Fast – Michael Webber

Here are two tips for speeding up a Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD smartphone. If you’re like me and want the quick solution, scroll down to Tip #1 and get started.

Little background, I purchased my Razr Maxx HD about two years now and I’ve become increasingly frustrated with it’s responsiveness. Everything about the phone became sluggish and for a long time I just dealt with it. I’m also a runner and use the phone to track my progress using the GPS tracking app RunKeeper. Last week the GPS accuracy was way off, the phone would struggle to find a GPS signal and once found, it would fade in and out. The whole situation finally drove me crazy enough that I spent some time looking for ways to speed up the phone, preferably WITHOUT performing a factory reset.

Everyone uses their phones differently, for me I’m less concerned about the “fancy” stuff, such as widgets and live wallpaper. I also don’t play games with my phone, although my kids have been known to install them on occasion. I just want a phone that runs my apps efficiently.

After searching the interwebs for some time I found two solutions which dramatically improved the phone speed. While you could certainly do the same search and likely find the same solutions, I thought I would share what worked for me and hopefully save you time.

These tips assume you have already tried the “easy stuff”:

Remove Unused Applications
Avoid Using Widgets & Live Wallpaper
Cleanup & Delete Photos/Videos from Gallery

I would also suggest you stay away from task killer apps and other management apps in an attempt to speed up your phone. It’s just not necessary and becomes just one more app running in the background. Generally, I think these apps are a bad idea.

TIP #1 CLEAR/WIPE THE CACHE PARTITION

This process significantly increased the speed of my phone. If you only do one thing, try this!

Step by step instructions are available on the Verizon Support website, which I’ve included below.

Warning Performing a wipe cache partition removes any temporary files that may be causing an issue with the device. All personal files and settings are not affected by this option.

1. Power the device off.
Note Press the Power button then select Power off.

Note If the device doesn’t respond to input, press and hold the Volume Up/Down then press and hold Power button. When the device screen goes blank, release the Power button while continuing to hold Volume Up/Down then proceed with step 3.

2. Press and hold the Volume Up/Down then press the Power button.
3. When presented with the Boot Mode Selection Menu, release all buttons.
4. Press Volume Down to select Recovery then press Volume Up.
5. From the Droid triage screen:

Press and hold Volume down.
Press and release Volume up.
Release Volume down.

6. Select wipe cache partition then press the Power button.

Note Use Volume keys to navigate options.

7. Select reboot system now then press the Power button.

Note Use Volume keys to navigate options.

TIP #2 TURN OFF ANIMATIONS

This action will remove the fades and animations that ease the transition between apps and screens. While it makes your phone experience “look” better, it comes at the expense of speed and processor time. I found turning the animation features off helped.

Go to Settings -> Developer Options -> Animation Scale

You’ll want to turn on Developer Options with the toggle at the top of the screen. Once enabled, scroll down and turn off the following:

Animator Duration Scale