Setting up a new phone: a checklist
For the day a new phone arrives, whoever it is for. Tick each one as you go.
Before you start
- Both phones charged, or plugged in, and on the home Wi-Fi.
- A backup of the old phone, made the same day, in case something goes wrong part-way.
- The account password written down, not just remembered by the old phone.
Read the free guide about this
Moving everything across
- Set the two phones side by side and let the new one copy from the old. It takes about an hour and mostly runs itself.
- Move any app that shows sign-in codes on purpose. Those often do not copy by themselves.
- Expect bank and health apps to ask you to sign in again on the new phone.
- Do not wipe or trade in the old phone yet. Keep it charged, in a drawer, for two weeks.
Read the free guide about this
Making it comfortable
- Make the text bigger. It changes the writing in every app at once, and can be slid back at any time.
- Turn the ringer up. The side buttons usually change the music volume, not the ring.
- Move the apps actually used to the first screen, where the thumb lands.
Read the free guide about this
Keeping it safe
- Save the people they deal with as contacts. Then a call showing only a number is almost certainly somebody they do not know.
- Let updates install, overnight, on Wi-Fi. Most of an update is repairs.
Read the free guide about this
Before you leave
Write down the three things they will do most, in their own words, and leave the note by the phone.