Speed up your Android phone with these eight essential tips

Remember back when you first got your Android phone? You were so excited, and it ran so smoothly you could hardly believe it. Now, as time has passed, the device has slowed down considerably, to the point that it’s annoying. What should you do? Start looking for a new phone already? Not so fast!

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First, let’s see if we can try to speed up your Android phone with a few simple steps. If you find they don’t bring about the desired results, then you might start contemplating a new handset.

We’ve put together eight ways to speed up your Android device. Note that the directions might vary slightly from one phone to another, but largely follow the same steps.

Update your device

 

When was the last time you updated your device? In order to ensure your smartphone is running as smoothly as possible, you need to be up to date with the latest software release available. It’s not uncommon for apps to or games to have snags or conflicts with outdated versions of Android.

You can easily check for new updates on your device by opening the main settings, tapping About and checking the Software Update section.

Choose widgets carefully

Be careful how you fill up the empty home screen panels space with shortcuts and widgets. Widgets use small amounts of processing power and put a toll on battery life too, so you best limit you’re a few.

Remove those you rarely use and you’ll most likely going to experience an improvement in performance. Also if you could do away with the Live wallpaper it would be great. Opt for a static one instead.

Remove some apps

A bit too many photo apps, eh?

Chances are you may have gotten curious about some type of apps, installed them on your device, and gave them a go. Then, over time you totally forgot about them. Removing them might make your device run faster.

The process is simple: find the Settings app on your phone then look for Applications > Manage Applications. The tabs at the top will show you Downloaded Apps, Running Apps, All Apps and Apps on SD Card – so you can easily find the application you want to delete.

Turn off animations

There’s a hidden setting option in Android that will give you access to a few extra commands. Go to Settings>About>Build Number and tap it seven times. You are now given access to Developer Options. Now, you’ll be able to see a lot of options available to you, but unless you’re an experienced developer you’d best leave them alone.

Look for the Window Animation Scale option and choose to Turn off Animations to improve your device’s performance.

5. Switch to ART time

If your phone is running Android 5.0 Lollipop or above, you are using ART. However, an older phone with Android 4.4 KitKat uses DALVIK by default. However, you have the option to switch to ART hidden in the developer options. Scroll down to the Apps section and tap Select runtime, then choose Use ART.

Clean up your device storage space

From time to time, you should perform a quick clean of your device. Remember all those pictures you take for your friend’s birthday? Select the best shots and delete the others. How about all those screenshots and downloaded documents and pictures (Downloads folder from your app drawer) that basically qualify as junk? You need to wipe that out too.

Next, be sure to check the Storage page in the Settings and tap on the Other feature.  The category called Other includes app data, files downloaded from Internet via Bluetooth and Android system files. Choose the Explore option and search and identify the files you know you don’t need. However, if you don’t know what the file is for, do not delete it!

Clear the cache

The more you use an app, the more data is cached to improve the app’s performance. But, what’s good for the app may not be good for the rest of the device.

The good news is that you can quickly clear the cache. Open up the settings on your Android and head on the Device storage page. Scroll down the list until you find the Cached data entry and tap on it. A pop-up will appear tell you asking you if you want to clear all the cached data.

Factory Reset

Sometimes, the best way to breathe new life into your Android device is to perform a Factory Reset (also known as hard reset). Particularly in older handsets, it’s the best way to achieve a performance boosts.

Take into consideration that performing a factory reset means all your data will be deleted. So, before you take this step, you’ll need to backup all your files. Luckily, a factory reset won’t wipe up info from a microSD card slot.

To get started with your factory reset go to Settings>Backup and Reset>Factory data reset.

Conclusion

Let us know how your phone is doing now! Did you speed up your Android or is it time to start looking for something new?

by Alexandra Arici via AndroidGuys