How to speed up Google Now on your Android device
Google Now is really awesome – but as you use your Android device more, it seems to get slower and slower until it grinds to a screeching halt. Multiple reports exist all over the internet about Google Now sometimes taking up to a minute to return search results, which is completely unacceptable in an age when people – and Google itself – place great importance on instantaneous responses. I, too, have experienced a massive slowdown on my HTC EVO 4G LTE.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve kept track of some things you can do to help speed up Google Now on your own device. However, it’s important to note that what might work for your phone may not work for someone else. I’ve noticed a big difference in Google search speeds between my EVO 4G LTE and my LG Nexus 4, for example. It’s possible that you might need to take all of these actions, or only one might do the trick. Unfortunately, trial and error is what ultimately must be done, although please share your own personal results down in the comments.
Check for processes and apps running in the background.
It goes without saying that these can slow down your phone. To check what’s eating up processing power (and battery life), simply navigate to Settings > Apps > Running. This will give you a list of what’s running right now, and selecting the individual app or process will give you an option to stop it immediately. Checking this often will let you know if there are memory-hogging apps that start up by themselves, without any prompting from you.
Additionally, you can check what’s been eating up your battery by going to Settings > Battery. If you notice a correlation between these two lists, you might have a problem app that you need to uninstall. Once your phone is free from these rogue apps and processes, it’s likely that Google Now will have more resources available and be able to run faster.
Clear your Google Search cache.
Sometimes app caches can get too big and can hinder performance. To clear the Google Search cache, simply navigate to Settings > Apps > All > Google Search, and select the options to “Clear data” and “Clear cache.”
Adjust what Google Now actually searches.
If Google Now is still running slowly, try opening Search, scrolling all the way to the bottom, and pressing the menu button. Then, select Settings > Phone search, and only select what you absolutely need Google to search for you. Do you really need it search all of your apps to give you the results you’re looking for?
Disable “Search Applications Provider.”
As a last resort, navigate to Settings > Apps > All > Search Applications Provider. Select the option to disable it. Some folks on Reddit and XDA have suggested this as the best way to speed up Google Now, although others have reported problems with search results after doing so. As always, your mileage may vary – but as a last resort, this certainly can’t hurt. It’s easy enough to enable this again if you do notice problems, too.
Which of these have worked for you, if any? Do you have any other suggestions for speeding up Google Now? Let us know below!
