleting the games.
My PS3 menu has been running atrociously slow lately...
@belmont The Wii U is WAY faster than it used to be, it's actually been faster than the PS3 menu since about a year and a half into the Wii U's life cycle.
I feel like some games have been taking a longer time to boot up.
But am I the only one who can't close out of video apps like YouTube, Netflix etc? When I press options it just gives me the option to delete it.
@OrangeBagels Hold the PS button down. It should be the same for games as well.
I was just noting that in particular it's taking ages to access the store. Like I got up to check my router too long.
No problem on my end either. Works buttery smooth- I'm on OG PS4.
I hadnt noticed until reading the kotaku article last night and now realise my whats new and TV Areas are taking a few seconds to pop now. Peculiar.
@get2sammyb I've had a big delay in pressing the share button since the PS4 launch. Thought it's just how it was!
Some delay loading what's new but my isp is terrible, I have a pro with about 150 gb free and everything seems fine 🙂
havent notices anything . i do have tb ssd with 200gb free
I hadn't noticed a slow down, but reading the comments I would agree that the quick menu and share menu do seem to take longer to appear these days. The store and what's new feed have always been slow and unpredictable which I just put down to my dodgy foreign internet connection.
PSN store, What's New, Trophies.. all work very slow, sometimes not opening at all (have to try again, logout and login back in). In my case it's probably because I have 2 accounts set on the console (Pro) but still.. that shouldn't affect anything. It was always like that for me on original and pro, used to it at this stage and I treat it as a feature
I still have the launch model, and yeah its getting quite bad. I play alot of overwatch, and for that I have the audio output through my headphones, this is the only game I do this with. Switching the audio output in the devices menu is achingly slow, and any kind of system browsing is sluggish, especially when I have an app or game suspended. If it gets much worse it'll be upgraded from minor annoyance to genuine problem. Im also noticing I have to "help out" the discs ever so slightly as the motor doesnt seem strong enough to eject and accept the discs anymore. To be honest psn is getting more and more unreliable, the plus offerings wavering in quality, if my ps4 goes home ill probably just get a new GPU or CPU for my pc rather than another unit, especially if the reports are right about slowdown on the slims and pros.
jup jup jup - but I gladly upgraded to the Pro this week ^^
was about time
I thought it was just me i have definitely noticed the share menu delay and im on the pro
Definitely noticed it last night as it happens, UI was slow and jumping out of a game to the menu was slow too
Yep launching apps like Netflix, Amazon etc has a long delay as well as the always abysmal what's new section. The store often fails to load properly too.
Had slowdown so bad in certain area's of my ps4, I hooked it up to the internet with an ethernet cable.
@get2sammyb TV TV TV TV TV?
My menu has been a bit laggy lately as well. I thought it was to do with Suspend/Resume though, as I usually go straight into rest mode when I'm done playing. Mind you, when I use my PS3 (it's been relegated to the bedroom so the missus can watch Netflix and use it as a media server) I'm quickly reminded that the PS4 menu is a colossal improvement.
Unfortunately that's what happens when you read a kotaku article; the world around you slows down as your brain attempts to wipe clean all the clickbait garbage
The only slowdown I notice is the video's menu and the 'what's new' section. Both seem to be related to dismal PSN connection speeds.
My launch PS4's share menu and screenshot feature worked much quicker, but it wasn't dealing with 4k PNGs
@get2sammyb My X1 takes longer to boot up, but downloads games a lot faster than PS4. Honestly it's about 3x faster on average, (yes I've timed it) so there's that. Other than that I haven't noticed any major difference switching between games or apps. I would say the one nice thing about X1 is that I can turn the console or controller off in two button presses instead of 15.
My Pro occasionally slows down and if I ever go on CEX website my PS4 crashes and I have to turn it off at the back of the TV.
I kind of prefer the Xbox & Nintendo dashboards more then Sony's but that's just my opinion.
The only time that it slows down sometimes when i slide too fast between the icons to find a game, the game icons take a little bit time to load and sometimes it slides slower than it used to do. Maybe it's because of the load of the games on it.
can't say i've noticed really. my standard PS4 has a 2Tb in it, and there's about 100 things in the library, so not sure if it takes longer to boot up or not compared to normal. it's not something that keeps me awake.
@RedMageLanakyn
Not Polygon ?
..No wait, Polygon are the ones that couldnt even get a VCR to work.
@KitsuneNight Never been to Polygon, actually, heard enough about it to know to steer clear. Kotaku is just horrible though.
On a side note, have you tried rebuilding the database on your PS4? It basically defragments your hard drive and cleans things up. Not something you do on a SSD though.
@RedMageLanakyn
Nah, I plan to take my 2 tb hd out and replace it for a 1 tb.
@get2sammyb they do better with GWGold section where it brings them right up and DL well. The PPlus kind of a pain because you have to wait for the store to update. GWG also gives a lot of cool games away, where plus kind of obscure games mostly, Sleeping dogs, And Rayman pretty cool lately, I'm not into day of Tentacle and these adventure games.
@KitsuneNight Do you have that backwards? Or downgrading so you can use an external?
@RedMageLanakyn
Neither actually.
I am short on space on my pc and I have 1,44 TB on my ps4 doing nothing.
I only have 300 gig in games on the ps4, so I decided to downgrade for the time being.
When the time comes and 1tb isn't sufficient anymore, I can use an external.
@KitsuneNight Right on, makes sense. I just had to replace my 3TB in my PC that up and died out of nowhere, which really sucked. I've been spending the past couple days just redownloading steam/origin/blizzard/uplay games lol.
@RedMageLanakyn
I got nearly 500 steam games.
And i am one of those who rips their own dvd's and blu rays, so I can watch em on a tablet and use my playstations as a video jukeboxes.
That takes a lot of space as well.
I kinda miss the days when all I needed for a back up was a few cd-r's.
Instead of a raid array and a blu ray writer.
@KitsuneNight Yeah, after this hard drive failure I'm building a Raid 1. I've been using a recovery program to pull what I can off the dead drive, and I'm not doing that again. It's going to take a full week to recover everything important!
Mine got pretty bad. I recently rebuilt the database and that helped significantly.
@RedMageLanakyn
I generally use blu rays to back up the important stuff.
The rest can be redownloaded or replaced.
Though I'd rather not do any of that.
Just re ripping all the dvd's takes a month.
Can't say for sure . Normally I just go to store quick look then put on a game.
@Rukiafan7 When I got the Wii U the supossed "fast" upgrade was already out so I don't know what the state the console was at launch. Still it seems horrendously slow although nothing beats the 3DS in slowness.
As for the previous generation both the PS3 and PSP are very slow if you had a lot of games but they were never truly designed with digital distrubution in mind.
@belmont Perhaps your console was faulty? My Wii U's menu actually loads up faster and runs more smoothly than my pops' Slim PS4. And the 1TB hard-drive is 50% full and I only have 6 GB left on my system's internal memory.
@Rukiafan7 If there is some fault in the console I am somewhat screwed since there is no Nintendo here officially and my accound is UK even though I don't stay there.
I have the 8GB model, the inner flash memory is almost full. I also have a flash 32GB USB stick (about 70% full) for the rest of my VC stuff (I have tons of them) and my 2 only games (Toad and Mario Maker). When I open it it takes some time to load the icons and whenever I push the home button there is noticable lag and whatever option I choose there is even more lag. When the games load they play with no issues though.
I have noticed this and also have had a few crashes just moving through the apps to get to the one I want.
Since I've only recently got a PS4, I'll have to answer with "no".
I got the 4.5 beta yesterday and I've been using that, everything is so much quicker it's crazy I hope it stays like this it's like this update is dedicated to making everything a lot smoother like setting up party's and that jazz
My PS4 just makes extra noise sometimes....it's just random!
And when I play FIFA it starts ticking xD
I recall some lag when playing with my friend, actually - noticeable enough that we both paid attention to it. Nothing critical, and I wouldn't have given it much thought on Vita since streaming isn't remotely (no pun intended) immune to lags by itself. But I think it's there, yes.
@get2sammyb Agreed I actually preferred the XBOX ONE launch UI but now it has become a convoluted mess and so slow to do anything. I'm afraid things just don't look good for Xbox even the Scorpio is probably too late.
@AFCC Ticking is most likely your hard drive a common issue.
I notice apps don't show and sometimes the psn store want come up.
sometimes when I want to open settings or quick access menu it is a bit slow, at first it doesn't show anything then suddenly it opens
and btw I've experienced a game crash, it happened only once and it was a few weeks back when I was playing Battlefield 1...still nothing to kill my mood!
@GBMatthew but is it a problem? I changed my HD like a month ago
@AFCC Hi sorry I didn't mean to worry you I should have said that is normal. It is usually caused by the needle moving quickly across the platter.
I think mine's more or less the same as usual. Haven't noticed anything too different. I get problems like the game tab taking ages to load, or just not loading at all (you know, the thing that appears below a specific game when you highlight it) but that's been a problem for a long time now.
However, I took RE7 to my friend's house last week and it took about 20-30 minutes to install on his PS4 from disc. It was pretty much instant for me on my PS4, like all games are. There's a bit of spin-up, then the bar begins to fill and is completely filled within a matter of seconds. On his PS4 it was like installing an old PC game in the 90s on a 1x speed CD-ROM. He thought that was normal.
@GBMatthew Much obliged, friend!
The share menu has been running badly, but apart from that it's been pretty much fine. And I rarely use the sharing menu anyway.
I've noticed the lag when showing which parties are available and who's in them.
@GoatWrench It's actually been known for years that Sony servers cap download speeds.
The UI Lag is a whole different but painfully annoying issue, and it's been around since launch -__-
There should be an extra poll choice for it's always been laggy, which I can say has been the case for me and many of my PSN friends.
havent notices but i have SSD
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