To get the most value from your expensive purchase, it’s best to use it for as long as possible. This not only saves you money but also benefits the environment by reducing the number of phones manufactured and discarded.
Companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung are now extending software support for their smartphone, ensuring they remain secure and functional for years. However, maintaining your phone in good condition for seven or eight years requires some effort and smart strategies.
Here are the top tips to help your phone last as long as possible.
Tips for Cell Phone Care
- You Need a Case
No matter which phone you own, there are cases available for it, both official and third-party models. If you have an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, you’ll find a wide range of options. These cases are generally affordable, making them an inexpensive way to protect your device.
A case can significantly extend your phone’s lifespan by safeguarding it from drops, bumps, and spills. Whether your phone slips from your hand at the top of a ladder or gets scribbled on by your kids, a case provides a valuable layer of protection against everyday mishaps.
- Don’t Clog Up Your Smartphone’s Memory
For your smartphone to work for a long time without failures and with sufficient speed, you need to pay attention to phone maintenance, including memory. Ideally, the amount of free memory should never fall below 10% of the preset by the manufacturer. And even so, you should periodically clear the memory of cache and garbage. Otherwise, various problems appear lags, phone restarts on its own, excessive heating appears, application crashes, etc. By the way, you can read the guide to troubleshoot phone restarts from VeePN. It describes the problem quite fully and is largely relevant to other smartphone failures.
- Update Software Regularly
Ignoring those pesky system update notifications on your phone? You’re not alone. But here’s why you shouldn’t wait—update your software now!
System updates aren’t just about new features. They also bring bug fixes, boost performance, enhance security, and improve app compatibility. Plus, they protect your phone from malware and hackers. Running older software makes your passwords, banking info, photos, and contacts more vulnerable to attacks.
- Protect the Battery
To keep your phone running longer, maintaining battery health is crucial. Both Android and iOS have features to help with this by slowing down charging speeds when possible.
For iOS Users:
- Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.
- Toggle on Optimized Battery Charging.
For Android Users:
- Navigate to Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences > Adaptive charging.
These settings allow your phone to charge slowly, especially when plugged in overnight, reducing battery strain.
Here are some additional tips to extend battery life:
- Avoid extreme temperatures: Keep your phone out of hot or cold environments, like a hot car.
- Remove the case while charging: This helps to keep the phone cool.
- Store at half charge: If you’re not using your phone for a while, keep it around 50% charged. This prevents deep discharge states (if completely uncharged) or capacity loss (if fully charged).
- Avoid Extreme Temperatures
Smartphones aren’t built for extreme temperatures and work best between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 35 degrees Celsius). If you’ve used your phone at the beach, or an outdoor event, or left it in the car on a sunny day, you might have seen an overheating warning.
When your phone overheats, it can damage the battery. This can cause the battery to drain quickly, force the phone to shut down, and in severe cases, prevent it from turning back on. The same risks apply in very cold weather.
- Clean Out Your Ports
Give your phone a thorough cleaning for surprisingly helpful results. Pocket lint can often clog your charging port, preventing your phone from charging properly. When you plug in your charger and it doesn’t connect, it might seem like the port or cable is broken, but it could just be full of lint.
Periodically use a wooden toothpick to gently remove any dirt and debris from the port, ensuring your charger fits without needing to be wiggled. Additionally, a clean, dry toothbrush can be used to softly brush away debris around the speakers and microphones, helping you hear and be heard clearly on phone calls.
- Data Protection
Protecting your data means ensuring it remains private, safe, and easily accessible. Here are three techniques to achieve this:
- Regular Backups: Automatic Backups: Your smartphone likely has an automatic backup feature that saves your files to the cloud. Manual Backups: Create a dedicated backup folder and move copies of important files there.
- Use Encryption and Secure Cloud Storage: Encryption scrambles data into code that only authorized parties can access. Cloud storage platforms automatically encrypt data, keeping it private and secure.
- Remote Tracking and Wiping: If critical information leaks, use remote tracking and wiping features to handle it effectively.
Conclusion
Proper smartphone maintenance is crucial in today’s world. While no smartphone lasts forever, following the right steps ensures optimal functionality for its entire lifespan.
Careful handling and best practices not only extend your device’s longevity but also save money and ensure smooth performance. By doing so, you can avoid glitches and hardware issues.
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