[Tip][App] How To Play Pokemon GO On Smartphone with just 1GB RAM.

If you own a smartphone with just 1GB RAM you would have realized that Pokemon GO is probably incompatible with your smartphone. Even if you install using APK,  the game does run but lags a lot. This is because it needs 400MB to 500MB of RAM. Android OS needs around 400MB RAM, and rest of your apps running in the background (like System UI, Google Services, Google Play, Facebook WhatsApp, Skype,etc) require another 300MB of RAM leaving you with hardly 300MB of free RAM which is insufficient to run the game. But here I will provide you with a few tips that might actually help you to run the game lag-free.

Note: This method uses simple logic- the more processes you prevent from running in the background, the more amount of RAM will be available for Pokemon GO. 

There are many apps like Speed Booster on Play Store that help you free RAM but they only clear the background processes  which start again after few minutes. The only app that effectively frees up RAM is Greenify.

This method was effective on Moto G2, Moto E2 and Micromax Canvas Colors 2 which had only 1GB RAM. It might not make much difference  on Samsung phones with 1GB RAM as the amount of bloatware is too much (too many system apps running in the background which cannot be stopped).

Note: You need to download the APK file of Pokemon GO in order to play the game on device with 1GB RAM. You find it on site apkmirror.  

If you would rather watch a video guide check the youtube tutorial below:

PART 1:

First I suggest you to try inbuilt option in android which helps you limit the background processes. Here are the steps to enable Developer Options:

1. Go to Settings. If you don’t see Developer Options just above About phone go to the next step. Otherwise skip to step 4.
2. Go to About Phone. 
3. Click on Build Number  7 times to enable Developer Options. 
4. Go back to Settings. You can now see Developer Options. Enter it. 
5. Go to the bottom and set  Background process limit to At most, 4 processes.                      

This will make sure that there are not many background processes running and keep the RAM free. Revert back to Standard Limit after you are done playing because this might stop important background services which are needed by messaging apps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second part is to use an app called Greenify which force stops all the unwanted apps, so that they don’t fill up the RAM. Download the app from here and follow these steps:

PART 2:

Update July 2017: 

The new version of Greenify has few more steps at the beginning:

1. Choose Next.

2. Choose My Device Is Not Rooted and Next.

3. Choose Not Now and Ok.

4. Choose Next.

5. Select Finish.

PART 3:

Next follow the steps below like in previous version of Greenify.

1. Add the apps to be hibernated using + button. 
2. Select the apps which you want to hibernate. Apps such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Hike, Snapchat, Viber, consume lots of RAM. If you feel you don’t have any important messages to receive, you can add those apps. Note that if you hibernate messaging apps, you won’t receive any messages until you open the app again.                                     
3. Next click on  the tick mark as  shown to confirm the list. Hit the Zzz button. 
4. It will ask you to activate accessibility service. Touch on the message which appears at bottom.                                                                                                                         
5. Select Greenify – Automated Hibernation. 
6. Toggle the switch ON and choose Ok when prompted. 
7. Return back to Greenify. Last step is to create a Hibernation Shortcut. It’s available in Menu.                                             
8. That’s it you are done. Before you start Pokemon GO just click on the Hibernate Now widget.                                                                                                                  

 

You can also disable unwanted system apps by opening Apps in android Settings and selecting Disable.

 

Hopefully this guide will help you play the game lagfree. Always remember to be aware of your surroundings while playing the game. Play safe.

Update: The last version I tried this method on was months ago (September 2016). Hence, I cannot guarantee that newer versions will work fine,  as RAM requirements might have increased in successive updates.

If any questions/queries, please do comment below.For more updates like my Facebook page here.