I switched to an iPhone 16 Pro a few months ago, but I still keep my old iPhone 12 around. It’s far from retired. These days, I use it to test new apps, take it with me on runs, and sometimes even as a webcam for my PC. It still works fine, but after spending time with the new iPhone, it definitely didn’t feel as smooth or responsive anymore.
It wasn’t only a matter of comparison. My iPhone 12 had started to feel laggy, even with the simplest tasks. Opening menus took an extra second, the app switcher hesitated before appearing, and scrolling through settings felt choppy. It wasn’t terrible, but it was noticeable enough to make me sigh every time I picked it up. Fixing it turned out to be much easier than I expected, and I wished I had discovered it sooner.
The reason your phone feels slower over time
Pankil Shah / MakeUseOfCredit: Pankil Shah / MakeUseOf
You might not realize it, but your iPhone is constantly putting on a show. Every time you swipe between screens, open an app, or pull down to refresh, your iPhone isn’t just responding, it’s performing. The gentle bounce when you scroll too far and the smooth zoom when you open an app are just a few of the subtle effects that trick your eyes into believing the experience is perfectly seamless.
But the thing is, all that visual polish comes at a cost. Your iPhone’s processor has to work hard to keep up the illusion of effortlessness. And it’s not only iPhones that do this. Android phones, tablets, computers, and nearly every other device with a screen use the same trick to make software appear faster and more responsive than it really is.
On a newer iPhone, this isn’t a problem. But as your device gets older, the strain starts to show. The very animations that once felt luxurious begin to drag. Swiping between apps feels slower, the home screen takes a second too long to settle, and suddenly your sleek iPhone feels more like it’s wading through syrup.
This became obvious when I updated my iPhone 12 to iOS 26. I was excited to try the new “liquid glass” interface and all the sleek transparency effects Apple had been showing off. But within minutes, I realized the shimmer wasn’t the same as I hoped. My iPhone wasn’t powerful enough to keep up with all those layered transitions, reflections, and blur effects.
The hidden setting that finally gave my old iPhone a boost
The accessibility trick Apple doesn’t advertise
After using iOS 26 for a while on my iPhone 12, it became clear that my phone wasn’t built for it. Sure, I could have tried downgrading to iOS 18, but Apple doesn’t make that easy. Also, it wasn’t only the software. My iPhone was more than five years old, and like any aging device, it had simply started to show its age.
I’d already tried all the usual tricks to speed up my iPhone, like clearing storage, restarting the phone, turning off background app refresh, and more. But none of those gave me the boost I was hoping for. Then I remembered something that had worked wonders on my old Windows laptop a week ago—turning off unnecessary animations.
Unlike Android, iOS doesn’t let you fine-tune the animation speed, but you can turn it off completely through the Accessibility settings. All you need to do is head to Settings > Accessibility, tap Motion, and toggle on the switch next to Reduce Motion. This stops your iPhone from constantly animating transitions, zooms, and those subtle movements that create the illusion of depth.
iOS 26’s new design also leans heavily on blurred backgrounds, translucent panels, and frosted-glass menus. They look great, but they also demand extra processing power. So the next thing you should do while you’re in the Accessibility menu is go to Display & Text Size, turn on Reduce Transparency. Turning off these effects replaces the see-through visuals with solid colors that are quicker for your iPhone to render.
I’m fine with the downsides
I’d rather have speed over style any day
Pankil Shah / MakeUseOfCredit: Pankil Shah / MakeUseOf
Of course, turning off all those fancy animations and transparency effects comes with a trade-off. Without the subtle zoom when opening apps or the gentle bounce while scrolling, everything suddenly feels a bit plain. Apps now fade in instead of zooming, menus appear instantly rather than gliding into place, and opening the recents screen feels almost abrupt. It’s almost like the phone is skipping a beat in its usual performance. It’s not ugly, but it’s definitely less theatrical.
But for me, that’s a trade I’ll gladly take. My iPhone now feels faster, lighter, and far less busy. I’d rather see it respond quickly than watch it struggle to keep up with unnecessary flourishes.
With the above tweaks, my iPhone 12 didn’t magically turn into a brand-new phone. It just stopped pretending to be one. I know it won’t last forever, but thanks to this simple change, I’m confident it has at least another solid year of life left in it.
