Why Is My Evo Slowing Down?

One of the most common complaints with the Evo is when it begins to slow down and not react when you swipe, poke or prod it. It's frustrating to users on two fronts as you can't get it to do what you want it to, and it doesn't operate correctly if the resources aren't available. So, the big question is, how to fix this problem?
Smartphones used to require a reset every day, or more, to operate well. The Evo is not even close to needing this done so often, although, it doesn't hurt anything to power cycle it daily. The average user should get 72 hours of use without any noticeable lag or slowing of Sense. If you are a heavy app user, your internal memory management software may not release all your programs from the RAM of the device and you will be left with few programs that keep running.

While this isn't a problem for most, rogue apps have been popping up more and more often and controlling them is a great way to keep your Evo healthy. Watch for apps that start up with the device - being careful not to kill necessary system processes like many task managers do.

The best way in our opinion, and we know the round and round argument that has been placed around the task killer debate, is to maintain your apps yourself. Create a short-cut to the "Manage Applications" section on your device by selecting "+" from the Sense bar, then "Shortcut", then "Settings", and finally "Manage Applications". This gives you one touch access to your installed and running apps. Touch the "Running" tab at the top of the screen to see the apps currently using resources. Ignore apps that you use regularly as the second you touch them, they will begin using resources again, but touch each app you don't use and select "Force Close" from the screen that follows. This will free up those resources currently being used by those apps.

The other basic care procedure you should follow to keeping your Evo bright and happy on the inside is a simple power cycle every 3-4 days. Think of your Evo as a baby computer that needs to be reset every once in a while. Another tip to remember is that most apps do not require a restart, but your Evo will always benefit from one. After you've installed a number of new programs, give it a quick reboot just to let everything settle. You never know what is sitting in that active memory.

Finally, the last care and feeding tip for keeping your Evo running smooth is to clear your Twitter/Facebook/Browser cache about once a week. This will keep the storage clear and your required app memory at a minimum. If you have many different programs for keeping pace with your social networking, look at some of the cache clearing apps that are available. We don't use them, but it might do the trick for some of you with issues gettting everything cleared.