If Mr. Franklin were around today, I'd invite him to seriously consider adding another wise certainty, "Any gadget you buy today will be slower tomorrow." Right? It seems that regardless of how whiz bang fast the newest and greatest gadget is, it immediately begins to slow down just as soon as I start using it. Then within a few months or so, it is slogging along nearly as slow as the old gadget I just spent money to replace.
Android smartphones and tablets are no different. The more you use them, it is inevitable that they will slow down. But is that slow down really so inevitable? What are the real causes of these slow downs? Is there anything an Android user can do to reduce or even reverse the slow downs?
In my tech experience, I've found that the first step to solving any problem is first understanding the problem. That's why I've spent some time researching the issues that cause sluggish Androids. Surprisingly, I've narrowed the reasons down to just three main causes.
Now the good news is that by better understanding the "why" of the slow downs, we can start to develop practical solutions and fixes. In today's Android Tip, I'll step through the 3 biggest reasons that your Android slows down and what you can do to stop or even reverse these slow downs.
Background Processes
With over a million apps available in the Google Play store, chances are you've downloaded and installed at least a few. After all, apps are what make your Android do so many incredible things. But there's just one problem. Like any software program, apps put a load on your gadget's processor and that slows it down from doing other things.Apps also take up space in your storage. More about how filling up your storage can slow down your Android later.
Some apps begin running as soon as you start up your Android and then continue to run in the background, putting a constant drag on your processor and filling up your gadget’s memory. If you’ve installed more than a few apps that run in the background, they can seriously slow down your smartphone or tablet.
Here's another hidden background process that can slow down your Android practically to horse and buggy speed. You may be tempted to use those pretty animated live wallpapers and install a lot of widgets on your home screen. But watch out. These are processor, graphics and memory hogs.
How to reduce background processes: Simplify your home screen and you'll probably see an immediate speed improvement. Disable live wallpapers and remove widgets. To see which apps are running in the background, visit the Apps screen in the Settings and swipe over to the Running category. If you see an app running in the background that you don't use or could live without, simply uninstall it. If it came pre-installed on your Android and you can’t uninstall, then disable it. Caution: Don’t just end the service because it will automatically run the next time you restart your phone or tablet.
Operating system updates
When you bought your new Android, it should have been optimized for the current operating system. As Google updates the OS, it is designing the newest OS to work best with the latest and greatest gadgets. Slowly but surely, your older gadget just can't keep up with its newer cousins. Or, your carrier or manufacturer may have added additional bloatware apps in an update, which run in the background and slow things down.You also have to consider what app updates can do to your gadget. Even if you are still running the same operating system that shipped with your phone or tablet, you may be running updated apps that are optimized for newer, faster gear. Whether you’re using newer apps or updated versions of the same apps you've been using for a while, apps seem to become more complicated over time.
As app developers try to take advantage of faster gadget hardware, games and other apps are designed to work better on the faster hardware and as a result perform worse on older, less capable devices. These faster, more intensive apps can also gobble up more RAM leaving less to run other apps or the OS.
Solutions? Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about operating system updates. However, using the advice above, you can look for and disable extra bloatware apps that came with your OS update. If an app update slows down your gear, look for alternative apps that accomplish the same tasks but are less processor and memory intensive.
Nearly full storage
But its not just photos, music and videos that are filling up your precious memory. Many apps, especially your browser, constantly save content and settings from sites you've visited in files called cache. The idea behind cache is that rather than download photos or graphics over and over again from the sites you visit, you gadget stores copies in memory to help the page load faster the next time you visit.
But here's the problem with that strategy: Depending on the app setting, the cache files may grow unchecked until your storage is filled to the brim. Long before you reach 99% full, your gadget will be so slow you may completely give up using it at all! Before you toss your gadget in the trash out of pure frustration, follow along to easily open up some major storage space.
Open up more storage space: The Storage screen in Settings will show you how full your device’s storage is and what kind of files are using the space. Uninstall the apps you don’t use, delete files you don’t need, and clear app caches to free up space. To clear cached data for all installed apps at once, open the Settings, tap Storage, scroll down, tap Cached data, and tap OK.
If none of the above steps work to speed up your sluggish Android, there is one last step I call The Nuclear Option. Just perform a factory reset and only install the apps you need to end up with a like-new device. Just beware that doing a factory reset will wipe out everything you have saved on your smartphone or tablet. Before resetting your gadget you should consider saving photos, music, videos, contacts, email and anything else you wish to keep. For some suggestions where to save your stuff, check out my Tip, 3 Android places to store your stuff in the cloud.
