Most people have a smartphone. One poll found that 78 percent of Americans own a smartphone. The power that smartphones give us can be intoxicating, but like a lot of intoxicating things, that power can also be dangerous. Smartphone addiction is on the rise, and some people freak out if they go more than a few minutes without checking their Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feeds. A few experts even compare it to substance abuse. Regardless of if you’re addicted or just rely on your mobile phone for work, there are certain smartphone emergencies that will make it hard, if not impossible, for you to use your phone. That’s inconvenient at best, so here’s how to handle a couple of common smartphone emergencies.
Handling Smartphone Emergencies
1. Your Phone Breaks
An iPhone can cost a cool $1,000 or so, but we’re still pretty hard on them in spite of that. We carry them with us everywhere. People take them onto buses, subways, and even into public bathrooms. The more we use something, the more likely it is we’re going to misuse it. That means you might spill bubble tea on your smartphone while chatting with a friend. Or maybe you’ll drop your phone on the sidewalk and crack the screen.
Your first impulse when that happens maybe to panic and freak out, but a panic attack isn’t going to help you repair your phone. Some phone companies will ask you to send your phone to them via mail, but that means you’ll be without your phone for days or even weeks. If you don’t want to wait that long, you don’t have to. You have other options for iPhone repair, especially if you live in a major metro area. You may not even have to leave your home to get your phone repaired, because some companies like iCracked make house calls. They’ll simply meet you at your home or office with the proper equipment to make repairs on the spot.
2. Your Phone is Lost or Stolen
A cracked phone screen isn’t fun, but at least you know where your phone is in that case. You may not be sure if it will work again, but you don’t have to wonder if some nefarious thief is hacking into your phone and laughing at all the pictures of your dog. For most people, having their phone stolen is much worse than having it break. A significant chunk of your life is on that phone, and you don’t want bad actors accessing it.
First things first, you need to figure out as best you can if your phone was stolen or just lost. The second scenario isn’t awesome, but it at least gives you a chance of retracing your steps and finding the phone before someone else can take it. If you left your phone at a restaurant 15 minutes ago, there’s a decent chance that a waiter took it and turned it into lost and found. But if you think a pickpocket stole your phone on the train, then you need to call the police.
3. Get Help from Cop
Finding your lost phone will be easier for the cops if you’ve previously enabled remote tracking. Both Android phones and iPhones come with this feature, so there’s no excuse not to set it up as soon as you bring home your new phone. Once you set that up, you can sign into your Google or Apple account on another device and figure out where your phone went. If you have sensitive information on your phone (and let’s face it, most of us do), these features will also allow you to remotely wipe your data.
4. Notify to Phone Carrier
Don’t forget to contact your phone carrier as well, even if you think your phone was “only” lost. When you call your carrier, they’ll take measures to ensure that no one can use your phone to steal your identity. A missing phone is stressful enough; you don’t need to worry about things like bank fraud on top of that.
