Is your phone slowing down? Here’s what you can do.

Whether you’re an Android phone or iPhone user, no one, including myself, enjoys a device that lags. There are several possible causes for the decline in device performance, but fret not, here are some tried and tested tips to help you get your mobile phones working sprightly again. 

Top reasons your phone is running slow 

• Too many applications are open at the same time 
• Having insufficient storage space 
• Using an out-of-date operating system 
• Having an ageing battery 
• It’s becoming too hot 

How to make a slow phone run faster? 

Despite the hotly debated disparities between iOS and Android phones, both systems perform similarly in terms of basic functionality. As a result, there are a few general tips that will help you regain the performance that your phone has lost over time. 

• Clear your phone’s cache 

It’s likely that you use your phone to browse the internet rather than your computer. This means that the web browser on your device is storing a lot of information. You can save storage space and speed up your phone’s by deleting it. 

Simply go to the settings on the browser that you frequently use and clear the history. The same applies to most browsers. If you don’t want to lose sites that you enjoy, you could always bookmark them. 

• Delete unused apps and files 

It’s possible to free up storage and operating space by deleting apps you don’t need. It’s also a good idea to get rid of any files, photographs, images, documents, or anything else you don’t need. 

The easiest way to delete iPhone apps is by simply pressing and holding the app you want to delete and, once it begins to dance around on your screen, tap the “x” in the top left corner. 

You might not be able to delete all the apps on your Android phone, but you can disable them so they won’t show on your app list. 

Some operating systems also allow you to check your app usage. Apps that are hardly used can then be removed to speed up your device. Also look out for residual files that may continue to lurk after an app is deleted.  

• Get rid of widgets and live wallpapers 

As useful as widgets are for accessing specific app functions without having to open the app, cluttering your phone’s home screen with them will inevitably delay performance and reduce battery life. This is due to the fact that each widget uses a small amount of processing power, and those that sync online at regular intervals are even more draining. 

You could consider a simpler wallpaper or an app drawer to keep your phone’s landing screen clutter-free. Live wallpapers with moving elements in the background may be visually appealing, but they have a negative impact on speed and functionality. Additionally, dark mode which is now commonplace among most operating systems, will allow you save battery as well. 

• Clear your phone’s RAM 

Here’s a clever way to speed up your iPhone almost instantly without having to reboot it. 

– Switch on your phone’s ‘Assistive touch’ feature (‘Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Accessibility’ > ‘Assistive touch’). This will activate an assistive touch button that will appear on top of the page.

-Return to your ‘General’ page and scroll down until you see the ‘Shut down’ option at the very bottom. Selecting it will result in a message prompting you to ‘slide to power off’. Don’t slide it! Instead, tap on the ‘Assistive touch’ button, then press and hold the on-screen ‘Home’ button until the iPhone flashes and you are taken back to the home screen. 

Every Android device comes with an Application Manager (could also be labeled as ‘Apps’). It is in the Settings app and usually has different ways to be accessed in different devices, so we can’t exactly go through a step-by-step tutorial. Regardless, you can find it and manage specific applications from there. 

If you see that an unwanted app keeps taking up RAM space for no reason, simply find it in the Application Manager and access its options. From the menu you can uninstall the app. If it’s not possible to uninstall it, you can disable it. 

For a less technical and more accessible solution use the Recent Apps page, which is accessible from the Recent Apps button (one of the 3 main buttons in the Android OS). Simply go in there and swipe unwanted apps away to close them. 

What If None of This Works? 

Try factoring-resetting your phone – it’ll clear all the unnecessary data your phone might have collected along the way, but make sure you back up all your important stuff such as your contacts and photos. 

If that doesn’t work, you could opt to get a replacement without having to explain yourself! InstaCover offers like-for-like replacements, for as little as RM0.33 a day.

Find out more about InstaCover at instacover.compasia.com