How to set up your phone for better gaming

Your phone is a capable little game machine, but out of the box it is set up for everything except focused gaming. A few minutes of tuning makes games run smoother, drain the battery slower, and stop interrupting you at the worst moments. None of this requires a high-end phone, just a handful of settings most people never touch.

Tame your notifications

Nothing ruins a run like a banner sliding down mid-input, or a call grabbing the screen. Turning on a focus or do-not-disturb mode while you play is the single biggest upgrade to the experience. Many phones have a dedicated game mode that does this automatically, silencing interruptions and keeping the screen from dimming while you play.

Manage battery and heat

Games are some of the most demanding things a phone does, so they drain the battery and warm the device up. Lowering screen brightness, closing background apps and taking the phone out of a thick case all help it run cooler and longer. A hot phone also throttles itself to protect the hardware, so keeping it cool literally keeps your frame rate up.

Free up performance

A phone juggling a dozen background apps has less to give your game. Closing what you are not using, clearing some storage and restarting the phone now and then keep things responsive. If your game offers graphics settings, do not assume maximum is best: a slightly lower setting that holds a steady frame rate almost always feels better than a prettier one that stutters.

The smoothest game on your phone is usually the one you set the phone up to run, not the one with the best hardware.

Tune the screen

Finally, the screen itself. If your phone has a high refresh rate, enabling it makes fast games feel noticeably smoother. Match that with a comfortable brightness for your surroundings and a touch sensitivity that suits you, and you remove a whole layer of friction. Good play starts before the game even loads, which pairs nicely with our advice on learning a new game fast.