This Android Feature Might Be Slowing Your Phone Down

Framesira/Shutterstock

On select Android phones, there’s a feature that increases the total random access memory (RAM) capacity by using the phone’s internal storage as swap space, also known as swap memory. It is often recommended as one of the settings to optimize your Samsung Galaxy phone and other phones where it’s available. But the benefits really depend on your device’s hardware. While the paging functionality can help phones with limited RAM, on phones with more memory, it can slow them down. Above 8GB of RAM, especially 12GB or more, the feature is likely to be frustrating. Apps can freeze or take longer to load, close aggressively, wear down the battery faster, and generate more heat during operation.

The feature has a few names. On Samsung Galaxy devices, it’s called RAM Plus, but other Android phone makers might call it Memory Extension or RAM Extension. To disable on a Samsung, go to Settings Device Care tap on Memory RAM Plus. On other Android devices, navigate to Performance or Memory in Settings, sometimes hidden under About Phone, and look for the appropriate name. Some devices allow you to turn it off completely. Others only allow you to reduce the swap size, in which case you’ll want to choose the lowest setting, 2GB.

After you adjust those settings, restart your device to apply the changes. After the reboot, you may see the total RAM decrease. For example, it might list 24GB total with swap enabled, but drop to 12GB after swap is disabled. Be sure to check…

Source