If you’re like most people, you probably have to upgrade your iPhone every 1-3 years to make sure you have a working model. With all of the updates that Apple release, it’s no wonder our phones seem to slow down after a couple of years, oftentimes making them unusable. iPhones aren’t cheap, and even if you have a contract, upgrading every few years can seriously bump up your bills and mean you’re spending more money than you need to be. Here, we’ll take a look at 11 things you can do to make your iPhone last longer so you can save money and avoid having to deal with a slow phone!
- Buy A Tried And Tested Case And Screen Protector
First of all, buy a tried and tested case and a new screen protector. Ideally, you’ll do this before you even take your new phone out of the box so you know that you’re protected from the moment you begin using it. Don’t take any chances!
Make sure you buy a case that has been drop tested so you know if you drop your phone (which is pretty much inevitable) that it won’t break. You should also invest in a decent screen protector to avoid costly cracks in your glass. If you do this, not only will you have peace of mind, you’ll be able to get more money for your phone when it actually comes to selling it.
- Always Take Out Insurance
Insurance may seem like an unnecessary cost, and while it won’t make your current phone last longer, it’ll help to cover you for the things that are outside of your control. It doesn’t matter how much you care for your phone, you can’t always stop something bad from happening to it. There are a myriad of things that could happen no matter how hard you try to look after it, and taking out insurance is the only way to protect your phone and your bank balance.
- Don’t Use Your Phone When Charging
When you charge your phone, the battery generates heat. Use it while it’s charging and it’ll generate even more heat. This is really bad for the battery and makes the battery life shorter over time. It’s actually better if you can turn it off while it’s charging to make sure you’re giving your phone the rest it needs to charge.
- Don’t Keep Your Phone On Charge
It can be tempting to keep your phone on charge whenever you can to make sure you always have a full battery, however, this also shortens the battery life over time. In fact, some experts recommend avoiding charging your phone to 100% and aiming for 80% instead. They also recommend allowing it to completely drain down to zero about once a month.
It can be tempting to use lightning technology to charge your phone, as this gives you power far faster than a regular charger. However, doing this could just be another way to damage the phone and its internal components. Rapid charging generates far more heat, and isn’t something you want to be doing to your phone all the time if you want it to stand the test of time.
- Ensure You Have At Least 1GB of Storage Available
Unfortunately, the iPhone doesn’t have a lot of RAM. Upon researching the issue, many users say that other users one should keep 1 GB of storage space free for use by iOS. If your device is running slow, it may be that you need to alter your storage to ensure you’re not going to run into any problems. Take a look at how to organize photos on iPhone, and make sure you have anything super important backed up elsewhere so you don’t have to worry about losing it. You don’t want to delete something that you won’t ever be able to get back.
- Don’t Skip The App Updates
Some users feel tempted to skip the app updates, as they believe that this is what slows the phone down. However, it’s so important to update your phone when an update becomes available. Doing this will allow you to patch publicly known security vulnerabilities and often introduce new features, as well as fix any known bugs in the operating system and core applications. If you don’t update your phone, you could be putting yourself at risk.
- Delete Apps You Don’t Use
A really simple way to revive an old phone and make it run faster is to delete apps you no longer use. Even if you used them all the time at one point, it may be time to let them go if they are simply clogging up space.
- Keep Your Screen And Ports Clean
We touch our phones constantly throughout the day, and this can mean a grubby screen and ports. Take some time to rid your phone of lint or dirt in the charging port, microphone area, speaker grille and headphone jack, if your phone has one. Be careful, but thorough to make sure you get rid of anything that could potentially harm your phone.
- Backup Your Phone Regularly
While backing up your phone won’t make it last any longer, you’re going to be glad you have a backup if something happens to your device.
- Only Use Apple Chargers
Using third party chargers is bad for your phone – and maybe even to you, especially since the cheap ones can cause burns and electrocution. Using an apple charger is a must – replace it if you have to, just don’t stray.
- Consider A Factory Reset
If nothing seems to be bringing your trusty phone back to life, a factory reset may be the only way to deal with it. This will wipe it clean (a good reason to have a backup), but it can help to get rid of the junk on there and ensure it runs faster. It could be your only hope if you’re determined to keep your current phone.
How do you make sure your iPhone lasts?
