How to boost Galaxy S5

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.

System Tuner INSTALL

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.