Speed Up Your Device

Six fixes per device — ranked by impact. No shady "cleanup" apps. Free and honest.

Pick your device

0 of 6 done

1. Restart it (yes, really)

Big impact

Hold power + volume down → "slide to power off". Wait 30 seconds. Power back on. Most slowdowns clear with a fresh restart. Do this once a week.

2. Free up storage

Big impact

Settings → General → iPhone Storage. Anything below 10% free will slow your iPhone significantly. Delete unused apps, clear out Safari cache, offload large videos.

3. Update iOS — but not to the latest if your phone is old

Medium

Settings → General → Software Update. If you have an iPhone 8 or older, stay on iOS 16. iOS 17/18 will run, but slowly. The "right" update is the one made for your hardware.

4. Reduce Motion + Reduce Transparency

Medium

Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion ON. And → Display & Text Size → Reduce Transparency ON. Animations get faster, the phone feels snappier.

5. Turn off Background App Refresh for what you do not need

Small

Settings → General → Background App Refresh. Leave it on for Mail, Maps, Messages. Turn off for everything else.

6. Replace the battery (if 3+ years old)

Big impact

Settings → Battery → Battery Health. Below 80% maximum capacity = your phone is throttling itself to save what is left. Apple battery replacement is $89-$129 and feels like a new phone.

What NOT to install

Avoid "PC cleaner", "speed booster", "junk remover" apps. Most are scams that themselves slow your device, show ads, and sometimes inject malware. Windows 10 and 11 have everything you need built in. Same on Mac with the App Store. iPhone and Android are even more locked down — there is no legitimate "phone booster" app.

Storage Cleanup

More space-saving tactics.

Device Age Checker

When to replace instead.

Update Decision Helper

Should you install that update?

Quick Tip: a slow device usually has one big cause. Try the "Big impact" fixes first.