A slow smartphone is always a source of deep frustration and hustle, and it’s common when you’ve had the same smartphone for a few years.
You will always notice the device becoming slower over time and before you break the wallet for a new smartphone, there are a number of things you can do to give your old handset a speed boost.
While there is no hard and fast solution to fixing a slow phone, we hope that following these steps will help make your phone run as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Know your Device
It is important that you learn about the capabilities and drawbacks of your phone. Don’t overburden your phone with resource-hungry apps which would otherwise degrade your phone’s performance at your expense.
Clean up your home screen
If you choose to use live wallpaper then consider replacing it with a good static image. You should also clean away any unused icons and limit your widgets to the essentials. The less cluttered your home screen is, the better in terms of performance.
Perform a factory reset
This is a drastic step, but some people recommend that you do a factory reset periodically if you want your device running in tip-top condition. It’s a shortcut to cleaning up your device and getting rid of any junk you’ve accumulated, but it means wiping all of the data and settings.
If you decide to try it then make sure you back up everything that’s important to you first. You can find the option to do it in Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset.
Clear cached data
The cache is your phone’s storage system that gives the device data from the previous usage before carrying out an action. When a cache is full, the device will have to scan its entire memory for the required data, which can be a big drain on loading times.
Simply clearing space in a phone’s cache will have a noticeable impact on the time it takes to open web pages, run apps and complete actions.
To clear the cache on your iPhone, go to Settings>Safari>Clear History and Website Data and confirm the Clear History & Data.
On an Android, clear your cache by going to Settings>Storage>Other Apps. Find the app you want to clear, click on it and select Clear Cache.
Keep Fewer Widgets
Widgets are not apps, which only run once you choose to activate them. No, widgets are always running in the background; they are active all the time.
While some Android users use it to keep track of the weather, and their important dates, others use widgets like ‘Extended controls’ for quick access for essential configurations such as switching Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or their GPS on or off.
They do have their uses but bear in mind that having too many of them running on your homescreen will cause your device’s performance to slow down.
Use High-Speed Memory Card
The memory card is the storage space of your phone. Phones with low internal memory can get a boost from high-capacity memory cards for maximum storage space. But it adds not only capacity but also speed to the mix.
You can get between 2GB to 32GB worth of storage space to support high speed read/write operations. Always go for memory cards of Class 6 or Class 10 for your Android phone if you seek performance for your phone.
Update to the latest operating system
If your phone is using an old operating system, it can slow your device down. Carrying out regular recommended updates will ensure that your device will always be running the most up to date browser, noticeably improving your browsing experience.
In May, we reported about TECNO Spark 3 Pro would be among the list of eligible devices that will be able to get the newest Android updates for Android Q.
On iPhone to check for updates, navigate to Settings>General>Software Updates If there are any updates, it will automatically install and restart your phone.
On an Android phone, go to Settings>About Device>System Updates and allow the updates to install if updates are available.
Replace the battery
Replacing your battery can help to give your old smartphone a speed boost. Modern phone batteries do much more than just powering the handset, as they are integral to how a phone operates.
Because of this, an old or inefficient battery can cause performance issues and should be replaced to ensure the handset runs as efficiently as possible.
For Tecno, Infinix and itel users, your battery can be updated when you visit Carl Care centre at Kampala Road or visiting any certified outlet for the brand
Manage your apps
If your apps aren’t managed effectively, they can drain your phone’s performance. Deleting any unused apps will help to free up memory, which in turn improves your handset’s processing power.
This is because when apps update, the previous version is not deleted but overwritten by the new update, and over time this can increase the amount of memory taken up by the app.
So it’s better you keep only those apps you actively use and ditch the others that just sit around filling up your storage.
Most recent Android phones come with the feature that allows you to freeze and unfreeze unused apps which can be pretty much useful to speed boost the phone performance, especially when set it to automatically do so.
Performance-enhancing apps
There are several apps you can download to help improve your phone’s performance. Downloading a task manager app, for example, can help give you control over which apps are activated as part of the bootup process every time you turn your phone on.
Limiting the number of apps that are activated upon starting up will shorten the amount of time it takes your device to ‘wake up’ once you’ve switched it on. You can also find apps that help to clear cache space, as mentioned above.
Use Lightweight Apps on Android
Android Go apps are specially designed for low-end devices and when your old smartphone starts misbehaving, the quickest way to enhance performance is to switch allegiance to the optimized version of apps that have been proven to run well in such circumstances.
Install a custom ROM
Rooting your Android device doesn’t automatically offer any performance improvements, but a custom ROM can. For some devices that are no longer being updated custom ROMs are a way of getting a newer version of Android. You can also find custom ROMs that dispense with bloatware entirely and offer some interesting tweaks and modifications. You’ll need to do some research to find the right custom ROM for you.
Turn off or reduce animations
You can make your Android device feel snappier by reducing or turning off some of animations. You’ll need to enable Developer options in order to do this.
Go to Settings > About phone and scroll down to the System section to look for Build number. Tap on it seven times and you should see a message about being a developer.
You can now go back to the previous menu and you should see Developer options listed under System.
Head in there and scroll down to find Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. Tap each in turn and set it to .5x or off. Pick an option and find out what suits you, if you don’t like just go back in and change the values again.
Stop Syncing
Sync is a very good feature which synchronizes your data with Google servers. Keeping sync on, you can get notifications whenever new mail comes in or when you get new notifications or updates for apps.
To do this, it does a refresh at every preset interval (e.g. it checks your mail every 5 minutes for new incoming mail), and this will eat into your android’s performance for other activities.
You can keep Sync off for unrequired services or only have it on when you need to transfer or upload materials to Google servers.
You will always notice the device becoming slower over time and before you break the wallet for a new smartphone, there are a number of things you can do to give your old handset a speed boost.
While there is no hard and fast solution to fixing a slow phone, we hope that following these steps will help make your phone run as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Know your Device
It is important that you learn about the capabilities and drawbacks of your phone. Don’t overburden your phone with resource-hungry apps which would otherwise degrade your phone’s performance at your expense.
Clean up your home screen
If you choose to use live wallpaper then consider replacing it with a good static image. You should also clean away any unused icons and limit your widgets to the essentials. The less cluttered your home screen is, the better in terms of performance.
Perform a factory reset
This is a drastic step, but some people recommend that you do a factory reset periodically if you want your device running in tip-top condition. It’s a shortcut to cleaning up your device and getting rid of any junk you’ve accumulated, but it means wiping all of the data and settings.
If you decide to try it then make sure you back up everything that’s important to you first. You can find the option to do it in Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset.
Clear cached data
The cache is your phone’s storage system that gives the device data from the previous usage before carrying out an action. When a cache is full, the device will have to scan its entire memory for the required data, which can be a big drain on loading times.
Simply clearing space in a phone’s cache will have a noticeable impact on the time it takes to open web pages, run apps and complete actions.
To clear the cache on your iPhone, go to Settings>Safari>Clear History and Website Data and confirm the Clear History & Data.
On an Android, clear your cache by going to Settings>Storage>Other Apps. Find the app you want to clear, click on it and select Clear Cache.
Keep Fewer Widgets
Widgets are not apps, which only run once you choose to activate them. No, widgets are always running in the background; they are active all the time.
While some Android users use it to keep track of the weather, and their important dates, others use widgets like ‘Extended controls’ for quick access for essential configurations such as switching Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or their GPS on or off.
They do have their uses but bear in mind that having too many of them running on your homescreen will cause your device’s performance to slow down.
Use High-Speed Memory Card
The memory card is the storage space of your phone. Phones with low internal memory can get a boost from high-capacity memory cards for maximum storage space. But it adds not only capacity but also speed to the mix.
You can get between 2GB to 32GB worth of storage space to support high speed read/write operations. Always go for memory cards of Class 6 or Class 10 for your Android phone if you seek performance for your phone.
Update to the latest operating system
If your phone is using an old operating system, it can slow your device down. Carrying out regular recommended updates will ensure that your device will always be running the most up to date browser, noticeably improving your browsing experience.
In May, we reported about TECNO Spark 3 Pro would be among the list of eligible devices that will be able to get the newest Android updates for Android Q.
On iPhone to check for updates, navigate to Settings>General>Software Updates If there are any updates, it will automatically install and restart your phone.
On an Android phone, go to Settings>About Device>System Updates and allow the updates to install if updates are available.
Replace the battery
Replacing your battery can help to give your old smartphone a speed boost. Modern phone batteries do much more than just powering the handset, as they are integral to how a phone operates.
Because of this, an old or inefficient battery can cause performance issues and should be replaced to ensure the handset runs as efficiently as possible.
For Tecno, Infinix and itel users, your battery can be updated when you visit Carl Care centre at Kampala Road or visiting any certified outlet for the brand
Manage your apps
If your apps aren’t managed effectively, they can drain your phone’s performance. Deleting any unused apps will help to free up memory, which in turn improves your handset’s processing power.
This is because when apps update, the previous version is not deleted but overwritten by the new update, and over time this can increase the amount of memory taken up by the app.
So it’s better you keep only those apps you actively use and ditch the others that just sit around filling up your storage.
Most recent Android phones come with the feature that allows you to freeze and unfreeze unused apps which can be pretty much useful to speed boost the phone performance, especially when set it to automatically do so.
Performance-enhancing apps
There are several apps you can download to help improve your phone’s performance. Downloading a task manager app, for example, can help give you control over which apps are activated as part of the bootup process every time you turn your phone on.
Limiting the number of apps that are activated upon starting up will shorten the amount of time it takes your device to ‘wake up’ once you’ve switched it on. You can also find apps that help to clear cache space, as mentioned above.
Use Lightweight Apps on Android
Android Go apps are specially designed for low-end devices and when your old smartphone starts misbehaving, the quickest way to enhance performance is to switch allegiance to the optimized version of apps that have been proven to run well in such circumstances.
Install a custom ROM
Rooting your Android device doesn’t automatically offer any performance improvements, but a custom ROM can. For some devices that are no longer being updated custom ROMs are a way of getting a newer version of Android. You can also find custom ROMs that dispense with bloatware entirely and offer some interesting tweaks and modifications. You’ll need to do some research to find the right custom ROM for you.
Turn off or reduce animations
You can make your Android device feel snappier by reducing or turning off some of animations. You’ll need to enable Developer options in order to do this.
Go to Settings > About phone and scroll down to the System section to look for Build number. Tap on it seven times and you should see a message about being a developer.
You can now go back to the previous menu and you should see Developer options listed under System.
Head in there and scroll down to find Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. Tap each in turn and set it to .5x or off. Pick an option and find out what suits you, if you don’t like just go back in and change the values again.
Stop Syncing
Sync is a very good feature which synchronizes your data with Google servers. Keeping sync on, you can get notifications whenever new mail comes in or when you get new notifications or updates for apps.
To do this, it does a refresh at every preset interval (e.g. it checks your mail every 5 minutes for new incoming mail), and this will eat into your android’s performance for other activities.
You can keep Sync off for unrequired services or only have it on when you need to transfer or upload materials to Google servers.
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