Here are some basic steps to maintain your Android and keep it in tip-top shape and running as fast as it possibly can.
Power Cycle your device
Power cycling your phone or tablet simply means to power it down completely and power your device back on every day or two. What this will do is force the phone to find the cellular towers again. If your text messages aren’t coming to your phone in a timely manner or you phone isn’t ringing but you are getting a voicemail, power cycling your device can help. Powering down your phone will also help delete any temporary files, complete the uninstallation of applications, and close any stubborn applications who don’t want to shut down.
Uninstall old apps you don’t use
Newer devices have a lot of storage space. Even though storage may not be at a premium anymore, uninstalling unused apps is still a good idea. For starters, your Android will use less battery because you will spend less time searching for an app in the app drawer. If you are uninstalling several applications, there are bulk uninstallers you can use.
Clean off the junk on your memory card
When an application is installed to any Android, part of the application information is put on the memory card or the internal storage of the device. However, when the application is uninstalled, the information is not deleted. The amount of unused information on the memory card really starts to add up. Usually there is a folder in your storage area with the same name as the application. By deleting this folder, you can free up space on your card. Sometimes, you will have to search within the “data” folder to find this unused folder.
Delete old messages
Delete your old text and picture messages. Many people want to keep them for sentimental reasons or to review later. Well, there are options to backup your text messages so you can delete them from your phone. While helping people, I have seen as many as 20,000 text messages in a single thread. The person wondered why it took a long time for the SMS app to load. Once the long message threads were deleted and the phone was power cycled, the phone ran A LOT faster.
Occasionally master reset your device
This last option is to reset your device. While it kind of sucks to download all of your apps and sign into them, it will get rid of all the possible corrupt files and resource hogging applications.
Final thoughts
Aside from wanting the newest coolest phone available, the most common reason people want a new phone is because it doesn’t seem to be as fast or work the same as it did when the phone was new. By taking care of a few things now and again, your Android phone should be fast and work like the day you bought it a long time back. Share your tips for maintaining Android phones in the comments below. Image credit: By James Cridland
