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Experts Reveal The 3 iPhone Settings You Should Adjust To ‘Dramatically’ Improve iPhone Performance

January 27, 2026 by Abigail Connolly

 
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When you own an iPhone, you know how rough it can feel when it begins to slow down on you. However, you might not realize that there are certain things you can do to prevent that from happening.

Dealing with a slow iPhone with poor performance is never fun, and sometimes when it happens, it can feel like there’s nothing you can do about it. It can also happen due to a variety of reasons, like having too many apps, not enough storage, not keeping it updated, etc. If your iPhone is slowing down, tech experts have shared that you should check your settings and potentially adjust these three that can “dramatically” help you out. Read more about what they had to say below.

1. Adaptive Power

One of the ways to keep your iPhone's performance and function at its best is to ensure your battery is optimized and long-lasting. Dealing with a low battery or one that can't seem to hold a charge is one way to slow your phone down.

"If extending battery life is your major concern, switching on Adaptive Power is one way to get more performance from your device without impacting usability," explains tech and cybersecurity expert Aimee Simpson. "With your device getting to know your usage patterns, it makes minor adjustments like lowering screen brightness and limiting background tasks to save power. Best of all, this setting doesn't throttle performance when you need peak performance, like capturing video or playing games. And because this setting functions automatically in the background, users don't have to worry about managing it on the move."

2. Background App Refresh

Background App Refresh is a setting that many tech experts have been talking about these days, as it's a great iPhone feature that can save your phone from a lot of damage. It all starts by ensuring that the apps on your phone aren't doing too much work in the background.

"Many apps constantly update themselves with fresh content in the background, even when people aren't actively using them," adds Simpson. "As you might expect, this can use substantial battery life for little improvement in user experience. By switching off the Background App Refresh setting, people can control which apps update automatically, improving performance and battery life. You might keep the setting on for frequently used apps like Mail and fitness trackers, but in most cases, having apps refresh in the background is not necessary at all because they update almost instantly when you open them again."

3. Location Services vs Precise Location

Location Services and Precise Location can help an iPhone run faster by reducing constant background GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth scanning that uses processing power and battery. With fewer apps tracking your location in real time, the phone has more resources available for core tasks and smoother performance. It can also cut down on background activity, helping apps open faster and the system feel more responsive overall.

"Many apps constantly track your precise location, even when not in use, which is a major battery drain," adds tech guru Abbie Richie.

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