Comfort
The most common problem is leaving a novice phone user alone after buying a handset for them. Smartphones make our lives easier with a wealth of features, widgets and apps, but even the most experienced user can find it hard to navigate among them. That’s why after the initial setup, it’s a good idea to sit down and show the user how the main applications work and what they do.
The first thing you need to do is download the most important apps to your handset, and delete or move to a separate folder any of the factory-installed programs that you don’t need. It also makes sense to personalise the home screen and set up shortcuts for your favourite apps to make them easy to access, and do the same with your contacts by putting the ones you use most on speed dial. On some handsets, it’s possible to lock icons on the home screen so they cannot be accidentally moved or deleted. For an elderly relative, it’s also useful to adjust the phone’s font size and volume and set voice alerts.
Safety
In addition to the PIN code that locks the SIM card, it’s also important to make sure that the phone is properly protected, because if it’s lost or stolen, not only can the personal data stored on it be accessed but so can your bank card details, which can cause financial damage. Today, most smartphones feature biometric identification (fingerprint scanner, iris or facial recognition), so if you have trouble remembering passwords or PINs, you can use them to protect your handset from unauthorised access.
As part of this, you can also set up which notifications to display on the locked screen. For example, you can choose to hide the text of SMS or chat messages so that they cannot be seen by unauthorised people. It’s also helpful to set up whether or not your favourite apps can access contacts. This can prevent users from accidentally sending a photo or message to all their friends. Also, it’s better not to install a mobile wallet first, or if you do, remember to add password protection. This can help prevent accidental phone-based purchases or unauthorised access to your bank details.
The most effective protection is awareness
You often hear about fraudulent SMS messages claiming to deliver a parcel to you or asking for your bank account details, and an inexperienced user may not necessarily recognise suspicious content. Here again, prevention is the best cure: never register on websites of unknown origin, as your data can easily be compromised. Filtering websites can be useful. There are reliable applications and services that block deceptive links, preventing the unwary user from even visiting the suspected fraudulent website. If something does go wrong and you accidentally tap on a suspicious link, try to stay calm, don’t act in panic and seek help immediately.
Less experienced users should be trained in the use of photo/video sharing features on social media to protect them from accidental data leaks. Unintentional image upload can cause a lot of headache, but excessive sharing of information (for example about your home, travels, passwords and personal data) can also help phishers or even burglars. These should also be covered when explaining smartphone features to a user.
If you want to buy a new smartphone for your loved one, you can now get a new HONOR X7a for 0 HUF at Yettel, if you sign up for a new subscription. The promotion running until 3 May is open to consumers with a public Yettel voice subscription of at least 6 months who sign a contract for a friend or family to one of the operator’s new consumer public voice tariffs (except for the Yettel XS+ plan) on the same customer number.
More information: yettel.hu/hozz-valakit