Every new iPhone released is a little bit faster than the one that came before it. But of course, the same is true of every new version of the iOS operating system, too – meaning that the software requirements get more demanding every single year, too.
The latest operating system will always run perfectly well on the latest hardware because that’s the hardware it was built around. But if you have a previous model iPhone… it won’t run it quite as well.
The good news, however, is that all hope is not lost. There are a number of steps that you can take to speed up an iPhone that is feeling slower or, at the very least, that is showing its age. There are just a number of important things you’ll want to keep in mind.
Turn off Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh is a great feature because it lets some of your apps still “refresh” important information, even when you’re not using them. That way, it’ll be available quickly the next time you do load up the app.
However, if a lot of apps are doing this at once, it can definitely be a drain on the available resources of your iPhone – so you’d be better off just turning it off altogether.
1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.

2. Tap once on the option labeled “General.”

3. Scroll through until you find the option labeled “Background App Refresh.” Select it.

4. Select the option labeled “Background App Refresh” one more time and select “Off” to turn it off.

That’s it! Now, nothing will be hogging up available system resources because nothing is allowed to participate in background activity.
Note that if you’d only prefer to turn off some apps from using this feature, you can do so by toggling the green switch next to the name of the app on the previous screen. Green on the switch means that the background notifications are enabled, white means that they’re disabled.
Turn Off Location Services
Another great way to speed up a slower iPhone is to turn off location services. A lot of people don’t realize that your iPhone’s GPS is constantly tracking your location. This is great so that apps like “Maps” and “Find My Friends” can quickly figure out where you are – but it once again can hurt performance on older devices (and will negatively impact the battery on your iPhone too).
Thankfully, turning this off is simple. All you have to do is:
1. Open the “Settings” app on your iPhone.

2. Locate the option on screen labeled “Privacy” and select it.

3. Select the option labeled “Location Services” to open that category of menu items.

4. Tap once on the green switch next to “Location Services” at the top of the screen. This will disable the feature altogether, similar to the way you did so with the background app activity above.

Additional Tips to Help Speed Up Your iPhone
Beyond that, there are also a number of important steps that you can take to help speed up your slower iPhone – or at the very least, to help improve performance as much as possible.
First, you should always make an effort to keep all of your apps up-to-date with the most recently available version installed. You can do so using the “App Store” icon. Updating your apps does more than just refresh the look and bring with it new features. Developers are constantly fixing bugs and other issues that are reported by users to impact performance, so if there’s a particular app you’re having trouble with you should definitely see if a new version is available.
Likewise, always making sure that your iPhone itself is up-to-date is an important part of making sure that things are running as smoothly as possible. Yes, we mentioned above that newer operating systems will always run a bit slower on older hardware. That’s still true.
Having said that, new operating systems also patch security vulnerabilities and other loopholes that could harm the performance of your device (not to mention cause other problems with cybersecurity), which is why keeping your iPhone updated is always a good idea.
If you found these tips to speed up your iPhone useful, please share them with your friends by using the Share Buttons below. I really appreciate you spreading the word about my Free Daily iPhone Tips! 🙂
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Thanks again and again. We have followed you from your beginning and your expertise is priceless.
Thanks!
I love your information!
Always look forward to reading I Pad Pete!!
Thank you
Wow learned some things new today!!!
THANK YOU!!!
When you say,”this will disable the feature altogether “, does that mean it’s gone? Or are you still able to turn it back on?
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Thank you!!!!!
Thank you!!
Thanks PETE.
Now I’d like to hear how to delete thousands of emails at a time that have ended up residing on my phone. Do I have to use my laptop to do it? ( I know, shame on me.)
Me too. Did you get an answer on this? If yes, could you share it please? Thank you.
At 62 years old and technically unstable this has been very helpful.
Don’t stop now!
Thanks again,
Mark
Thanks for all your help and needful guidance to help us have better use of our phone.
I love these emails. I have saved everyone of them.
Thanks a lot Pete
I just stopped in Verizon and got a new SIM Card..free..seems to be helping!