The Galaxy S5
may only be a couple of months old, but that doesn't mean that
excessive bloatware and a rather laggy user interface don't slow it down
a bit. Besides regular factory resetting your S5, there are a few things you can do to speed up your S5. Here's how to get your S5 running faster.
Get an alternate launcher
Part of the reason that Samsung devices are not so fast is because TouchWiz
is a tired old beast of an interface. While you can't solve all of your
lag problems with a custom launcher, you can remove some of the
launcher issues that TouchWiz brings. Of course, your Samsung apps are
still going to run as Samsung coded them but at least your home screen
response will get a bit of a boost. Head to the Google Play Store or
check out our list of the best alternative launchers for Android and find one you like.
With a custom launcher you can even get Nokia's Z Launcher or Google's GEL Launcher.
Stop apps from running on startup
There's so many apps on the Galaxy S5 that when they all start
syncing and running processes at startup the experience is not what
you’d call a good one, especially if speed is of the essence. If you
have root access you can use an app like System Tuner to freeze the apps
that you don't want running on startup. If you don't have root then you
can still achieve results with Advanced Task Manager.
System Tuner lets you freeze apps and processes so they don't run at startup.
Of course, you can also go into your App Manager settings and disable
any apps you aren't using. Likewise, check your individual app
settings, especially Google
apps, and make sure they aren't all set to automatically sync unless
you really want them to. If you've got fifteen Google apps all syncing
at the same time you'll be bogged down until they're all done. The same
logic goes for automatic updating of apps: if you turn your phone on and
have thirty apps all updating at boot you're not going to be posting
that new Instagram picture of your dinner anytime soon.
Even without root, you can disable system apps.
Disable animations and transitions
There's a few options in your settings that can speed up your phone
or at least make it feel like it's a bit faster. Get your Developer
Options enabled by going to Settings > About Phone and tapping Build
Number. Back up a step and you'll see the Developer Options section in
your settings menu. Scroll through that until you find the section for
animations and drop the following options to off: ''Window animation
scale'' and ''Transition animation scale''. You should individually set
them to a different number first, like 10x, so you can see what they do
and decide if you actually want to keep them. While this is not really
speeding up your S5 it does make everything feel snappier without slow
transitions and animations.
Developer Options let you take a little more control over your Galaxy S5.
Get rid of widgets
If you've pretty much left your S5's home screens as Samsung set them
up then you're actually wasting a lot of mojo just keeping all those
silly widgets updated. From Samsung's Geo News and S Health (which you
may not even be using), to Galaxy Gifts, Galaxy Essentials and My
Magazine, that's a whole lot of syncing you probably don't need.
Ditching excess widgets speeds up your home screen performance because
all of a sudden your home screen doesn't have to work so hard to keep
you up to date with what Samsung wants you to see.
It's safe to say you don't want all these constantly updating when you're on your homescreen.
Ditch S Voice
I recommend this for all Samsung devices. Unless, of course, you
actually use S Voice! If you don't, then disabling S Voice as a
double-press action on the Home button can actually get you back to the
home screen a bit faster. This is because when you hit the Home button
once the S5 waits a second to see if you're going to hit it again to
launch S Voice. If you disable this shortcut then you will instantly be
taken to the home screen the first time you press Home. Just double
press the home button and hit the action overflow menu button at the top
right and go to Settings, then uncheck the box next to ''Open via the
Home key'' and then next time you hit Home you'll be taken there pronto.
Disabling S Voice as a double-press option can speed up your way home.
Delete bloatware entirely
If you want to take things a step further, then you can also delete pre-loaded apps if you are willing to root your Galaxy S5.
Considering how many there are it's no wonder that your phone doesn't
run quite as fast as you'd like it to out of the box. This is because
lots of those apps are running background processes, syncing,
monitoring, scraping location data and otherwise doing things behind
your back that result in a slower S5. Rooting your phone does come with
risks, but if you take the plunge you'll be able to delete all those
apps you don't want and speed up your phone at the same time. Once you
have root, you can even overclock your processor...but that's a story
for another time. Once you get root you can uninstall bloatware apps and speed up your CPU.
Get a custom ROM
With root comes great responsibility, but also great power. If you're
sick of TouchWiz lag slowing your brand new phone down and you have
root access, then you can also flash a custom ROM or kernel – the link
between the software and hardware on the phone – that has a good
reputation for being super fast. There's dozens of ROMs and custom
kernels for the Galaxy S5 out there, but we'd recommend CyanogenMod for a better-than-stock-Android vibe or Omega ROM if you'd prefer to retain the TouchWiz feel.
Omega ROM retains the TouchWiz look but with lots more control over your system.
How do you speed up your Galaxy S5? Share your speed boosting tips in the comment sbelow.
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