Playing faster
Speed in Mahjong comes from the order of your moves, not from tapping quickly.
Order, not hurry
One deliberate move frees more than three rushed ones. Decide which tile you are taking, then touch it.
Search by symbol
Pick one kind of tile and scan the whole board for its twin. Going cell by cell is slower: the eye stops at shapes instead of symbols.
Check the neighbourhood
Once a pair is gone only its surroundings have changed, so look there instead of across the whole board. With fewer than four visible pairs, shuffling beats searching. The clock runs only while you play and starts on your first tap.