New smartphones are so lovely. So there's a good chance you'll be getting a new device sooner or later. In this article, we share simple habits that will help your smartphone last longer and protect yourself better against its downsides. Because those phones make our lives easier, but we don't have to be glued to them day and night.
Smartphones are made to last, if we do too
Smartphones have improved vastly in recent years, which is great! Batteries last longer, screens are more durable, and many components are easily repairable nowadays. The technology itself has also been more than good enough for most people for years. Let's be honest, we hardly use a phone for old-fashioned calling anymore. It's mainly for messaging, scrolling, taking photos, and keeping up with social media. You really don't need the latest model every year for that.
But sooner or later, there comes a time when you consider a new smartphone. Because your old device is getting slow, the battery is dead, or because your teenage child now ‘really can't live without one anymore’. So there's a good chance you'll eventually come home with a new device, like perhaps the iPhone 17 from Odido. And precisely then it's a good time to immediately learn some good habits. Because how you use your smartphone quite determines how much influence that device has on your life, your attention, and the planet.
Good smartphone protection
Thankfully, new smartphones can do more and more these days. A rain shower, a fall from the sofa, and even a splash in water are usually no longer an immediate disaster. Still, a good case remains one of the smartest purchases you can make straight away. Because the longer your phone stays intact, the longer you'll have it. And experience teaches us: most smartphones still break simply due to something very human. A fall on the street. Down the stairs. In the toilet bowl is also a classic. Or just that moment when you want to slip it into your jacket pocket and it falls right next to it. A screen protector and a good case are ultimately only a relatively small expense when you consider what you've just paid for your smartphone, which is essentially a mini-computer. And you wouldn't carry a laptop around loose without protection, would you? So here's the tip: make that investment immediately when you purchase your brand-new smartphone!
Tidy up your cloud storage (and make it a regular chore)
We all take a ridiculous amount of photos and videos. Of your dog. Of your lunch. Of that one sunset of which you secretly already have fifty. And of course, screenshots of nice recipes that you then never find again. Before you know it, you get another notification that your cloud storage is full and you have to pay extra. We often forget that this storage isn't just floating around magically in the air. Behind all those photos, backups, and files are enormous data centres that consume electricity day and night. Tip: make it a habit to quickly go through your photos and videos from the previous day every day (and delete junk from the cloud). Or plan a larger digital clean-up once a month to sort out the images from the previous month. It's not a fun job, but it does give a great feeling once you've done it!
WhatsApp too is a silent major storage hog for many people. Group chats, holiday videos, memes, screenshots, and voice messages add up enormously without you noticing. Therefore, check every now and then which chats take up the most space and delete files you'll never look at again anyway. The same applies to old downloads, duplicate photos, and apps you actually never use. Here you'll find tips to tidy up your WhatsApp.
Look after your battery
The better your battery lasts, the longer your smartphone will continue to work pleasantly. Fortunately, you don't need to make it too complicated. Just try to avoid having your phone constantly plugged in or getting extremely hot, for example in the sun or during a lot of fast charging. Also smart: use a good quality charger and it’s often cheaper and more sustainable to replace a worn-out battery than your entire phone.
Repair first, replace later
A battery that drains quickly or a cracked screen doesn't automatically mean your phone is a write-off. Many smartphones today are perfectly repairable, and this is often cheaper than buying a new device straight away. Replacing a battery, in particular, can make a huge difference. Because after that, a phone often suddenly feels a lot faster and nicer to use again. It saves money, electronic waste, and another new purchase.
Pass on your old smartphone
Many old smartphones end up at the back of a drawer somewhere, even though they often still work perfectly fine. Perhaps not super-fast anymore, but good enough for someone else. For example, for a teenager getting their first smartphone. Is your device truly at the end of its life? Then hand it in for recycling. Smartphones contain a surprising amount of valuable materials such as gold, copper, aluminium, and lithium. These can be partially reused for new devices. It’s a shame to let them gather dust in a junk drawer for years.
Protect your attention a bit too
Smartphones are useful, but also rather addictive. A quick search can easily turn into half an hour of scrolling. And the influence of social media on young girls, in particular, is causing increasing concern among experts. Therefore, simple rules often help surprisingly well. So, a good reason to be a bit more conscious of it today, if you aren't already. No phones at the dinner table. Don't take them to bed. Turn off notifications from unimportant apps. And consciously be offline now and then. Going outside, into nature, or simply making real contact with the people around you often does more for your mental health than another hour of scrolling.
The advice for children is clear and simple: no smartphone under the age of fourteen and no social media under the age of sixteen. That is also true Smartphone-free Growing Up advocate for. But honestly, adults should also put their phones away more often. Because as great as smartphones are, it's also nice and important for your mental health if not every quiet moment is immediately filled with a screen.
Photo credits: Gustavo Peres (Pexels).
