Different case scenarios with your phone acting up might have prompted you to ask the question “why is my phone acting up?”.
If that is the case, you are not alone.
Probably, you are stuck with your phone skipping songs and pushing them on its own or its telling you the time without pressing anything
Or probably you are struggling to navigate to a certain location on the device and the screen isn’t registering your touches.
Either way, your phone is not acting as it is supposed to.
While there are many other case scenarios such as your device freezing or it displaying unwanted ads on your phone menu without launching your browser. There are certain things you ought to be aware of when these things happen.
Figuring out this problem might be a bit tiresome but in this article, I will be breaking down all Possible steps that have been proven to resolve any strange case of your phone acting up for both Andriod and iPhone
Why is my Phone Acting Up (Andriod)
If your phone is acting up, there are different reasons why this is so.
Sometimes it might be hardware-related issues or a deadly virus. That said, the first thing you should do when your phone begins to act up is to restart the device.
Since restarting your phone might put your device in a sane state for a while let’s delve into what are the common reasons behind the question “why is my phone acting up” and how to resolve it.
Little Storage space
One of the issues faced by users when their storage space is little or almost zero is when you try installing a new app and it doesn’t install.
If it installs, you might not be able to open the app without experiencing some form of crashing.
In addition to that, the storage space issues also transfer to your Gallery as you might notice that when you try taking a snapshot or recording a video on your smartphone it displays an error or it doesn’t take the snapshot.
In scenarios like this, the first thing you should check is if you have enough space on your device.
If you don’t have a decent file manager app on your device, you can install the EX file manager.
NB: You might not be able to install this app, so you might have to delete some videos or uninstall any redundant apps before trying to install the EX file manager.
Not enough RAM
Have you tried downloading an app that successfully got installed on your device, but once you try launching it, the screen seems to be blank?
Well, the RAM is the problem.
Scenarios like this are very common with games that require a high RAM and storage space.
If the ram of your device is low, you might experience the app launching but it keeps hanging profusely.
Once you notice any of the cases listed above, you should check for the Ram requirement of the app and see if it is compatible with your device.
If it isn’t, then that is where the problem is coming from
Poor Cellphone Reception
Have you ever tried calling someone and you are hearing the person from the other side of the call but the person isn’t hearing you?
This situation happens and vice versa. And it could be quite frustrating. However, when you experience this, either you or the person at the other end of the call has a poor network in their location.
All you have to do is adjust your location to coverage when the service is decent.
Obsolete software
I remembered the time youtube rolled an update for the Youtube app. It was as if they made the old app so miserable that users would have no choice but to update to a new version.
And the bad news is that they can do it intentionally by making the app lag and perform slowly to push you to update the newer version
But in some cases, it could be due to a general bug or issues. So if you are using an app that is acting unexpectedly. Try Updating the app.
Damaged Hardware
I could remember a time when my phone started to dial, my lecturers one by one I had to apologize to each of them while the phone kept dialling these numbers annoyingly.
In some other scenarios, I have also experienced my flashlight going on or playing videos without touching it.
If you are experiencing cases like these, the most likely culprit to this is your phone’s Touch screen
Must Read: What to do when you have black Spots on your iPhone
Outdated OS
Series of Android apps on the play store support a particular OS Version, while some are available notwithstanding the OS version you are runnings.
However, if it has been a while since you update your android device, as time goes on you might experience that, the device starts acting strange due to the slow OS version.
In common scenarios, you could experience glitches with an app you’ve just updated from the app store if it requires a higher OS version which could in turn make your phone act up.
To resolve that, you simply need to update your Android Device by following these steps below
How to Update Andriod device
- First and foremost you want to ensure that your device is connected to Wifi
- Once it is connected, Launch the Settings app.
- Now, select About Phone.
- Next, tap Check for Updates.
- If there are available updates you will see an Update Button
- Install the latest OS version by tapping “Install Now“.
- After the installation, Reboot it
Identity theft
in some scenarios, you might be experiencing strange happening on your phones such as getting messages from google that someone just signed in to your email or an app that gets installed on your device without your permission.
In cases like these, someone else has permission to your email and when your email address and password are known. Anyone can do a lot of damage to your device.
If you notice anything fishy while using your device, you need to change your Googe account password and carry out a 2 step verification
Here is how to carry out a 2 steps verification
- Open your Google Account.
- In the navigation panel, select Security.
- Under “Signing in to Google,” select 2-Step Verification Get started.
- Follow the on-screen steps.
Your Device was Hacked
Nowadays it is important to avoid clicking links from unknown sources as these links can be used to hack your devices.
I could remember one of the slimy tricks some of these hackers use to collect your login details for your sensitive apps like PayPal or banking.
What they basically do is create a clone for a popular payment website and they direct you there to log in with your credentials.
This is just a little among the tricks they use to get information from you.
However, if your device was fully hacked then you need an antivirus such as Norton to resolve it.
Battery life has Reached its End
Apart from the issue listed above, another problem you might face that can make you curious about “why is my phone acting up” is expired battery life.
If your device was lasting for 5 hours, once its battery expired, you start experiencing a range of issues with the battery not lasting or it could begin to switch OFF and ON at strange times.
In cases like this, you have to get the smartphone to an engineer to repair the battery.
Unwanted apps installation
Another important thing you should be careful about is installing apps on your device when they are not from a trusted source.
While installing an app, you should always go through the permissions to ensure you understand what permissions you are giving to an app.
Why is my Phone acting up (iPhone)
If you are using an iPhone the steps outlined above pretty much follow the same issues when you are trying to figure out the answer to the question “why is my phone acting up“.
But then, I will be listing some common issues that are particular to iPhone devices.
Personal Hotspot Missing
If you recently update your iPhone from iOS 14 to iOS 15 one of the issues you might be faced with is your Hotspot not working.
This is pretty much normal as you don’t need to bulge when it happens to you.
That said, here is how to resolve it
Turn Off/On Mobile/Cellular Data
To navigate to mobile data simply go to Settings > Mobile/ Cellular data > Toggle of network
Update Carrier Settings:
To update your carrier settings simply navigate to Settings > General > About. Now.
Reset Network Settings
If none of the above steps works, then you should update your network settings by going to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
Bluetooth Not Working in iOS 15
Also, iOS 15 users could struggle with their Bluetooth connecting to their iPhone or it randomly disconnects after turning it ON.
If you are experiencing this, here is how you can go about it
Toggle ON/OFF Bluetooth
To do that you simply have to navigate to “settings”
Tap on “Bluetooth“.
Now, toggle it off/ on.
If that doesn’t give any positive results simply Forget the Bluetooth Device and reconnect by going to settings> Bluetooth> Tap on the “i” button > Forget this device.
Why is my phone acting up after Update iOS 15?
After the iOS 15 update, quite a handful of users had an issue with their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. If you are facing any of this, all you have to do is reset your network and you will be fine.
To reset your network simply navigate to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
If this doesn’t work contact Apple support Repair
Conclusion
By now you should have figured out the answer to “why is my phone acting up” and what you can do to resolve it. If you have any questions feel free to drop them down below.