As the year draws to a close, I’ve set up well over two dozen Android smartphones this year alone. That’s a lot of smartphones. Also: The 6 best Android smartphones But in handling that many smartphones, I’ve learned a few things about how to set up an Android smartphone most efficiently and in a way that’s going to give you the fewest headaches down the line (headaches that I’ve endured through not following my own tips). So if you picked up a new smartphone in the Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, here are some tips I suggest you follow to make the switch to your new handset as smooth as possible.
Passcodes and patterns are easy to spot and remember. A passcode consisting of two words with spurious capitalization and a few numbers and symbols is not easy for a third-party to pick up. Also: Don’t use these passwords One of the first things that you need to decide on is whether you’re going to set up the new handset as a copy of the old one or as a fresh device. If you’re going to use a backup, the sooner you do that, the fresher the backup will be. If you delay this, your backup – and all that data you have, like photos and documents and such – start to get old. Do it. Why? Well, I’m not suggesting that you might lose a finger or something (it’s possible, but quite rare these days), but even a small cut or band-aid can leave you having to type in your passcode. I tend to enroll four fingers (two on each hand – which fingers depends on the smartphone, where the fingerprint reader is, and how big the handset is) to give me the best unlocking flexibility. Additionally, I tend to enroll the main finger that I use to unlock my phone twice. I find that this makes the reader more reliable and less likely to be thrown off by small scars or some dirt. Doing all of this takes a few minutes, but it will save you a fair bit of frustration down the line. Install it and log in because you’re going to be needing those passwords a lot as your set up your new smartphone. Also: The 6 best password managers While you’re at it, add the passcode for your new smartphone into your password manager, just in case you forget it. Here are a few of the ways I’ve seen new smartphones not work properly:
Doesn’t charge or doesn’t hold charge and bad batteryDisplay or touchscreen doesn’t work properlySpeaker doesn’t workRandom crashesSmartphone dies after a few days of use
Don’t get rid of your existing smartphone immediately. Power the old smartphone down and put it in a drawer for a few days – just in case. Once you’re convinced that your new handset is a good one and not going to let you down prematurely, you can wipe the old one for resale or to pass on to a friend or family member. Also: How to factory reset your phone
