My iPhone has recently started running really slow, with apps taking forever to open and basic tasks lagging a lot. I haven’t installed anything major or changed many settings, so I’m not sure what could be causing this. Can someone explain what might be going on and suggest specific steps to speed it back up?
Happens a lot with iPhones, so here is a quick checklist you can run through. Try these in order and test in between.
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Restart the phone
Hold Power and Volume Up, slide to power off, wait 20–30 seconds, then turn it on again.
This clears temp data and stuck processes. -
Check storage
Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
If you see less than 5–10 GB free, the system slows down.
Delete big videos, old photos, unused apps, and large message threads. -
Close heavy background stuff
Double press Home or swipe up from bottom, then swipe away apps that use a lot of memory like games, social apps with video, maps, and editing tools.
Also check Settings > Battery to see what eats the most power. Those apps often slow things too. -
Update iOS and apps
Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
Then App Store > tap your profile > Update All.
Old versions sometimes lag after a system update or server changes. -
Turn off background features
Try switching these off temporarily:
• Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Off
• Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > turn off for apps that do not need it
• Settings > Siri & Search > turn off suggestions for apps you rarely use -
Check battery health
Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
If Maximum Capacity is under about 80 percent, iOS might throttle performance to avoid crashes.
If “Performance Management” shows as active, that explains some lag. -
Free up media and junk quicker
If your storage looks packed with photos, videos, duplicate screenshots, and random junk from messaging apps, using a cleaner tool saves time.
The Clever Cleaner App for iPhone focuses on clearing duplicate photos, big videos, screenshots, and other clutter so your storage stops choking the system.
You can check it here: smart iPhone cleanup with Clever Cleaner.
People use it to scan their library fast, remove similar or blurry shots, and clear large hidden files that pile up over months. That often brings back smoother app launches and fewer freezes. -
Reduce visual effects
Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Reduce Motion > On.
Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency > On.
This takes load off older chips. -
Check for overheating
If the phone feels hot, performance drops to protect the hardware.
Remove thick cases, avoid charging and gaming at the same time, and keep it out of sun or hot car interiors. -
Last resort options
If nothing helps:
• Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings. This keeps your data but resets system settings.
If it is still slow, back up then do a full erase and restore from iCloud or iTunes.
If it lagged right after a specific app install or update, uninstall that one first and test. That single step fixes more phones than people expect.
4 Likes
Happens a LOT, and half the time iOS never tells you why. @reveurdenuit already covered the basic checklist (restart, storage, battery health, etc.), so I’ll try not to rehash the same stuff.
Here are a few extra angles that often get missed:
- Spotlight & Photos indexing going wild
If your phone recently got a big batch of new photos, or you updated iOS, it might be quietly “indexing” in the background. That can make everything feel laggy for a day or two.
- Signs: battery draining faster, phone warm, lag when searching, Photos stuck “Scanning…” under People or Memories.
- Fix: Plug it in, connect to Wi‑Fi, leave it locked for a few hours. Let it finish its behind‑the‑scenes stuff instead of constantly waking it.
- Safari hoarding junk
Safari can slow the whole device when it’s sitting on a massive pile of site data.
- Go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data.
- Also, kill the 87 open tabs you “might need later” but actually never will.
- Widgets and live activities
Those cute widgets and live activities are not free performance‑wise.
- Long‑press your Home Screen > tap the minus on widgets you don’t really use.
- Especially remove heavy ones like weather, fitness, news feeds that constantly refresh.
- VPNs, “security” apps, and content filters
If you installed a VPN, ad‑blocker, parental control tool, or some “boost your privacy” thing, they can slow networking system‑wide.
- Try turning them off temporarily in Settings > VPN or Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, and also under Settings > Screen Time / Content & Privacy Restrictions.
If the phone suddenly feels fast on Wi‑Fi or LTE with those off, you’ve found your culprit.
- Mail and cloud accounts freaking out
An email or calendar account stuck syncing can cause random lag and battery drain.
- Settings > Mail > Accounts. Toggle problematic accounts off, then on.
- For iCloud, check Settings > [your name] > iCloud and see if anything is stuck “Uploading” or “Syncing.”
- Home Screen clutter & app library chaos
iOS keeps track of a lot in the foreground. A totally cluttered Home Screen with tons of widgets, folders, and badges can feel slower, especially on older iPhones.
- Simplify your first page to just essentials.
- Move rarely used stuff to the App Library.
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Don’t overdo force‑quitting apps
I kinda disagree with the constant “swipe away all apps” advice. Doing it occasionally for a clearly misbehaving app is fine, but killing everything all the time just forces iOS to reload them from scratch, which can feel slower and waste more battery. Let iOS manage most of it unless something is obviously bugging out. -
Check for specific app weirdness
Sometimes it’s not the whole system. One or two apps misbehave and make it feel like the phone is slow.
- Notice: is it slow everywhere, or mainly when opening 1–3 apps?
- If it’s mostly specific ones, delete and reinstall those. Some social & banking apps are notorious for this after updates.
- Storage cleanup that actually targets the heavy stuff
When storage gets tight, performance tanks. You already heard that, but the problem is cleaning manually is annoying and most people give up halfway.
If you’re sitting on a ton of duplicate photos, similar shots, random screenshots, and massive videos, using a dedicated tool is just faster.
A solid option is the smart iPhone cleanup with Clever Cleaner App. It focuses on:
- Identifying duplicate and similar photos
- Finding huge videos and media files
- Surfacing old screenshots and junk from messaging apps
That kind of cleanup can free several GB in minutes, which often makes app launching and scrolling noticeably smoother.
- Check performance mode stuff (Low Power, etc.)
- If Low Power Mode is on all the time (yellow battery icon), your phone will feel slower. Turn it off in Settings > Battery.
- Also, some focus modes with heavy automation can cause little delays here and there.
- When it’s just age catching up
If your iPhone is older (like an iPhone 8 / X / XR / early SE) running the latest iOS, some lag is just… life. Apple says it’s supported, but the newest system is clearly built for newer chips.
If your Battery Health is low and performance management is on, the combo of old chip + throttling is rough. At that point, your real options are:
- Battery replacement
- Living with some slowness
- Or upgrading, if you’re totally over it
If I were you, I’d:
- Let the phone sit plugged in & on Wi‑Fi for a few hours to finish any indexing.
- Clear Safari data and trim widgets.
- Kill any VPN / filter apps as a test.
- Do a deep storage cleanup using something like the Clever Cleaner App to get your free space into the comfortable 10+ GB range.
If it’s still crawling after all that and your battery health is bad, it’s probably hardware + throttling, not something you did wrong.
I’d look at this as a “what changed recently” problem rather than just doing every generic fix again.
Stuff I’d check that hasn’t really been covered yet:
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Recently updated apps
- Go to App Store > your profile > Purchased > Recently Updated.
- If the slowdowns started right after a specific update (often social, banking, or camera apps), temporarily delete that one and see if the phone suddenly feels normal.
- This is where I slightly disagree with constant force‑quitting: a single bad update is often worse than a bunch of apps sitting in the background.
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Keyboard lag & third‑party keyboards
- If typing feels slow or apps lag whenever the keyboard opens, check Settings > General > Keyboard.
- Remove or disable any third‑party keyboards (custom emoji, language packs, swipe keyboards). These can drag the whole UI down when they misbehave.
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Notifications overload
- Massive real‑time notifications can cause frequent tiny slowdowns.
- Go to Settings > Notifications and turn off “Allow Notifications” for noisy apps you barely care about.
- Especially cut live updating stuff like markets, sports scores, or constant news alerts.
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iCloud Drive & Files providers
- If opening Files, sharing, or saving things suddenly hangs, one of the cloud providers might be stuck.
- In Files app > Browse, tap the “…” > Edit, and temporarily disable providers you do not really use (third‑party cloud apps).
- Also, in Settings > [your name] > iCloud, toggle off iCloud Drive for a minute, then back on.
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Bluetooth clutter
- A ridiculous number of paired devices can cause weird delays, especially with audio routing.
- Settings > Bluetooth > tap the “i” on old devices > Forget This Device for stuff you never use anymore.
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Focus & automation chains
- If you use Focus modes with a bunch of automations (change watch faces, switch wallpapers, run Shortcuts), each trigger adds tiny delays.
- Settings > Focus: simplify or delete automations that do not bring real value.
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Clever Cleaner App as a “targeted cleanup” tool
- Since both @jeff and @reveurdenuit already mentioned storage, here is a more opinionated take on the Clever Cleaner App, since it is designed exactly for this slow‑phone scenario:
- Pros:
- Fast way to surface huge videos, duplicate/similar photos, and old screenshots without manually hunting through Albums.
- Good for people who do not want to micromanage iPhone Storage suggestions.
- Can free several GB very quickly if you have years of photos and chat media.
- Cons:
- You still need to review what it suggests deleting; if you just tap through blindly, you might lose stuff you care about.
- It is an extra app to install, which some folks dislike for privacy or clutter reasons.
- Does not fix underlying hardware limits or a bad battery, so expectations need to stay realistic.
- Used as a one‑time or occasional cleanup tool, it can complement the system settings nicely. I would not treat it as magic, but if your storage is tight and you have thousands of messy photos, it is a practical shortcut.
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System logs or crash loops
- If the phone randomly stutters every few seconds, some background service might be crashing and restarting.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data and see if you have the same app or process showing up over and over at the top around the time the lag happens.
- If it is tied to a specific app, remove that app first before you consider a full reset.
How I’d prioritize now, given what @jeff and @reveurdenuit already covered:
- Check if the lag correlates with keyboard use, a specific app, or notifications popping.
- Delete or test‑disable any recently updated or newly installed apps.
- Run a proper media cleanup (either manual or with something like Clever Cleaner App) to open a comfortable storage cushion.
- Simplify Focus, notifications, and Home Screen clutter.
- Only if it is still bad after all that, consider “Reset All Settings” or a full backup / erase / restore.
If the slowness survives a clean restore and you have decent free space plus acceptable battery health, that is when I’d start suspecting that your specific device is just hitting its hardware ceiling with the current iOS version.