Don’t be a surprise when you notice your iPhone keeps slowing down despite its amazing features. It is perfectly normal. Your iPhone may also freeze altogether.
Obviously, on older phones this is more common, as their hardware is less well placed to handle more modern software and applications. Very often, what can be causing the freezing or slow down is that your phone’s RAM has become full.
Understanding the RAM of an iPhone
RAM is commonly defined as Random Access Memory. It is the volatile working memory or space where processing takes place. It is literally a measure of how much “thinking” space your device has to figure things out, kind of like how many things your brain can be trying to figure out or remember at once before you need to write some down so you can stop trying to think about them.
The RAM is one of the most crucial components of the phone since it ensures that all internal activities work smoothly. It is where all active processes on the phone are handled, and usually, the iPhone handles RAM very well.
However, if you are running multiple memory-intensive tasks, such as playing games, streaming, etc, then the RAM may start to struggle. In this scenario, clearing out the RAM is your best option as it will provide much-needed speed boost to the phone. Doing so will free up some processing power and will give your phone a boost.
How to clear the RAM on iPhone
- Go to “Settings”, then click “Accessibility”. Select Touch, then press AssistiveTouch. Activate AssistiveTouch at the top of the next page. You should now see a round button on the screen. This first step is important if you have an iPhone that doesn’t have a physical home button.
Press this round button to display the input options menu. What you’ll need to use later is the home button, which doesn’t exist as a physical button on the newer iPhones. Then you need to open the exit menu, not the usual menu.
- Next, unlock your device. After that, quickly press the volume up button, then the volume down button, then press and hold the lock button until the exit menu appears.
It is now in the troubleshooting menu for shutdown, which is used to force reboot, recovery and DFU mode, and clear the RAM. This is different from the normal shutdown menu that you use to turn off your phone. This menu has an SOS slider, but this more powerful shutdown troubleshooting menu doesn’t have it, so you can say you’ve set it up correctly.
- In the shutdown menu, press the AssistiveTouch button to open it. Then press and hold the Home button. If you have an iPhone with a physical button, just press and hold.
- You should receive a notification confirming that you cleared your RAM. Next, enter your passcode, and it is done.
To check if it works, swipe up from the center of the screen and press and hold to open the app tray. Any open applications will immediately restart to notify you when system storage is freed up.
