Does this secret tapping tip speed up your iPhone or iPad?

Do you feel the need, the need for speed? If your phone's feeling a little sluggish, you might think it's time to hit the stores and invest in a new one, but if you're an Apple fan, you might want to hold off making a new purchase until you try this little trick.

A sneaky tip is doing the round that purports to speed up iPhone performance after nothing more than a few taps. It is real? Is it an early April Fool? Is it wishful thinking? That's for you to decide. Try out the tip for yourself and see what you think.

Originally put forward as a way to clear 'stuck' app updates in the App Store, the tip also allegedly speeds up performance. It can be used on both iPhones and iPads; software developer Zachary Dryer shared the tip on Twitter:

@steipete tap on any of the tab bar items 10 times.

— zachary drayer ✌ (@zadr) December 29, 2015

After tapping 10 times, you should notice that the screen flashes white.

Asked how it works, Zachary explains that it simply forces the App Store to clear its cache and reload with a performance boost. Best of all, the tip is not limited to the App Store -- you can do much the same in iTunes, iBooks and Safari.

The Twitter responses to the tip are a little mixed. Some people report that it works, others are not convinced.

So how about you? Does the tapping tip speed up your iPhone, or is it just a placebo?

Photo credit: Twin Design / Shutterstock