What are the most common questions asked by Android users? Like, how to make Android faster? How to speed up my Android phone? Well, it’s every Android user’s dream that their phone defies all the limits of fluidity and quickness.
But do you think it’s true? Could an Android device be made faster than what it’s capable of? At most, all we want is to make the Android device work as if it’s new because installing apps and using them on a daily basis slows down our smartphone. These apps run in real-time and consume memory, storage, and other resources of the device.
So, what could be the many ways to use our Android devices efficiently, in such a way that we could reduce the lags and freezes as much as possible if not completely? Having said that, let me tell you some useful Android tips and tricks:
1. Keep the apps you use
Almost every Android tips and tricks guide you might read would recommend you to keep only those apps that you use on a daily basis. Doesn’t it sound obvious? Would you store unnecessary things in your house just because they are free? Well, our homes are often clogged with such stuff but do we need to do the same thing with our smartphones?
Various apps that live inside our smartphones run all the time and need to connect to the internet to keep working. And if these apps are of no use to us, they would only put a burden on the hardware and increase our data bills. Getting rid of such apps would be a wise move in the path to speed up Android.
2. Use lighter versions of apps
Many of the popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, Opera have their lite versions too. These lightweight apps are often designed for entry-level smartphones and for the users who want to keep things simple.
Using lite versions for apps can also reduce your data bills, as it’s one of the reasons why such apps exist.
3. Install apps on the internal memory
Smartphones with little internal memory would go out breath after only hearing this. But having around 16GB of internal memory is pretty standard, even in the case of some budget Android phones.
The reason why I am telling you to install apps on the internal memory is that it’s considerably faster and reliable than most external SD cards. And that’s probably one of the reasons why premium smartphones like iPhone and Pixel don’t have an SD card slot. Although, device security is another important reason to ditch the slot.
Both SD cards and internal memory are flash-based storage, but the compatibility plays a significant role here. Not to mention the type of SD card one uses, whether it’s a UHS-I, UHS-II. A UHS-II or the more recent UHS-III card might be faster than the internal memory.
Nowadays, storage companies like SanDisk are working on creating SD cards that could match internal memory and make Android faster and more efficient. Still, internal storage is better.
4. Root your Android
Is rooting an Android device going to make your Android faster? No, it’s not. That’s because rooting doesn’t involve sprinkling some holy water to achieve incredible performance boosts. In reality, it’s what you do after rooting your Android might make the device faster, or worse, it might make it slower if you do things the wrong way. Please note that rooting is a part of advanced Android tips and tricks; so proceed with caution.
Most people root their devices to remove bloatware — apps pre-installed on the phone — which one can’t delete directly. Getting a great insight into the Android system may allow you to terminate the processes which are only a burden to the system.
You can even try some custom ROMs. If you remember, CyanogenMod was one hell of a popular ROM with its current descendant in the name of LineageOS. There are other popular ROMs which might have a considerable edge over the stock ROM on your device.
Note: Rooting your device will void its warranty.
5. Clear app cache
There are some apps which you don’t need on a regular basis, but they are important enough to have a place on your device. Like, the apps you use to book flights, hotels, and order. To make Android faster, try to remove the cached data for such apps in the Settings to make sure they don’t consume much space when they are not in use.
Clearing the cached data, sometimes, helps in making the app more smoother as it removes old data which might make it lag and lead to freezes and crashes. When the data gets deleted, the app can keep newer versions of the same things. This method is helpful in the case of big apps like Facebook and Instagram which store tons of images and other data on your device.
Do keep in mind clearing the app cache in many cases deletes the preferences the app has saved.
6. Clean the system memory several times during the day
Android has excellent task management skills. It can close unwanted processes on its own, whenever required. But this old school thing, I can tell you, it would help a lot if your device has a scarcity of RAM.
Nowadays, almost every launcher includes the option to free the system memory. If it’s not there, you should consider installing some memory cleaning app. And here I am not talking about the apps which claim to make your Android phone faster by running in real-time performing cleaning operations. And all they do is they make the device even slower.
Clearing the RAM of the smartphone can give you an instant performance boost as it closes various unwanted apps capturing the precious memory of the Android phone.
7. Update your phone, regularly
Every newer version of Android comes with various performance improvements. So, upgrading your device, if your vendor is kind enough to release one, can do wonders and speed up Android.
Alternatively, you can head over towards custom ROMs for your Android device if you think the device maker built the phone and just forgot the fact that it exists anymore. That is the case of the Mi Pad my friend brought more than a year ago. Even though the device has capable hardware, it still runs Android KitKat. Please note that using customs ROMs comes in the category of Android tips and tricks for experienced users.
8. Think before you install an app
It’s almost a decade since Android came into existence and the number of apps for the platform has now grown into millions. But out of these uncountable number of apps and games, not all of them are designed by developers with good intentions.
Many Android apps are fake and want to take control of your device, steal valuable data and send it to their masters. For instance, the System Update malware lived in the Play Store for three years, undetected.
Google has recently rolled out Play Protect tool for scanning such apps. Indirectly, you can make your Android device faster by this option. However, you should check the authenticity of an unknown app before you install it, even if you’re downloading it from the Play Store.
