Tips: Purchasing Devices from a Private Party

There are a variety of considerations when deciding to purchase a used iPhone, but three that are my main concerns based on personal experience.

  1. Check the IMEI (ESN) number. The IMEI number, which is sometimes referred to as the ESN can be checked online on such sites as https://swappa.com/esn. If the number is bad that means the phone has been blacklisted or locked for some reason and cannot be activated by the current owner. Some reasons for a phone’s ESN being bad would be that the phone is currently activated for someone else, that there is money owed on the phone by someone or it has been reported lost or stolen.
  2. Make sure the software isn’t attached to someone else’s account. Make sure iPhones are not still attached to someone’s iCloud account and Android phones are not attached to someone’s Google account. If they are, you will need the holder of these accounts to enter their username and password and sign out of their accounts before the phone is fully functional to you or anyone else.
  3. Make sure the phone does not have water damage. This is often difficult or impossible for a common person to detect. Specifically with an iPhone, if you are able to get the phone in hand, check with a local repairshop and see if they would be willing to spend 5 minutes opening the device to check for signs of water exposure.

As with purchasing a used car, trust is key. Try to buy from someone you know directly or indirectly and who you think you can trust. There are a lot of people out there trying to unload unusable devices and if you are not careful you will be taken advantage of and lose a good chunk of cash.

Protecting Your Mobile Devices

  • Allow your children to have some skin in the game.

Kids will usually be more careful if they’ve had to pay for some or all of their device.

  • Don’t live on the edge.

Don’t teeter your device on the edge of countertops, pools, toilets, etc.

  • Avoid keeping it in your back pocket.

Phone frames can bend under the pressure of your backside while sitting and possibly do damage to internal components.

  • Face the screen inward during manual labor.

Be careful to not have screen facing outward while doing such things processing firewood or construction.

  • Don’t keep in your top while running.

Some women have found creative spaces to keep their devices while exercising. The sweat can do water damage to a phone.

  • Keep safe while on the toilet.

Maybe read a book while going to the bathroom after taking your phone out and putting it on the counter and not keeping it in your hands or pockets.

  • Use a good case.

Invest in a good case and keep the phone in it, even if it is cumbersome and annoying.

  • Place phone in baggie while canoeing or hiking.

If you know you are going to be over water or think you could possible be under some water, keep your phone in a dry, sealed baggie for extra protection.

Ceasing the Practice of Distracted Driving

We see the ad campaigns warning travelers of the dangers of distracted driving. We are served numerous news stories of those who have been injured or killed as a result of the practice. And most of us have had to swerve our vehicle into or out of a lane because of somebody else’s (or our own) distracted driving.

While smartphones are not the only source of distraction while we drive, almost all drivers possess them, which makes the likelihood of their use very high. Statistics reveal that about a third of drivers have admitted to texting while driving and about 20% of drivers regularly do so.

If you’ve developed the habit of freely texting while driving or engaging with your device in any other way, here are a few suggestions to help you break the cycle.

  1. Turn your ringer on silent or turn phone completely off. Ignorance is bliss. Simply wait until you arrive at your destination to catch up on your messages.
  2. Put your phone out of reach in the vehicle. Put that junk in the trunk or in the back seat.
  3. Download an app (Android or iPhone)that prevents you from texting and driving or activate settings on your phone that do the same. Use the technology to help you not use the technology.

Some of these suggestions might seem impractical for some, who wish to have their devices nearby in order to listen to music or podcasts. Rather than assuming that you are not willing to go without complete use of your device on the road because of the difficulty it will add to your life, please at least consider taking the issue seriously. Make playlists at home or listen to longer podcasts or audiobooks that you can start before you begin your trip.

Be creative and self-disciplined. There’s a lot at stake, both for yourself and others.

And regardless of how confident you are in your own ability to use your device while driving, be aware that many people on the road are doing the same. Even while not using your phone, exercise additional caution while driving in the realization that hundreds of people around you are more prone than normal to have slower reaction times or be almost completely unaware of their own surroundings due to divided attention.

Limiting Screen Time

Many clients of mine who are parents complain of the ways mobile devices have negatively affected their lives.

A significant number of them claim that their children are on their devices “all of the time” and neglect face-to-face communication and other more-enriching activities. Some are concerned about what content their children are consuming and most do not have enough technological aptitude to know where to begin dealing with the problem.

My first response is to declare that this is not a problem that can be solved perfectly, but there are measures that can be taken and things that can be considered in order to increase the probability that mobile devices can be, to an increasing degree, assets rather than liabilities in the lives of our children and in our families as a whole.

Here are a few thoughts:

  1. A technological help is a free app called Our Pact. Most parents love it and most children hate it because it allows parental control on both Android and iOS devices to set device bedtimes, schedules, and block or give access to apps.
  2. In order to reduce the appearance of hypocrisy between parents and children, mothers or fathers can unplug their home wireless router during times when the whole family will have media blackout.
  3. Parents should consider whether and how much data children should have on their plan. Consider contacting your cell phone carrier to have caps on data for devices to teach users to budget and to reduce indiscriminate usage.
  4. Parents should also consider not allowing children possession of devices if they prove their inability to use them honorably.
  5. Parents should be introspective and self-controlled regarding their own device usage. A lack of management of one’s own behavior can send confusing nonverbal messages to children regarding whether media regulation should be a priority.
  6. Talk to children about highly and minimally valuable device usage. Use food analogies, such as healthful food and junk food, and teach them the importance or maximizing the former and minimizing the latter.
  7. Develop and have children sign a contract of mutual understand regarding which types of behaviors are acceptable and non-acceptable as a prerequisite to mobile device possession or usage.

Backing Up Your Mobile Device

If your mobile device contains important data it is essential that you keep it backed up.

This can be done manually or automatically, but it is recommended to initialize automatic backups to eliminate the risk of forgetting. Manual or automatic backups are available on both Apple’s iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads and also Android devices, such as those manufactured by Samsung and others.

The easiest form of backup sends your data into the ‘cloud’, which is just a system of computers not managed by the companies that offer their services for safe storage of your data.

Apple offers 5GB of free storage for such data and Google is popularly used for cloud backups in Android devices.

You also can back your device up to your home computer. For example, Apple’s application iTunes, once downloaded and installed onto your computer, can be used to complete this task.

Click here for more information on backing up your Apple devices.

Click here for more information on backing up your Android devices.

Check IMEI number or your phone might be a brick

You might have just broken your smartphone and,  rather than getting it repaired, decided to purchase a used model.

Before you do, make sure you get the phone’s IMEI number, which can be found in the unit’s settings. If a seller is unwilling or unable to provide you with the number, do not purchase the phone.

Once you obtain the number, check it on a site such as swappa.com.

Such results will determine whether your phone was lost, stolen or was tied to an account with an unpaid bill. Such phones can be locked from use by their cell providers and rendered useless until a resolution is made.

Do not be victimized by this oversight.

Any questions? Contact me at Midcoast iPhone Repair and I will help you as best as I can.

Water Damage

Mobile Device Water Damage

Happens to the best of us.

In fact, years ago my wife dropped her iPod Touch in the toilet and was humiliated. Since then, I’ve heard many, many stories. One involves me being handed eight phones by a man who works in waste management and sucked them out of portable toilets at a local concert venue.

If you happen to drop your mobile device (whether it be iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Samsung Galaxy) in the drink (or the john), here are a few things to consider:

1. Say a quick prayer.

2. Do not attempt to turn the device back on.

3. Place it as quickly as possible in a bag of uncooked rice (without gravy) and seal.

4. Contact me at Midcoast iPhone Repair and I can take it from there.

Successful water damage repair is (at best) a 50/50 proposition, but these best practices will help you increase the probability that we can resurrect your device, if only to get remove valuable data.