How to fix a Samsung Galaxy S9 with delayed touchscreen response, sluggish performance [Troubleshooting Guide]

The Galaxy S9 is by far one of the most sophisticated and best high-end smartphones to date. Aside from sporting a number of new advanced features and functionalities, the S9 is also powered by a Snapdragon 845 mobile platform that’s designed to support premium mobile devices that exceed the advanced users’ expectations.

However, it later turned out that even such a high-powered smart device gives into performance issues as what other smartphones encountered. Tackled in this post is a relevant issue regarding the Galaxy S9 that’s responding very slow to touch inputs. Such problem can either be attributed to software glitches, if not, hardware damage.

But before rushing to a service center, you can try some means to rule out software problems that might have inflicted slow performance on your Galaxy S9. Read on to find out what to do if ever you’ll encounter the same issue about having delayed touchscreen response from your Samsung Galaxy S9.

For those who are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common issues with this phone. Browse through the page to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you still need our help, contact us anytime through our Android issues questionnaire.

First solution: Force stop/clear all background apps then soft reset your Galaxy S9.

Background apps that became corrupted and went rogue are usually the triggers. While keeping apps running in the background can benefit in terms of multitasking or reloading of same apps, there are some factors that can trigger these apps to crash or go rogue. If this happens, there is a tendency for the system functions to become affected. And this is when adverse symptoms including delayed touchscreen response begin to emerge. To clear this out, force stopping background apps is recommended. Here’s how it’s done:

Tap the Recent Apps button on the left of the Home button of your phone. Doing so will show up a list of all running applications or apps you’ve recently opened and used but haven’t closed.
To close individual apps, simply tap and drag the app to either edge of the screen. Alternatively, you can tap the X symbol on the upper-right corner of the app.
To close all running apps at once, tap Close All at the bottom of the screen.

Once you’re done clearing background apps, soft reset/restart your Galaxy S9 to clear cache and temporary data from the internal memory. Doing so will likewise clear errant files that might have affected your phone’s performance speed. Here’s how to soft reset your Galaxy S9:

Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously for up to 45 seconds. Then release both buttons when the phone reboots.

This won’t erase any contents and apps you saved on the phone’s internal storage, hence you don’t have to create backups beforehand.

Second solution: Install all pending app updates then reboot your Galaxy S9.

Errant apps, particular third-party apps can also be remedied by an update. This one of the main reasons as to why app developers are constantly rolling out app updates. If you’ve disabled automatic app updates on your device, then there’s a chance that you’ve missed some updates for your apps. In this case, you can check for pending updates for your apps and then install them manually on your phone. Here’s how:

Swipe up or down from the Home screen to open the Apps menu.
Tap to open the Play Store app.
Tap the Menu icon (three lines) on the upper-left side of the Google Play main screen.
Tap My apps & games.
Navigate to the Updates tab to show any pending updates for your apps.
To install the update, select the app and then follow the onscreen instructions to apply the new update.

After installing all pending app updates, go back to the Home screen then reboot your phone. It’s important to restart your device to ensure that all new changes from the recently installed updates are properly applied. Doing so will likewise prevent apps or the phone system itself from going rogue.

Third solution: Update phone software to the latest version available.

The latest software version released for Samsung Galaxy S9 is Android 8.0 baseband version G960USQS3ARG8. It was officially rolled out on the 17th of August this year and is already up for grabs via over-the-air. The new update contains security enhancements to address existing software issues. This update may be the key to fixing the problem on your Galaxy S9’s sluggish touchscreen response if it’s caused by some software bugs. If your phone is connected to Wi-Fi internet, then you can check for and install this update via OTA. Here’s how:

Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Select Software update.
Tap the option to Download updates manually.
Wait for your phone to check for updates.
When it’s done checking, tap OK then select Start to instigate update download and installation.
Once the update is completely installed, you will be prompted to restart. Tap OK to restart your phone.

You can also update your Galaxy S9 software from a computer. This would be an option if your device doesn’t have a stable Wi-Fi connection. To do this, you will need to connect your phone to the computer via USB cable then use the Samsung Smart Switch app to complete the entire updating process.

Fourth solution: Reset all settings on your Galaxy S9.

Invalid settings on the phone can also affect its overall functions and performance speed. If your Galaxy S9 started to respond very slowly after installing an update, then it’s possible that the update had automatically altered some settings and eventually resulted to some conflicts. To clear this out, resetting all settings on your phone can help. Doing so will clear current settings and then restore the defaults values. Any erratic configurations will therefore be discarded and so as its corresponding symptoms. Here’s what you should do then:

Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Select General Management.
Tap Reset.
Select the option to Reset settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS to continue.
If prompted, enter your PIN.
Then tap RESET SETTINGS again to confirm

Your phone will reboot automatically when the reset is finished. By then can start to configure option settings and enable necessary features according to your preferences.

Fifth solution: Wipe cache partition on your Galaxy S9.

Errant system cache can also be the main culprits as they tend to directly affect system functions of your device. Just like apps cache, system cache must also be cleared from time to time to prevent them from corrupting system data. To wipe cache partition on your S9, follow these steps:

Turn off your phone.
With the phone powered off, press and hold the Volume Up button and the Bixby/Home button, then press and hold the Power button.
When the Android logo displays, release all three buttons.
An ‘Installing system update’ message will show for 30 – 60 seconds before the Android system recovery menu options appear.
From the Android system recovery menu, press the Volume Down button several times to highlight wipe cache partition.
Press Power button to confirm selection.
Press the Volume Down button to highlight yes, them and press the Power button to select.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, Reboot system now is highlighted. Press the Power button to restart the phone.

Unlike a factory reset, wiping cache partition does not delete your personal data stored on the phone.

Other options

Master reset can also be considered among the last options if the problem persists after exhausting all applicable workarounds and means to fix the problem Your Galaxy S9 might have some sort of fatal system errors that caused it to respond to touch inputs very slowly.

To ensure that this isn’t due to some sort of physical or liquid damage on the phone, consider taking a trip to a Samsung authorized service center nearby and have your device checked by an authorized technician for hardware damage assessment and/or repair.

For other options and official recommendations, you may contact your carrier or Samsung Support to report the issue. Be sure to let them know what exactly had transpired or how you ended up having such a dilemma on your Galaxy S9’s touchscreen response.

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