Do Android phones get slower over time, even with factory resets?

zijin_cheng

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I've owned the HTC Incredible S two years ago and now have had my Nexus 4 for a year. Both phones were stock and smooth. After a while, swiping through homescreens (no matter what launcher), opening/closing apps got a little slower (but the actual running of intense apps/games do not get slower), so I did a factory reset. It got much faster again, but was just that tiny bit slower than new. It slowly slowed down again. I then turned to custom ROMs like CM/PA and it made the phone much faster, but still not as fast as a new phone. Different ROMs still could not reach a new phone's buttery smoothness.

So I'm wondering, does this happen to all phones? Do they all get slower over time? Just a note, I'm extremely sensitive to stuttering on phones, I can tell when a phone is slower when other people can't.
 

srkmagnus

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I've owned the HTC Incredible S two years ago and now have had my Nexus 4 for a year. Both phones were stock and smooth. After a while, swiping through homescreens (no matter what launcher), opening/closing apps got a little slower (but the actual running of intense apps/games do not get slower), so I did a factory reset. It got much faster again, but was just that tiny bit slower than new. It slowly slowed down again. I then turned to custom ROMs like CM/PA and it made the phone much faster, but still not as fast as a new phone. Different ROMs still could not reach a new phone's buttery smoothness.

So I'm wondering, does this happen to all phones? Do they all get slower over time? Just a note, I'm extremely sensitive to stuttering on phones, I can tell when a phone is slower when other people can't.
I wouldn't say that the phone gets slower over time. It's likely due to the newer apps and/or services you may be using today than you were a year or two ago. If you haven't already, try flashing the stop Factory Image then get setup. Unlock/root then see if it continues.

Let us know how it goes and/or if you have any other questions.
 

Mooncatt

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I wouldn't say that the phone gets slower over time. It's likely due to the newer apps and/or services you may be using today than you were a year or two ago. If you haven't already, try flashing the stop Factory Image then get setup. Unlock/root then see if it continues.

This. Apps and system updates put more demand on resources, even without installing additional apps. And if your OS was upgraded (like from JB to KK), then doing a factory reset only takes you to stock for the current version. So your phone will likely never be as snappy as day 1 again from that alone. It may get close, but not quite there again.
 

Carrtman

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It's a combination of a lot of things (more and more RAM/CPU hungry websites, apps, updates) and a lot of unneccessary (temporary) clutter. One thing you can do is wipe your davlik cache once in a while it won't be as fast as on day one but it definately helps.

If you haven't already use Greenify
 

srkmagnus

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Some may work ok for specific problems, but do make sure to steer clear of "memory optimizer" type apps. Those are actually counter productive.
I agree. Just let Android do it's thing - when memory is needed apps and services will be closed to free space.
 

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