Apple’s iOS is developed to be relatively simple and straightforward, where you download an app and run it with one tap, and it should then give you new functionality. However, there may be times when apps you download will either crash, hang, or otherwise not run properly. If this happens, iOS’s simplicity limits what you can do to troubleshoot the issue, but there are some steps you can take to help overcome the problem.

1. Re-launch the App

Pressing the home button to close an app will only pause it in the background. To fully quit an app, press the home button twice to bring up the app switcher, and then tap and drag your app to the top of your screen. This will stop all execution of the app, and fully reload its configuration when you next open the application.

2. Ensure you have ample free space

As with any computing device, your iPhone or iPad will require you have some storage space free in order to properly manage the work you do. If you take so many photos, videos, and otherwise create content on your device such that you only have a few megabytes of free space, then you may encounter warnings about not being able to save data, or have programs hang if they run into these constraints without being coded to handle them. You can check this by going to Settings > General > Usage section of your phone, where you can determine the total space used and see a breakdown of what each app is using. You can then open the app to remove documents and data it has stored, if possible, or remove the entire app if you do not use it.

3. Restart your device

Pressing the power button to turn off your phone keeps all services loaded in their current configuration, and only puts it in sleep mode. To re-load your phone’s service configuration, you must fully restart it by holding the power button and then dragging the slider to power the device off. After the spinning indicator disappears and the phone’s screen is black, press and hold the power button for a couple of seconds until you see the Apple logo, and then wait for it to power on again.

4. Update your device and apps

Be sure you are running the latest version of both iOS and the apps you have running on your device. Granted there is merit to the argument of the latest versions perhaps introducing bugs, and to avoid these until they have been tested, but if you are experiencing problems with your device, then updating may ensure better compatibility. To do this, go to Settings > General > Software Update and be sure you have the latest version of iOS installed. Then go to the App Store, tap “Updates,” and install any new versions of apps you have installed.

5. Delete and re-install the app

Finally, you can try fully removing the app, which will clear the program and its configuration files. When you re-download it from the App Store, iOS should set up a new configuration, which may clear the problem and have you quickly up and running again. The caveat here is that you may lose unsaved changes to your work, if the app saves work locally and does not synchronize to any online services.

6. Determine your app’s system requirements

If you are using a relatively old iOS device like an iPad 2, and are running a relatively complex program such as a 3D game or design suite, then you might check the program’s system requirements to ensure it is built to work with your device. There may be instances where older versions of a particular app did support older devices, but after being updated several times, a developer may drop official support for older devices. In these cases, your device may have the app on it, and it may run, but not be fully tested and could encounter errors that cause it to crash.

To check the system requirements, go to the App’s page in the App Store, where you can see its compatibility information listed. Unfortunately there may not be much you can do to fix the problem if your iOS device is not supported, and the only solution may be to consider purchasing a new iOS device.