The iOS 5.1 update is now live for iPhone and iPad. Usually when Apple updates the iOS, it’s fairly chaotic with bogged servers and apps not working. Many users often wait a few days to let the early adopters hash things out.

iOS 5.1 has been in beta, though, for such a long time, it looks like Apple have worked out nearly all of the bugs in this iOS release. I updated this evening and this has been one of the more trouble-free iOS updates for me on both an iPhone 4 and 4S.

Click past the jump for a few thoughts on the update. >>>

One of the new features of iOS 5 is over the air system updates. I tested out both a wired and WiFi update of the iOS and not only was the WiFi update as easy as the wired iTunes update, it was also significantly faster. After backing up both iPhones, my iPhone 4S took about an hour and ten minutes to update. My slower iPhone 4 took about 35 minutes to update. Your mileage may vary depending on the speed of your internet connection. Both updates went very smooth.

There is already a heated debate about whether or not the new 4G network indicator is accurate or not or if it’s merely AT&T trying to coerce Apple into playing along with their marketing plans. I personally like the new 4G indicator here when I’m on AT&T’s faster HSPA+ networks.

The new lock screen camera is a wash for me. A flick or a button push — I never had a problem with the lock screen camera button in iOS 5.0. It’ll take me all of 3 tries to get used to the new gesture. Apple has done away with the push button. Lock screen camera access is now flick only. And you can now get to the camera from the actual unlock screen. You no longer have to press the home button twice.

Sometimes, an iOS update will break an app — typically older or poorly coded apps. As we find any photo apps that break in iOS 5.1, we’ll update the listing in our iPhone Photo App Compatibility grid. So far, though, iOS 5.1 seems like a pretty smooth update and I suspect that nearly any app that worked in 5.0 will work in 5.1 as well.

The new 5.1 update finally addresses the battery performance issues of 5.0. Hopefully, I’ll now be able to get through the day without having to top off my 4S.

Have you updated to iOS 5.1 yet or are you going to wait? If you’ve updated, how’s your experience been with 5.1 so far? Let us know in the comments below.

=M=

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