Probably a lot of us are not familiar with the concept of Android safe mode. If you are hearing this for the first time then you have come to the right place. We are going to discuss the nitty-gritty of safe mode in Android devices today. Let’s get started.
What is Android safe mode ?
Safe mode as the name suggests, is a software mode that allows the Android device to load with only the default settings. When I say ‘default settings’, it means that the Android device will only load the software and the settings that came with the phone/tablet originally. You will not be able to use any apps that you have installed from the Google Play Store and the device will be running the default Android O.S. that it came with. So, booting in “safe mode” is like operating your device with pretty much the very basic and default settings/apps.
How do you boot your Android device in safe mode ?
Getting into the Android safe mode is pretty easy. Just press the power button until the Power Options menu pops up. Long press the Power Off option until Android asks you if you want to reboot in safe mode ? Tap on ‘OK’ and the device will restart in safe mode.
This procedure is for devices running at 4.1 Jellybean or higher. For Android devices running older versions:
1) First turn off the device.
2) Turn on the device by long pressing the power button.
3) When you see a logo, release the power button and press the volume up and down buttons simultaneously. Keep holding the buttons and the device will boot in safe mode.
When booting in safe mode, you will notice a “Safe mode” text at the bottom left of the screen.
What are the advantages of Android safe mode ?
Let’s say you have installed quite a few apps recently after which you have noticed that the Android device is acting weird. At times due to problems with the installed apps, Android may try to force close it. This may result in lot of issues with your device ranging from device freezing, very slow response times, frequent crashing of apps and severe performance issues.
Android safe mode loads only the default apps and settings. So, you can disable/uninstall the apps that you think are causing the problem and restart your Android device normally to verify if the issue has been resolved. You can continue to disable/uninstall apps in safe mode till you find the culprit.
Also, booting in safe mode will increase the device response times and the device will even become faster. You can always use the default apps that came with the device in safe mode.
How to exit the Android safe mode ?
Once you are done troubleshooting in Android safe mode you would want to switch back to the normal mode.This is pretty easy as well. Just power off your Android device by long pressing the power button and selecting Power Off. Once powered off, restart the Android device to boot in normal mode.
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