Fixes for Common Cellphone Problems

Twenty years ago, our time on the internet was limited. But in 2019, we’re tethered to our phones practically all day. Apple says that average iPhone users unlock their phone 80 times a day. We do it first thing in the morning when we get up, and we check our phones again right before we go to bed. Even if we’re not addicted, we still need our phone to work properly. When it doesn’t, that’s frustrating. Here are three common cellphone issues, plus possible fixes.

Low battery

A battery percentage in the green is good. But when your battery life starts slipping into the red, that’s not so good. A poll of 2,000 smartphone users found that almost 9 out of 10 people fear a dead battery. That fear can be especially frustrating when the battery charge seems to fade faster and faster. When you first got your phone, you could last all day and then some on a full charge. But now, it seems like you can barely get to the afternoon before your phone’s battery starts diving into the danger zone.

You can do a few things to fight back. Experts say you should try not to let your phone’s battery get below 50 percent. Letting it get lower than that means your phone loses its ability to hold a charge faster than it would otherwise. You should can use low battery mode even if you don’t actually have a low battery. That may calm some of your anxiety about how fast the battery seems to be going.

Obviously, you’ll have days when you can’t plug your phone into a charger the minute it dips below 50 percent. If that happens, try not to let it eat away at you. Charge it when you can, but if your phone gets to 35 percent before you can access a charger, don’t let it keep you up at night.

Bad signal

We’ve all seen the maps from cellphone companies. Many of them claim to have the best cellphone reception in the entire nation. That’s a nice claim, but if that’s true, then why is your cellphone’s signal bad so often? This might be happening for a few reasons. Some of them are not your cellphone company’s fault, although pointing a finger in that direction is always tempting.

The building you’re in may bear part of the blame. For instance, concrete buildings have infamously poor cellphone service when compared to other types of buildings. If you live in a building where the cell reception goes out in certain rooms, a cell phone signal booster could be the answer. You could also move, but that’s a lot more complicated, and you have no guarantee that your next home will be any better.

Your phone keeps crashing

A desktop that keeps crashing is irritating, but a phone can be even more so. Rightfully or not, we often except cellphones to have better stability than bigger computers. But the compact devices we keep in our pocket can still freeze up and crash.

But if your cellphone is crashing, you should start by trying to clean up things a little. We don’t mean wiping your phone down with disinfectant, either. First, make sure that your phone is running the latest software. Yes, those updates can be annoying, but many phones will do them while you sleep. Your apps should also be running the most up-to-date versions.

If that doesn’t do it, check your storage space. If you’re running out of room, that’s naturally going to affect the way your phone operates. Delete some of your selfies, and then delete the apps you don’t really use. Sure, you may have a lot of storage on your phone, but that doesn’t mean you need to use every last bit of it.