Though
the hardware of smartphones is steadily becoming more capable it can't be
utilised to its fullest potential without the software to tap it. This is
personal technology's modern hurdle - the optimisation of both hardware and
software to ensure a fast and seamless user experience.
The
effects of this optimisation are most tangible for smartphone users, who in
today's fast-paced world become impatient and frustrated if their smartphone
starts slowing down, hanging, or otherwise impeding their productivity.
The
slowdown of Android smartphones can be caused by several reasons, and usually
starts becoming noticeable after several months of using them. Here are a few
tips for users that feel their Android smartphones have slowed since they
purchased the devices.
1. Install a third-party app launcher
Most
Android smartphone manufacturers customise the OS on their devices, with
specially-designed skins, launchers or UIs that sport widgets, layouts and
other custom features in addition to the vanilla OS offering. While some users
do find these customisations and added features useful, they can potentially
slowdown the smartphone.
A simple
workaround is to install a good third-party launcher (simpler than rooting or
installing a custom ROM on the smartphone), which should remove most of the
custom features, whilst also providing personalisation options. Some of the
best launchers available in the Google Play store are 'Nova Launcher', 'GO
Launcher EX', and 'Apex Launcher'.
2. Remove extra apps, wallpapers, widgets
If users
have a significant number of apps installed, it could slow down their
smartphones. Users need to ask themselves if all the apps they have installed
are being used, and then uninstall unused ones. Some apps cannot be uninstalled
(especially bloatware apps from smartphone manufacturers), so users will have
to settle for disabling them.
Live
wallpapers, and an excess of widgets on home screens, can also slow down
smartphones, and if users are experiencing performance issues they should
consider using static wallpapers instead, and removing any non-vital widgets.
3. Disable non-vital background processes,
check synching apps
Some
apps start up with the phone, while others are constantly synching with online
services. Both of these can dramatically slowdown users' smartphones. To check
which apps are running in the background, users should visit the Apps section
in Settings, and swipe to the 'Running' tab. If there are apps running in the
background that are not being utilised, users should try uninstalling the apps,
or disabling them, in case the apps can't be removed.
Another
thing to be checked is if there are apps that are synching in the background,
and if the benefits of synching are being utilised by the user. If not, users
can turn off synchronisation, saving both data and system resources. To do
this, visit Settings>Data usage (could be a separate section called 'Usage'
under 'Wireless & networks' menu, depending on your Android version), and
scroll down to see which apps are using data.
Users can
then either visit individual app settings to turn off synchronisation, or visit
the 'Data usage' section's context menu, which has the 'Auto-sync data' option
(not present in all Android versions), which can be turned off.
To do
the same for any Google app or services, users will need visit
Settings>Accounts>Google>UserProfile. Here they can turn off sync
settings for individual Google apps and services.
A
must-install for Android smartphone users is Advanced Task Killer, which allows
users to kill any apps that are taking too much memory (RAM) or slowing down
the device for other reasons, such as instability.
4. Clear app cache
Much-used
apps will build up a cache that can slowdown an Android smartphone, and users
can delete each used apps' cache regularly to speed up their devices.
Unfortunately, this will have to be a rather regular process, as apps will
start rebuilding their cache from the moment they are launched. To individually
delete each app's cache, users will need to visit Settings>Apps, select the
relevant app, and then click on the 'Clear cache' button.
To
bulk-delete multiple apps' cache, or to set up scheduled cache-clearing, users
can download a third-party application called 'App Cache Cleaner' from the Play
Store, which can delete cache for multiple apps, and allow users to set up
intervals for regular cache cleaning. Users can also delete cache data for all
apps via a native Android option, found at Settings>Storage>Cached data.
5. Disable animations
Animations
are usually graphical transitions between menus, app drawers, and other
interface locations. They use system resources to be generated, and occur quite
regularly when navigating through a smartphone. They serve no purpose apart
from beautifying the smartphone experience, and if users find their devices are
slowing down, it is a good idea to turn off animations with no adverse impact
on day-to-day use.
Turning
off animations unfortunately is not very easy, with the option usually hidden
behind the 'Developers options' section. To access 'Developers options', users
need to visit Settings>System>About Phone where they can find the 'Build
number' of their phone. Once they tap the 'Build number' seven times, users
will then see 'Developer options' in the system menu. Here, they turn off all
types of animation. Users should be
careful not to turn on or off any other option in this section.
6. Clean out built-in storage
If the
built-in storage of a smartphone is nearly full, the device will slow down
quite dramatically. Between 10 and 20 percent of the total built-in storage
should be available or free to avoid slowdowns. While a simple solution could
be to simply delete all unused apps and clear cache data to save space, ideally
users should be looking at a longer lasting solution. Most smartphones come
with the option to expand built-in storage via microSD card.
If
users' smartphones feature microSD card storage expandability, they should move
all media to it, such as pictures, music and videos. Apps can also be moved
from internal storage to SD card, by visiting the app's settings via
Settings>App and navigate to individual apps. Some older versions of Android
don't support this feature, and users will have to download an 'Apps to SD
card' app from the Google Play store.
7. Update firmware
While
certain updates can have adverse effects, the general rule of thumb is that a
firmware update for a smartphone will bring improvements of various types,
usually including performance optimisations. Users experiencing reduced
performance on their smartphones should check if the manufacturer has released
a firmware update for them.
To do
this, users should visit Settings>System>About>Software Updates and
check if an update is available over-the-air. If not present here, users can
also check by connecting their smartphones to the PC suite software provided by
the manufacturer, and check for updates there.
While most
updates do not require users to back up their smartphones before the update, we
recommend users do so just in case something does go wrong - it's better to be
safe than sorry.
8. Root phone, install custom ROM
While we
don't recommend this method to anybody but a power user, the problem of a
slowing Android smartphone is often solved by this method, with the user
installing a custom ROM that is lighter and less-resource intensive than the
manufacturer-customised UI and firmware. The method is similar to installing a
third-party app launcher (Tip 1), however, has a much wider effect, essentially
replacing all the software on the phone.
There
are several guides and resources available online that can help users root
their devices, and install custom ROMs from a database of independently
developed firmware. XDA Developers Forum is one of the best resources for this,
and users are recommended to read in detail the instructions and discussions
about the specific custom ROM for their particular smartphone before going
ahead. You can also visit CyanogenMod's website, which provides several easy
installation tools and walkthroughs for its ROMs.
Please
note, rooting smartphones or installing custom ROMs on them is usually (there
are some tools also available) a rather complicated task, and a risky one that
can see users lose all their data, or end up with a bricked device. Rooting or
flashing smartphones also usually voids manufacturer warranty.
9. SSD TRIM
Smartphones
utilise solid state drives for their storage needs, and an inherent flaw with
such a storage device is that when data is deleted from flash memory cells, the
cells need to be completely wiped before they can used for a write process
again. This requires the OS to issue a TRIM command to the drive to specific
which cells are unused and should be wiped.
Google
reportedly fixed this problem in Android 4.3 and higher, but if you are running
an older version of Android, a solution does exist that will allow users to
issue TRIM commands to the SSD. Users will need to root their smartphones, and
install LagFix from the Play Store. Once again, rooting smartphones is a risky
process and we recommend caution.
