Samsung Galaxy S3 Running Very Slowly

[Anonymous]

I have had by Samsung Galaxy S3 for about 7moths now, it was perfect to start with but lately it has been running very slowly. For example: it will take over 1second to open up 'messaging' or 'contacts' when previously this was fairly instantaneous. I have tried clearing all active applications but this does not make a difference to its speed. With 'Active Applications' at 0 and 'Clear Memory' button pressed, it still says that it is operating at about 500MB out of 832MB usable RAM. Is this normal? Is there a way to speed up my phone or I will start getting very impatient with it. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Have you cleared the data? 

What apps and how many do you have?

What is the phone currently running android wise?

More info needed before anybody can help

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your speedy response, sorry I didn't provide more info:

I'm running Android version 4.1.2 - Jelly Bean.

I have approximately 100 apps installed - sounds like a lot? Are there ways to restrict which apps are allowed to run in the background?

What exactly do you mean by 'cleared the data'? I've cleared memory off the RAM status menu, is there more you can do?

Thanks again

[anticpated]

The problem is not so much installed applications but those you have previously have used, still taking up space. Widgets work with background tasks running the background, Google apps constantly are running even when it seems nothing is running.

You need to clear the data cache, as well as the memory.

My preferred method is to boot the handset into the Bootloader screen and do it outside the Android OS. From off, press Home+Power+Volume Up at the same time. And from the menu choose clear caches from there. Be careful not to select Data/Factory Reset.

[MI5]

You may be heading for a factory reset.... I do one every 6 months or so to keep things running smoothly.

[Anonymous]

so reducing number of widgets running off the homescreens would speed things up?

have deleted the cache off the bootloader screen, seems to have made some impact

cheers,

[Anonymous]

MI5,

how long would this take to do and does this wipe everything clean off your handset? so would it just require backing up of critical data? or is factory reset not so severe?

cheers

[jonsie]

A factory reset will do just that...set it to factory condition just as you took it out of the box. Make sure you back it up and then you can restore it afterwards. It will probably take you an hour to customise it as you want from your backup.

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

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@Anonymous wrote:
MI5,

how long would this take to do and does this wipe everything clean off your handset? so would it just require backing up of critical data? or is factory reset not so severe?

cheers

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In settings you have an option to backup to Google servers. With this checked all your apps will download automatically once you re enter your Google password. Any photos videos etc on your external SD card will remain there (it's only the internal phone storage that will get wiped. You will have to re enter any email accounts, dropbox log in etc and set up your homescreens again.