Possible steps to follow to ensure that applications are or will remain functional includebut are not limited to:

– updating the application (‘s version)

Although it is an intuitive step for experienced users, sometimes we can notice malfunctions or receive incorrect error messages which can be fixed by an application update (from the “application store”/app store specific to each operating system or from the application’s manufacturer)

– update the operating system

This step in itself is not always necessary independently but in some situations applications in the updated version will only work on a (newer) version of the OS. Up to this point, updates seem to be an obvious fix, especially from a security point of view, but it should be mentioned that in some (rare) cases, applications will lose some of their features, will have a slower behavior or will not work at all.

– freeing up RAM

In some cases, restarting the OS is not enough, and closing applications does not guarantee this result either, nor does it stop the services associated with them. Fortunately, there are applications that will free up available RAM so that the desired applications can run (optimally); other methods include but are not limited to: uninstalling rarely used applications or using “performance” or “battery saving” modes that will sometimes stop effects such as reflections or shadows present in the interface that could slow down the terminal or use up its memory for nothing practical. Additionally some OSes allow for the increase of pagefile size although it should not deter the user from clearing the ram on a regular basis

– checking application permissions

Some operating systems allow setting permissions on an application by application basis; however, sometimes we will find a behavior specific to certain OS versions in which application permissions are revoked after a while. In this case, we want to make sure in the operating system’ settings for that application that its permissions have not been revoked. An example would be revoking internet access for applications that are useless without it.