Today: A few ways to keep your tech in tip-top shape. Plus …
How to make your phone last longer |
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| Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter |
 | By Erin Neil Erin is a newsletters editor. She’s embarrassed to admit that her phone is always covered in fingerprints. |
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No one in my life has ever accused me of being Type B. I organize my calendar like it’s my job, with color-coded tabs for birthdays, workouts, travel, and more. I make an itinerary for every trip I go on, even one-night stays. I’ve never returned a library book late. I only asked for an extension once when I was in college. And I had near-perfect attendance in high school. (I promise I’m a lot of fun.)
But when it comes to my tech, my tightly wound tendencies have never quite caught up. My phone storage is always full, and my computer somehow always needs updating. And as enticing as Apple’s brand-new $2,000 foldable iPhone sounds, I really am in no place to get a new phone. (Not just because my budget won’t allow it. I got one less than a year ago.)
Instead, I’m going to get that fresh-start feeling by following the advice of my tech expert colleagues: The right hygiene can make even older devices feel new again, and help them last longer, too. Since apparently September is the new January, now feels like a particularly good time to start. Join me?
- I like my phone close to 100% charged at all times. But experts actually recommend keeping it somewhere between 20-80% because going any higher can cause battery degradation. I just set a charging max of 80%, which was easy to do in my iPhone’s settings.
- It sounds obvious, but our phones need to be cleaned regularly. Mine is certainly overdue. Next time I’m tempted to wipe the screen on my T-shirt, I’ll pull out a microfiber cloth and a toothpick to give it a proper clean instead.
- Despite having a new-ish phone, I’m already creeping toward full storage capacity. I set aside a few minutes this past week to remove the apps I never use and change my settings to automatically delete text messages after one year.
- It’s time for me to face the 25,553 photos and videos currently stored on my phone. Our tech expert has a hack for cleaning up a cluttered camera roll: Search your camera roll for the date. It’ll pull up everything from that day from years past. Then, delete anything you don’t need.
- I am always trying to look at my phone less, and one thing that stands firmly in the way of that goal is the amount of notifications I get. I’m turning off notifications for most apps (they’re often pretty useless anyway). I’m also customizing my settings so I only see the total number of notifications on my screen — much less overwhelming than scrolling through a long list of pings.
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Today’s tech tip: Switch your phone to grayscale to lower screen time |
The dopamine hit you get from staring at your phone is partly due to the large app icons and bright colors — so it can be helpful to make the phone less visually appealing. Switching to grayscale strips the interface of color from your entire screen, including apps, menus, texts, and photos.
More to refresh your tech |
I’ve learned my lesson on overpriced toasters. Less than three years ago, I splurged on an extremely cute one (despite many reviews warning me against it) — and now it’s broken. According to our kitchen expert, no matter how much you spend, today’s toasters just aren’t made to last. So I’ve replaced my old one with a toaster actually worth my money. It browns bread evenly, comes in a range of bright colors, and it’s only $40.
Your daily deal: High-quality blue-light blocking glasses |
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| Sarah Kobos/NYT Wirecutter |
If you stare at a blue-light-emitting device for too long at night, your body might have a harder time falling asleep. Blue-light blocking glasses may help. We like these well-designed frames that come in hundreds of shapes, colors, and sizes. Plus, the ones we tried looked and felt noticeably better than any of the competition.
All lenses are 35% off right now→
One last thing: Sign up for Extra Credit |
Our colleague Matt Yan — host of Extra Credit, the recently revamped newsletter for college students — joined us at the Wirecutter office to test all sorts of dorm essentials. After trying everything from a rolling laundry tote to glitter-sucking vacuum cleaners, he came away with a handful of Wirecutter-approved recommendations that would be helpful for college kids (or anyone, really), including:
- A backpack that makes it easy to schlep a huge amount of stuff to a communal laundry room.
- The very best spot cleaner. It works great on stains of all sorts, including the mysterious ones that tend to appear after a night out. IYKYK.
- An inexpensive electric kettle that works great for a mid-study session cup of tea or bowl of instant noodles.
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 | Sign up for the Extra Credit newsletter. A newsletter that helps college students get ahead inside and outside class, hosted by Matt Yan. Get it in your inbox. |
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Thanks for reading.
You can reach the Wirecutter Newsletters team at newsletters@wirecutter.com. We can’t always respond, but we do love to hear from you.
