Are you tired of waiting for your android device to catch up with your demands? Slow smartphones can be a noteworthy source of frustration, which effects both productivity and user experience. But fear not! There are several steps you can take to revitalize your slower android device and get it running smoothly again.
Identifying the Cause of slow android device
First step is to identify the root cause. what is causing this issue? There are some common problems which is the reason, common reasons include insufficient RAM and storage, bloatware, and outdated software. Also there are software’s like WhatsApp or Facebook which eats your android device storage over the period of time which further leads to slowing down your device. Identifying these issues is the first step towards speeding up your device.
What you can do?
a) Restart your phone
Restarting our phone is simple solution that often solve many problems. At times, a straightforward reboot can restore your android device’s speed. Consider the number of apps left running in the background, gradually consuming both memory and battery life on your phone. A simple restart effectively closes all open apps and resolves any memory leaks, eliminating anything that might be sapping your battery’s energy.
Hold down power button to bring up power menu of android device and click on Restart from menu. We should restart our phones once a week to resolve performance issues, and retaining memory also to have prolong battery life. A casual restart will reopen any stuck processes of system and solve any glitches occurred.
b) Free up Storage Space
If you have an older android device you might be familiar with the issue of running out of space. This is the main reason behind your phone to operate slowly and have lags. When you utilise almost 90% of your space your device issues a warning message. google also states that you’ll notice performance issues when your device have 10% storage space remaining. To resolve this issue perform below steps.
- Open the settings app on your android device.
- Go to Storage settings or you can search for it on the settings search bar.
- Identify which is the thing that is causing your storage to run out of space. mostly its images and videos, or in some cases apps that store large amount of data on your android device.
- After identification of root cause its time to take action remove those media files that you don’t require or alternatively you can also take a backup of those files on another android device.
- Check WhatsApp and other app’s folders via file manager app to check storage space they are using.
- Delete large media files that are filling up space.
- Over time cached data can accumulate and slow down your android device, to delete cache Go to Settings > Storage > Cached data and clear it regularly to free up memory.
c) Uninstall unused apps
Unused apps always use resources of your android device, they not only use storage space but also use other resources like your device battery, internet data, and also they may run in the background and utilise RAM of your android device. so its always better to uninstall such a app when we no longer need or use them. There are ways to uninstall apps, standard way is to long press on icon and click on Uninstall option. or in some devices you have to drag the icon at the top of screen to Uninstall it.
Clear individual apps cache if you do not wish to uninstall it. to do that follow procedure below
- Long press on app icon click on ‘i’ button to go to app options
- Go to Storage option where you will find two options Clear storage and Clear cache.
- Beware that clearing out storage will also remove your data associated with that app like your login data etc.
- Safer way is to clear the cache.
d) Use Lite version apps
Many popular software’s like Facebook, Instagram have their lighter version apps as well, that offers same functionalities but they mainly focuses on using less resources like mobile data, battery usage etc.
These apps are created for having compatibility with older devices or low end devices that do not have high end hardware capacity. These apps are less resource hungry then that of main applications.
e) Update to latest Software
If your phone feels like sluggish check for available updates for your operating system. Updating often resolve many issues and bugs. To check for newer version available or not head over to the Settings and look for system update option. Updating to latest version has many benefits, It removes bugs and problems, makes device optimized and hence faster, also updating to latest version of system makes it secure. Sometimes new features are also given through regular updates so please make sure that you have latest version of your operating system.
You can also turn on automatic updates in settings and play store. With automatic updates, apps update when you’re not using your phone and have a Wi-Fi connection.
f) Reduce system animations
Reducing Android system animations can significantly enhance the user experience by making the device feel faster and more responsive. By decreasing the duration of animations or completely disabling them, users can navigate through menus and switch between apps with greater efficiency.
Additionally, for those with older or slower devices, minimizing animations can help compensate for hardware limitations and provide a smoother overall experience.
System animations can be reduced or turned off by enabling Developers options
- Go to Settings
- then click on About phone
- Tap 5 times on Build number
- Developer options then must be available for your device
- In order to tweak animation settings search for system animation inside developers options reduce the value as per our preference.
g) Check for malware in your device
If you have done all of the steps above and still your device is slow then probably you have to check for any malware or viruses possibly have in our device. To detect and look for malware on your phone, follow these steps:
- Go to the Google Play Store app
- Tap on our profile picture or icon
- Click on Play Protect
- Click on scan
- If your device detects any harmful apps, it will provide options to remove them
There are also other antivirus app options available on play store like Malwarebytes, Bitdefender, Norton antivirus etc.. you can download and use them as well and scan with those software’s for malwares.
h) Perform Factory reset
In the very last case scenario it is suggested to do Factory reset of your device but we recommend trying for the other solutions available in this article first. Factory Reset is a process of setting device back to the original settings while it is at the time of purchase. this often involve formatting your internal storage that erase all new apps, photos, messages, contacts, etc.
If no solution works for you then try factory rest option. To perform factory reset follow below steps:
- Go to Settings
- Go to System
- Find Reset options
- Select Erase all data
Before performing Factory Reset make sure to charge your android device above 50% because this process can take some time to complete.
Wrapping up
Our mobile phones are the most important thing to us almost all our daily work has been carried out with those, having fast and reliable smartphone in pocket is must need these day’s so don’t let slow android device ruin your productivity follow the guide to make your smartphone fast and reliable to depend on.
Also check our article on Flashing custom Rom on your android phone.
