Smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices are still relatively new to the consumer electronics scene. Outside of the old art and architecture tablets, most of the consumer mobile devices aren't even 10 years old yet; the tech world is still figuring out how long they last and how they perform in old age. Whether you're using an old or new phone, there are a few symptoms and troubleshooting concepts that need to be understood before rushing out to get a new device.
Causes Of Slow Performance
Mobile devices are computers with small cell phone parts attached, so it's reasonable to compare their performance to the desktops and laptops already understood by many technophiles.
When you add too many programs and run too many programs at one time, the computer slows down. It can only divvy out resources to a finite number of programs or 'apps' before becoming slow or shutting down operations, also known as crashing.
Mobile phone users aren't the only ones new to the devices. Many new programmers got their start on the frontier of mobile apps. Unfortunately, these new programmers may not have best practices in place when it comes to creating elegant and efficient programs.
The apps may use up too many resources through memory leaks. Some apps may not close when you tell them to, or they may open up other programs and resources that aren't necessary.
To be safe, when your mobile device is just performing too slow and you can't get the bad apps off, it's to perform a system reset. System resets vary from device to device, but are often found in the settings of your mobile device.
A system reset will restore your phone to its factory defaults. The defaults are the settings and apps that the phone was packaged with, and can allow you to have a fresh start.
Symptoms Of Mobile Old Age
Mobile devices often use solid-state drives (SSDs) for storing information. Since mobile devices are designed to be handled by more than the responsible, careful technology experts, there was a need for a storage device that didn't have moving parts.
SSDs have no moving parts, instead using a set of cells that store data by sending an electrical charge to a cell. The cell is either set to the 0 or 1 position to represent parts of your data. Over time, this electrical charge will begin to damage the device.
The damage manifests itself as slow performance when trying to access information. If you've done a factory reset on an aging phone and it's still slow, you may be dealing with an old SSD. Newer devices can fail as well, especially if the drive was damaged in manufacturing.
Contact a tablet repair professional if you're unsure of what to do with your mobile device when factory resets don't seem to help.
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