Written by Dillon Johnson, Field Service Technician for Data Network Group.

There are certainly a few similarities between your Android powered phone and your computer, one of the biggest being maintenance. Over time you will find that your Android phone will slow down and become less responsive while performing small tasks like switching between applications or opening an email. A great way to remedy the issue and improve performance is to perform some manual cleanup steps using the native phone settings and a few helpful applications.

1. One of the most helpful apps that I have found over the past year and a half of owning an Android phone is “DiskUsage”. This application can take a little bit to get used to but it can be used to clear unneeded data from most of your Android apps. This app can be downloaded for free from the Android Market and when opened will ask if you would like to view data within App Storage, or the Storage Card. When cleaning to improve performance, you will want to concentrate on the App Storage. It will then scan all of the directories on your phone and provide a visual layout of the used space. This interface can be somewhat cumbersome and expands as you scroll, though it does display all of the installed apps and disk usage on the phone itself. Try to locate larger applications and touch the box that the application text appears in to highlight it. Then press the menu button, followed by the “Show” button. You will then be able to clear the temporary data from the application. It is important to note that this will remove some customized options within some apps that you choose to clear data from.
2. Another helpful app that can be used is a Task Killing app. There are several free versions of these in the Android Market and can be used to stop unneeded applications from running in the background.
3. Delete old text messages.
4. Set your email settings to synchronize only the needed time period of email. For instance, set your email settings to sync the past two weeks instead of 1 month.
5. Power cycle your phone at least once a week.
6. Remove/Uninstall unneeded applications by accessing your Settings menu, Applications, and then Manage Applications.
7. Using the same Manage Applications menu, move any applicable applications to the SD card instead of keeping them on the phone or App Storage. Please note that some applications cannot be moved to the SD card.