Why do Android smartphones get Slow over time?

Everything we use slows down over time. Just like we humans tend to get slow as we get older. But the same thing we don’t expect from our Android smartphones. Mostly due to the smartphones being digital gadgets and also because they don’t contain any moving parts like other machines.

And ideally, this should be the case, as smartphones are digital gadgets without any moving parts they should not get slow over time. Technically smartphones should always work as they used to when you bought them or should be dead because of some problems. But that’s not the case, we can feel our Android smartphone getting slow overtime right?

Its true Android smartphone does get slow over time but the reason is not the time itself. Instead, there are various reasons involved in making Android smartphones feel slow over time. Let’s see these reasons one by one.

Unused Applications

Out of the box, Android smartphones are filled with a limited number of apps. That’s why it feels lightning-fast, but as time passes we start installing multiple apps. As we all love free apps with awesome features. And that’s why most of us are having apps installed that we seldom or are never going to use.

A lot of these apps are consuming resources in the background. As a lot of apps get accumulated over time, they start consuming a lot of background resources. For tasks like connecting to the internet, refreshing app data. And as phones have limited resources, that are being used by these apps. It causes the device to perform slowly as the resources are being divided.

The simple fix for this problem is to get rid of any app that you are not using. Even if the app you are not using right now but might need in the future. Don’t worry just uninstall it, you can install those apps again in the future if you need them.

As you get rid of the resources-consuming apps it will make your device faster.

Low Storage Space

Smartphones have NAND flash drives as the internal storage in it. Which slows down as you fill them up. This can also be the reason behind your device being slow. As the storage is about to get full, there is a limited amount of memory cells left to write on. Memory cluttered due to age and old deleted apps can still slow down the system.

This can increase the level of fragmentation and cause the drive to perform slowly as the write speed gets reduced. Although recently minimum internal storage capacity of Android smartphones has increased a lot. But still, you might be running on low free storage space due to years of undelete photos and media files, and also due to the app the cache files that have accumulated over these years.

To get rid of this you should delete all the unwanted apps, photos, and Videos. To clean cache you can use one of these best Android cache cleaning apps. These apps will free up your storage which will make your phone feel faster.

Software Updates and App Updates

This is one of the most common reasons for your Android smartphone being slow. As updates are created with a focus on the new devices and the latest hardware. All the new features are created according to the new hardware. This makes software lesser optimized for older hardware. Which causes the device to work slower.

App updates also work the same way. With new updates, new features are added to the apps to take advantage of newer hardware. This makes apps heavier in terms of resource consumption. This causes the newly updated apps to work slower on older devices.

This is common and is one of the biggest reasons for making your device slow. To solve this problem you can downgrade your device to the previous version of the update. (But this will also remove the latest security patch.) You can also try using the older versions of the apps.

Aging Batteries

Aging batteries can also be the reason behind your device getting slower. As batteries get older they are unable to supply higher currents and stable power supply due to resistance build-up. This makes it tougher for CPU’s to maintain their highest clock speeds. This is also problematic for RAM, ROM, and other system components.

If the battery becomes very old then it can also cause the phone to reboot. Because batteries are unable to meet the high current demands of the CPU which can causes devices to suddenly restarts. Manufacturers like Apple have already issued an update to this problem. That works by slowing down the performance of the phone’s CPU. This reduces the demand for peak currents so smartphones can run without restarting under high load conditions.

Although this is not the most effective solution, an effective solution to this problem is to replace the battery with a new one. A new battery will be able to meet the high current demands. Which in turn will make the phone perform like a new one. But recently almost all the phones are sealed which makes changing the batteries of smartphones an expensive matter.

This leaves you with two options either use a slower performing device or pay an expensive price to change the battery of your device.

The Psychological effect

This is one of the things that is less related to our phones and more related to us. Because if none of the above are slowing down your device, then it might be your expectations from the device. Because if the phone is properly kept it should perform all the functions as it used it when it was new.

And older Android smartphone generally doesn’t mean a slow device because all the basic functions are performed in the same way. If compared with the latest model you might see a little difference in app load speed and other functions. But that’s because newer smartphones have become a little faster and do not mean that your device is getting slower.

Conclusion

Android Smartphones if maintained properly will work like new even after years. Although there are some issues(mentioned above) that slow down Android smartphones. But these issues can be solved and when solved should make even older smartphones perform like they are new.

A factory reset is also an option that can bring a new life to your old smartphones. As it deletes all the apps and also deletes the bulk cache files. This should be the best option if you are feeling your device is getting slow. Unless it’s not because of your aging battery in which case you should change the battery.