Tips for maximizing the performance of your old Android phone

We get a new generation of smartphones almost every year. But in most cases, new phones offer very little performance improvement over their predecessors. Yes, you can say that new smartphones come with outstanding features. But in some cases, manufacturers provide most of these eye-catching features to latest generation devices with software updates. So it might just be worth keeping your old Android phone for a while.

Of course, there are times when an old Android phone can stop receiving updates and become slow. In such cases, you might think that there is no other solution but to get a new smartphone. But you’d be wrong, because there are ways to get a little more performance out of your old smartphone. Do you want to know how? Well, that’s where this guide comes into play.

Uninstall and disable unnecessary apps to improve performance

Over time, our phones become cluttered with apps, like a disorganized ceiling. These unused apps can drain your phone’s resources in the background. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter if apps are dormant. And they can make your already old Android phone slower.

Refresh your phone every few months by uninstalling unused apps. Feel free to remove pre-installed apps (bloatware) that you don’t need.

You should also ditch antivirus and task killer apps. Google Play Protect offers broad protection for most Android phone users. Modern versions of Android are good at managing resources, making task-killing apps redundant. They can even cause harm, so it’s best to get rid of them.

While you’re cleaning up the clutter, clear the cache of individual apps. This will help improve their performance without losing important data. If you need more guidance on decluttering your Android phone, read our in-depth guide on this topic in this link.

Move large files from your Android phone

Even with a thin selection of apps, your Android phone can still be cluttered with bulky files like music, videos, and photos.

Instead of deleting precious memories, consider transferring them to an SD card if your phone supports it (not all models support it). Another option is to transfer them to cloud storage such as Google Drive for safe storage and remote access. This frees up valuable internal storage on your phone, potentially leading to improved performance.

Use the built-in Files app (or Samsung’s My Files) to find and move your largest files, giving your phone much-needed freedom to work.

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 your home screen visually appealing. But they can put a strain on resources, which can make smartphones offer slow performance.

The fix? Choose a static wallpaper and minimize widgets to free up resources. This should greatly improve the performance of your old Android smartphone. Also, consider using a third-party launcher. Some can often offer a lighter and more efficient user experience than your device’s default launcher.

Reboot periodically

No matter what you say, phones can benefit from an occasional refresh. First of all, restarting the phone clears the previously running apps. It also removes background processes that may 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 slow, give it a quick reboot.

Choose Lite apps to get better performance

Many popular apps offer “Lite” or “Go-edition” versions. Developers design them to be less resource hungry. This alone makes them ideal for old Android smartphones with slightly outdated hardware. What’s more, these lightweight versions of the apps even require little space. This means you’ll also save on storage.

Set developer options on your old Android phone

For those who delve a little deeper, Android offers “Developer options.” There are settings that can further optimize the performance of your old phone. However, proceed with caution! These options are for developers and may affect the functionality of your phone if not used carefully.

Once enabled, you can access settings like Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Duration Scale. They control the speed of your phone’s animations.

Reducing these values ​​from the default 1x to something like 0.5x can make your phone faster. However, the actual performance improvement may be minimal.

Remember that this is an advanced option and it is extremely important to act carefully to avoid unwanted 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 doing a factory reset. But you should note one important thing. Factory reset will wipe your Android phone. This will get rid of the potential culprits that are slowing down the device.

It also means that you will lose all the personal files that are on the smartphone. So, before performing a factory reset, you should backup all your important files. While this tip works really well, it should be your last resort. It can end up being a bit tedious backup all important data and restore it them back to your phone.