How to Make an Old Android Smartphone or Tablet Fast Again

You can breathe new life into an slow Android device by changing a couple of Developer Mode options.
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Video Description
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One of the most common reasons why people buy a brand new smartphone is because their current device is not performing as well as it used to. This is generally a slow and gradual process that many people don't notice at first, but after a few years we begin to see that even the most basic tasks are taking longer than expected to complete.
As we install new OTA updates, the operating system itself becomes more demanding in terms of the hardware required to complete said tasks. This also happens slowly, and over time, when we install the latest update to our applications and games. After a couple of years, your favorite app needs to compete to stay relevant and in doing so ends up adding in features and changes which reduce the performance on aging hardware.
In today's video, I want to show you two Developer Options settings that you can change that will help improve the overall user experience of Android on very old smartphones and tablets.
Whether you just can't afford a newer device. . .or you like the one you have so much that you don't want to upgrade. Over time, Android can slow to a crawl and make it miserable to use due to all of the lag and stuttering that you see.
Thankfully, Android comes with some customization options that we can find in a hidden menu within the Settings app that can help alleviate some of these issues that we've begun to notice.
But before we can begin, we need to have Developer Mode enabled on our device.
If this is something you haven't done before, be sure to check the video description below as I'll be linking to some previous guides that are able to help you get caught up to speed so you can find this hidden Developer Options menu.
Now, scroll down to the bottom and you should find an Apps section.
Here, we want to look for the "Background process limit" option and configure this setting to "At most 4 processes".
This will prevent more than 4 apps from being stored cached in memory. This will not prevent your phone from running important services in the background (like gmail and messages). Instead, it just helps to prevent your phone from being overloaded with cached data so that your phone doesn't have to do so much rearranging when it comes to opening and closing apps after you've hit your hardware limit.
The next thing that I would recommend for those who have an old Android smartphone or tablet is to reduce or completely disable the animations. This can be done in the Developer Options menu as well, and you'll find the section just above where we were looking before. So just scroll up a bit and look for the three options related to animations on Android.
I know how it can be to want to use an Android smartphone longer than it's recommended. I loved my Galaxy Note 10 smartphone and wanted to keep using it longer than was viable due to performance related issues. But changes like these can help increase the longevity of your smartphone by bringing up the performance to what it was when you first opened the box.
Mentioned Links
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Google Pixel Developer Mode - • How to Enable Develope...
Samsung Galaxy Developer Mode - • How to Turn On Galaxy ...
Xiaomi Developer Options - • How to Turn On the Xia...
Step by Step Tutorial
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1. Intro [00:00]
2. Enable Developer Mode [01:54]
3. Find the Apps section of the Developer Options menu [02:45]
4. Set the "Background Process Limit" option [02:54]
5. Set the three Animation options too [04:25]
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[@jayjonesii4049]

The method worked My old android device is faster. 👍 All this updating makes the device sluggish it will make you want to buy a new device. So thank you.

[@arch.blender1178]

great tips, worked really well on my android phone

[@cjconcep]

Thanks for the tips!! I have a really old tablet I'm thinking of repurposing and it's nice to be able to give it a much needed performance boost. ^_^

[@josephohora1287]

Thank you 🎉😂🎉❤ Very helpful! I of course hit The 🔔 and liked 🎉

[@dragonmonster3361]

Great video! I am currently using that and it really makes a big difference on old or low-end smartphones!

[@ExplainingAndroid]

so awesome to see these options being so popular in the Android community. even though they are there for developers to use, I'm happy to see Google keeps them available for us, too

[@THEGAMERVIBE4K]

​@@ExplainingAndroidTYSM THANK SO MUCH

[@bethanyanderson1745]

I appreciate your methodical explanations - and - the clarity of your speech. Maybe there is an obvious answer to my question but currently it eludes me. Which animations (or types of animations) are affected by this adjustment? TIA

[@ExplainingAndroid]

you're so kind to say, happy to be able to help people with this type of content. there are three settings and each one controls a different type of animation function. but disabling/adjusting all three will impact all animations. like, the app "window" shrinking down into the app icon when you tap the home button (or swipe up from the bottom, if using gesture navigation). there's an animation when swiping up from the home screen to look at your app drawer. an animation when you swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the notification/quick settings panels you'll see all of these disabled or quickened if you change those animation settings to 0 or 0.5 respectively

[@ZandraWatkins-in3kx]

Could you speed zandra please Watkins android decide on this cellular phone immediately?

[@Cvrlee]

Worked on my old tablet that i want to use only for spotify. Thanks!

[@ExplainingAndroid]

that's great to hear! I appreciate you dropping by to let me know it helped :)

[@NibalZaher-kv6qq]

Thank u so much it helped me a lot ❤

[@ExplainingAndroid]

Glad it helped! you're most welcome

[@davidvalenta9394]

I've got a Motorola/Lenovo; it doesn't show after searching for Process, Limit or Background (?) it does hang up a bit from time to time, then unfreezes/continues. `would like to find the equivalent to this; I do recall my earlier Moto G4 had something like this; just can't find readily. -will take another stab at it later.. Thanks for clear, noob-level understandable instruction; it really is appreciated!

[@ExplainingAndroid]

were you able to find the option? do you have developer mode enabled?

[@THEGAMERVIBE4K]

Tysm❤❤❤❤❤❤😊

[@nouryyard]

I have an old xtoutch x808 with android 4.0.4, I tried logging in and reinstalling google store but that's not gonna work. I can't even sign in on my google account. I tried installing roms (andromeda_mariusa_v3_5_SLL OR MiniCM9-3.0.5-20131021-UNOFFICIAL-buzz) but everytime the operation is aborted. What can I do to this tablet to make it useable

[@ExplainingAndroid]

I have an old Motorola with 4.4 that was having issues signing into my Google account too (so the google play store wouldn't open) I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help solve this particular issue, but if you're wanting 1-to-1 dedicated support you'll need to join the Direct Support tier of my Patreon page - www.patreon.com/ExplainingAndroid After that, I'll be able to dedicate some time and attempt to work through the issue with you

[@mateocipi4-brawlstars]

Thank you

[@ExplainingAndroid]

you're welcome If you're able to, please consider becoming a KZbin channel member here - www.youtube.com/@ExplainingAndroid/join

[@flwolf2000]

I learned how to turn on Developer Options, but then... the ending was anticlimactic! What now???

[@FrX_Edits]

My roblox was very slow But after this is it is fast

[@SbahleKhoza-kj9ym]

😍😍thank u

[@ExplainingAndroid]

happy to help out :) If you're able to, please consider becoming a KZbin channel member here - www.youtube.com/@ExplainingAndroid/join

[@buddyboy4x44]

Many thanks. These changes seem to have sped up my Samsung Galaxy phone which is about seven years old.

[@russelldarden377]

Can I upgraded

[@ExplainingAndroid]

I think you can

[@cryohellinc]

Great tips

[@ExplainingAndroid]

thanks so much

[@cryohellinc]

@@ExplainingAndroid do you know, is there a way to keep a setting in the developer mode from resetting back to default once phone is restarted? For instance this service limit tweak gets reset back to standard in my case when poke restarts. Thanks!

[@dragonmonster3361]

@@cryohellinc i don't think there is a way and personally i prefer the reset, because in case something goes wrong because of it, u can simply reboot your phone at it will most likely be fixed again.

[@cryohellinc]

@@dragonmonster3361 good point. Thank you 👍

[@dragonmonster3361]

@@cryohellinc np have a great day :)

[@nikomaartfald4260]

Ofcourse i simply don't even get that same menu on my tablet screen

[@ExplainingAndroid]

which tablet do you have?

[@michaellovesfootball]

Thank you so much my tablet is so much faster😅😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@ExplainingAndroid]

that's awesome to hear. which tablet did this work well on? And if you're able to, please consider becoming a KZbin channel member here - www.youtube.com/@ExplainingAndroid/join

[@michaellovesfootball]

@@ExplainingAndroid Lenovo tablet tab37 thank for asking

[@ExplainingAndroid]

@@michaellovesfootball thanks for sharing :) I'm glad to see the video has been helpful

[@josephramos6200]

I don't have the developer options?

[@ExplainingAndroid]

you have to enable 'developer mode' I should have a link to that in the video description of this video

[@josephramos6200]

@@ExplainingAndroid oh ok thanks

[@josephramos6200]

@@ExplainingAndroid Idk man I can't find it

[@ExplainingAndroid]

@@josephramos6200 which phone do you have?

[@josephramos6200]

@@ExplainingAndroid I have the elite L55

[@Ilya._.010]

😐

[@ExplainingAndroid]

why the slant face?