If you need to fix and prevent the Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ from overheating, being slow, or having had battery life then you first need to find out what is causing it. To do this you will want to follow this tip to learn how to boot the device into Safe Mode to do some tests.
Some of the most commonly asked questions for Samsung’s newest smartphone will deal with battery life, poor performance, and overheating issues. We see it with virtually every single smartphone we own where it works great when we first pull it out of the box but then things start to go downhill.
Sometimes this happens because of a brand new OTA update that was poorly optimized or had conflicts during the installation process. Then there are times when it’s a 3rd-party application that is the culprit.
So when we browse through the Android community websites we see all sorts of questions. Questions like why is my Galaxy S9 so slow and how do I fix it. Some seek advice and ask if someone could help stop the Galaxy S9 from overheating. Out of all the common issues though, the most common has to be with overall battery life. So we’ll see forum threads asking if there is a way to increase the Galaxy S9 battery life. Before we can fix any of these issues we need to know what is causing them.
With Android being so complex it can be difficult to find a starting point but the first thing you should do is boot into the Galaxy S9 Safe Mode so we can figure out if the issue is from the Android OS itself or from an application/game that you installed.
Boot Into the Galaxy S9 Safe Mode
- Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds
- Then tap and hold on the Power Off option
- Tap the green Safe Mode button when it appears
- Wait for the Galaxy S9 to restart and boot into Safe Mode
Explanation
Booting into the Galaxy S9 Safe Mode (or even on the Galaxy S9+ in my case) should be the first troubleshooting step that you use when trying to solve any issue that you’re having with the smartphone. If you aren’t sure that the issue is caused by the Android OS or the 3rd-party applications then Safe Mode is where you need to start. That’s because when you boot the Galaxy S9 into Safe Mode you are preventing all 3rd-party applications and services from being started at all.
Android gives a lot of power to the 3rd-party applications that you can install and it’s one of the reasons why so many of us love using it on our smartphones and tablets. Being able to customize the device how we want makes it more personal and allows us to do more with it. So when you’re having overheating, battery life, or performance issues on the Galaxy S9 then you’ll want to begin troubleshooting the issue by booting into Safe Mode. This will disable those 3rd-party applications and you can do some tests to see if the issue persists.
Once you follow the steps above you’ll notice that there is a Safe Mode watermark at the bottom left of the screen at all times. This is used to remind you why your 3rd-party applications will not open and can be useful for those who get there by accident. The goal here is to boot into the Galaxy S9 Safe Mode and see if the trouble persists. So launch some applications, scroll through the Settings menu, turn some hardware toggles on and off, and browse through some websites (or watch some videos with the browser).
After using the phone like you normally would (which can be up to a full day if needing to compare battery life) in Safe Mode you should start to see if the issue is still there. If you are in the Galaxy S9 Safe Mode and continue to see the device overheating then it’s definitely not an application or game. The same is said with the Galaxy S9 being slow and/or having bad battery life too. If that’s the case then the issue lies within the Android OS itself (which means it could have been caused by an OTA update) and your next step will be doing a factory reset.
If the issue is not present while in Safe Mode though, then the Galaxy S9 battery life, overheating, or performance issues is caused by a 3rd-party application. Safe Mode won’t help you figure out which application is causing it, but at least you now know that it can be fixed by uninstalling the offending app.
