The simplest ways to speed up a slow iPhone or iPad

Did this article take a few seconds longer than you would have liked to open? Is Facebook feeling increasingly sluggish?

As with computers, phones and tablets will inevitably slow down over time, no matter how well maintained they are.

Sometimes it’s due to low storage space. Sometimes, hardware simply fails. Sometimes the developer of the app you’re running will want to cater to a later, faster model of iPhone or iPad, making it more difficult for an older device to run.

However, in many cases, the inconvenience is easily avoidable. Which of these tips have you tried?

Install the latest version of your software

This is the most commonly overlooked option. Apple regularly updates its system with new tweaks and features. These improvements will often include subtle improvements to speed.

You can easily update your phone to the latest version at any time via Settings > General > Software Update.

Regularly restart your phone

As with a computer, restarting your phone or tablet can help it run more smoothly. However, sometimes small programs and processes will still continue running in the background, slowing you down.

A “hard” restart is a more thorough version of simply turning your phone off and on. To perform a hard restart, hold the power button and home button down simultaneously for 5-10 seconds, until you see the apple loading screen.

A hard restart will also help in many cases if your device freezes or an app refuses to work.

Free up storage space

Low storage space is one of the most common causes of slowdown. Thankfully, there’s a great shortcut for finding out which programs or types of media are taking up the most storage space.

Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage

This is worth checking every few months. While it will often be a case of too many photos or songs, you may be surprised at just how much room is being hogged by a game you haven’t touched in a year.

Check if you’re due for an upgrade

The most thorough, effective solution is one of the easiest to overlook: see if you can get a new phone for free.

If you’ve been on the same monthly iPhone contract for more than two years, there’s a very good chance you’ve already paid off the value of your phone and finished your contract period.

In most cases, this means you’ll be able to seamlessly switch to a newer, faster phone – with a same or similarly-priced plan – every second year.

Have you struggled with a slow phone? What helped you fix it?