Get Your Smartphone to Last for Years

Your smartphone cost a pretty penny. You’d like to get as much use out of it as you can before you have to buy another one and watch the money drain out of your bank account. Follow these key tips to maintain the functionality of your device and stretch its lifespan as much as possible.

Get A Grip Case

According to Engadget, replacing a smashed or cracked touchscreen is one of the most common smartphone repairs out there — the percentage comes in at 50 to 55% of repairs. A spiderwebbed screen can be replaced, but the fix will be an expensive one, especially if it’s one of the recent flagships. With an iPhone XS Max, the replacement would cost $329 to replace through Apple support if you don’t have a warranty.

Beyond the costs of replacement screens, you don’t want to drop your smartphone too much. You could cause internal damage that could ruin the quality of your device and run down its lifespan.

If you’re suffering from a constant case of butterfingers, you can get a grip on your phone with the help of a specially designed grip case. The case will keep your fingers effectively glued to your sleek and slippery device. The case will also stop it from sliding off of tables, counters and desks, keeping it firmly in the last place you left it. If your smartphone somehow goes careening to the floor, the shock-absorbing polymer material gives the surface exceptional impact protection.

After getting yourself a grip case, you should practice these tips to prevent your screen from smashing on the ground:

• Get an effective screen protector
• Get a warranty or take part in the company’s insurance plan
• Charge the smartphone lower to the ground to avoid falls
• Never toss or throw your phone

Don’t Let It Get Too Hot

When it comes to your tech, you always have to be wary about temperature. Letting your smartphone get too hot can wear out your batteries and damage your hardware over time, essentially shortening its lifespan.

You can stop your smartphone from overheating by turning off applications that use up a lot of battery power when you don’t need them anymore. Running these in the background makes your battery go into overdrive. If you notice that the device is warm to the touch, close your apps and go to your settings to put it in power-saving mode.

You should also keep your smartphone away from external heat:

• Don’t set it out in direct sunlight
• Don’t leave it in a hot space, like a parked car in a heat wave
• Keep it safely stored in a bag or in the shade during hot weather

Don’t Let It Get Too Cold

Letting a smartphone get too hot is a bad idea. The same is true for letting it get too cold.

The main reason why you need to protect your device from the cold is that they contain lithium-ion batteries. Any lithium-ion batteries that get cold will have difficulty reacting properly and they will discharge less current. The reduced current can force it to shut down.

If that happens, don’t find the nearest outlet and charge your smartphone. Charging a cold battery can ruin the performance of your device permanently and limit the lifespan of the battery. Wait for it to warm up a little. After you’ve waited, press the power button — you may find that it has plenty of battery power left, that it was just the cold causing a problem.

Don’t Ignore Software Updates

Finally, if you want your smartphone to last for a long time, you need to stop ignoring software updates released from the parent company and get your device up-to-date. Other than offering brand-new features, updates are designed to fix things like bugs, performance issues and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. Neglecting the updates will make your device slower and weaker, and it will be a bigger target for cybercrime.

It’s not too late. Go to your settings, check for system updates and run the program until your system has the latest features. After you complete this quick task, you have to keep track of update messages and agree with them from now on. Don’t swipe it away and forget about it.

Your smartphone can stay in excellent shape when you put the effort into taking care of it. All you have to do is give it the right accessories to keep it from dropping, guard it against extreme temperatures and update the system as often as necessary. When you follow these simple tasks, you won’t buy a new smartphone for years — that is, unless you want to.