First things to try out with your new Christmas phone

The temptation is always to replicate exactly the look and feel of the old one, and indeed there are apps from each manufacturer which help you do exactly that. But the increased storage, memory and processing power that your new handset almost certainly has, can be a gateway to a whole new mobile experience. So with that in mind, here a few avenues to explore...

1. Disable the “bloatware” with which your new phone has been stuffed. The nature of this varies from one manufacturer to another, but there will always be several apps you don’t need. Whether you can uninstall them depends on whether they are deemed “mandatory”, but at the very least you can disable them to free up memory.

2. Download or subscribe to your choice of music sources. Spotify, along with Apple Music or Google’s YouTube Music, is likely pre-installed on your new phone but there are many other services out there, whether you want to play songs you already own, stream new ones, or both. Deezer, like Spotify, offers a free plan that allows unlimited streaming of the 56 million tracks in its library, with adverts in between. There is little to choose between the rival platforms: both learn your likes and dislikes from what you’ve listened to before, and both work across all your phones, tablets and PCs. Deezer has perhaps the better interface and sound quality, but it’s subjective.

3. Explore the emerging world of podcasts. Think of these as a 24-hour Radio 4, customised to your taste and transmitted when it suits you. Podcasts are basically just programmes – music, drama, comedy, you name it – that are cast out over the internet instead of being broadcast via Holme Moss. And while the BBC puts its name to some, theirs are just the tip of an increasingly large iceberg. Most podcasts are outside the catchment area of the BBC’s Sounds app so you’ll need something more specialist if you’re to sample them. Your phone may have Apple’s Podcasts app or Google Podcasts already installed, but you can also try PocketCasts, RadioPublic, TuneIn and many others. All can download new episodes automatically and tell you when they are available.

4. Start messaging. Many mobile tariffs now include unlimited text messaging but that’s because the operators recognise that they are no longer worth paying for. Basic texts belong to the 1990s, and the reason is in the name: they consist of text and nothing else. Modern messages can include pictures, video and hyperlinks; they can be much longer and you don’t risk a fee per message. The downside is that the person you’re messaging must be using the same app. WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook Messenger are the best known examples, and the second two have the advantage of working simultaneously on devices other than the one on which they were registered.

5. Begin a new book. Kindles and other forms of e-book are as old as the century but they are no longer the preserve of specialist tablets. The trend towards larger phone screens means that many are now just as suitable for turning the pages of a paperback as for browsing the web. Either Apple Books or Google Play Books will have come with your new phone and both allow you to sample and buy electronic versions of thousands of titles, new and old. They can be read on screen on any of your devices and your place bookmarked in all of them. A limited number of books are available free.

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