10 Things We All Need To Do In 2018. Smartphone Tips And Tricks For The Coming Year.

With the New Year fast approaching we look at a few things that we all are guilty of doing/not doing and what we can change in 2018.

We’re all living in a digital age where our smart devices hold a scary amount of personal information about our selves, we also carry our phones all over the show, and spend a lot of time on social media, so in 2018 lets change our ways a little.

1. Change Our Password More Often

We’re going to mention this one as frequently as possible as it’s the most important thing you need to do with your smartphone. Change your password/PIN on a fairly frequent basis. If you’ve been using the same password for the last year change it now, if you think someone might know your code, change it now. Your phone holds passwords, bank details, private information, not to mention ‘those’ photos. Keep it safe.

2. Clean Our Phones

I’m going to come out and say this one and feel fairly certain we all do the same. We all use our phones on the toilet, there I said it. We also use our phones when ill, and when preparing food, and we place this device very close to our ears, nose, mouth and eyes on a regular basis. This year get in to the habit of giving your phone a wipe down as frequently as possible. Not only will it get rid of any nasty bugs hiding on there, but it will also remove fingerprints that might giveaway your PIN or password.

3. Spend Less Time On Social Media

Social Media is a huge part of our everyday life, but we could all cut back a little and still get the most out of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. To help cut back on Social Media time remove any pages or profiles that you haven’t looked at in the past week or so and delete ‘Friends’ that you haven’t actually spoken to for a year or so. Also, as an extra tip, don’t lie in bed for 20 minutes in the morning before you get up, get out of bed right away and you’ll feel much fresher (trust me it works). An upside of less social media time is you’ll end up with better battery life too.

4. Hold Smartphone Manufacturers To Account

This past year has been full of stories of poor customer service, false battery size claims and even manufacturers launching phones with fake dual camera systems! This is really really the last straw. Hold these brands to account, complain about them, mention your experience in comments etc. If we use our voices and let our money do the talking they’ll all soon wake up.

5. Use Our Smartphones Camera More Often

Very festive at #dunhammassey this #christmaseve feeling super #christmassy now 😊

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Compared to 5 years ago, the camera on your smartphone is going to be darn good and capable of some stunning photos. If you can just take 1 single photo each day (more if you can) and experiment with all those settings you have available. You never know, you could learn a new skill and even get in to photography as a profession.

6. Read Reviews Before Buying Based On Hype

We’re all guilty of this one. We read these amazing specifications, we eat up all the hype and advertising and we go ahead and make a purchase. Problem is the device we bought doesn’t live up to our expectations. This year, wait for the reviews to come in then make an informed decision before making a purchase.

7. Use Our Phones And Tech To Keep Fit

Our phones are all packed with GPS, and some higher end devices have even more sensors, let’s use these hardware features in 2018 to keep fit and healthy. Use Strava, Runtastic, or those 100 pushup apps to get more out of your phone and build a better body.

8. Keep Our Phones In Tip Top Condition

I’ve already mentioned the need to keep our phones clean for health reasons, but keeping your device in tip top condition is important for resale reasons. Replace scratched up screen protectors, use a silicon cover and when you come to sell your old phone you’ll get more money for it.

9. Delete Apps We Don’t Use And Use Folders

Generally if I haven’t opened an app for a week then I don’t need it and I delete it for good. Keeping your phone free of old apps frees up space, and makes looking for apps that you do use much easier. Folders are also a great method of keeping it all tidy too. Chances are you all know at least one person with a super messy device.

10. Use IFTTT (or similar) To Get The Most Of Our Devices With Less Effort

Your smartphone is even smarter than ever before, and with apps like IFTTT you can set your device to perform simple tasks without even thinking about it. Some phones I use (Vivo Funtouch phones) have the ability to switch the WIFI on or offer at certain times of day and most phones now have an eye-save mode for evening reading. If your device doesn’t have these features use an app like IFTTT to get similar features. Setting your WIFI to turn off when you leave a certain GPS area, or having your phone send a message when you get to work are great features. They can save battery life, and stop your loved ones worrying about you.

If you haven any other top tips we should all be doing in 2018 then please let us know in the comments section below.