Think not about what your iPhone can do for you, think about what you can do for your iPhone. In other words, while your iPhone is working hard to keep you on top of your life, spend a little time on learning how to set it up just how you like it and a little more time familiarizing yourself with the best ways to keep it in good order. Your iPhone is sure to love you and reward you with a long life of valuable service.
Remember the basics
It’s quite extraordinary how many iPhones are carried around in pockets and bags without the benefit of a case and how many more are carried in soft cases which, while providing some degree of protection from the weather and environmental pollutants such as dust, provide no protection at all against knocks. Dropping an unprotected iPhone can mean an out-of-warranty trip to an cellphone repair specialist. As well as investing in a decent case, remember to clean it periodically as dirt can sneak in and lead to scratched glass and in worst case, possible internal damage. Remember that constantly pushing in and pulling out headphones does no flavors whatsoever to the plastic around the headphone jack, so either remember to be gentle or use a wireless headset. Electronic equipment in general does not like extreme temperatures and iPhones are no exception, so think about keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter.
Manage Your Apps
Apps are the joy of the iPhone and because of Apple’s hands-on approach to quality-checking the apps which are sold in its store, iPhone users can choose the ones which suit them best without having to worry about quality of potential side effects let alone malicious applications. At the same time, it can be very easy to let apps spawn all over your iPhone, so here are some tips for staying in control.
Periodically Review Your Apps
Like using a proper case, this one seems obvious, but it can be only too easy to download an app, particularly a free one or one with an app, mean to use it and actually forget about it. Little by little your lovely phone will get filled up with apps you never use. Set a note in your calendar to do a purge every few months.
Only Synch What You Need To
The iPhone comes with a set of apps pre-installed but some people prefer to install alternatives, Camera+ for example is very popular as an alternative to the default camera application and there are various calendars, note-taking applications and so on. If you decide you prefer to use these then remember to switch off synching on the default apps. This can make for a noticeable difference in speed.
Watch Your Usage
Set another calendar note to head to Settings>General>Usage every month or so and check with apps are taking up most space in your hard drive. You may be in for some surprises. In spite of the fact that Twitter is intended to be used for short and sweet messages it is notorious for being a space-hogger on the iPhone as it seems to accumulate data through usage. Currently the only solution is to re-install the app. Other apps have more obvious reasons for taking up space, Camera+ for example keeps its own copies of your pictures. Taking some of them off the camera will free up space.
Be Good to Your Battery
One point to remember about all batteries is that cold weather is really bad for them, so when the mercury drops, try to keep your iPhone warm while you’re out and about. Turning down your screen brightness (Settings>Brightness & Wallpaper) will help to keep your battery running for longer as will turning off Wi-Fi (Settings>Wi-Fi) when you are not actually using it. Similarly while LTE may be speedy, it’s also brutal on your battery so turn it off (Settings>General>Cellular) unless you’re actually going to use it. The other major unnecessary battery-drainer is push notifications (Settings>Notifications), including location-based services (Settings>Privacy>Location Services). Everyone’s definition of unnecessary is personal but a trip into the menu will probably lead to you spotting a few that you and your iPhone battery can live quite happily without. As a final point, installing a battery-management app can help make sure you get as much power as you possibly can out of your iPhone battery. While there are many good candidates out there, Battery Doctor stands out from the crowd with its simple interface and powerful functionality. Even those with no technical skills will find it easy to use. Best of all it’s free.
