Most of us use our phones fairly constantly throughout the day, and increasingly our whole lives are on there somewhere. From checking news and emails, messaging, social media, online shopping, finances, and our own pick and mix from the thousands of different apps available, we use our phones for pretty much everything.
And of course, phones can be used anywhere. Half of us check our phones first thing in the morning, then throughout the day we use them whilst watching TV, walking, in bed, at work and even when on the toilet!
But given the intense usage of our phones, it makes sense to do all that we can to take care of them and prolong their useful life. So in this article we share five ways to give your phone a bit of tlc:
Phone cases and screen protectors are regarded by some as a bit of a smartphone “ick” i.e. a very off putting feature of a smartphone. Which perhaps is why only around half of smartphone users have any kind of screen protector on their phone.
But a screen protector or case does make sense in terms of prolonging the life of your phone. Whilst most phones can withstand the odd drop now and again, it’s still very common for the screen to crack. And even everyday wear and tear can scratch the screen if it is not protected.
And as well as protecting your screen, a screen protector can offer you additional comfort and privacy. Many screen protectors have anti-glare properties that make the screen easier to read in the sun. And you can also get specific privacy screens that only permit content to be read fully straight on rather than from a sideways glance.
Then of course there is also the camera lens, which can easily be damaged if not taken care of, resulting in your camera either no longer working at all or no longer being reliable.
So a good quality screen protector and/or phone case is definitely worth considering to keep your phone in good condition for as long as possible.
Another benefit of a screen protector or phone case is that it helps to keep your phone cleaner. Otherwise it is very easy for dust, grease and debris to build up on the screen and body of your phone. Despite this, around 15% of adults never clean their phone at all. Around 24% say they clean it every week, and 9% claim to clean it every day – which we are all advised to do.
Cleaning your phone doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort, although it is best to switch it off and unplug any connecting cables before you start. Then the best thing to do is to use alcohol wipes on all the phone’s surfaces but avoid any sockets to avoid moisture getting into the phone. An alternative is to wipe it with a cloth dampened with mild soap and water, but you need to be particularly careful not to get any essential components of the phone wet.
Your phone may be set to install updates automatically, but it’s worth checking every few days whether there are any updates you need to install manually. If your operating system or apps are not the latest version this can slow down the performance of your phone. It can also leave you vulnerable to hackers and cybercrime such as identity theft. For example someone could take your details and apply for credit cards, store credit or other financial products such as bad credit loans in your name.
So to prevent these issues it’s important to check your settings for the latest system updates, and also check your Apple Store or Google Play for important app updates.
In some cases you can also improve the performance of your phone by checking the settings for individual apps. For example, not all apps need location services so you could disable these for those apps.The same applies for backing up data to the Cloud : whilst this is either essential or desirable for some software, there are others for which it’s not really needed but could be slowing down your phone.
It’s good to keep your battery at a medium level of charge – ie around 20-80% – for as much of the time as possible. If you either let your battery run out completely, or keep it charging even when it’s reached 100% this can reduce the length of your battery’s life.
Smartphone batteries are usually designed to last for around 500-800 full charges, so if you charge it too frequently and fully, the battery is likely to pack up sooner than if you charge it less frequently.
You can also help to reduce battery usage by closing screens and apps that are not currently being used, reducing the brightness of your screen, and turning off Bluetooth and WiFi if not needed. If your battery is running low you can also switch to low battery mode until you are able to charge it again. Low battery mode minimises background activity and reduces the quality of some visual aspects of the phone to conserve battery power.
You can check the overall health of your phone battery in your settings. If the battery function percentage is showing as less than 80%, this could mean that the battery is degrading, in which case you may want to consider replacing it to improve the performance and extend the life of your phone.
Most of us have huge amounts of data and images on our phones. But this not only means you’d be devastated if you lost your phone, but it also makes you vulnerable to crimes such as hacking and identity theft.
So it’s important to delete anything from your phone that doesn’t need to be there. Back up photos elsewhere and delete the copies on your phone. Delete any unused apps and files : as well as saving space and improving performance, this means there is less personal data stored on your phone.
Also check whether there is anything known as “bloatware” on your phone. This is software that is already installed on your phone when you get it, much of which you probably won’t use. So take time to go through all your software and apps, and if there’s something you don’t need or use, get rid of it.
The same applies to any “widgets” on your phone. Widgets are a quick way of viewing current information such as news, weather, reminders etc, and often appear on the home screen. But they use a fair amount of background data and network connectivity to keep updates. So if you don’t use them and don’t want them, get rid of them : you can usually do this either by holding it down and removing it, or removing it via your phone’s settings.
We hope that the information in this article helps you to give your phone a bit of tlc and keep it in the best possible condition.
And if you decide it’s time to replace your phone, and need some extra funds to do this, remember that Munzee offers personal loans online that may be able to help.
Check back here soon for more financial and lifestyle tips from Munzee Loans.
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