Should I restore to factory/brand new status?

[AnghellicKarma]

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Nexus on December 31, 2011. It was my second Android phone, following the original Droid.

Now, with my original Droid, it suffered from a case of where it would eventually get super-slow over time. I basically ended up getting three replacements from Verizon, but all of them would eventually suffer from that issue. I wasn't sure if it was a problem with the phone or the OS, but I'm pretty much anti-Apple, so I went with the Galaxy Nexus when I saw what it could do.

Anyway, it's gotten slow. Pretty much anything I do is taking 5-7 seconds (or longer, like up to 30 in Firefox Mobile) to actually do/process. Now, I'm thinking that perhaps it's like how a PC gets, where over time you load it up with so much junk and random software (and stuff running in the background, etc.) that it eventually gets bogged down, and a fresh reinstall of the OS typically improved your performance greatly.

So I am wondering if that's maybe what I should do for my phone. I have a ton of apps/games I've never even opened or played, for example. But I'm not sure of how to go about doing this. How would I format my SD card, for example (which I'm fine with doing after a backup)? How would I make everything basically go away (akin to a computer's format/reinstall)? And, on a side note, is there any way to backup a list of the Apps I have installed for the sake of posterity (other than manually writing the names of each down) - maybe an app that does this, even?

Well, any advice you can give me towards this is greatly appreciated. I'd like to be able to restore my phone to its original pristine state and really then just have the apps I primarily use anyway. I'm even interested in the new Galaxy S4 but, between the dreadful battery life (my phone is almost always plugged in) and the slowdown issues, I'm worried that this is more an Android OS thing and it gives me some trepidation over it. One thing at a time, though

 

[leeshor]

Your PC analogy is spot on and a good reason to do a factory reset. That will always help, especially if you selectively re-install the apps. But ultimately you will still have a "slower" phone than the current tech. The S4 would be an excellent choice.

 

[AnghellicKarma]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I see that there's an option for Factory Reset, and that's cool with me (I'll back everything up on my 1TB desktop), but beyond just wiping the internal memory and starting over... Forgive my ignorance, but does(n't) the Nexus have an SD Card (aside from the phones additional internal storage) that I should wipe, too? If so, how do I do such a thing so that it's formatted but still usable (similar to wiping a hard drive but then preparing it for use in Windows again)?

 

[leeshor]

I'm not 100% sure of the additional card question but the reset should only affect the internal memory, no other wipes should be needed.

 

[kcooldude]

Yes.I would do a factory reset but there's probably something in your usage of your phone that causes it to slow down so much. Maybe your downloading the wrong apps or something. Be more weary in how you use your phone. There are plenty of apps that back up apps to your sd card or a computer. Just search backup on play store. Factory reset doesn't affect your sd card i think