How to Free Up RAM on Android Phones
How to Free Up RAM on Android Phones - It looks like Vivo is going to be selling a phone with 10GB of RAM. That's almost as much as many gaming PCs, and about 6GB more than most phones. It has a lot of folks scratching their heads and asking why in the world does it need 10GB of RAM, and does that mean my phone with 4GB needs more?
This wouldn't be the first time we've seen phones come with oodles of RAM. The OnePlus 5T has an 8GB configuration, and seeing 6GB inside some phones is becoming fairly common. Let's talk about what RAM is, how your phone uses RAM, and why a phone would have 250% more of it than "necessary".
You feel your phone vibrate in your pocket, so you fish it out to check for notifications. When you press the lock button, you see an email notification from your boss, and you immediately unlock your phone to read it.
As soon as you tap on the email, the email application loads… and loads… and loads…
While you wait, you think, “time to replace this junk. It’s been lagging so much that I can’t use it!”
But before you do that, there’s something that you need to know. It’s not the phone. It’s you. - joyofandroid.com
Well, technically, it’s your phone’s RAM that’s in trouble when it lags. However, there are some things that you do that may be causing your phone’s RAM to overload, which brings us to the next question.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is short-term digital storage. Computers (and yes, your phone is a computer) use RAM mostly to hold data that active applications — along with the CPU and operating system's kernel — are using because RAM is very fast when it comes to reading and writing.
Even the fastest hard drive or flash storage is slow when you need to read or write something "right now", and while the CPU inside your phone has its own cache to hold data that's being used for calculations, there's not a lot of it.
The Snapdragon 835 (as an example) has 2MB of cache for the high-performance cores and 1MB for the low-performance cores. 2MB of cache is only enough to hold what's being used right now, so you need somewhere to hold what's being used next.
As much as I’d like to explain every tiny detail about what happens in your phone, I prefer not to bore you with that tech stuff. Instead, I’ll give you one quick answer.
Your phone will slow down.
To be specific, a full RAM would make switching from one app to another to be like waiting for a snail to cross a road. Plus, some apps will slow down, and in some frustrating cases, your phone will freeze.
Luckily, though, as easy as it is to fill up RAM, it’s also relatively easy to free up space. So how do you do it?
However, the back button doesn’t do exactly what you probably think it does.
I made the mistake of thinking that the apps I use automatically close when I use the back button. Little did I know, all of the apps were still running in the background, and my old Samsung Galaxy Y slowed down so much that I couldn’t use it.
So, how do you properly close all those apps? Well, it depends on the Android phone you’re using.
If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge as I do, or any Android phone that has navigation buttons below the screen, then it will have the home, back, and recent apps buttons like the ones in the image below.
All you have to do is press the recent apps button, and the screen will display all your recent apps. Below all that chaos, you’ll see a Close All box like in the image below. Touch that, and you’re all set!
However, if your Android phone has the on-screen navigation bar like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge or the Huawei P20, then you’ll have to touch the recent apps icon like in the image below.
As soon as you touch the recent apps icon, close all of the apps, and you’re done.
Two words. Background apps.
These apps run in the background even after you’ve properly closed them, or sometimes before you even use them when your phone starts up.
Now, there are two ways to kill a background app: temporary and permanent.
To temporary kill a background app, just go to Settings, then go to Apps/Applications/Applications manager. There, you will see a list of all downloaded and default applications in your phone.
Next, to find out if an app is running on background, tap on an application to see its details. If the Force Stop button is clickable (or tappable), then that means the app is running on background.
However, there’s a catch.
Temporarily killing a background app will only stop the app until the next time it is opened, or a different app accesses it. When these happen, the background processes will start again.
On the other hand, there are two ways to stop an app from running in the background permanently. The first one’s the easiest, and that’s to uninstall the app.
If you don’t want to uninstall the app, or if you can’t uninstall the app, you can choose to disable it. Just go to Settings > Apps > the app that you want to disable, then tap on Disable.
A prompt like the one below will appear, warning you that some apps may malfunction when you disable the app. Touch Disable and you’ve successfully permanently disabled the app.
When you kill a background app, it will not be able to run in the background, it will not receive updates, and it can’t get push notifications.
For those of you who don’t know, widgets are like mini-applications that you can pin to your wallpaper or home screen. These allow users to have instant access to the application of their choice.
In my case, I always have the Weather widget pinned to my home screen so that I don’t have to Google the current updates. Useful, right? Well, not until you add too many widgets, that is.
You see, each pinned widget uses RAM in order to keep running even when your phone is on idle. On top of that, they can also put a dent on a device’s battery usage.
So if you notice that your phone is slowing down, and the battery gets drained faster than it usually does, then you’re probably using too many widgets.
Luckily, it’s easy to remove widgets from your home screen. All you have to do is tap and hold the widget until the Remove or Trash can icon to appears above the screen.
Drag the widget there and voila! Goodbye widget and hello to more RAM space.
I’ve downloaded calendars, task organizers, mind games, and other “self-help” apps that never really helped me. Not that there’s anything wrong with the apps, though. I just never used them.
If this has happened to you, then you should learn from that experience and do what I did — I uninstalled all of the apps I almost never use.
Why? Well, for starters, not only will those unused apps hound a lot of storage space on your phone, but they can also hurt your RAM and slow down your phone.
Most of those apps will run as background apps, and you already know what background apps do to your RAM.
Here’s a motto for you: If you’ve never used it for a month, you’re never gonna use it ever.
Visit https://joyofandroid.com/how-to-free-up-ram-on-android/ for more.
Good luck
This wouldn't be the first time we've seen phones come with oodles of RAM. The OnePlus 5T has an 8GB configuration, and seeing 6GB inside some phones is becoming fairly common. Let's talk about what RAM is, how your phone uses RAM, and why a phone would have 250% more of it than "necessary".
You feel your phone vibrate in your pocket, so you fish it out to check for notifications. When you press the lock button, you see an email notification from your boss, and you immediately unlock your phone to read it.
As soon as you tap on the email, the email application loads… and loads… and loads…
While you wait, you think, “time to replace this junk. It’s been lagging so much that I can’t use it!”
But before you do that, there’s something that you need to know. It’s not the phone. It’s you. - joyofandroid.com
Well, technically, it’s your phone’s RAM that’s in trouble when it lags. However, there are some things that you do that may be causing your phone’s RAM to overload, which brings us to the next question.
What is RAM
RAM (Random Access Memory) is short-term digital storage. Computers (and yes, your phone is a computer) use RAM mostly to hold data that active applications — along with the CPU and operating system's kernel — are using because RAM is very fast when it comes to reading and writing.
Even the fastest hard drive or flash storage is slow when you need to read or write something "right now", and while the CPU inside your phone has its own cache to hold data that's being used for calculations, there's not a lot of it.
The Snapdragon 835 (as an example) has 2MB of cache for the high-performance cores and 1MB for the low-performance cores. 2MB of cache is only enough to hold what's being used right now, so you need somewhere to hold what's being used next.
Running out of RAM? Here’s what happens.
When you've had a smartphone for a while it can start to feel slow, and RAM — Random Access Memory, which is where your phone stores its stuff as it's using it — can be part of the problem. If your phone doesn't have enough RAM, it can struggle, but there are ways to address that.
To help you, we've put together some tips on how to use phone RAM more efficiently on Android.
Your phone will slow down.
To be specific, a full RAM would make switching from one app to another to be like waiting for a snail to cross a road. Plus, some apps will slow down, and in some frustrating cases, your phone will freeze.
Luckily, though, as easy as it is to fill up RAM, it’s also relatively easy to free up space. So how do you do it?
How to Free Up RAM on Android Phones
1. Close Recently Used Apps
Now that you know a bit about RAM, you already know that it stores data about your recently used apps. That being said, it would make sense that closing an app using the back button will free up some RAM space.However, the back button doesn’t do exactly what you probably think it does.
I made the mistake of thinking that the apps I use automatically close when I use the back button. Little did I know, all of the apps were still running in the background, and my old Samsung Galaxy Y slowed down so much that I couldn’t use it.
So, how do you properly close all those apps? Well, it depends on the Android phone you’re using.
If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge as I do, or any Android phone that has navigation buttons below the screen, then it will have the home, back, and recent apps buttons like the ones in the image below.
All you have to do is press the recent apps button, and the screen will display all your recent apps. Below all that chaos, you’ll see a Close All box like in the image below. Touch that, and you’re all set!
However, if your Android phone has the on-screen navigation bar like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge or the Huawei P20, then you’ll have to touch the recent apps icon like in the image below.
As soon as you touch the recent apps icon, close all of the apps, and you’re done.
2. Kill Background Apps
While properly closing your recent apps is be effective, there’s something about other apps that eat a lot of RAM. Very few Android users know about it, and I’m about to let you in on the secret.Two words. Background apps.
These apps run in the background even after you’ve properly closed them, or sometimes before you even use them when your phone starts up.
Now, there are two ways to kill a background app: temporary and permanent.
To temporary kill a background app, just go to Settings, then go to Apps/Applications/Applications manager. There, you will see a list of all downloaded and default applications in your phone.
Next, to find out if an app is running on background, tap on an application to see its details. If the Force Stop button is clickable (or tappable), then that means the app is running on background.
However, there’s a catch.
Temporarily killing a background app will only stop the app until the next time it is opened, or a different app accesses it. When these happen, the background processes will start again.
On the other hand, there are two ways to stop an app from running in the background permanently. The first one’s the easiest, and that’s to uninstall the app.
If you don’t want to uninstall the app, or if you can’t uninstall the app, you can choose to disable it. Just go to Settings > Apps > the app that you want to disable, then tap on Disable.
A prompt like the one below will appear, warning you that some apps may malfunction when you disable the app. Touch Disable and you’ve successfully permanently disabled the app.
When you kill a background app, it will not be able to run in the background, it will not receive updates, and it can’t get push notifications.
3. Don’t Use Too Many Widgets
Ah, widgets. Probably the best feature that every Android device has.For those of you who don’t know, widgets are like mini-applications that you can pin to your wallpaper or home screen. These allow users to have instant access to the application of their choice.
In my case, I always have the Weather widget pinned to my home screen so that I don’t have to Google the current updates. Useful, right? Well, not until you add too many widgets, that is.
You see, each pinned widget uses RAM in order to keep running even when your phone is on idle. On top of that, they can also put a dent on a device’s battery usage.
So if you notice that your phone is slowing down, and the battery gets drained faster than it usually does, then you’re probably using too many widgets.
Luckily, it’s easy to remove widgets from your home screen. All you have to do is tap and hold the widget until the Remove or Trash can icon to appears above the screen.
Drag the widget there and voila! Goodbye widget and hello to more RAM space.
4. Delete Barely Used Apps
Have you ever had that time when you get so bored that you go to the Play Store to look for some apps that might come in handy someday? I know I have. Multiple times, even.I’ve downloaded calendars, task organizers, mind games, and other “self-help” apps that never really helped me. Not that there’s anything wrong with the apps, though. I just never used them.
If this has happened to you, then you should learn from that experience and do what I did — I uninstalled all of the apps I almost never use.
Why? Well, for starters, not only will those unused apps hound a lot of storage space on your phone, but they can also hurt your RAM and slow down your phone.
Most of those apps will run as background apps, and you already know what background apps do to your RAM.
Here’s a motto for you: If you’ve never used it for a month, you’re never gonna use it ever.
Visit https://joyofandroid.com/how-to-free-up-ram-on-android/ for more.
Good luck
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