Your old Android phone isn't dead yet: 7 ways to make it run faster and last longer

Freshen it up with a good reboot, an OS update, battery-boosting tricks and more.

- MICHAEL SIMON

Your old Android phone needs some help. Maybe it’s feeling sluggish. Maybe it’s groaning under the weight of excess photos and apps. Maybe the battery dies way too soon. Or maybe you’re not quite ready to part with it.

The good news is, you can save it. With a little work, you can make your sluggish Android phone feel fresh enough to get you through at least a little more time together. Here are seven ways to make your old Android phone feel a little younger, starting with...restarts!

1. RESTART YOUR ANDROID PHONE REGULARLY

Let’s start simple. You might not think about restarting your phone unless an update comes along, but just like a PC, it can do a lot to fix an ailing handset. A simple 30-second restart will give your phone an instant speed boost by freeing up your memory, killing background apps and processes, and unsticking any stuck apps. Even if you dutifully swipe away apps on your Recents screen, they might still be holding onto some RAM, which quickly adds up. And if you’ve only got 2GB or 3GB to begin with, a weekly restart will do wonders for your phone’s performance and battery life.

2. CHECK FOR ANDROID UPDATES

While Google’s own Pixel and Nexus phones update automatically in the background due to seamless updates that rolled out with Android’s Nougat, most other phones do not. Depending on your settings, you might not even get a notification alerting you that an update is available. So you’ll want to make sure your phone is up to date with the latest security patches and bug fixes.