Photo by Rodion Kutsaev

Originally Posted On: https://joesdaily.com/advice/keeping-you-smartphone-in-tip-top-condition/

Smartphones have become have now become an integral part of our lives. They help people to complete several essential everyday tasks, relax, and our lives more interesting and easier. Just like every other piece of technology, a smartphone needs to be looked after in order to have a long life, otherwise, they risk failing much earlier than expected. Most smartphones are expensive, so we want them to serve as much time as possible, as well as looking as good as possible for as long as possible.

Let’s have a look at some of the basic principles you need to apply in order to keep your phone working and looking good throughout its life:

When we first purchase a new smartphone, we can’t wait to start exploring all it’s best features. However, we shouldn’t forget that there is one very important thing that we should take care of before enjoying our new piece of tech. If you want to keep your new device safe and protected from damages, you need to think about the accessories you can use to maintain the look of your phone. It’s more common for people to opt-out of phone accessories due to the cost, usually believing that it’s a waste of money. However, if you’ve ever had a smartphone break on you before then you will appreciate the fact that you should ideally be looking at iPhone cases, Samsung cases or other makes to protect your phone. If you’ve been unlucky enough to experience a smashed screen or damage to the casing of your phone you will already understand the importance of looking after your phone with a case. You could also go one step further and look at getting a screen protector as well as a case.

If you live in an area where the winters are cold then you will have to consider the air temperature to keep your smartphone in the best possible condition. The cold can be the enemy of even the best smartphones. Low temperatures are known to make smartphones discharge quicker, perform slower and occasionally randomly reboot. In order to prevent this kind of problem make sure you don’t expose your phone to low temperatures by being mindful of how you carry it when out and about. It’s recommended to keep it in an inside pocket.

If your phone has discharged in the cold, don’t rush to turn it on straight away. Come home into the warm and allow the device warm up to room temperature. Otherwise, you risk condensation forming on your smartphone chip, which can lead to a short circuit happens.

As well as the cold having an effect on your phone high temperatures can have the same harmful impact on the device and can result in damages. Therefore you shouldn’t expose your phone to high temperatures or direct sunlight, it could lead to your device overheating.

You should treat your phone as you would your computer or even a living organism, they accumulate trash and therefore needs to be cleaned on a regular basis in order to work correctly. This is particularly useful for android operating systems. Removing any unnecessary cache and residual files will helo to free up the RAM and reduce the amount of glitches that occur on your smartphone. There are countless apps that help you remove all the junk from your smartphone, you should do some research and find one that you like.

The batteries on our smartphones start to lose their capacity after around 500 charging cycles, this problem can occur much sooner if you’re charging your phone incorrectly. You should always aim to keep to full charge cycles, meaning you should only charge it when it hits around fifteen per cent remaining. Leaving it to deep discharge can be just as bad. If you’re in an area where you have no network, it’s best to turn your phone off. Otherwise, your phone will continually search for a network leading to it discharging a lot quicker.

OK, so it may go without saying that you should keep your phone clean. However, with large touch screens and touch pens, our phones are now at even more risk of losing functionality on the screens when left uncleaned. As time goes on, it can become harder to get rid of minor scratches or stains that occur from touch. Therefore it is important to maintain the hygiene of your device to the highest possible standard, especially as smartphones often touch your face and ears. The bacteria accumulated on the device may cause skin irritation and can provoke the appearance of acne.

In order to keep your phone well protected you need to store your phone in a safe place when it’s not being used. Make sure it’s not at risk of being accidentally knocked by people walking by. You should also be mindful of leaving your phone in a bag or container for long periods of time when it’s still on. It can potentially cause a fire as smartphones let off heat when charging and discharging.

You should aim to take a smartphone with you whenever possible, and most definitely never leave it unattended. Smartphones are highly targetted when it comes to theft. You need to be extremely cautious when others use your phone. Professional thieves work very quick and you may not even notice it’s gone until its too late. When it comes to theft you should use special software to lock the phone. In addition, you can turn it off (depending on the brand) even if it is already stolen. You can also get your phone locked from your service provider, make sure you report it immediately. Some phones also have the ‘find my phone’ service, where you’re able to track the location of your phone. Make sure you also report the crime to the authorities and get a crime number, you will need this when making an insurance claim.

These tips should help you to keep your smartphone looking and working at its best potential. Do you have any other ways to help with this? Please share them in the comments below.