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.

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.

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.

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.

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.