Playing chess on Lichess

I took a break from playing chess on this site for about a month. When I returned I could not play a game on my I-phone 4s. When I create a game the board appears without pieces. There is only a weird icon located at a8. As I recall this was also the case when I joined up back January. I can't remember how I was able to finally play a game where there were pieces on the board and moves could be made. (I don't have this problem on my laptop.) Could anyone advise me on this, please?

Try the mobile app: lichess.org/mobile

I didn't need the mobile app before. Besides, I think I tried to get it before and my phone was too old to install it.

As of a month ago I had no trouble playing chess on my I-phone, Now I do.

On my iPhone 4s I played chess for the first 4 months I was on this site. I took about a month break and when I returned to this site I couldn't. The chess board would not populate with pieces. All I have is a weird icon at the a8 square. I can't download the mobile app because my phone isn't ios 9. But I was playing chess without downloading the app before!
How come I was able to play chess on this site for four months and now I am not? Is there some kind of setting I should change? Any help would be appreciated. (I can play on my laptop but miss playing on my I-phone.)

Get the app.

I didn't need the app before. Besides, in order to get the app I have to install ios9 on my phone, and I've been told that this newer version is not recommended because it will use up more space on my limited 4s; and my phone would run slower or max out the storage.

The 60,000 dollar question is why could I use my phone before to play games without the mobile app and now I can't? What changed in the last month?