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How to Speed Up Your Android Phone

speed up android phone

Is your Android smartphone/tablet running slow? Here’s how to bypass the lag and speed up your device.

Android (powered by Google) is arguably the most widely used smartphone brand in the world, with a mammoth global userbase, which is many times larger than that of the second-placed iPhone.

However, a common issue on Android phones is the issue of device lag, which, if left to linger, could result in the eventual crash of the affected device.

Hence, if your device is running slow, you can try the methods herein to speed things up.

How to Speed Up Your Phone

A number of factors could be in play, if/when a phone is running slow. The most notorious factor, however, is a “cluttered storage or clogged up RAM”

In any case, you can follow the set of steps below to speed up your smartphone:

Method 1: Restart Phone

Before running any fix, it is pertinent to first make efforts to identify the cause of problem. However, if the cause could not be determined, you can try some fixes, starting with “device reboot”.

By restarting your device, temporary files are cleared; running processes are stopped; and minor glitches and bugs are fixed. Normally, this would get your phone running smoothly again.

Method 2: Free Up Space

If system reboot could not resolve the issue, it is possible that your storage is cluttered. Hence, you can delete some apps and files (videos, images and audio files) from your phone. This way, less resources are used and your phone should now run at a faster pace. For some essential apps that consume a lot of storage space, you can clear their respective caches.

Also, having many apps running at the same time clogs up your RAM. So, by killing off some of these tasks, you are able conserve RAM space and speed up your phone.

Note: Do NOT use third-party cleaners or task killers. They do more harm than good.

Method 3: Update Apps & OS

Outdated apps are usually filled with bugs. which impede the smooth-running of your smartphone. Hence, ensure that all installed apps are up-to-date.

Also, always install recent updates on your device. Normally, you get the notifications of available updates, to facilitate easy installation (of the updates).

These updates are basically security patches and bug fixes, designed to speed up and improve the performance of your device.

Method 4: Reset Device

As a last resort, you may have to reset your phone to “factory settings”, especially when (not if) the RAM becomes fully clogged up.

For every Android user, factory reset is a procedure you have to go through, at one point or another.

Closing Note

In some cases, especially on old Android versions (Android 5.0 and older), the ultimate solution may be to upgrade to a newer. version or simply acquire a brand new device (with an updated OS).

Hope you were able to speed up your android device by applying any of the aforementioned methods? Let us know by dropping a comment below.

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Tame Your Android Notifications with These 5 Tips and Tricks

With time, Android has developed a lot but there is one problem all Android users face, the never-ending notifications! Let’s say you are trying out the Betway Kenya casino, and get constant pop-ups. You wouldn’t want that while you are placing your bets on Betway for your favorite games, right?

Junk Reminders

Naturally, there are a lot of different applications that Android users install on their devices ranging from gaming apps to Facebook, Instagram, and so on. And with every app, come uninvited notifications. Even when you don’t use your phone a lot, these notifications can be a menace.

When you’re busy and suddenly your phone beeps, it is common to assume that it is an important message. Although when you take a look at it and find out that a random application ‘misses’ you, it can be frustrating. Android applications never seem to stop, they are disturbing and obviously bother all the users.

Do Not Disturb

Some notifications can be managed, but what can you do when there are hundreds of them.

Yes, you can turn on the ‘Do Not Disturb’ profile on your phone but that’s just as good as not owning an android device. If only there were better options to get rid of these overwhelming notifications.

Well, there are some things that all Android users can turn to for getting rid of these daunting notifications without affecting the important ones.

5 Ways to Avoid Excessive Notifications on Android

  1. Turn Off Notifications

You can block notifications based on the categories after the Android Oreo update. With categorized blocking, you can block certain types of notifications like WhatsApp group notifications, and location notifications from Google that keep on showing on the notification bar. This way you can be sure that when your phone rings, it’s something important.

  1. Change the Tone

Most people keep their phone’s on silent mode nowadays, however, for the select few who prefer the general mode, you can avoid the notifications by changing the notification sound. This way ignoring unnecessary distractions becomes easier and you can focus more on what you’re doing.

  1. Change the Behavior

You can switch the way you get notifications from various applications in the notification categories. These applications by default make a sound and appear on the notification panel, you can modify the settings and prevent them from making your phone ring and appearing on your screen.

  1. Snooze the Notifications

You can sometimes be busy to respond to a certain notification, to prevent it from becoming a distraction simply snooze it to remind you later. It is simple to snooze important notifications, long press on the notification you want to snooze or slide it to the side a little and select the clock icon to set a time when you want it to ring again.

  1. Manage the Digital Wellbeing

This alternative is effective only for Android 9 Pie so far, to implement it open the ‘Digital Wellbeing’ menu in your Android device. This new feature allows Android users to check their devices screen usage, the number of notifications, and the number of times you unlocked it and many such options. To manage notifications, tap on the ‘number of notifications’ and you’ll get a list of the apps and how many notifications they send daily. Simply block notifications from the applications sending an unacceptable number of notifications.

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News Tech

Best Android Radio Apps You Can Install For Free

In the age of streaming services radio seems to be outdated but some people continue to enjoy their favorite shows while on the go. Here, we’ll present to you the best Android radio app.

While some smartphones continue to offer the option to listen to FM radios, the feature has been abandoned by most manufacturers in recent years. Older smartphones and feature phones used the headphone jack as an antenna, but the port has started to disappear. In most cases, an Android device which features an FM radio function will offer an app through which you can switch the station, save to ones you like, and turn it on or off.

Those that would like a higher number of features can find a selection of the best Android radio apps below. They harness the power of the internet to provide access to your favorite station without hassle.

Best Android Radio Apps

Audials

This app comes with a beautiful design and a rich selection of radio stations. The developers claim that users can listen to over 80, 000 sections and a list of various podcasts and radio recordings is also available. You can also use a Chromecast to stream your favorite station on the TV. Those that find a particularly catchy song will be able to record their favorite hits and save them for later.

The app is available for free and users who want more features can buy the Pro version.

BBC iPlayer Radio

As you may have already guessed this app allows you to access the popular BBC radio stations, including the appreciated BBC Radio Four. A catch-up feature will allow you to listen to shows which were already broadcasted.

The app is available for free, but you will need to use a VPN if you don’t live in the UK. However, it remains one of the best Android radio apps, especially for those who like to keep themselves updated with news.

RadioDroid 2

It may not look too good, but it packs a robust selection of features which make it one of the best Android radio apps. The app offers a large variety of radios from all over the world, which can be filtered by selecting specific criteria. The app works very well in the background, and it isn’t affected by power saving features.

It is available for free.

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Android Dark Mode Revealed To Some Google Pixel 3 Users In The Update Menu

The dark mode has become very popular in recent years, and it is now available on most flagship devices. From saving battery when you are using your device during the night (while also keeping your eyes safe) to a mere personalization choice, dark mode is a feature which has managed to build a strong fan base.

The mode is available on Pixel 3 devices, and some users have reported that it may have found its way to new features. Some users have captured screenshots and pictures of an unusual Android update screen, which appear to use a slightly different dark mode. The images were posted on a popular forum platform, sparking the curiosity of thousands of users who rushed to share their opinion on the subject.

Usually, Google prefers to employ a variety of greys with its dark mode. The images reveal a pure black menu, with only the text and the buttons being white. That has attracted widespread criticism as some users claim that the screen may have been faked with the help of a custom theme or by opting to activate the color inversion feature which can be found in the settings menu (and which produces a similar result, according to users which tried to replicate the results).

Some Google Pixel 3 users are puzzled by a mysterious Android dark mode update menu

The person who started the thread shared another screenshot in which the multitask menu appears, proving that he or she didn’t activate the color inversion feature.

Others have also noted that they were greeted by the same screen and they use the latest Google Plays Services version (16.0.81). It is also argued that the theme may be linked to the Device theme setting which is available on Google Pixel devices.

Another round of debates was sparked after some users who run the same Play Services version said that they didn’t encounter the Android dark mode update screen. They argue that it may occur if people are running a beta version of the Play Services. Google has recently released an update which changed how the update menu looks like, making it more similar to the Material Design theme.

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Gmail Update on Android to Receive New Inbox Features 

In case you forgot about the existence of the Google Inbox, we must let you know that technically it is still available until March 2019. However, in September 2018 Google announced that it will shut it down so it is clear that you might have already moved by now. Unfortunately for Google Inbox users, this app was only used by the mother company to test out possible features for Gmail. Speaking of which, not too much time ago it got a major makeover. According to a Redditor on the /r/Google subreddit Gmail will begin to look similar to Google Inbox very soon as its useful features will be introduced.

Is this leak true?

A Redditor provided the screenshot you can see above claiming that it came from a Google Internal Testing build. The new Material Theme redesign that has just been introduced can be clearly seen there, but, in addition to that, we can also see the pinned items, the bundles, and the reminders. We still do not know if the Google Tasks system will benefit from the reminders or if the Google Assistant will take up that job. We got our hopes up that this leak is not fake.

What is the deadline?

If you are a fan of the Inbox Application from Google, you can use Inboxit by XDA Senior Member SagiLo as a replacement to use one of Google’s program most used features until it is introduced to Gmail as well. The Gmail development team is still working on providing all these features to its users according to /u/moodio. However, as the deadline is in March, we can at least expect that at least a part of the features will be ported by then.

What do you think about Google Inbox? Should Gmail become similar?

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