Tricks For Speeding Up Your Old iPhone And iPad

If you’ve owned an iPhone or iPad for a couple of years now, it’s probably starting to feel a little sluggish. Before you run out to replace it, consider using our handy tricks to speed it up – you might squeeze an extra year out of your device, allowing you to save for the newest model. This first trick is tried and tested – all it’s going to cost you is a little time.

Basically, you need to wipe the device and reload it from a backup.

Some important pointers BEFORE wiping your device, however, include: double checking that you have a backup (either on iCloud or iTunes); keeping in mind that it will take time, so set aside a few hours; and the longer it has been since your device was wiped (or bought), the better the results (most people in the know complete this process around once a year).

The great news is that the process is also easy to carry out.

  • Familiarise yourself with the process before you start, as this will decrease the likelihood of making a mistake.
  • Ensure that you have a backup (otherwise you’ll have to reload everything manually, which takes forever).
  • Wipe your device (go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings – you’ll be guided from there).
  • Let the reset do its thing (this shouldn’t take too long, but be sure that you don’t try to use the device until it’s complete).
  • Recover all of your stuff from backup (or begin to reload your apps and data manually if this is the option you chose).
  • If completely wiping your iPhone or iPad seems a little much, there are some other steps that you can take in order to improve its speed. These include:
  • Deleting large apps that take up a lot of space;
  • Getting rid of old photos, videos and music;
  • Deleting old text messages;
  • Emptying your internet browser’s cache;
  • Closing all of the background apps;
  • Turning off automatic downloads;
  • Disabling location services; and
  • Restarting the device on the odd occasion.

We hope that the above tricks are able to speed up your iPhone or iPad enough that you don’t need to replace it (at least, just yet). Whilst the above list of tips should hopefully make a difference to the speed of your device, we believe that you cannot beat wiping it completely every now and then. This will also give you the opportunity to get rid of apps and data that you don’t use.