7 Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Android's Performance
Advice that can make your battery last longer and phone run faster.
No matter which Android phone you have -- Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel or Motorola -- there's always room to improve its performance, and that usually requires a bit of maintenance on your part.
Underneath the hood you'll find the settings you can configure to help your Android run better, but before you start, you need to know where these settings are, and what exactly they can do for you.
In this guide we'll go through seven settings that can get you better overall performance out of your Android smartphone: whether you're looking to improve your battery life, clean up the clutter on your home screen or get rid of annoying bugs.
Note: Not all Android devices are the same, and phone manufacturers often put their own software on top of Android, so just be aware that certain settings may be missing or in a different place depending on the version of Android you're running and the maker of your phone.
Want more Android tips? Check out these 5 tips to make your Android feel like new again and how to stop giving your Android apps invasive permissions (and why that's important).
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Settings to improve battery life
Living with a phone that has poor battery life can be infuriating, but there are some steps you can take to maximize each charge right from the very beginning:
1. Turn off auto screen brightness or adaptive brightness and set the brightness level slider to under 50%.The brighter your screen, the more battery power it uses.
To get to the setting, pull down the shortcut menu from the top of the screen and adjust the slider, if it's there. Some phones may have a toggle for auto brightness in the shortcut panel; otherwise, you need to open the settings app and search for "brightness" to find the setting and turn it off.
2. Use Adaptive Battery and Battery Optimization.These features focus on learning how you use your phone, including which apps you use and when, and then optimizing the apps and the amount of battery they use.
Some Android phones will have a dedicated Battery section in the Settings app, while other phones (looking at you, Samsung) bury these settings. It's a little different for each phone. I recommend opening your settings and searching for "battery" to find the right screen. Your phone may also have an adaptive charging setting that can monitor how quickly your phone battery charges overnight to preserve its health.
Dark mode is your friend
Keep your home screen free of clutter
And always keep your phone up to date