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How To Look After And Protect Your Smartphone

Written by ClickHowTo Team

Your smartphone is a very valuable piece of kit. You don’t want to lose it, break it or even worse have it stolen. So, it’s really important to look after it and keep it protected! Here are the very best and easy ways to do just that.

Get A Case

A very simple method to protecting your phone from any physical damage is to stick a case on it. If your phone is made by Apple, then consider an Apple iPhone 6S case to provide full protection to your precious device. Cases also have the added benefit of making your phone look more appealing; they’re a great way to customise your device. You can decorate your phone in a lot of different ways. If you’re really worried about damaging your phone, then a great suggestion is to leave it at home on nights out. That way you can’t break it! Maybe take a cheap, brick-style phone with you as an alternative – just swap the SIM card over.

Apply A Screen Protector

Another way to physically protect your expensive smartphone is to apply a screen protector to it. They can be very tricky to put on, with air bubbles often appearing underneath the plastic. You may have trouble applying yours. If so, consider visiting your mobile network or carrier’s retail store and have one of the specialist staff apply it for you. Tempered glass screen protectors can provide an additional layer of protection. This is great if you’re particularly cautious about your device. Screen protectors can provide you with the protection you need to stop your screen scratching from items such as keys or coins in your pocket.

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Protect It From Theft

Another way to look after your phone is preventing it from being stolen. Be sure to always keep it on you. The worst thing you can do is leave it alone when charging in a public space. Sadly, thieves are rife almost everywhere and will steal valuable technology, like your smartphone. If you’re unfortunate enough to have your phone nicked then be sure to follow these steps. Hopefully, you’ll have set-up Find My iPhone prior to the crime. From this app, you can track your lost or stolen iPhone with the hope of recovering it. It could be your saviour! So, if you haven’t set up the app already and you’ve got an iPhone, do so now.

Take It Out From Under Your Pillow

If you’re one of those people who is inseparable from their phone and never likes missing a text, chances are you keep it under you pillow at night. For your own safety, don’t. This can be a serious fire hazard. When your phone is charging it conducts heat and gets very warm. The last thing you want is for your smartphone to overheat and cause a fire. Be safe and think the next time you climb into bed still texting away.

Take Care Of The Battery

If you want your smartphone to last, then you need to look after its battery. It’s a rarity for smartphones to have removable batteries – especially nowadays. Be sure to protect your phone’s battery life by charging it regularly. Ideally, you should keep your phone’s lithium battery above 50% as much as you can. Discharging it too often can cause it to lose a percentage of its battery life. That said, it is still important to let your phone run out of juice once a month or so for calibration purposes. Also, don’t constantly leave your phone on charge – this won’t do it any good either. Once it has reached 100%, be sure to take it off, and preserve your phone’s battery.

Back Up Its Contents

Protecting the contents of your smartphone is key, too! You don’t want to lose all the messages, photos, videos and memories you may have stored on your device so be sure to back-up it up often. There are many easy solutions for this. Apple’s iPhone’s automatically backup to iCloud. Meaning that if your phone is stolen, lost or broken, all your content can be recovered, straight from the cloud. Other cloud storage options are available. Android phones can choose to backup to Google Drive. This offers significantly more free storage that Apple’s equivalent. Either way, make sure you follow this tip, as it could preserve some wonderful memories if the worst does happen.

Keep Your Passcode To Yourself

Your smartphone has a lock for a reason. You don’t want or need people snooping. If somebody gets hold of your phone, there could be some private content that you would not want for them to consume. It is, therefore, important to keep your smartphone’s pin code, and any account information private and to yourself. Your passcode should also be difficult to guess or hack. On some smartphones, you can change the standard 4-digit code to something more secure. This can be done by using a fingerprint, by drawing a pattern or by a non-numerical passcode with capital letters and symbols.

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Take Out An Insurance Plan

Maybe you don’t trust yourself to implement any of these easy protection methods and would just like peace of mind. If so, in case anything does go wrong, opt for an insurance plan. These can be pricey, but when you consider the cost of your smartphone, they make a lot of sense and can be good value for money, should something happen. Often, the retailer you are buying your smartphone from will offer one of these packages to you alongside your contract. However, if you’re already midway through a plan, don’t worry. Mobile phone insurance is just as easy to find and buy on the internet. Sorted.

Hopefully, these easy methods of protecting and looking after your smartphone will save you a ton of hassle. It is important to look after expensive equipment, so consider these tips, as they could end up saving you a ton of cash. None of these prevention methods are overly challenging. So, be sure to carry them out and enjoy a problem-free smartphone experience.

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ClickHowTo Team