So you have finally bought yourself an Android or may be upgraded for a budget smartphone to a high-end Jellybean 4.2.1 OS or something even sharper than that. An Android is much more maneuverable than the iOS and there is so much you can do to make it even better. Remember, smartphones are not called “smart” for nothing, so customize your Android to make it more productive and responsive to your needs. Loading up all the apps suggested by friends or online articles from the Google Play Store could slow down your Android’s speed dramatically, so be selective and prioritize what you want from your handset.
Here are some of the best hacks you can perform on your brand new Android toy to truly get your money’s worth out of it.
Update.Update.Update
Update your Android to the latest firmware as soon as you start using it. Google is continuously bringing improvements for every new released model of the Android OS. These updates are not just to keep you in-tuned with what’s new, they actually lend stability, higher performance speed and connectivity to your handset.
Remove the clutter
The more apps you have or further install in your Android, the more storage space it will consume and run background processes you might not even be aware of. This can slow down your phone dramatically. So avoid installing apps you may not have a long term use for, keep only the apps you need or which are really useful and uninstall the rest.
Get organized
‘Performance assistant’ is a great feature which was introduced in Android ICS to help users disable apps for the time being. Remember, disabling is different from uninstalling- uninstallation removes application files from the phone completely, while disabling will only remove them from the home screen and apps drawer, but you can enable them whenever you want.
Update Apps
Make sure you update your preferred apps on a regular basis. Get updates for them as soon as they become available on Google Play. Developers are working continuously to fix bugs and add features to the newer versions, so updating an app will help your phone to perform better.
Speedup with a memory card
Most people consider memory cards as an external storage space for their handsets. While it is true that memory cards increase the storage space of sets which don’t have much of their own, they are also capable of speeding up your phone’s performance. So always use higher capacity memory cards of class 6 or class 10 for your Android and enjoy better performance.
Know your widgets
Widgets are a mini-app continually running in the background, while an app is a software program which is installed into the Android for a specific purpose and runs only when needed. So make sure you don’t confuse one with the other. While some widgets are necessary for staying updated on weather, important dates, or for switching Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or GPS on or off, having too many active widgets on your homescreen will slow down your Android and eat up your battery significantly. So keep your widget collection on the homescreen to a minimum.
Don’t overdress it
Most Androids come with almost mesmerizing live wallpapers. This could make you want to add more dramatic or scenic live wallpapers to your handset. But remember, that poorly made live wallpapers will increase the CPU cycle to run and drain the battery much faster.
Stop Syncing
It’s a great convenience to have all your data synchronized with Google servers. This way you get notified every time you receive mail, or notifications for updates or apps. However, it’s better to keep sync off for unnecessary services or have it on only when you need to transfer or upload data to Google servers. This will help preserve your battery life.
Don’t be so animated
If you haven’t noticed, everything about your Android is kind of animated. Notice how the homescreen fades off and then comes alive when needed or when you switch from one task to another? Have a look at it by going to Settings > Developer Options > Window Animation Scale > Animation scale 10x. Now click on the Window Animation Scale again and watch it fade away in slow-motion
You can do the same with the Transition Animation Scale and in case you use your Android for a lot more than just calls, texts and emails, you probably should turn off all animations to help make your Android perform faster and smarter.
Secure for sure
Recently Google announced its decision to have Android apps and their updates available through Google Play Store only. This is great news for Android users as far as security is concerned, since according to Google’s updated Play Developer Program Policies, any app or update downloaded from Google Play cannot modify, replace or update its own APK binary code. So users can rest assured that seemingly benign app which turned out to have malicious Android spy codes are now a thing of the past, as long as you get your apps and updates from Google Play Store.
Finally, you also need to learn some knowledge about Android recovery. If some virus attacks cause data loss, you may need to know how to perform Android data recovery.”
