Simple tricks to speed up your smartphone

Think about your first cellphone. Apart from calling and playing Snake, there wasn’t much to do. Today, you carry a full computer with you wherever you go.

Of course, we are all on our phones now more than ever. Hackers know this and bust out fake apps and clever scams hoping to infect your phone. Tap or click for a list of fake apps that mimic the original. They are super adorable.

New technology also means a lot of storage space. I’d be surprised if most of you haven’t been taken with the photos. If your phone unexpectedly bites the dust, you can’t replace those precious photos. Tap or click for the best ways to remove them from your phone and to secure storage.

If your storage is full or close to it, you can expect a noticeable slowdown. Here’s how to solve the problem.

free up space on iphone
If you have a new iPhone, it comes with ample storage space. Still, you may eventually get that annoying message that you’re reaching the limit—especially if you don’t pay for the extra storage.

What’s eating up all your space? Some apps may be to blame.

For example, the Messages app keeps copies of attachments such as photos, videos or content shared with you. If you have a long text thread or group chat full of memes and videos, a lot of space is gone.

To see what’s using the most storage space on your iOS device, tap Settings > General. Scroll down and tap on iPhone Storage. A bar will show you the content that is taking up space on your device. You will also see a list of apps that take up space. The list will be displayed in descending order from least to most used storage.

One trick you might not know about is to delete and reinstall an app.

For example, the Facebook app stores a lot of information. All you have to do to free up that space is simply delete Facebook from your device. Then, install it again and sign in to the app. It will look and function the same as before, but all the clutter in the background will be gone. Voila!

Next, you can clear those heavy attachments from Messages. Open the app and tap on Conversations. Tap the Contacts icon and select Info. Scroll down to see the attachments the contact sent you. Tap See All and select the ones you want to remove. When you’re done, tap Delete.

clear attachments on android
This issue isn’t limited to iPhones alone, and depending on how much storage your phone has, you may be dealing with more “storage full” messages than you’d like. Even if not, cleaning things up will give you a decent performance boost.

First, get rid of the apps you are not using. Start by going to your settings. Select Apps or Apps & notifications, then tap the app you want to remove. Just tap Uninstall. (Note: Specific steps may vary depending on the brand of phone you use.)

After this, you can deal with all the extra junk files consuming space. There’s a really easy way to do this using the Files app. You might not even know it’s on your phone. This Google app is a file manager that makes it easy to delete, find and share files.

Use Google Photos? If you’re concerned about storage space, go in and clean out the junk in there as well. Tap or click for the steps you need to take.

Need a hand with a slow PC, smartphone problem or a software problem you just can’t solve? Post your technical questions for concrete answers from me and other tech professionals. Visit my Q&A forum and get technical support now.

What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call up Kim’s national radio show and tap or click here to find it on your local radio station. You can listen or watch The Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet, television or computer. Or tap or click here for Kim’s free podcast.