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What to deactivate when you get a new phone

What to deactivate when you get a new phone
Mike Braun

Mike Braun

  • Updated:

If you just got a new smartphone, the first thing you should do is disable many default options. Yes, you read that correctly.

New phone

So many of a phone’s default settings are things you simply do not need. They can negatively affect your phone, so why not just give them the ax? Below, we listed the biggest offenders and why they deserve to get the boot.

Automatic brightness

Screen brightness is one of the top things that drain your battery. Our recommendation is that you deactivate the automatic brightness. If you do, you will get the battery to last longer with each charge.

Background applications

Low battery

When the operating system starts for the first time, your phone comes loaded with applications that you will never use. Many of them work in the background, so we have a very basic recommendation: turn them off as soon as you can.

These things can drain your battery and slow down your phone. Do yourself a favor, and say goodbye to them.

Key vibration

One of the worst default programs is when you press a key, it vibrates or emits a sound. Sending a long text can sound like a bunch of mice tap-dancing. Although adorable, we don’t need to hear it every time we text our significant other what to get at the grocery store. This is not only annoying, but it consumes more battery than you can imagine.

You can remove it in the “Keyboard” menu in “Settings.” Most phones usually name it, “Sound when pressing key” or “Vibrate when pressing.” Either way, you’ll know your enemy when you see it.

Vibration in general

Phone vibrates

You can eliminate vibration altogether. Every time you enter an application or click somewhere, the phone vibrates like a GameCube controller during a heated round of Smash. This drains your battery and is just plain annoying.

The option to deactivate it is usually found under “Settings” > “Sound.” From here, you can find the option to stop it from vibrating in all of these unnecessary circumstances.

Notifications from secondary apps

You may need to know when you got an email or when you got a text message. However, why are you letting games and other secondary apps send you notifications? These notifications consume both data and battery.

Unless you really want dozens upon dozens of pointless notifications, delete this in the “Notifications” menu of your phone.

Keep your phone user-friendly

With these changes, your phone should run faster and you’ll get more battery use with less data drain. Enjoy your new phone!

Mike Braun

Mike Braun

Mike Braun is a technology editor for Softonic. He spent his childhood being frustrated by Battletoads, then moved on to being frustrated by that lava level in Aladdin for Sega Genesis. A graduate of Florida State University, he now lives in Portland where he's working on a science fiction novel series and drinking too much coffee.

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