A slow phone is no fun. What’s more: it can make your days that much more frustrating as you wait for what can seem like forever for apps and web pages to load or for updates to take hold. But here’s the good news: while you can’t always fix a phone that’s older or needs a new battery (unless you shell out some money), there are simple and fast ways that you can bring your phone up to speed simply by adjusting a setting or two. This is the one setting that tech experts say you should turn off to make your iPhone run so much faster.
Setting: Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh allows apps to update their content in the background even when you’re not using them, says Tech Expert Krizza Buendia from euphoricview.com. “This can cause the apps to consume a significant amount of battery and resources, slowing down your phone’s performance,” she said. Fortunately, the fix is simple and effective. “After turning off the Background App Refresh setting, you should notice an improvement in your iPhone’s battery life and performance,” Buendia said. “The apps will still work, but they will only refresh their content when you open them, rather than continuously running in the background.”
How to turn it off:
- Go to Settings
- Tap on General
- Tap on Background App Refresh
- Toggle off the switch for Background App Refresh or you can also turn off the switch for individual apps.
Buendia notes that it is also recommended to periodically check the apps you have installed on your iPhone and remove any that you are no longer using to free up space and resources.
Remove background apps
After you turn off Background App Refresh, turn an eye toward the apps on your phone, as well. “If you have a lot of apps open at once on your computer, you could notice that it is taking longer to complete tasks,” says
Abdul Saboor, a full stack developer at The Stock Dork. “When it comes to making use of an iPhone, this also holds true. When you have an excessive number of applications open at the same time, your iPhone’s memory will get full, which will cause the device to become slow.”
Getting rid of applications that operate in the background will help your iPhone run more quickly, he notes. “Swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen on an iPhone X or later model, and pause in the middle of the screen. Instead, double-click the Home button if you have an iPhone 8 or an earlier model. Swipe either to the right or the left to move between apps. To exit the app, swipe up on the preview screen at the top of the screen.”
