For many of us, we can’t do without our smartphones. It affects the way we work, interact with our friends, even family, and how we access information. But do you take proper care of your smartphone?
Chances you don’t. Chances are caring for your smartphone is nothing more than not drop it or get it wet. In fairness, most smartphones really don’t need much caring save for the foregoing.
However, there is one simple thing that you can do, on a regular basis, that will care for your smartphone and your pocket will thank you for it. Ask yourself, how often to shut it down?
Experts say that shutting your smartphone on a regular basis can drastically affect how well your phone will continue to perform the older it gets. The simple knowledge of when to turn it on and off can cost you hundreds of dollars in pre-maturely replacing your phone.
But just how often do you need to shut off – completely shut down, not let it go to sleep – our smartphones? As opposed to how often you need to shut down your laptop computer, your smartphone has a more hard and fast rule you should live by: once a week. Yes, once a week you should shut it off, let it rest at least one minute, and then turn it back on.
According to an article recently published in Reader’s Digest, there are multiple reasons why you’re supposed to restart your phone at least once a week, and it’s for a good cause: retaining memory, preventing crashes, running more smoothly, and prolonging battery life.
Turning your smartphone off allows the device to cleanse itself of the leftovers, crumbs of code, floating around in the OS by all the apps you use on a daily basis. Restarting the phone clears open apps and memory leaks, and gets rid of anything draining your battery.
“In most cases, the app isn’t really closed but rather, it’s put into a state where it can be restarted faster,” says Bob Motamedi, a Los Angeles-based tech consultant. “Now think about how many apps are open, slowly eating memory and battery power on the phone, and think about all those times you’ve thought that your phone drained entirely too fast that day.”
Here’s something to ponder. Ever notice how once your phone has been on for a while apps almost immediately open, while after a fresh restart it takes a second – a lifetime it seems – for the app to load? Read the above again.
Restarting your phone regularly also eliminates most of the issues related to crashes, eliminating “remnants incompatible or improperly removed after installation or un-installation,” says Motamedi. “Restarting your phone will eliminate most of these issues and will get your phone working better.”
Another little care that will have your phone last longer is how you charge it. We are all guilty of at the end of the day to just plug it, even though the battery is nowhere near drained.
Phone batteries need to be trained, you need to teach it or it will never ‘learn’ to recharge fully. This was the case with older phones (and their older batteries). Newer batteries are better at learning a proper charge cycle, but it still needs your help.
“If you never let your battery drain fully, it will never ‘learn’ to recharge fully and will shorten the battery’s life,” says Motamedi. “It’s recommended that you let the battery drain down to 0 percent, and then refill it back up to 100 percent.”The same is true for laptops, but that is for another day.So, not every day, but regularly let the battery get down that low level. My iPhone starts to warn me when the battery gets below 20%, then at 10% and gets more aggressive as it drops below that. Pay no attention, let it drain, drain, drain…then charge it back up. It will thank you for it.
Recapping, to keep your phone healthy and last you longer, shut if off once a week and regularly drain the battery below the ‘your stress’ level.
With notes from Reader’s Digest
