If you’ve just bought a new Android phone, you’ll probably want to start tinkering with it right away. Hit the brakes. Before that, you must first configure a series of options that, nowadays, all customization layers offer. Especially, because we will start with a fairly decent initialization guide, in which we find a series of tips that we must follow before launching a new smartphone.
It’s clear that every Android device is different, and each manufacturer gives their own phones little extras that make them stand out from a crowd of competitors. Luckily, all the terminals with the Google operating system are quite similar and when configuring them for the first time, they all must go through the same 3 phases: initial settings when turning it on, security options and device customization.
When you turn on the phone
As soon as we turn on our new Android mobile , we will have to do a small initial configuration, which comes as a guide, which may vary in the different models of smartphones with this operating system, since it will also depend on the version of the layer of customization that the terminal has. However, and as we told you before, there will not be many differences, so you will surely be able to apply it to your phone without much problem.
Language and region
When pressing the power button of our terminal, one of the first steps that every smartphone shows will be to adjust both the language and the region in which we live. The first will be essential, since it will be the language that we will use on the Android device. But, the country will not be less important either, since it will also be necessary for the phone to configure the time and date by itself so that we do not have to do it manually.
In addition, when starting the configuration we can mark Assistance for reading at home that it is difficult for us to read the panel of the mobile device. Once our options are set, we will have to click on the continue button to be able to continue with the different initial settings that are established as soon as the mobile is turned on for the first time.
Connect to a Wi-Fi network
This step isn’t strictly necessary, but considering that getting your phone up and running is going to require downloading a fair amount of MB (and even GB) of data, you better not waste your precious mobile data. Therefore, we must move on to put a wireless network in the terminal. Although, it will also be something that we can do later.
Instead, use a Wi-Fi connection, preferably at home, by entering the Network name and password . In this way, you will not have to connect to a wireless network later from the settings app of the Android device. Therefore, it does not hurt to do it as soon as possible.
Google account
Once you’re connected to Wi-Fi, the phone itself should prompt you to enter your Google email , that is, the account you’re going to use on your Android smartphone. This will be the one used to create backups on the phone, download apps, make payments and everything else you intend to do with the smartphone.
If you’ve started your phone using a backup, your device will already have your Google account information. However, you will still need to enter your password. Otherwise, enter your Gmail address first. After doing so, you will have access to the Android application store, that is, the Play Store.
Of course, you have the possibility of accessing the information of this account from the smartphone’s settings app, selecting the Accounts menu and working on the configured Gmail account. In the event that it is the first time that you are going to have an Android mobile in your possession, it will also offer us the option of creating an account from scratch.
Set the preferred data network
Is your new smartphone 5G? By default, if it is, the mobile will be configured to automatically select this type of network , but if your city does not yet have this connectivity standard, it is absurd for the mobile to continue searching for this type of network and continue to spend more battery.
In addition, to get to use the mobile data network that you have contracted for your mobile line from the beginning, we must have the SIM card inserted . Otherwise, it will be useless to try to configure this section of the terminal at that time. If you want to do it later, once you have started the terminal, you must perform these steps:
- Go to Settings .
- Then select SIM / Mobile networks .
- Tap on the Preferred network type or Network type preference option.
- Finally, choose the one you prefer based on the use you are going to give the mobile.
Import your data from the old mobile
If you are configuring your new phone you will always have the option to install a previous backup with your data and previously downloaded apps on another terminal. Personally, we recommend not doing it so as not to ‘carry over’ possible problems inherited from previous uses, and we encourage you to install everything from scratch.
Yes, you still want to install the previous backup, you will be able to do it from the initial guide of the device. In this case, it will change more, because depending on the customization layer, they will offer us one alternative or another. Or, you can also open the Settings app once again and follow these steps:
- Within Settings , tap on the About phone or Backup option.
- Choose the function you want to import the data .
security settings
Once we have connected to the network, either data or Wi-Fi, and we have the Google account configured on the phone, we can start using our new mobile. However, it is appropriate that we follow some security measures first, as a precaution more than anything. In this way, we will make sure that no one can unlock the terminal.
Screen lock method
Like many other aspects of setup, how you protect your phone will vary greatly depending on the type of phone you have. If you have a mobile phone with a fingerprint, perfect. If not, you will have to resort to the classic password pattern or, on newer mobiles, facial recognition. Whatever you do, it is 100% recommended that you set up some kind of security measure to prevent potential problems if your phone falls into the wrong hands:
- Pattern or Pin : Create a numerical code or an unlock pattern that you must enter when you want to access the phone from Settings > Security > screen lock > Pattern / Pin.
- Fingerprint : Register all the fingerprints you want to be able to unlock the mobile by placing your finger on the biometric sensor. You can do it from Settings > Security > screen lock > Fingerprint.
- Facial recognition : If what you prefer is that the front camera of the mobile automatically recognizes when using the phone, simply set the facial unlock as the unlock method from Settings> Security> screen lock> Face unlock.
Are there any updates pending?
That your mobile is new does not mean that it works with the most recent version of the operating system. So, for example, you can buy a new Samsung phone, running Android 11, which you can now update to Android 12. This means that, in addition to enjoying new features, the latest security patches will be applied to the device.
Normally a message should appear on the screen if there is an update pending . Although, you can also check it yourself once you have finished configuring all the above steps. So, afterward, you can follow this process to check for a software update:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Tap on System (or directly on System Updates or Software Update).
- Locate an option similar to Check for software updates .
These updates can take a long time to download and install, which is why we previously recommended connecting to a Wi-Fi Network due to the high data traffic you will be working with. In addition, it is advisable that you check that the battery is at least 50% charged so that it does not turn off during the installation process of the new version of the operating system .
To personalize the mobile
After having correctly configured the Android phone , there are a series of tips that we should not ignore, especially if we have never had a smartphone with the Google operating system in our hands. Well, more than advice, they are customization options with which we can configure the terminal so that it completely adjusts to our tastes. For this reason, we recommend that you take into account the following points that we are going to explain below.
Adjust the text size
Something that many users complain about when they start using the new mobile is that they either see the text too large or too small. This happens especially if you come from a phone with a screen of more restrained dimensions and go to one with a larger display. Or vice versa.
For this reason, you have to know how to adjust the text of the Android terminal from the device configuration. The latest versions of the Google operating system are prepared to adapt the text to our liking and we can do it in the following way if we follow these steps:
- First of all, we must open the Settings app.
- Afterwards, we will have to scroll down until we see the Display option.
- Once inside, we will have to click on Text or font size, and display size to try the different options that are given to us.
Set up Google Assistant
If your phone has the Google Assistant built in , it will present you at one point during setup and ask you to help it recognize your voice so that you can summon it at any time with a specific command. Otherwise, we will always have to activate it with a terminal button or gesture.
So, just follow the on-screen instructions to use the Google tool in your day-to-day life, setting reminders, searching by voice, looking up information, and a host of other things. Depending on the phone model you have in your possession, you can also choose other applications as a digital assistant.
Download the apps you want
As we have said before, you can install all the apps you want using the backup, but we recommend not only installing them from scratch but also configuring them from scratch. So that, in this way, you avoid possible problems that you had begun to suffer in the previous Android . If this is not your case, the most logical thing is to copy the applications to avoid having to install them again. Instead, if you had problems, you should follow these steps:
- First, we will have to enter the Play Store and locate the ones you want or, if this Gmail account that you are using had already been configured on a previous Android, simply display the side menu by clicking on your profile.
- Then tap on Manage apps and device .
- Click on Manage and touch on Installed.
- Change the option and put Not installed .
- There you will find all the apps that you have downloaded on another mobile ready to be installed on your new phone.
Delete pre-installed apps
As with many layers of customization, Android mobiles also include different apps that come pre-installed , also known as bloatware, on their devices. All those tools come by default by each manufacturer’s software layer. And unfortunately, not all of them can be easily removed from the device.
In any case, we must eliminate those apps that we never use on the device. And it is that, in this way, we can gain space and improve the performance of the terminal. Of course, as long as the smartphone allows us to uninstall them. To do this, we must follow a series of steps from the terminal’s native configuration app:
- Go to the smartphone settings .
- Go to the Applications section.
- Tap App list.
- Click on any you want to delete.
- Press the Uninstall button > OK.
Set sounds and notifications
Another of the great sections that we cannot ignore is that of sounds and notifications . Thanks to these sections we can find out in a better way about the notifications we receive, SMS, calls, etc. So, in this case, we will have to configure it correctly within the Android device.
In addition, the sounds that it uses by default are probably not to your liking. And, in this case, the different sections that we will find within the Sounds and Notifications menu will change to a greater or lesser extent, everything will depend on the customization layer of the manufacturer of your new Android mobile that you are going to configure. To do this, we must do the following:
- Go to the smartphone’s Settings app.
- Click on the Sound and vibration tab.
- Inside we can change the volume and tones of notifications, alarms, notifications, etc., as well as the vibration of the smartphone.
- Then, go back to the main menu and tap on Notifications .
- Here, you will be able to configure all the alerts of the applications.
