Refreshing your iPhone will certainly help a lot, but if your iPhone is chronically slow, and it’s not a battery problem, changing some of your settings might be a good idea. Especially if you have an older model of iPhone such as the iPhone 4 or iPhone 5, consider the next three tips a life extender for your device.
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh is the number one culprit when it comes to slowing down your iPhone. This is because it takes memory for the apps that are open in the background of your iPhone to constantly refresh. This function will also deplete your iPhone’s battery life. For some apps, you may need to keep it on, such as the app that pairs with your fitness wearable. But you can selectively turn off Background App Refresh for specific apps or turn it off altogether. To do this on iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings App.
- Tap General.
- Select Background App Refresh.
- To turn it off completely, toggle off Background App Refresh.
- To choose what apps can refresh in the background, leave the function on but go through the list of apps below it and toggle Background App Refresh off for all the apps that don’t need the function.
- For example, I allow my Fitbit app to refresh in the background so my information can stay up to date. But I don’t need Facebook, Safari, or pretty much any other app to run in the background when I’m not using it.
Turn Off Animations aka Reduce Motion
Your iPhone has small animations that work to create seamless transitions from one page to the next as you navigate your device. You probably won’t notice them until you turn Reduce Motion on, which turns the animations off. Although, some people prefer to not have the animations and turn it off for that reason too. When you turn Reduce Motion on, your iPhone uses less memory and battery life when performing everyday tasks. To turn off animations on iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Select Accessibility.
- Tap Reduce Motion.
- Toggle Reduce Motion on.
Clear Your iMessages
You’d be surprised how much memory is wasted by old messages with large attachments. If you send gifs, images, videos, or long messages back and forth with friends, the memory it takes to keep them adds up pretty quickly, which is why clearing your iMessages now and again is good practice. But who wants to have to remember to erase your messages every month? Luckily, you don’t have to. You can change a setting that allows your iPhone to clear messages older than 30 Days or 1 Year, depending on your preference. Of course, you can tell your iPhone to keep your messages forever too, but that won’t help speed your iPhone up. To clear your iMessages on iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Messages.
- Under Message History, tap Keep Messages.
- You’ll see a list that says, 30 Days, 1 Year, and Forever.
- If you’re trying to speed up a slow iPhone, I recommend selecting the 30 Days option.
Remember, however, that if you select the 30 Days option, you won’t be able to go back and look at messages older than that, which is just something to keep in mind depending on how you use Messages.
What other tricks have helped you speed up your iPhone? Let us know below!
