Has your iPhone started to feel slow and sluggish recently? An older iPhone that’s low on storage or needs a battery replacement can definitely start to lag. But even newer iPhones can sometimes get bogged down by unnecessary animations, background refreshing, and cluttered storage.
The good news is there are lots of ways to speed up your iPhone and improve performance, no matter what model you have. Follow these tips and tricks to make your iPhone run faster, smoother, and more responsive again.
How to make iPhone faster
Check Your iPhone’s Storage and Free Up Space
One of the most common reasons why you have a slow iPhone is because it’s low on storage space. Here’s how to check your storage and free up room:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see what’s taking up space.
- Offload unused apps and delete old messages, photos, and videos.
- Disable iCloud backups or upload your photos to iCloud to free up local storage.
- Aim to keep at least 1 GB of storage free for optimal performance.
Force Quit Unresponsive Apps
An app that’s frozen or acting up can slow down your whole iPhone. Here’s how to force quit:
- Double click the Home button to see open apps.
- Swipe up on any frozen or glitchy apps to force quit them.
- This frees up RAM and stops any misbehaving apps.
Turn Off Background App Refresh
Apps refreshing data in the background can drain battery and slow things down.
- Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Toggle the switch off for some or all apps.
Reduce Animations
Fancy animations may look cool, but they can tax your iPhone’s processing power, especially on older models.
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion.
- Toggle “Reduce Motion” on and animations will be disabled.
Disable Location Services
Location tracking in the background can definitely slow down your iPhone.
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
- Toggle off location access for apps that don’t need it.
Update Your Apps and iOS
Outdated apps and an old iOS version can both cause slowness.
- Open the App Store and tap Updates to get the latest versions.
- Go to Settings > General > Software Update to get the newest iOS.
Turn Off Automatic Downloads
Your iPhone automatically downloading apps, music, etc. can be a performance drag.
- Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store.
- Toggle off any automatic downloads like apps, music, books.
Restart Your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone clears out the RAM and can fix temporary glitches.
- Press and hold the side or top button until the power off slider appears.
- Drag the slider to turn your iPhone completely off.
- After 30 seconds, press and hold the button again to turn it back on.
Reset Network Settings
Wi-Fi issues can definitely slow down your iPhone’s performance. Resetting your network settings may help.
- Go to Settings > General > Transfer ot Reset iPhone.
- Tap Reset, then “Reset Network Settings” to refresh this.
Check for Carrier Settings Update
Outdated carrier settings files could be slowing things down.
- Go to Settings > General > About.
- If a carrier update is available, you’ll see an option to update it.
Replace an Old Battery
An worn out lithium-ion battery can cause an iPhone to run slowly. Check your battery life.
- Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health to check yours.
- If your Maximum Capacity is less than 80%, replace the battery.
Avoid Temperature Extremes
Extreme cold or hot temperatures can tax your iPhone’s internals.
- Don’t leave your iPhone in a hot car or cold weather.
- Operate it between 32°F and 95°F when possible.
Turn Off Auto-Lock
Frequent auto-locking and unlocking of your screen can take a toll on performance.
- Go to Settings > Display & Brightness.
- Set Auto-Lock to a higher value like 5 minutes or more.
Disable Widgets on Home Screen
While widgets are informational, their constant updating can degrade performance, especially on older iPhones.
- Long press on an empty spot on your home screen.
- Toggle off “Show in Home Screen” for any widgets.
Use Low Power Mode Temporarily
Low Power mode will turn off some visual effects and throttle background activity. It’s great for a temporary performance boost when your iPhone is running slow. Just don’t leave it on all the time!
- Swipe to open Control Center then tap the battery icon.
- Tap Low Power Mode to enable it.
Follow these tips and your iPhone should regain its lost performance! Let us know if you have any other tricks for speeding up a sluggish iPhone.