Do you feel your iPhone has become slow after iOS 12 update? In this article, we’ll show you how to speed up your slow iPhone.
iOS 12 is focused on increasing performance. In fact, Apple makes a point of it on its website. The camera opens up to 70% faster and apps can launch up to twice as fast under load. According to the iOS 12 poll we had taken recently, a majority of our readers are happy with the performance improvements in iOS 12. Tests also suggest that the performance has improved even on older devices like the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPad mini 2 in iOS 12.
But the realities for you might be different. It can be a bug, an app or a battery issues on your old device that might be slowing down your iPhone or iPad running iOS 12.
Don’t worry though, we’re here to help! Try the following tips and tricks to speed up iOS 12 on your iPhone or iPad.
How to Speed up Your Slow iPhone After iOS 12 Update
1. Try Updating Again
If you’re still using one of the early versions of iOS 12 (or the beta), the first thing you should do is check for updates. It usually takes a couple of weeks for a new OS to stable out. Go to Settings -> General -> Software Update and update to the latest available software.
2. Check Your Battery Health
Officially, iOS 12 doesn’t suffer from the same battery throttling issues that plagued iOS 10 and iOS 11 users. But still, if your battery itself is damaged on unhealthy, it can slow down your phone, or cause it to crash repeatedly.
On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings -> Battery -> Battery Health. If the battery health is below 80%, you need to go to the nearest service station to get the battery replaced. Apple will replace the battery at a low cost until the end of 2018. To know more about what the terms on the Battery Health page mean, check out our guide here.
3. Reduce Motion
iOS 12 has a bunch of new animations. And for some users, they can feel slower, especially on a new device like the iPhone X. Try disabling animations to see if it makes a difference for you.
Go to Settings -> General -> Accessibility and turn on Reduce Motion. All animations for unlocking the device, opening apps, and accessing folders are now gone.
While you’re at it, you can also try reducing transparency and increasing contrast. Not only will this make iOS more legible, the CPU will spend less power rendering elements on the screen. From Accessibility, go to Increase Contrast and tap on Reduce Transparency.
4. Free Up Storage Space
That old adage is still true. If your iPhone or iPad has run out of space, it will start behaving weirdly. Random slowdowns are one of the things that might happen as a result.
Go to Settings -> General -> iPhone Storage to see a breakdown of how exactly your device is using up the available storage. If you see apps using too much space, delete them. Do the same for music you don’t listen to.
At the top of the iPhone Storage section, you’ll see recommendations for things to get rid off. You can enable the Offload Unused Apps feature to automatically delete apps you haven’t used in a while.
Read more: How to Automatically Remove Unused Apps to Free Up Storage Space on iPhone or iPad
5. Hard Reset
Hard Reset isn’t as scary as it sounds. It’s more like a hard reboot. A more advanced reboot feature, if you will. If your iPhone or iPad is stuck, an app is misbehaving, or there’s just some funny business going on, you should do a hard reset. It resets the settings and cache behind the scenes and doesn’t do anything to your data or apps.
All you have to do is press and hold a couple of buttons. Then wait for the Apple logo to show up. The reboot will take a while but once it does happen, your iOS device should run faster and fresher.
How to Hard Reset iPhone 6 and iPad
If you’ve got an iPhone 6s or below, you’ve got a physical Home button. The same goes for all the iPads on the market right now.
To Hard Reset on your device, simply press and hold the Home and Sleep/Wake button for at least 10 seconds.
How to Hard Reset iPhone 7 and Higher
If you’ve got an iPhone 7, you don’t have a physical Home button. So the process is slightly different.
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button along with the Volume Down button. Do this for at least 10 seconds or until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
Read more: How to Hard Reset Your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus
How to Hard Reset iPhone X and Higher
If you’ve got the iPhone X, the process is different yet again. Press the Volume Up button, then the Volume Down button and then quickly press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo show up.
Read more:
- How to Hard Reset iPhone X in 3 Easy Steps
- How to Hard Reset iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max in 3 Easy Steps
6. Disable Background App Refresh
If you’re an appaholic and you like using apps that work in the background (like Dropbox, or Google Photos), it might be time to consider turning off Background App Refresh (at least for some apps).
Go to Settings -> General -> Background App Refresh and turn off the toggle next to the apps you want to disable background data for. We recommend you do this for social media apps like Facebook and Instagram, and for location sharing apps like Uber and Google Maps.
7. Reset Your iOS Device
This is the last and final option. If nothing you did above worked, it’s best to reset the iPhone or iPad and to begin again. First of all, take a full encrypted backup using iTunes. If possible don’t restore for the backup. Set up your device as new. This way, you’ll be more mindful of the apps you download and you won’t bring over any bugs or issues for the older versions of iOS.
To reset your iOS device, go to Settings -> General -> Reset. From here, select Erase All Content & Settings.
Has Your iPhone become Slow After iOS 12 Update?
Is iOS 12 fulfilling its promise of better performance? Or are you stuck with spinners and loading screens everywhere? Share your experience in the comments below.
