The
Nexus
5
is
a great phone, and upgrading it to Android Lollipop makes it greater
still. Unfortunately, however, you might find that after the upgrade
it feels slower rather than slicker. If that sounds like your phone,
read on to discover how to speed up the Nexus 5 for fast performance.
We
know what you’re thinking. Android
Lollipop is
supposed to be faster. Didn’t Google go on about optimizations and
new runtimes and all that stuff? And you’re right, but Google can’t
test every possible combination of operating system, data and apps,
and as a result updates can result in a few performance issues.
Clear the cache
Your
Nexus 5 stores temporary data in two places, the app cache (for apps)
and the system cache (for Android itself). If that gets messed up it
can have a knock-on effect on your phone’s performance, so it’s a
good idea to clean both of them. This shouldn’t affect any of your
personal settings or data but it’s always a good idea to make a
backup before experimenting.
To
clear the app cache:
- Go to Settings > Device > Apps > All.
- Tap on the name of the app whose cache you want to delete.
You
should now see a screen with lots of options and information. The bit
we’re looking for is the button that says Clear Cache, which will
appear if that app uses a cache. Make sure you tap the Clear Cache
button and not the one that says Clear Data, because that - as you’d
expect - clears all of the data for that application, such as user
names, passwords, game progress and so on.
To
clean the system cache, all you need to do is to go into Settings >
Storage > Cache and clear the system cache.
Speed up animations
Animated
transitions in operating systems are often there to distract you
while the system loads something, but there’s no need for that on a
fast device such as the Nexus 5. In system settings, go into
Developer Options and turn it on if it isn’t already. Now, scroll
down until you see Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale
and Animator Duration Scale. You can turn these options off to
disable animation altogether, but cutting them to 0.5x gives you a
speed boost without making Android feel weird. If you don’t notice
any difference after making the changes, restart your Nexus.
Investigate potential offenders
If
your Nexus is still performing more slowly than it should, the next
step is to see if you can identify particular offenders. Is the
slowness due to your phone, or is it app- or website-specific? No
amount of messing around with your device will fix the latter two. If
it appears to be app-related, uninstalling and reinstalling might
make a difference.
If
you’re pretty sure that it’s your phone, then the next thing to
consider is the nuclear option: a full reset. This takes your phone
back to factory-fresh condition and should eliminate any niggling
issues that could be affecting your performance. Always make sure
you’ve backed up anything important - from photos to app passwords
- before getting ready to go nuclear.
Done
that? Okay.
- Untick Back Up My Data, assuming you do actually have a backup
- Tap Factory Data Reset
- Enter your PIN or password if asked to. Tap Continue.
- Tap on Delete All.
If
that doesn’t work, there’s an even more nuclear option: the hard
reset. This is another full erase, but this time it includes anything
on your internal SD card too. It won’t wipe out any Android updates
you’ve installed, but it gets rid of absolutely everything else. To
do that:
- From a powered off state, press the Power button to start your Nexus 5. When you see the Google logo press and hold the Volume Down key and release when the device vibrates.
- Use the volume keys to highlight Recovery Menu and press the Power button to select. This will bring you to a screen with an Android on its back.
- Hold the Volume Up key for 5 secs then release and a new menu will appear.
- First off, you can use the volume keys to select Wipe Cache Partition. This will cause your phone to restart. once this is done, re-do the previous steps to get back to the same screen (the one that Wipe Cache Partition was on).
- Highlight Wipe Data/Factory Reset and select using the Power key. Scroll down to Yes, Delete All Data and press the Power button again to select.
- Your Nexus 5 will now wipe your data and reformat.
- On the next screen hit the Power button to select Reboot System Now.
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