Having an iPhone is a privilege and a really convenient, often fun experience, except when it begins to slow down on you.
There are many things that can contribute to a slow-running iPhone, from not having enough storage available to not updating your software. Sometimes, it can feel like there’s a lot out of your control regarding keeping your device running fast enough. However, according to tech experts, there are a few things you can adjust in your settings to get your iPhone functioning at a faster pace, including some settings you should turn off. Read more about three of them below.
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1. Background App Refresh
Although it might not look like it, the apps on your phone might be doing a lot of things behind the scenes whenever you're not using them. These are typically apps that need to keep things up to date often, like news or certain social media apps. However, this activity can easily make your phone slow down.
"Turn off Background App Refresh located in Settings, then General, then Background App Refresh," suggests tech pro Paul DeMott. "For apps that you do not use on a constant basis. This feature allows applications to update the content in the background even when it's closed, which uses processing power and drains the battery all the time."
2. Location Services
It's no secret that some of your iPhone's features and apps simply need to have access to your location at all times, like your go-to GPS or your Find My feature. But, there are also a lot that don't need it, and having too many apps constantly tracking your location is not only risky regarding your safety, but can also cause your phone to function more slowly.
"Many apps request access for location, which they don't need," says IT and tech expert Mark Friend. "And every single request activates the GPS hardware and steals processing power. Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, and tick the list. From what I see, there are dozens of apps on 'Always' or 'While Using', even though 'Never' would be fine. Trimming those permissions reduces the background work and assists with the speed as well as the battery."
3. Motion And Visual Effects
Nowadays, iPhones come with all sorts of fancy animations and visual effects that sort of elevate a user's experience. While they might be entertaining at first, some of them simply aren't necessary and often go unnoticed. Therefore, it's best to save your phone from working too hard and adjust it.
"On Settings, then Accessibility, then Motion, turn off motion effects and transparency," instructs DeMott. "The parallax effects, animations and transparency features look good but they require constant processing by the GPU to render smoothly. Older devices in particular do not handle these visual effects well, and there is lag as their apps are opened or the device transitions from one screen to another. Turning this off makes the interface feel instantly more responsive as the system no longer has to calculate complex animations for every interaction."
