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How to speed up Moto G (2013) for better performance

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 hero
© nextpit

We loved the original Moto G here at AndroidPIT. It represented a total revolution in what you could expect from a phone that cost less than two hundred bucks. But a few years after its release, you might have noticed that your Moto G has started to slow down a little, despite its near-stock Android interface. Here's how to speed up the Moto G (2013) for better performance.

Get rid of excess widgets

If you Moto G (2013) is generally sluggish, there may be too many widgets syncing and updating on your home screens. Even when you're not on a particular home screen, widgets can be continiously pushing data up and down, consuming system resources. So get rid of any widgets that you don't actually use.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 remove widget1
Excess widgets can be removed to speed up your Moto G (2013). / © ANDROIDPIT

Update your apps

There's a reason why app developers are constantly updating their apps. Each update not only brings security and stability fixes, it also usually improves performance. The more up-to-date your apps are, the more likely your system will be running at its peak. So go find yourself some Wi-Fi and update your old apps.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 update all apps google play
Make sure all your essential apps are up to date. / © ANDROIDPIT

Clear your cache

There are two caches on your phone: one for apps and one for the system itself. The app cache temporarily stores data to make launching apps faster, but it can get a bit clogged up over time. Clearing the app cache is a bit like an F1 car pulling into the pits: it may seem to slow things down but it makes everything faster in the long run.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 clear individual app cache
You can clear an individual app's cache... / © ANDROIDPIT

Just go to Settings > Apps to clear an app's individual cache or go to Settings > Storage and clear the Cached Data section to clear the caches of all your apps at once.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 clear all cached data
...or clear all your apps' cached data in Settings > Storage. / © ANDROIDPIT

To clear the system cache, you'll need to reboot into Recovery Mode. Turn your Moto G off, press and hold Power and Volume Down and then use the Volume Down button to highlight 'Recovery' and press Volume Up.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 select recovery
Use volume down to scroll and volume up to select. / © ANDROIDPIT

You'll see the open Android screen where you need to press and hold the Volume Up button and then press the Power button and release both. You'll now see the Recovery Mode menu. Use the volume buttons to highlight 'wipe cache partition' and press the Power button to clear the system cache.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 wipe cache partition
Wipe the cache partition to clear the system cache. / © ANDROIDPIT

Free up some storage space

One of the simplest ways to make your Android experience faster is to simply delete some stuff you don't need on your phone. If your Moto G (2013) has bunches off apps that you haven't used in months, delete them. Check your Downloads folder and delete anything you no longer need.

The same goes for photos or videos you don't need on your phone anymore, as well as temporary files. You should clear them all out regularly. Freeing up space reduces pressure on RAM and system resources, helping your phone run faster.

moto g 2013 lollipop update
Clearing out your Downloads folder regularly is a smart move. / © ANDROIDPIT

Keep an eye on RAM management

RAM is another big factor where a the speed of your phone is concerned. If your phone doesn't have heaps of RAM – which the Moto G (2013) doesn't – then make sure it's only dealing with the apps it needs to. Some apps are huge RAM hogs.

To see the worst offenders, go to your Developer Options and Process Stats. Tapping individual apps in the list will show you how much RAM it uses. If it's not an essential (or there are more efficient alternatives), consider switching. You can also download system monitoring apps to identify memory and battery suckers.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 RAM usage
Keep an eye on which apps use the most RAM. / © ANDROIDPIT

Disable animations

This is sleight-of-hand trick really, but it makes your phone feel faster, even if it doesn't actually speed things up. Disabling the various animations on your Moto G will make swiping between home screens faster, launching apps snappier and add a sense of speed to pop-ups and menus.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 developer options
Enable Developer Options first, by tapping Build Number seven times. / © ANDROIDPIT

To do this, you need to enable Developer Options (go to Settings > About Phone and tap Build Number seven times) and then, in the Developer Options, scroll down until you see Window Animation Scale and Animation Duration Scale. Turn both of these off or set them lower than they currently are. For an explanation of what they do, read this.

AndroidPIT Moto G 2013 window animation scale
Turning off animations will make your Moto G (2013) feel faster. / © ANDROIDPIT

Reset your phone

This is the last-ditch solution. If you've tried everything you can think of and your Moto G (2013) is still not as fast as it should be, a back up everything first, but the process is simple and a good habit to get into.

Is your Moto G (2013) as fast as ever? What else do you do to keep it running smoothly? Let us know in the comments.

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Kris Carlon

Kris Carlon
Senior Editor

Kris is a former AndroidPIT Editor who came to the team via a lengthy period spent traveling and relying on technology to keep him in touch with the outside world. He can usually be found juggling three phones at once and poring over G+ posts, Reddit and RSS feeds.

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4 comments
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  • 9
    golaok Aug 5, 2016 Link to comment

    To speed up mobile phone, I would like to use android data cleaner app to free up some space by cleaning up unwanted files from it. And as we all know, with more space freed up on your Android device, the faster your Android phone will run.


  • JOHN DAVID SANTAMARIA HERNANDEZ 1
    JOHN DAVID SANTAMARIA HERNANDEZ Mar 24, 2016 Link to comment

    Excellent advices, they work alot, the best is "disable animations" when I implement it my phone came to life again.
    Thanks


  • 5
    adr Sep 21, 2015 Link to comment

    I have installed Cyanogenmod 12.1 and it works great!


  • João 1
    João Sep 21, 2015 Link to comment

    Convert it to Google Play Edition. Not only it will speed you the 2013 Moto G but also grant faster Android updates!

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