Samsung Galaxy S3 Runs Very Slow After Android 4.3 Update

The Samsung Galaxy S3 received the Android 4.3 update late last year and millions of owners were anticipating it because the manufacturer didn't release the supposed 4.2 update. The anticipation turned to frustration when owners were plagued with all sorts of problems after the update. Poor performance issues were among the most common.

In a bid to help Galaxy S3 owners bugged by this problem, we did a lot of digging as to the causes of the problem and here's what we've found out:

Possible Causes

1. TouchWiz freezes
2. Third-party apps are incompatible with new firmware.
3. RAM almost used up.
4. Some data are corrupt in the system.

Possible Solutions

Step 1: Boot to Safe Mode

Booting the Galaxy S3 to Safe Mode will disable third-party apps and doing this will isolate possible problems. I often do this to smartphones I repair just to make sure the problem isn't software-related. If it were a third-party app causing this, then a little search and uninstall process will solve the problem. Here's how you boot your Galaxy S3 to Safe Mode:

1. Press and hold the Power key.
2. Touch Power off.
3. Touch OK.
4. Press and hold the Power key for one or two seconds to turn on the device.
5. When the Samsung logo displays, press and hold the Volume down key until the lock screen displays.
6. When the Lock screen is displayed, Safe mode is displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen. 

While in Safe Mode, observe the phone closely to know whether it still slows down. If it doesn't, then it could be third-party apps that caused the problem. You need to find those apps and uninstall them, you may start from your recent installations.

Step 2: Clear TouchWiz Cache and Data

If you can still feel some lags or experience freezes while in Safe Mode, it could be that one of the core applications or services is not functioning well. But there's one thing that could greatly affect the phone's overall performance when messed up--TouchWiz.

While the Galaxy S3 is still in Safe Mode, do this:

1. Pull the Notification Bar and tap on the Settings icon. (The gear icon located at the top right of the screen.)
2. Tap More tab.
3. Tap Application Manager.
4. Swipe right or left to display All tab's contents.
5. Scroll to and tap TouchWiz.
6. Tap Clear Cache, and then Clear Data. (Note: Your Home screens will be deleted once you tap on Clear Data.)
7. Tap OK to confirm.
8. Reboot the phone.

Now observe if the phone still has performance issues.

Step 3: Clear RAM / Memory

If  your phone is running out of RAM, some services will be forced to stop just to accommodate apps that the owner uses. This may cause some lags on the phone, so it is recommended you clear your phone's RAM from time to time. Here's how:

1. Go back to  Home screen, and then press and hold the Home button.
2. The Recent Applications screen appears, you can close each of the app you can see by swiping left or right.
3. Tap on the Task Manager icon located on the lower-left corner of the screen.
4. Tap RAM tab. In here, you can see how much RAM was used and how much is left. At the bottom, you can the Clear memory button.
5. Tap Clear memory button.
6. Reboot phone to refresh its memory.

It always helps the phone if you cleared its memory every now and then and take time closing apps you don't use anymore but still running in the background.

Step 4: Wipe Cache Partition / Factory Reset

I understand why majority of Android users don't want to perform a Factory Reset but sometimes, that's what it takes to bring the phone back to its original state and performance level. But before doing that, there's one thing you shouldn't forget to do--wipe cache partition.

1. Turn the phone off.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons simultaneously.
3. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue holding the other two.
4. When Android System Recovery screen appears, release them.
5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight 'wipe cache partition' option.
6. Select by pressing the Power key.
7. After that, highlight 'reboot system now' and press the Power key.

Observe closely if there's some improvements in the performance. Otherwise, follow the same steps but this time choose 'wipe data / factory reset' option. Please note all your data will be lost when you do this so back them up first.

If you're currently experiencing some problems with your phone, don't hesitate to contact me either through email (admin@droidista.com), Facebook or Google+.