7 Settings You Must Do After Buying A New Android Phone

You have a new smartphone with Android or tablet and you have no clue how to properly set it up? Don’t panic, we present the 7 steps that will help you with this. To freely and safely use the Android system you should change a few settings and install a few applications. These 7 steps describe the most important elements of setting up the new device with Android. Let us walk you through all of them and after a few moments you will have a ready and safe phone or tablet.

1. Log in to your Google Account

When starting for the first time our new Android phone you will be asked to complete certain data. One of them is logging in to your Google account. You can skip this step, but we don’t recommend it. 

By signing in to your Google Account your data will be automatically transferred from your old Android devices. Of course if you had your data synced with the Google cloud. Thanks to Google Account you will also get access to applications, games and media from Google Play.

2. Set up screen lock

You're already logged into your Google account and you are on the main screen. Now it is a good time to set the screen lock for your Android. Why? Because in case it is lost or stolen, all of your data can fall into the unwanted hands.

Some people prefer to use Android without passwords and other means of blocking, they say that it is much more convenient. It is definitely worth to remember that Android offers other forms of mobile security than tapping security codes - for example, draw patterns or face recognition.

3. Activate phone tracking

Another thing you should activate is the Android Device Manager. This is an official Google tool which  allows you to find your phone in case of theft or simply misplacing it. Besides, it is worth to try it as soon as you get your new device. On the computer, you may find the approximate position of your phone.

In case of theft or loss of your phone or tablet you can begin to emit an alarm or remotely delete all data. If you want to have more control to try alternatives like Prey or Cerberus.

4. Install the Google applications

We have reached the point where the use of a smartphone with Android with Google Apps is simply inconvenient. Fortunately, these applications are offering high quality and add many important functions that you can use on your device. If they are not installed immediately, you should download it from Google Play:

• Chrome (browser)
• Maps (maps and GPS)
• Drive (documents)
• Hangouts (chat and messages)

These are the important applications that everyone should have. If you use Gmail and Google Calendar you should also install them. You can also download applications for social media such as Google+. It’s good to check if you have YouTube app available on your phone (if not, you should download it immediately!). Soon, the Google family will get bigger

5. Install an alternative keyboard

Perhaps so far you’ve used the physical keyboard of the classical keys or the standard virtual keyboard. However, there are some easier ways to write.

Frankly speaking, there is no perfect keyboard, but Google Play offers a lot of interesting alternatives that you may like. Here are the most interesting ones:

• Perfect Keyboard (lots of personalization options)
• Go Keyboard (perfect for tablets)
• Swype (classical gestures)
• SwiftKey (well predicts what you want to write
• TouchPal (auto correct, faster typing and prediction)

6. Control your device

Your new Android phone has been practically set up. However, it’s also highly recommended to install tools that will allow you to control and monitor the battery consumption, CPU or memory space and data transfer. Here are some of the best suggestions:

• Onavo allows you to control the transfer of the Internet data.
• 3G Watchdog even more detailed than Onavo also available as a widget
• AutoKiller automatically closes inactive applications for saving CPU and battery
• JuiceDefender helps saving energy

7. Install alternative stores

Google Play is fine but there are some apps which you cannot find there. Sometimes you may find some incredible promotion in some alternative store. So let's install programs such as:

• Softonic Moba,
• Amazon Appstore,
• F-Droid

At the same time watch out for the black market and all the files freely available on the Web. They often contain pirated applications that might endanger the security of the system. If you do not want any viruses nor other nasty problems you have to be really careful while installing APK file.

What other settings do you think we should add? 

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