Slow down for 'new phone' day

I’ve just received a new iPhone 13 Pro for testing and as part of that process I do a full phone transition from a past device so I can use it as my main phone. Going through that process reminds me that it can be a valuable moment in updating your whole outlook on the way you use what has become the most essential piece of tech in our lives.

There are always the obvious ‘make sure you backed up properly’ and ‘run your updates’ tips, but I wanted to look at a more mindful aspects easily ignored in the rush to start using our shiny new toys.

We typically receive our new phone in business hours, and the urge is to just get everything moved across by lunchtime so we can be taking photos and showing off before the day is out. And that’s not a terrible idea, we want to enjoy these things. I largely let the automated process happen and the basics are transferred within half an hour.

But it’s the process of going through each app and getting everything logged in correctly on the new device that is worth doing slowly.

Is each app worth keeping?
What can you delete?
Should you update any given password?

Should you delete an account properly if you’re never going back? Remember that you can delete an app, but if you created an account for it that data could float around online forever. Doing this part slowly gives you a little more brain space to make good decisions about your digital footprint.

Over the past decade the basic core of a smartphone – an internet device that you can install apps on – has remained the same, but the features they offer has evolved dramatically. How often have you given yourself a good hour to just slow down and explore what’s new? To read the settings menus and look for new options, or to pull down your phone’s control area and see what all those buttons can do?

We’re often in such a rush to start using things we’ve stopped giving ourselves time to learn how to use them.

I know there’s plenty of features in a new device I haven’t learned properly, and other people call me an expert on such things. So if you think you already know it all… you probably don’t.

I think we’ll all get more from any new piece of tech if we let ourselves enjoy the process of discovery more.

My rapid review on the iPhone 13 Pro?

The new camera is a much bigger upgrade over the iPhone 12 Pro than I expected. It’s visibly larger, and that 3x lens is very, very nice. Especially for non-Max iPhone users, the jump in camera will be very impressive.

If you already buy phones annually, you don’t care what anyone else thinks. If you wait a few years for a ‘good’ upgrade, this year feels like a good one. That camera plus a big internal redesign that makes room for a bigger battery makes it an overall good year for new buyers.

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