X

A Tech Expert Shares 4 Android Settings You Should ‘Turn Off’ To Improve Your Phone’s Performance

September 5, 2025 by Lisa Cupido

 
Shutterstock

Android phones come packed with customizable settings designed to make your life easier—from syncing data to optimizing your display. While many of these features are helpful, some can also drain your battery, slow down your device, or eat up your data without you even noticing. The more your phone tries to do in the background, the harder it has to work, which can lead to frustrating performance issues over time.

A few simple tweaks can make a big difference. One Android expert recommends reviewing and adjusting certain settings to lighten the load on your phone and help it run more smoothly.

Whether you’re dealing with lag, fast battery drain, or general sluggishness, these quick setting changes can help you get more out of your device, and all without sacrificing convenience.

1. Animation Speed


Android’s visual animations, like screen transitions and menu fades, can make your phone look cool, but they can also slow down performance, especially on older devices. These animations take up processing power, which can make your phone feel sluggish. To speed things up, go to Developer Options in settings and reduce or turn off Window animation scale, Transition animation scale, and Animator duration scale. This makes everything feel faster and more responsive.

2. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth


Leaving Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on all the time can drain your battery and slow performance, especially if your phone is constantly searching for connections. This background activity uses up resources even when you’re not actively connected. To help your phone run better, turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you're not using them by swiping down from the top of your screen and toggling them off in the quick settings menu.

3. Background Data Usage


Many apps continue to run and use data in the background, which can slow your phone and drain your battery. This is especially true for social media, email, and news apps that constantly refresh for updates. To reduce the load, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Data usage > Mobile data usage, choose the app, and disable Background data. This will limit background activity and help your phone perform more efficiently.

4. Review and Deny App Permissions


Some apps request permissions they don’t actually need, which can lead to unnecessary background processes and security risks. Too many active permissions can slow down your phone and compromise your privacy. To fix this, go to Settings > Privacy > Permission manager, review what each app is allowed to access, and deny anything that seems excessive or unrelated to the app’s function. This not only boosts performance but also helps protect your data.

Tags:

Load more...