We get a new generation of smartphones pretty much every year. But in most cases, the new phones offer very little performance upgrade compared to their predecessors. Yes, you can say that new smartphones come with exclusive features. But in some cases, manufacturers bring most of those eye-catching features to last-gen devices with software updates. So, it may just be worth it to hold onto your old Android phone for a little while.
Of course, there are cases where an old Android phone can stop getting updates and get sluggish. In such instances, you may think that there’s no other solution than to get a new smartphone. But you’d be wrong because there are ways to get a little more performance out of your aged smartphone. Want to know how? Well, that’s where this guide comes into play.
Uninstall and Disable the Unnecessary Apps to Improve Performance
Over time, our phones become cluttered with apps, much like a disorganized attic. These unused apps can drain your phone’s resources in the background. Sometimes, it doesn’t even matter if the apps are dormant. And they can make your already old Android phone more sluggish.
Give your phone a refresh every few months by uninstalling unused apps. Don’t hesitate to remove pre-installed apps (bloatware) that you don’t need.
You should also ditch the antivirus and task-killer apps. Google Play Protect offers ample protection for most Android phone users. Modern Android versions are good at managing resources, making task-killer apps redundant. They can even cause harm, so it’s best to get rid of them.
While you’re decluttering, clear the cache of individual apps. This will help to improve their performance without losing important data. If you need more guidance on clearing clutter on your Android phone, read our in-depth guide on that topic in this link.
Move Large Files Out of Your Android Phone
Even with a decluttered app selection, your Android phone might still be bogged down by bulky files like music, videos, and photos.
Instead of deleting precious memories, consider offloading them to an SD card if your phone supports it (not all models do). Alternatively, transfer them to cloud storage like Google Drive for safekeeping and remote access. This frees up valuable internal storage on your phone, potentially leading to improved performance.
Use the built-in “Files” app (or “My Files” on Samsung) to locate and move your largest files, giving your phone some much-needed breathing room.
Check the Home Screen of Your Old Android Phone
You should also focus on the home screen to improve the performance of your old Android phone. Yes, live wallpapers and widgets can make the home screen visually appealing. But they can strain resources, which can make smartphones offer sluggish performance.
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The fix? Opt for a static wallpaper and minimize widgets to free up resources. That should improve the performance of your old Android smartphone to a good degree. Also, Consider using a third-party launcher. Some can often offer a lighter and more efficient user experience compared to the stock launcher on your device.
Perform Periodic Restart
No matter what you say, phones can benefit from a periodic refresh. First of all, restarting your phone clears out previously running apps. It also removes the background processes that might be taking up too much memory. As a result, your old Android phone gets an instant performance boost.
So, the next time your Android smartphone feels a little sluggish, give it a quick restart.
Opt for Lite Apps to Get Better Performance
Many popular apps offer “Lite” or “Go-edition” versions. Developers design these to be less resource-hungry. This alone makes them perfect for old Android smartphones with a little dated hardware. What’s more, these light versions of the apps even require little space. That means you will be saving up in terms of storage as well.
Tune the Developer Options of Your Old Android Phone
For those comfortable venturing a little deeper, Android offers “Developer Options.” It has settings that can further optimize the performance of your old phone. However, proceed with caution! These options are for developers and can impact your phone’s functionality if not used carefully.
Once enabled, you can access settings like “Window animation scale,” “Transition animation scale,” and “Animator duration scale.” These control the speed of animations on your phone.
Reducing these values from the default 1x to something like 0.5x can make your phone feel snappier. However, the actual performance improvement might be minimal.
Remember, this is an advanced option, and it’s crucial to tread carefully to avoid unintended consequences.
Perform a Factory Reset
Didn’t get a big performance boost after going through the tips mentioned above? In that case, you should consider performing a factory reset. But you need to note one important thing. Factory reset will wipe your Android phone clean. This will get rid of the potential culprits that are slowing down the device.
That also means you will lose all the personal files that are inside the smartphone. So, before you perform a factory reset, you should make a backup of all the important files. Even though this tip works really well, it should be your last resort. After all, it can be a little tedious to back up all important data and restore them back to your phone.
