Getting the Most From Your Smartphone Settings, Storage, Battery and Hidden Features

A phone that is set up well is easier to use, safer and more reliable. Whether it is new or has been in your pocket for years, a short session going through the main settings pays off.

Start with the screen lock. Use a PIN or passcode of at least six digits, and add fingerprint or face recognition for convenience. A phone without a lock gives anyone who picks it up access to your email, photographs and bank apps. Avoid easily guessed codes such as 123456 or your birth year. Next, check that automatic updates are switched on for both the system and your apps, because updates fix security flaws.

Set up your account and backups. Both Apple and Google offer automatic backups of your contacts, photographs and settings to the cloud, which means that if your phone is lost, stolen or broken, you can restore it onto a new one. Enable the find-my-phone feature, which lets you locate, lock or wipe a missing phone. Take a few minutes to add emergency information, as described later in this ebook.

Finally, tidy your home screen. Put the apps you use most where you can reach them easily, group the rest into folders and delete anything that you never use. A clear home screen saves time and reduces the temptation to wander into distracting apps.

A message saying that storage is almost full is among the most common phone annoyances. It usually has simple causes and simple solutions.

Open the storage settings to see what is taking up space. Photographs and videos are usually the biggest users, followed by apps, downloaded music and podcasts, and messaging attachments. Videos in particular are large. Review and delete duplicates, blurry shots and old videos, and consider moving the originals to cloud storage or to a computer. Check offline downloads in streaming apps, and delete episodes and playlists that you no longer need.

Be careful with the difference between syncing and backing up. A cloud photo service that syncs your photographs means that if you delete a picture on your phone, it may disappear everywhere, depending on how it is set up. A true backup keeps a separate copy. The ebook on backing up your digital life explains this in detail. For now, check that your most precious photographs exist in at least two places.

Clear app caches only when necessary, and use the built-in tools in preference to third-party cleaner apps, which are often unnecessary and sometimes harmful. If storage is persistently tight, consider a phone with more space next time, or pay for extra cloud storage if you rely on it.

Modern phones use lithium-ion batteries, which are very good but gradually lose capacity with use. Understanding what affects them helps you to get through the day, and to keep the phone for longer.

The screen is the biggest user of power, so lower the brightness or use automatic brightness, and set the screen to turn off quickly. Background activity consumes power too. Check the battery settings to see which apps use the most, and restrict those that you do not need to refresh in the background. Location services, constant notifications and poor signal also drain the battery. Low-power mode extends the day when you need it.

For long-term battery health, avoid extreme heat, which does the most damage, so do not leave a phone on a car dashboard or in direct sun. Charging habits matter less than they once did, as modern phones manage charging well, and many offer optimised charging that learns your routine and holds the charge at around 80 per cent overnight. There is no need to drain the battery fully before charging. If battery life becomes poor after a few years, a battery replacement from the manufacturer or a reputable repairer can give a phone a new lease of life.

Use the charger and cable supplied with the phone, or a reputable certified alternative. Cheap, uncertified chargers can be unsafe, and every year there are reports of fires linked to poor-quality products.

Phone makers have invested heavily in accessibility features, and many of them are useful to everyone, not only to those with a disability.

If text is hard to read, increase the font size, use bold text or switch on display zoom. High-contrast and dark modes help in certain conditions, and magnifier tools use the camera as a magnifying glass. Screen readers, such as VoiceOver on iPhone and TalkBack on Android, read the screen aloud. Voice control and dictation allow you to speak instead of typing, which is helpful for anyone whose hands find the small keyboard difficult. Live captions can show subtitles for audio and video, and many phones can alert you to sounds with a flash of light.

Prepare for emergencies. Set up the emergency information or Medical ID, which shows your name, medical conditions, allergies and emergency contacts on the lock screen, so that paramedics can see it. Learn how to call 999 from a locked phone, which is always possible, and how to use the emergency SOS shortcut. If you are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment, you can register with the UK's emergency SMS service by texting the word register to 999 and following the instructions, so that you can text 999 if you cannot call.

Every app asks for permission to use parts of your phone, and many users tap allow without thinking. A review of permissions is one of the best uses of ten minutes.

Go to the privacy or permissions settings and look at which apps can access your location, camera, microphone, contacts, photographs and tracking. Ask whether each really needs it. A map app needs location, but a game does not. Choose while using the app, instead of always, for location where you can, and revoke permissions that seem unnecessary. Both major phone systems also let you limit how apps track you across other apps and websites.

Tame notifications. Constant alerts fragment attention and drain batteries. Go through the notification settings and switch off alerts from apps that are not important, keeping those for messages from people, calendar reminders and security alerts. Use the do-not-disturb or focus modes to silence the phone at night or during activities, with exceptions for family and emergencies.

Delete apps that you do not use, because every app is a potential source of data collection and security risk. Be wary of free apps, as some earn money from selling data or showing adverts. Read what an app does with your data before installing it.

Mobile phone bills can creep up without anyone noticing. A little attention to the plan and its terms can save a surprising amount of money.

Check what you use. Your phone's settings and your provider's app show the data, minutes and texts that you use each month. Many people pay for far more data than they need, as most browsing at home happens on Wi-Fi. SIM-only deals, which provide a plan without a handset, are generally much cheaper than a contract that bundles a phone, and are worth considering at the end of a contract. Compare deals using Ofcom-accredited comparison sites.

Understand your rights. Ofcom rules require providers to tell you if you are on a contract that has ended and to tell you of better deals available to you, and from January 2025, mid-contract price rises must be set out in pounds and pence at the time that you sign up, so that you know what you will pay. If a provider raises your price in a way that is not clear from your contract, you may have the right to leave without penalty. If something goes wrong and the provider cannot resolve it, you can take your complaint to a free alternative dispute resolution scheme.

Be careful abroad. Since leaving the EU, free roaming in Europe is no longer guaranteed, and many providers charge for it, so check before you travel. Operators must set a data cap of around £45 by default, to protect you from bill shock, but you should turn off data roaming or buy a travel add-on if you are unsure. Premium rate numbers and in-app purchases can also run up bills, so set limits.