No one is excited about dropping hundreds of dollars on a device that doesn’t work as well as it should. But, for some reason, many iPhone users feel like they just have to put up with a slow phone and that the culprit must be something that isn’t within their control. The truth is: there are plenty of steps you can take to help speed up your phone, and most of them will set you back no more than a couple of minutes out of your day.
If you’re fed up with a phone that seems to be working on its time schedule and won’t load pages quickly or send texts quickly — or do just about anything quickly — here are seven Apple-approved tips for an instantly faster iPhone.
Free Up Storage Space
Hands down, one of the leading causes of a slow phone is a lack of storage space. Your phone could be taking up so much space from resource-taxing apps, too many photos and videos, and files you never delete, like stored music and podcasts. To quickly free up storage space, start with your Photos app. Save all photos and videos that are important to you on iCloud and delete the rest. That’s right: simply delete them (we know: it will feel painful at first). Then, take things one step further and permanently delete these files. Your phone’s storage will thank you.
Close Unresponsive Apps
Some apps can be a major source of slowdown. If you suspect an app on your phone is unresponsive, it’s important to quit it and try to reopen it another time. To do this, open the App Switcher, swipe right to locate the unresponsive app, and then swipe up on the app to close it.
Make Your Your Network Connection is Strong
Oftentimes when your phone begins to act wonky, it’s because it’s pulling a connection from the wrong network. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and make sure the network that you are connected to features a strong signal (you’ll be able to tell this by the number of bars that appear beside the network name).
Update Software
If your phone hasn’t been updated in a dog’s age, this could easily explain your speed issues. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. Here you’ll see whether the current version of iOS that your phone is running is the most updated. If it isn’t, make sure you download the newest software update.
Disable Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh has good intentions. It’s just trying to keep your apps updates even while you don’t use them so that when you want to access them you don’t have to wait a split second to see new content. Unfortunately, that requires work on your phone and battery, and this can lead to your phone slowing down in speed. If you can live without this feature, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and disable it.
Reduce Motion
Animations on your phone look great and may enhance your phone experience. But if you are weighing the pros and cons of a faster phone versus a cooler-looking one, you may have landed on: speed wins out. If that’s the case for you, you can enable Reduce Motion by going to Settings > Motion and choosing Reduce Motion.
Turn Your Phone Off and On Again
It’s the oldest tip in the book, but continues to be one that often works. When your phone starts to slur and stumble, simply try turning it off and on again. Sometimes all your device really needs is a temporary rest and it will come back swinging.
Try these tips before considering a new battery or phone — you may be surprised at how well they work to get your phone back up to speed.
