Basic Things Every Smartphone Owner Must Know

Whether you use an iPhone, an Android phone or a Windows phone, some tips are universal. Here’s what you need to know to get more out of your smartphone, regardless of who made it.

Back up your photos

Don’t leave the fate of your photos to chance with manual backups. Instead, set your phone to automatically back up photos online so you’ll never lose any memories if your phone is lost or stolen. You’ve got plenty of options for doing this, many of which allow you to just set it and forget it.

Place phone in a cup to boost its volume

The next time you play music from your phone’s loudspeaker, place the phone in a glass or cup. The resonance created by the vessel will boost the sound’s volume quite a bit.

Get your music from the cloud

There is no need to spend extra cash to buy a memory card when you can lighten the load by storing your music online? Google Play Music can store up to 20,000 free songs, which you can then access through apps for iOS and Android. Just download Google’s Music Manager software, and have it upload your computer’s music folder.

Use your phone as a wireless hotspot

Your internet provider might prefer if you signed up for a data plan, but you don’t have to. In most cases, it’s cheaper to use your phone as a wireless hotspot, which can provide Wi-Fi to any tablet or laptop.

Know your shortcuts

There’s almost always a faster way to do things, it’s just a matter of memorizing the necessary swipes, pinches or long-presses for both iPhone and Android.