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Five things to do after buying a gadget

Don’t you feel elated when you purchase a new phone or tablet? Congratulations on your new device! Now that you’ve bought one, what should you do? Here are five things we recommend you to do after point-of-sale gadget purchases.

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

Some items listed here are very obvious, but for those who just held a smartphone for the first time and the experienced alike, we hope that you will find this article really helpful. Now let’s go to our list, shall we?

Personalize. If you love your new phone or tablet, then why not spend some time customizing it? Here are a few ways you can do to make your phone your own and stand out from the rest.

  • Install a new launcher. We all get that stock Android look on our first use. To make your start screen more productive and customizable, why not install a launcher? Aside from having more power over transitions and settings, you can also use icon packs that suit your liking. By the way, we listed down five of the Android launchers we love to use, and we think you might like them too.
  • Add some new apps. We all have our preferences in apps that we use. I like Gmail, you like Inbox, he likes Yahoo Mail. The list of apps available on the app stores are never-ending, and there are a multitude for just one basic function. We also listed down 25 of the most useful apps you need to download, and that’s a good start to fill in your device with productivity.
  • Replace the wallpaper. This one’s a must. We all want that one picture to show when we open our phone, be it a beloved one, a picture of your favorite pet, or some random art design. Besides loading your own photos, there are also apps for curating wallpapers: Murum offers minimal, clean, and abstract wallpapers while Kitty Play lists user-uploaded ones and segregated according to style and color.

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Use protection. Before we might take this in the wrong way, what I mean is to accessorize your phone. We don’t mean to dress up your device in fancy bling bling, but to purchase accessories that are specifically made for your gadget such as bags, straps, screen protectors, and cases. In the long run, these accessories also serve as an investment and protect your phone from any harm. You can buy them from your local CD-R King store to flea markets to malls and specialty shops both offline and online.

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Facebook Group page for MyPhone A888 users

Join a user group. Chances are, there will be one or more groups in facebook that you can join in to discuss common device problems and share experiences and insights with fellow users who also use the same device, or to those who are interested to buy it. I am currently using a MyPhone A888, and the user group has a lot of developers that are still supporting the years-old smartphone; they even made Android 4.4 KitKat work on an smartphone that’s left hanging without any software update.

Set up your cloud storage. This is a tried-and-tested way to be able to access your files remotely whenever and wherever you need them. Cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox enables you to do automated backups of files on your gadget, securing them in case of any case of accident or file corruption.

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Secure your device. Last but not the least, this is probably the most important thing you need to do to keep your phone safe and secured all the time. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

  • Set up a password. Basically, a password on your gadget is the first line of defense so only you can access the important data on your phone. Your phone is also the one you’ll be probably using at work, so sensitive information may be inside. If these actually fall into the wrong hands, you know what happens next. I don’t want to sound mean, but you might want to put a lock pattern or password to keep off meddlesome hands from fiddling with it.
  • Get a gadget insurance. The world isn’t that much of a safe place to live, and you might never know when you will fall into unlawful elements’ prey. One of the things I learned from experience is to insure everything so that it can be immediately replaced. Our telecoms offer gadget insurance policies such as Smart Gadget Shield, Globe Gadget Care, and Sun Mobile Shield for Sun Cellular’s business plan subscribers. There are also insurance companies that offer gadget protection separately or included in their premiums such as PhilFire Insurance (for Apple Devices only), AIG Personal Guard on their Personal Line, and Power Save Mac from the ACE Insurance Group. You may also opt to extend your warranty, if available, on the store you purchased your device with. Don’t forget to keep your receipts and warranty cards in a safe place in case a defect arises. Better yet, take a photo of the receipt (make sure that details are clear) and upload it to the cloud for easy retrieval.
  • Set up security apps and services in your device. Rounding this section up, what would be more effective to do than to set up location-finding, cellular-ringing, remote-wiping services? Android has the Device Manager, and iOS has its own Find my Phone service. Besides giving your gadget an added layer of protection, it also gives you an immediate channel for locating and securing your device.

And that’s it for five of the things you should do after buying a gadget. Got a good suggestion that’s not on this list? What do you do after buying a gadget, besides the recommended charging? Head on over to the comments section below.

Author’s note: Thanks for your comments! Updated some info within the article. 

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Avatar for Carl Lamiel

Get in touch with Carl at @lamielcarl on Twitter or visit his website for more updates!

17 Responses

  1. Avatar for banini banini says:

    Test the functions thoroughly within the 7-day replacement period like call quality, messaging, camera, video, audio etc. There maybe defects that do not manifest during brief initial testing.

  2. Avatar for eskaparate eskaparate says:

    Another important thing to do is to read the manual. Many people nowadays are too lazy to read the manual and they bug people from the forums for solutions clearly stated in the manual.

  3. Avatar for coco coco says:

    install Cleanmaster after Holla launcher

  4. Avatar for Peejay Peejay says:

    Install an antivirus software!

  5. Avatar for steelicon steelicon says:

    Take photo of warranty cards then store in safe place. Backup first before anything else. Go wild.

  6. Avatar for Pat Pat says:

    I bought my fone in shang ri la. First, thing I did is connect to their wifi network. You can do many things on the net to prove phone functionality

  7. Avatar for igniculus igniculus says:

    the first thing i do is set up my google account and sync my previous apps lol

  8. Avatar for warrantymatters warrantymatters says:

    Just wanna share that warranty really matters. I bought a 11k phone from MemoXpress October 2012 and was offered an 800 extended warranty/insurance. In October 2014, a few days before the warranty expired, it stopped charging and also had a crack on the screen due to an accidental drop (broken screen is covered by MX extended warranty; drop not related to charging issue). I immediately brought it back to MX but after a couple of weeks they quoted 10K worth to repair which they will pay the service center for should we want to continue with the repair. They also gave me an option to replace it with a phone or tablet worth the same amount. Well, I replaced it with a brand new tablet instead! Well worth my P800 insurance/extended warranty payment!

  9. Avatar for Cadmiel Jared Cadmiel Jared says:

    You forgot windows phone has the “find my phone” feature as well.

  10. Avatar for Salakay Salakay says:

    Also:

    *Set your Camera360-edited Selfie as your lockscreen & homescreen wallpaper.*

    That way, you can trick potential snatchers that you’re only using a cheap phone and it is not worth their effort to snatch it.

  11. Avatar for ewanlangha ewanlangha says:

    what?
    no mention of securing the the proof of purchase and warranty cards in a safe place?

  12. Avatar for Mirror Mirror says:

    the first thing i do is i charge my device for over 7 straight hours, then I download/update apps and change a lot of the original settings.
    1. Dimming lights
    2. Turning wifi, bluetooth off when done using
    3. Add songs
    I usually leave the screen image as it is, i don’t find it as a problem.

  13. Avatar for Ex-Alodian Knight Ex-Alodian Knight says:

    For me an ideal style would be

    Install a new launcher: Lightning Launcher + Belle UI
    Add some new apps : Confide.
    Replace the wallpaper: Wood Grain. Anything with wood grain.

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