Slow iPhone – What to do?
Slow iPhone, freezing, or unresponsive? Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to fix it in this article. Your iPhone is key to staying connected (through social media, FaceTime, email, etc.), so if it starts acting up, a lot of your life stops, too.
Maybe you've already tried everything to make your phone faster, but most people haven't tried the most important things, so we're going to remind you of some steps you can take now to try to resolve this situation, before even going to our help guide.
First of all, it is practically everyone’s obligation to delete what is no longer useful. As time goes by, we accumulate so many things on our cell phones that we forget to do something so simple: delete them. How many photos and videos have you deleted in the last few days?
Second, uninstall apps that you’re not using. Sometimes we install so many things on our phones that it ends up cluttered with apps that are useless. You may have installed some of them just to test them out and then forgotten to remove them.
And thirdly, one of the apps that makes your phone the heaviest is WhatsApp. However, this is very easy to solve because WhatsApp itself has a function to clean up storage space. With this, it will delete all the files (photos and videos) that you have received.
Finally, follow our step-by-step guide to get your iPhone working like new again, or at least stop freezing and open apps faster, without stuttering as much. Almost all of the tips presented are completely free.
Slow iPhone – Six Reasons Why Your iPhone Might Be Freezing
First of all, there are many more than six reasons why your iPhone may be freezing or slow. But we will only list 6 as these are the most common reasons. You may already identify one of them as the cause of your iPhone freezing:
- Your iPhone needs to be restarted.
- Your battery may be low.
- Your iPhone may have frozen.
- There may be a problem with your wifi connection.
- There may be a problem with your iOS.
- There is not enough space on your iPhone
What to do when your iPhone won't turn on or is frozen
Reboot Slow iPhone
First, you can force a restart if your phone is unresponsive, frozen, or just too slow. This will help clear any bugs that are causing your phone to freeze without losing your data or apps. But make sure you do it the right way.
To restart an iPhone 8 or later (including iPhone SE 2nd generation)
- To start, you must press and then quickly release the volume up button.
- Then quickly press and release the volume down button, then press and hold the side button.
- When the Apple logo appears on the screen, release the side button and your phone will restart.
Force Restarting an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus
- First, press the volume down button + the side button.
- Press and hold until the Apple logo appears
- Finally, when the logo appears, release the buttons
How to Force Restart a Slow iPhone – iPhone 6s or Earlier
You should just press the Home + Side buttons together. On some devices, the buttons may be labeled Home + Top). After that, the Apple logo should appear, and then just release the buttons to restart the device.
Charge your iPhone
If your iPhone is frozen and the battery is low, charging your phone may solve the problem. The best way to do this is to connect your device to a power outlet using a Lightning charging cable and an Apple power adapter.
In other words, let your phone charge for an hour or more. In situations like this, it is worth considering the possibility of purchasing another device – even if it is simpler and cheaper – to function as a backup cell phone, that is, for temporary use.
Free up storage memory space
If your iPhone is freezing and you’re getting messages that say there’s not enough storage, trying this procedure may alleviate the problem or even solve it for good. There’s a limit to how much storage your phone can hold—and it’s obviously not infinite.
Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. You'll see a list of suggestions for freeing up space, such as deleting apps you don't use or optimizing photos. You'll also see a list of apps and how much space they're taking up.
So, just follow the instructions on the screen to make your phone gain more free storage space or – as we said before – delete some of your applications and documents to free up your iPhone's memory.
Delete malfunctioning app
Sometimes, the cause of a slow or freezing iPhone is not actually the device itself, but rather one or more apps that are not working properly, either because these apps do not work well with your iPhone model, or because the quality of these apps is simply not good.
How to delete apps
- Tap and hold on the app you want to delete
- Then a menu will appear with a list of options. Choose Remove Application and then Delete Application.
- Finally, tap Delete. This will delete the app.
Update Slow iPhone Operating System
To update your operating system, follow these steps: 1. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. 2. Download and install any available updates. This alone should be enough to fix most issues related to slow device performance.
Return to original factory settings
If your iPhone is still slow even after updating the operating system, then restoring the factory settings may be the last alternative left. But first make a backup of your device. as all data and files on your device will be erased.
One last thing
Not all phones slow down over time. This means that the cause of a slow iPhone is not simply the time of use but rather the maintenance of the device. And maintenance means periodically deleting everything that is no longer useful. It is a matter of habit.
You may also like to know
My cell phone won't hold a charge – What do I do?
Free apps to clean your cell phone
Another very common reason, which could be the reason why an iPhone becomes slow after years of use, is a “damaged” battery, i.e., the battery’s charging capacity decreases and this is inevitable because it is a natural process that affects any battery.
So, in this case, it may be possible to take the iPhone to a repair shop and have the battery replaced, thus avoiding having to invest more in buying a new device. Anyway, if you liked these tips, then help us by sharing this article with your friends. See you next time!