Introduction
Is your Android phone slow in opening applications, or are there delays in performing routine activities? Such scenarios may occur due to several factors such as limited storage capacity, numerous background applications, outdated version of Android, caching of files, or old batteries. It is not necessary that if you are experiencing delays in your Android phone, you buy another one as there are some solutions to your problem. This article discusses various simple methods that can be used to fix your slow Android phone without complicating anything.
Some of the measures are listed below:
Clearing Unnecessary Files
Deleting Unnecessary Applications
Restarting Phone
Updating Android
Background Management
In the following sections, we will talk about how you can increase the speed of your slow Android phone through easy ways.
Laggy, slow-running smartphones drive millions of people crazy each day. Slow performance comes from the accumulation of applications, cache, and other system files over time. It does not matter if the phone is budget or top-end — it will slow down eventually. There is no need to purchase a brand-new smartphone to get that fresh-out-of-the-box performance back. In most cases, the problem is software-related and easily solvable.
Here are some steps to greatly improve your smartphone’s performance with just a little maintenance. Here is how you can rejuvenate your lagging Android smartphone.
Smartphone Performance Quick Fixes Restart your smartphone. Cleans system RAM. Resets temporary issues.Clean cache. Provides extra storage space. Cleans corrupted application files.Uninstall unused applications. Lightens the load on background services. Gives more internal storage space.
Update your smartphone software. Fixes any software performance bugs. Optimizes battery and processor consumption.Free up storage. Keep at least 10% of storage space available. Improves system memory management.Turn off animations. Provides quicker transitions in menus. Makes interface snappy.
For customization of your perfect solution, tell me:
What brand and model of an Android smartphone do you use?
Does your smartphone lag when doing specific tasks like playing games or just lags all the time?
How much storage space do you have currently available?
I will give you customized tips depending on your smartphone specifics.AI can be wrong sometimes, always check the response
Restart Device
Restarting your Android phone is one of the most straightforward methods of enhancing performance in case the phone is performing slowly or sluggishly. Every time you use your phone, there might be numerous running processes, temporary files, and apps that are still using up your phone’s memory and other resources.
By restarting, all such processes and files are terminated. In case your phone is slowing down, applications take more time to launch, and occasionally the screen is freezing, consider restarting your phone before making any other drastic steps. For this purpose, just press and hold the Power button, and choose “Restart.”
On some Android phones, it is necessary to hold simultaneously the Power and Volume Up keys in order to access the menu of power options. By restarting, none of your personal files, apps or settings will be lost.
The best way to clear your phone cache is to restart your cell phone as it will clear your ram of temporary files.
How To Restart Android Phones
Step 1: Press and hold the power button until the power menu shows up.
Step 2: Click on restart or reboot.
Step 3: Wait one or two minutes to let your phone reload completely.
Step 4: Close the power menu.
Alternate method for newer phones: Hold Power and Volume Up at the same time until you see the power icon in your notifications shade. Swipe down the notifications shade twice to access the digital power icon.
Remove Junk Files
Junk files tend to accumulate in your Android device with time, taking up space on your phone. Junk files are often comprised of temporary files, old downloaded data, caches, leftovers from installation of applications, and any other unnecessary data that your applications generate. As soon as you run out of available storage space, your phone starts lagging in performance and takes longer to load applications.
For cleaning up your phone, you can open the Files or File Manager in your phone and look through the suggestions for cleaning. You can also go through Downloads folder and delete files that you don’t need anymore.
Many Android devices come with a built-in option for cleaning or freeing up storage space, which is able to identify unnecessary files safely. Be careful and look through all the suggested files before deleting them to ensure that there are no documents, pictures, and video files among them. Don’t use suspicious applications for cleaning which promise unrealistic performance boost.
Junk files like cache of apps, duplicate photos, and leftover install files hinder your device’s performance. Deleting them will make your device run smoother and give back your precious storage space.
Use the Built-In Android Cleaner (Files by Google)Open the Files by Google app.Click on the Clean tab located on the bottom left.Check the Junk Files or Temporary App Files recommendation box. Click on Clean or Clear to remove them.
Alternative Option (Built-In Tool in Specific Devices)Samsung: Settings>Device care>Click Optimize now.
Xiaomi/POCO: Open Security app>Click on Cleaner.
Pixel/Motorola: Settings>Storage>Click on Free up space. Manual Clear Cache (Specific Problematic Apps)Press and hold the sluggish app’s icon. Open the App Info (ⓘ)Click on Storage or Storage & cache.Click Clear Cache (Don’t click Clear Data).
Update Android
The Ultimate Guide to Speeding Up Your Slow Android Phone
When an Android phone starts to get slow, there is usually a specific list of underlying software reasons why:
Bloatware, low on storage space, apps hogging on CPU/RAM, or simply Android itself eating Random Access Memory. Luckily, almost all of these issues can be resolved in order to get the phone back to its original speed. Here are all of the Android optimization guides that I found that could be useful to both beginner and expert users.
Part 1: Storage and RAM
The Android OS needs space just like how a human requires oxygen. Android will start to slow down when an internal storage space is more than 90% full because the system cannot create swap files to store apps
Free Up Internal Storage Space.
The first and arguably most important thing to do is clean up the phone storage. To do this, one can delete the largest files first such as videos. Navigate to Files by Google App ➝ Browse ➝ Videos. It is also a good idea to clear out the Downloads folder. Apps like WhatsApp Messenger, social media apps, and more store a ton of files inside of the internal storage. Navigating to WhatsApp Settings ➝ Storage and data ➝ Manage storage is a good way to clear chat files.
Clear Cache.
In the application cache, apps store information so that it can be retrieved later. The apps can open faster because they do not have to go through the hassle of loading all of the files every other time. Some apps will have caches that can get up to several gigabytes or corrupt completely when an update is released, making them slower. To clear the cache, go to Setting ➝ Apps ➝ See all apps. Sort the apps by size and go for the largest apps first such as TikTok, Instagram, Chrome, and more. When the app is opened, Storage & cache ➝ Clear cache
Remove Background Apps.
Background apps run so that apps can send notifications or update themselves. This will take a toll on the RAM, so it is best to remove apps that one is not using from the background. Apps that have not been used for a while should be uninstalled. Using a lighter version of an app is also a good idea, especially for older Androids
Part 2: Advanced Settings Tweaks
The phone is now free of clutter, so it is time to tweak the settings so that it can get more performance out of it. [Settings] ➔ [About phone] ➔ [Tap Build Number 7 Times] ➔ [Developer Options]
Reduce Animation Scale (Speed Hack)
The Android UI has animations for aesthetics. Animations can be disabled so that the phone can feel faster, especially with the 0.5x and 0.3x scales.
Settings ➝ About phone ➝ Tap Build number x7 until a toast message pops up saying “You are now a developer!” Go back to the Settings app, and tap System ➝ Developer options . Tap until you see the following animation settings.
Window animation scale
Transition animation scale
Animator duration scale
Change each to 0.5x by default or 0x for a raw/unfiltered feel.
Limit Background Processes (RAM Heavy Users Only)
It is best to limit background processes when a phone does not have 4GB of RAM or higher. Android kills processes in the background so that the current foreground ones do not lag.
Inside of developer options, scroll down until one sees Apps ➝ Background process limit . Instead of having it set to Standard limit , change to At most 3 or 4 processes. Android will kill apps in the background so that the current app does not lag .
Fix Browsers (Chrome)
Chrome is the number one browser in terms of RAM usage, so it is best to optimize it. Open Chrome ➝ Menu ➝ Settings ➝ Privacy and security ➝ Delete browsing data ➝ Cached images and files. The Preload pages option inside of the Privacy and security tab should also be turned off if one experiences freezing while trying to open desktop sites.
Part 3: Last Resort
If the stuttering is not resolved from software optimization, some hardware-related issues may be to blame.
Stop Overheating
The Android OS has a built-in function to throttle the phone’s performance when it gets too hot. This usually happens when playing graphic-heavy mobile games while charging. To stop Android from permanently throttling itself, avoid playing 3D mobile games while the phone is charging. Phones also tend to get hot when using heavy phone cases, so removing the phone case when the phone begins to heat up is necessary. Leaving a phone in a hot car is also a bad idea.
Factory Reset (Hard Reset)
If the phone is still slow, a system cache issue may be the cause. The system cache is a small portion of the internal storage that stores temporary files. Android can freeze for no reason, but a factory reset wipes the system cache, fixing some issues. First, turn off the phone using the power key. Then, hold the Power key + Volume up until the logo appears on the screen. Next, use the volume buttons to navigate the black android recovery menu and highlight Wipe cache partition. Press the power key to select it, then reboot the system. It is very important not to accidentally select the Wipe data/Factory reset option from the menu, as it will wipe the phone entirely.
Wipe System Cache Partition (Only experts)
Apps and data can build up on a phone, weighing it down over time. When none of the previously-mentioned solutions work, consider doing a factory reset. This should be the last resort because once it is done, the user will lose all the data on the phone. Double-check that one will be able to recover contacts, photos, videos, and any other data that one wants to save before proceeding. Navigate to Settings ➝ System ➝ Reset options ➝ Erase all data (factory reset.
Free RAM
Optimizing RAM could also make the apps on your Android device run faster since too many applications running at once can slow down your Android device due to lack of sufficient memory. RAM is needed to ensure the application or process runs, thus making it easy for you to move between applications.
The use of too many demanding applications at once with limited RAM could result in poor performance and reloading of the app. It is possible to optimize the use of RAM by ensuring that apps which have stopped being used are closed and also uninstalling those that continuously run in the background.
There are some Android devices with built-in Device Care, Memory or Phone manager that help to detect the apps that consume a lot of memory. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to keep clearing all apps in the background, because the design of Android is such that it optimizes the RAM. If there is adequate RAM but your phone continues to perform slowly, then the problem might actually be due to low storage or outdated software or overheating of the phone.
Memory management on Android phones is automatic; however, resource-heavy applications can slow down the device. There are ways you can clear up memory manually and instantly speed up your Android phone.Quick Ways to Clear Up RAM Close recent apps.
From the bottom up, swipe on your screen and swipe away recently opened applications.Stop background services. Utilize the optimization feature that comes in your phone to clear memory.
Samsung phones: Settings > Device care > Memory > Tap on “Clean now”Pixle / Motorola: Settings > System > Developer options > Running services to kill resource-heavy apps.
Xiaomi / OnePlus phones: Open multitasking view and tap “X” or Clear all buttons.Disable RAM expansion. Turn off such features as RAM Plus or Virtual RAM in your storage settings. They consume slow internal storage space as memory and lead to micro-stutters.Force stop resource-heavy applications. Settings > Apps > Select apps like Facebook and games and tap Force stop.
Disable Animations
Animations make Android look nice and smooth, but they can also make some devices lag and feel slow. Lowering or turning them off completely makes all apps and menus feel more responsive, not as sluggish.
However, animations may vary from device to device. On most android devices, you may change the animations inside the Developer options. To access Developer options, go to Settings → About Phone and tap on the Build number several times until Developer options are enabled.
Then go to Settings → System → Developer options and change the following settings:
Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, Animator duration scale. You may lower all three scales to 0.5x or disable them entirely. Depending on your device, the name of the options may vary slightly.
Animator duration scale is not available on some devices. Lowering animations will not improve your phone’s real speed but will make it feel more responsive. If you want your phone to look more beautiful, you can go into the settings and restore the default animation settings.
Disabling animations is probably the single most useful secret trick that will immediately improve the performance of your Android smartphone. By default, the operating system provides smooth visual transitions, fades the windows, and performs scaling when opening apps or changing screens or menus.
Although they give a certain fluidity to the user interface, these animations take time to load and provide a mandatory delay due to them. In older and low-end devices, such transitions result in obvious lagging, but even in newer phones, they just become slower to perform navigation tasks. Disabling them means skipping the visual delay entirely and having your phone react immediately, like it was brand new again. To do it, you first have to access your device’s hidden Developer Options.
In the Settings, find and open About phone, then click on the Build number seven times in order to get the message confirming that you are a developer. After that, go back to the main Settings and access System > Developer options. Find Drawing section in the menu and you will see there three separate settings – Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale.
Click each of them separately and set their values from the default 1.0x to 0.5x for quickness or Animation off for ultimate responsiveness. Then your apps will open the millisecond you tap them, and menus will be changed immediately without any artificial delays.
Factory Reset
A factory reset is an ultimate procedure of software purification for a slow Android phone, where all years of digital cluttering, system corruption, and registry errors get wiped out. Due to months and even years of constant use, smartphones get clogged with huge amounts of system junk, leftover data from constantly installing and removing applications, and registry errors that any normal cleanup application cannot get rid of.
Such accumulated digital clutter makes the central processor of a smartphone work much harder when executing even the most basic actions, causing lags, frozen screens, and extremely quick battery drain.
With the help of a factory reset, you format the internal storage drive of a smartphone and install a new fresh copy of the Android system. As a result, you will eliminate all software conflicts making your phone work slowly, and immediately restore the initial speed, responsiveness, and smoothness of its operation.
Nevertheless, since this action is fully destructive to existing data, you need to be prepared beforehand. All user information from the internal memory, such as photos, videos, downloaded music, personal documents, offline SMS history, calls log, and saved Wi-Fi passwords, gets completely erased by the factory reset process.
In addition to this, all installed applications will be deleted and all active accounts logged out. In order to avoid any possible data loss, it is extremely important to do a proper backup before clicking the button of erase. By navigating to the backup settings of your phone, you can back up all your photos on Google Photos and also synchronize the system settings, application data, and contacts with Google Drive.
Conclusion
Maintaining Speed on Your Android Phone
Firstly, it is important to note that you do not have to be a technical genius to speed up your android phone. The reason why android phones become slow is mainly software related, and not hardware.
As a result, you can maintain the fast and smooth performance of your phone for many years simply by taking care of a few simple steps. First of all, try to restart your phone weekly, delete unnecessary files, and make sure that your phone has at least ten percent free space on it. Secondly, if you own an older phone, you should also consider more advanced maintenance actions such as turning off animations and resetting your phone back to its original settings.
Android phone slowness is quite annoying, but there are some easy ways through which its performance could be improved. Restarting the phone, cleaning up the junk files, upgrading your Android, releasing the unnecessary resources, and minimizing the animations could help in increasing the phone’s performance and speed.
Having adequate space left on your phone and removing any apps that are not required will also ensure that your phone doesn’t suffer from performance issues in the future. If these steps don’t work out for you and your phone is still slow, then the best thing you could do is perform a factory reset on your phone. But always remember to backup your data before performing a factory reset on your phone.