Mobile gaming has exploded in the last few years as smartphones have finally got the processing and graphics power needed to render quality 3D graphics and provide enjoyable and realistic gaming experiences. You don’t need a top tier smartphone to join in all the fun either, even budget handsets are capable of handling top mobile titles, opening up mobile gaming to every level of user. 

Whether you have an expensive smartphone or a budget model, games can slow down and suffer from poor frame rates if you don’t take some steps to boost your device’s gaming performance before you start to play. If you are having trouble getting the most out of your games when you play on your Android device, we have some tips and tricks that will get everything running smoothly.

Remove Any Widgets or ‘Live Wallpaper’ on Your Home Screen

Features like widgets for your favourite apps, or using a live wallpaper for your phone’s background, can help give your handset a look and feel that is individual to you; but they also massively affect your phone’s performance.

They may be convenient, but when you are running any kind of app or browsing the web, they are holding you back and slowing you down. If you want to get better performance from your phone when you are slaying demons in an online RPG or trying your luck at the UK's Deal or No Deal casino, you should remove any widgets from your home screen and change your background to a still picture. This simple change can yield huge performance benefits. 

Close Down Any ‘Background Services’

Too few people realize how many apps are running in the background on their devices, using up precious processing power, as well as draining the battery.

Social media apps like Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook will often use up a lot of power and RAM to keep you updated and notified of any posts, but these will adversely affect your phone’s gaming performance. Go into developer settings on your phone and look at ‘running services’. Here you will see all the apps that are running in the background and how much of your phone’s RAM they are using. Turn the worst culprits off while you play, and you will notice the difference immediately.

Clear Your Cache to Give Games Some Room to Play 

Your phone keeps a lot of temporary data from websites you have visited or from apps you have used, and this data soon builds up and can affect your phone’s performance in many different ways.

When you play games, the games also need cache space to hold temporary data as you progress through its levels. Clearing your cache, and removing as much unused data from your hard drive as possible, can help your games perform better and load faster. 

It is simple and easy to do, so you don’t have any excuse not to try it. Simply go to Settings and click on Storage. Here you should see ‘Cached Data’, and when you enter that setting you should be able to quickly clear the cache for all apps with just the click of a button.

Try a Game Booster App or a Task Killer Program

This step can produce mixed results, it really depends on which booster app or task killer app you choose for your phone. 

Apps like these can do a lot to boost performance on your phone by clearing your cache and disabling background services, as well as changing your settings so they are more game friendly. It is important to remember that these apps also run in the background while you play, so choose wisely as their convenience comes with a performance cost, and they aren’t doing anything that you couldn’t do for yourself. Being able to press a button and then get straight into your games is a big bonus though!

Keep Your Games, Apps, and Operating System Up to Date

Mobile gaming is so popular that game developers and Android are always tweaking their software to get the best possible performance from your device.

Make sure you keep your phone updated all the time, both your games and apps as well as your Android operating system. This simple step can often yield huge performance increases as subtle changes in the coding of games and your operating system can help your phone to process information much more efficiently.

Mobile gaming is a lot of fun and the connectivity that smartphones offer over 4G and 5G, as well as over Wi-Fi, let you enjoy multiplayer online gaming literally anywhere. Don’t let software slow you down. Take just a few of the steps we have shown above and you will notice an increase in performance immediately. Remember to close down background services and keep your phone updated if you want to get the most out of your mobile games!