Make use of your Android smartphone for longer

Outdated software

Android devices generally don’t enjoy a good reputation when it comes to upgrading to newer versions of the operating system. As there have been fewer upgrades in recent years, this explains why people tend to keep their old device longer - smartphone sales dropped for the first time in 2017. Fortunately, most apps keep running in the older Android versions too. If you want to revamp your older device, you can install a “launcher”, which lets you change the look of the system and adds a number of new interactive options, such as notifications, badges, etc. The free Evie Launcher is suitable for older devices, while the paid for Action Launcher or Nova Launcher allow you to adapt everything in Android.

Running out of storage space

Older Android devices quickly run out of internal memory because of too many apps, photos, music files, etc. If your device is equipped with a slot for a microSD memory card, use it to add a couple of extra gigabytes of storage space and move your apps and data to this card. If you can’t add extra memory, it’s best to move as much data as possible to the cloud.

If you install Google Photos , it will allow you to save your photos and videos online so you can subsequently delete them from your device (via the Google Photos app, Free Up Space option). And in Google Play Music , you can upload your music and remove it locally to free up space. You can subsequently stream your music from any device.

Reduced battery life

The battery is the component which is most subject to wear and tear. Depending on the number of times you’ve charged the battery, the overall life of batteries is generally limited to two to four years. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to replace the battery in most devices, but you can use the free AccuBattery app in order to keep your battery in good shape. This app provides information and tips about your battery usage. In addition, it helps you to prevent charging your battery beyond 80%. Indeed, according to the developers, this is the optimal charging percentage to ensure a longer battery life.

Slower

Every smartphone slows down over time. The best method to resolve this is to refresh your entire system. This means that it is restored to the state it was in when you bought the device (via Settings ; Factory Data Reset ). Note. This factory reset will erase everything: apps, files, account settings, etc. It’s therefore essential to make a backup of all your data and settings to your Google account first. After the original state of your smartphone has been restored, only install those apps you use. You will find that everything runs smoothly again. If you don’t like the idea of a complete reset, however, you can try to make your device faster by installing more lightweight versions of the apps you use most frequently. Google now offers a “Go” version for a number of apps (e.g. YouTube Go ), which saves storage space and memory (but they are a bit less versatile). As we indicated previously, there are “lite” versions of Facebook, Messenger and Twitter.