Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that the iPhone you bought two years ago is now considered horribly outdated, old-school even. With the technology updates to the OS, older iPhones are starting to appear to run slower. It may be an app takes a few seconds to load, or the general experience isn’t as smooth. If you’ve noticed this, we’re here to help.
Here are five tips on how to speed up your older iPhone:
1. Clear multitasking tray
The multi-task tray can be one of the most useful features of the iPhone, but it can also take up a lot of processing power. About once a week be sure to double click on the Home button, press and hold an app and select the minus (-) sign on all apps.
2. Delete pictures, music and apps
As the majority of iPhone users use their phone for pretty much everything, they can run out of storage space astonishingly fast. To see how much space you’ve used, press Settings, General followed by Usage. You’ll see two numbers at the top of the screen. On the left is how much space you have left, and on the right is total space used. In general, the more space used, the slower your phone will run. It’s recommended to leave 10-15% of total storage space free for operations.
To free up some space, it’s a good idea to delete old pictures, music and apps you don’t use. To delete all your music at once, go to Settings, General followed byUsage and select Music. Tap Edit followed by the red circle with white line. This will delete all associated files. Alternatively, you can open your music player and delete individual songs by pressing and holding your selection, and then selecting Delete.
To get rid of pictures, you need to open the Photos app and select the album you’d like to delete. Press the icon on the top left of the album, and select which photos you want to get rid of. When you’re finished, press the red circle with the white line. Be sure to either upload your pictures to iCloud, or your computer before you delete them.
To get rid of apps, go to your phone’s home screen, press and hold the app you’d like to get rid of and select the black “X”. A window will pop up asking if you want to delete it, confirm it and the app will be deleted.
3. Clear Safari’s cache
The cache is where your browser stores temporary files to decrease bandwidth usage and increase the loading speed of a page. To clear it, press Settings and select Safari. In the window that opens select Clear History and Clear Cookies and data. This will clear all browser related data including passwords. You’ll need to log in to services like Google again.
4. Factory reset
If your phone is still sluggish, you could try a factory reset. This will wipe the phone and reset it to the way it came out of the factory. To do this: plug your phone into your computer and open iTunes. Select your phone, click Summary followed by Restore. Follow the instructions from there. Before you do this, it’s recommended that you backup your device.
5. Bite the bullet
If a factory reset doesn’t work, it may be time to bite the bullet and upgrade. Talk to your mobile carrier to see if there are any deals or trade-in programs. Be aware that a new version of the iPhone is rumored to be released in October of this year, so if you can hold off until it’s released you’ll be better off.
A smooth running phone is important to all of us, and these tips can help extend the life your device. For more iPhone tips, please contact us.
