Tips for Speeding Up your Android Device - Blog - Australian Local Business Directory

When I first got my Samsung Galaxy 4, it was blazing fast; but after a couple of months, the phone was getting slower and slower. Finally, the situation got too frustrating. I had to do something that allowed the phone to be as fast as the first day.

During this experience I learned a lot about Android devices and decided to share these tips for making your Android device run faster.

Before doing anything to the device, you must make a backup to any important information on there. This is a preventive measure, since any change made to the device may result in the loss of information.

Basics:

All Android devices come with different specifications and versions of the Android OS; but they all share the same basic hardware. It is very important to know these specifications, since the device’s performance depends on them. The most important are listed below:

• CPU: (Central Processing Unit) is the heart of the device, often called the “brainâ€. It will process all the information from the applications, and it will greatly define the speed of the device.
• RAM: (Random Access Memory) it stores the applications that are currently in use and running, while also keeping a queue of programs waiting to been processed.
• ROM: (Read Only Memory) it is the part of the device where the Android OS is stored alongside with the system applications, including bloatware (Applications that come pre-installed on your device)
• GPU: (Graphic Processing Unit) is the part of the android device that takes care of display, including videos and games.
• Internal Storage: This is where all settings, files, download, or media files are stored.
• Expandable Storage: it is where SD, mini SD or any other kind of memory may be inserted to the device in order to get more storage capacity.
• Rooted and Non-Rooted device: This determines how far the device can be customised. If the device is rooted it means that you can make changes to the ROM and the operative system as well (Beware, If the device does not come with this feature and you root it, It will be out of warranty)

For non-rooted and rooted devices:

When the device is running slow there could be several things wrong. In order to find the culprit, you must start with the usual suspects:

RAM:

1. Remove or disable all the forgotten apps that were never used, using the application manager within the settings. This includes all the free games that you only played once. It will free up RAM and allow more space for applications to run faster.
Go to Settings > Application Management > Select the app that you don’t want > Tap Uninstall

2. Review What Applications Run During The Boot Process. There are some of them that may be needed but that does not mean that they have to be running all the time. Usually, you can change the settings of those applications to avoid starting along with the device.

Having an Antivirus is not a bad thing, but you may consider removing it if the applications are exclusively downloaded from the Google Play Store, since it will always run while the device is on.

3. Clear The Application Cache: This may be convenient if the device has applications that require a huge amount of cache, like games. It will free the RAM and sometimes the internal storage too. The advice is to use applications that free the RAM.
Go to Settings > Application Management > Select the app that you want to clear > Clear Cache

4. Disable Animated Backgrounds: They are good looking and attractive for any user, but they use RAM and CPU just like any other application, and it will slow down the device. A fixed picture can be used instead.Go to Gallery > Select the desired picture > Tap over the tree dots on the upper right hand corners or press the option button on your device > Set picture as > Wallpaper

5. (Optional) You May Disable The Auto-Sync Data Of Different Applications

Go to settings > Data usages > Tap on the three dots located on the upper right hand corner of your device or you may press the option button of your device > Then Unselect the Auto-sync option.

Take a closer look of the device behaviour, since this option may block your email or even chat notifications, in this case open the application manually to review them.

6. Updating The Device: Many vendors offer updates for these devices but the buyer must be very careful updating it by following the proper instructions. A full system backup is necessary so you don't lose all your information, including settings. The best way is to find the latest Android OS available for the device, though in some situations you may have to wait for it to be released.

Only for rooted devices:

Having a rooted device offers a great opportunity to improve, update and sometimes speed up the device beyond the first day. Take note that if you root the device and there is a problem, the warranty will be void. Use the following tips as a guide but if anything happens to your device you will be responsible.

1. Greenify: This application will stop any background app from using RAM or data usage, increasing the performance of the device’s battery.

2. Removing Bloatware That Isn’t Needed: You will need a special application that will have “root access†and will allow the removal of the unwanted application. Understand what is being uninstalled because if you remove a system application needed for the boot process of the device, it will not work anymore.

3. Updating Your Android OS: There are many custom Android OS available, finding the most suitable is part of the work. However, in my experience, Android 4.4 KitKat will provide better memory management that any other previous Android OS; making it the fastest candidate for an upgrade. The manual upgrade must be performed using the right ROM for the device, but it may include unwanted bugs, since must of the custom OS are always in development and they usually have problems adjusting the drivers for the device. This is like video playback lag when there is a buggy GPU driver. A full device backup is a must and always check for known bugs before installing any custom ROM.

Getting the speed and performance that you expect requires the right kind of habits that will help to efficiently manage the device’s memory. The beginning of it all is simply installing only needed applications on the device.