Choosing a phone to buy isn’t easy these days. With so many OEMs in the market, there are lots of options. To make matter worse, new phones are launched day after day. The numbers, alone, are enough to overwhelm even the best of us. If you’ve gone through all the trouble and got yourself your first Android phone, congratulations. Since it’s your first smartphone, here’s some advice on what not to do with it.
Don’t Buy Phones That Never Receive Updates
Alright, this is something that you should’ve done before buying your phone. Technically, this point doesn’t have to be on this list. But, it’s too important to neglect.
Do not buy phones that never receive updates. Although a few years ago it didn’t matter (because updates were received by very few phones), at present, it could be a deal-breaker for many. If you buy such a phone, it will always be open to various malware that the OS is hit with from time to time. Without regular updates, your device could be affected by something dangerous and make it unusable. The second point in my argument is OS updates. Without software updates, you won’t be able to upgrade to the latest and the most secure version of Android. And, probably, you’ll get bored of your device within a year if it’s stuck on the same Android version that you got it with.
To wrap it up: Regular updates = best and safe experience
Don’t Buy Phones That Never Receive Updates
Alright, this is something that you should’ve done before buying your phone. Technically, this point doesn’t have to be on this list. But, it’s too important to neglect.
Do not buy phones that never receive updates. Although a few years ago it didn’t matter (because updates were received by very few phones), at present, it could be a deal-breaker for many. If you buy such a phone, it will always be open to various malware that the OS is hit with from time to time. Without regular updates, your device could be affected by something dangerous and make it unusable. The second point in my argument is OS updates. Without software updates, you won’t be able to upgrade to the latest and the most secure version of Android. And, probably, you’ll get bored of your device within a year if it’s stuck on the same Android version that you got it with.
To wrap it up: Regular updates = best and safe experience
Do Not Save Contacts On Your Phone
Yep, saving contacts on phone is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Because if you lose your phone or perform a factory reset, you’ll lose all of it. Instead, save them on Google or sync your contacts with Google server. If done, you’ll be able to retrieve your contacts from anywhere as long as you remember your ID and password.
Yep, saving contacts on phone is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Because if you lose your phone or perform a factory reset, you’ll lose all of it. Instead, save them on Google or sync your contacts with Google server. If done, you’ll be able to retrieve your contacts from anywhere as long as you remember your ID and password.
Don’t Install Apps Without Research
First, some ultra-basic tips:
Do not enable “Unknown sources” option from the settings if you don’t know what it is.
Always install apps from the Google Play Store only.
If you follow the above-mentioned points, you are 99% safe. Wait, what about the remaining 1%? Well, even though Google does its best, sometimes some fake apps can make there way into the play store. However, such apps are removed as soon as Google finds out about them. But, the time period in between those two incidents could be long sometimes.
Two of the recent examples of such a case is AVG Antivirus and WhatsApp. They looked exactly like the official ones and even had the same name. But, they showed ads and made users download additional apps.
The only protection from such problem is that you read the user reviews on the apps description page. If you notice any red flags, do not install.
First, some ultra-basic tips:
Do not enable “Unknown sources” option from the settings if you don’t know what it is.
Always install apps from the Google Play Store only.
If you follow the above-mentioned points, you are 99% safe. Wait, what about the remaining 1%? Well, even though Google does its best, sometimes some fake apps can make there way into the play store. However, such apps are removed as soon as Google finds out about them. But, the time period in between those two incidents could be long sometimes.
Two of the recent examples of such a case is AVG Antivirus and WhatsApp. They looked exactly like the official ones and even had the same name. But, they showed ads and made users download additional apps.
The only protection from such problem is that you read the user reviews on the apps description page. If you notice any red flags, do not install.
Do Not Install Certain Types Of Apps
All apps aren’t designed equally. Some run smooth, while some lag a lot. In my opinion, if you have a low-range or mid-range device, you shouldn’t install resource-hungry apps. The official Facebook app is one of many such examples. Instead, go for the lite version.
While we are at it, do not install memory boosters, task killers, and battery savers. They do not work.
All apps aren’t designed equally. Some run smooth, while some lag a lot. In my opinion, if you have a low-range or mid-range device, you shouldn’t install resource-hungry apps. The official Facebook app is one of many such examples. Instead, go for the lite version.
While we are at it, do not install memory boosters, task killers, and battery savers. They do not work.
Do Not Constantly Swipe Away Apps from the Recent Apps Menu
Removing apps from the Recent menu won’t make your device faster. In fact, it will slow down your device eventually. The Android OS is capable enough to efficiently manage the RAM. The phone’s performance won’t be affected if you keep tons of apps running in the background. It will make those apps launch faster instead. And, if the device does need RAM to perform some activity, the OS will automatically close unused apps to free up some RAM.
Removing apps from the Recent menu won’t make your device faster. In fact, it will slow down your device eventually. The Android OS is capable enough to efficiently manage the RAM. The phone’s performance won’t be affected if you keep tons of apps running in the background. It will make those apps launch faster instead. And, if the device does need RAM to perform some activity, the OS will automatically close unused apps to free up some RAM.
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mobile