My new smartphone is the coolest thing since sliced bread! It’s got all the bells and whistles, and I probably don’t need to tell you it cost me an arm and a leg.
That’s why I’m taking good care of my smartphone – so I don’t have to pay extra cash to get phone repair service. I’ll bet you don’t want to have to go without your phone either, so I’ve listed everything I did to take good care of my new phone.
I Backed it Up
The first thing I did to take care of my smartphone was to back up everything that would save automatically. This is pretty easy to do these days with Apple and Google. iTunes, iCloud, Google Drive, Gmail, and a good old fashioned Google account are good things.
I Made Sure It Was Physically Protected
You gotta use protection. Cracked phone screens are probably the most commonly sought after repair these days simply because we’re using our phones so frequently. If it’s always in your hand, the chances you will drop it are pretty high.
I bought a protective case to avoid needing phone repair near me. These are thick plastic cases that fit snugly around your smartphone. You can get them in pretty much any color or design, from basic black to flashy rainbow. I think my niece has a protective case with Justin Bieber plastered all over it.
I also went ahead and got a screen protector – those thin strips of plastic that are applied straight to the smartphone screen. These can protect your phone display from dings or scratches and just add an extra measure of protection.
I Gave My Phone a Home Base
Namely, my nightstand, where it can charge on a cool, flat surface. Also, where I can instantly access it in the morning because I’m obsessed with it. When you choose a home base for your phone think about choosing an area that’s unimpeded and not elevated too much. (If you keep your phone on top of a bookshelf, that’s a long fall). Pro tip: Keep your charger at home base, which will remind you to keep your phone there too.
I Kept it Real
Basically, I’m avoiding phone accessories and chargers you can get at the gas station and I’m not borrowing chargers from friends with phones that are not compatible with mine. Essentially, I’m using name brand accessories only.
I’m Keeping it Clean and Dry
Once a week, I use a little alcohol wipe to clean the outside of my new smartphone. If you’d like to follow suit, make sure you don’t use baby wipes, lotion, or water that will damage your phone.
That being said, I’m keeping my phone dry as well. If it’s raining out, I only use my phone indoors, and I’m not using it around my pool. (Did you think I was going to say toilet? Gross.)
I’m Recharging it Right
The phone needs to be charged to work, right? But it’s important to recharge your phone on a consistent schedule. People say you should keep your battery between 40-80% if you can to prolong battery life, and manufacturers like Apple recommend you charge your battery to 100% then let it drop to zero once a month.
I’m Upgrading My Storage
My new smartphone has a lot of space, but it’s no match for my music collection. That’s why I picked out an appropriate SD card and inserted it correctly to expand my storage. I use my SD mostly for video, music, pictures, and eBooks because I can’t run my apps off of it on my phone, unfortunately.
I’m Keeping My Apps Fresh and Updated
I find that I install a pointless app pretty often that starts to collect dust as it doesn’t get used. Now that I’m taking good care of my smartphone, I try to weed these out as soon as I can. The more apps that run in the background, the shorter my battery life is, so I get rid of these ones.
But my one app is constant that is mp3 juice. It never takes up any memory and is quite my go-to daily app for music. I keep the apps that I actually do use always updated. That’s because developers do things like protect these apps from bugs or improve them in some way with each update.
When I do download apps, I resist the urge to download it from a third-party source – I stick to the Google Play Store and you should too – unless you use Apple. Then you should probably use the Apple store. Another app store you can trust is Amazon.
I’m taking good care of my smartphone now to avoid having to get phone repair near me. What do you do to make sure your phone is in tip-top shape?
