Are you about to take an exciting trip soon? Don’t forget to bring your smartphone with you. Here are some useful tips on how to prepare your phone for the upcoming trip abroad.

How to prepare your smartphone for travel

Going on an adventure quest, do not forget to prepare your smartphone to avoid possible problems from the rain to hackers. Here are some tips from Snappy Essay on how to prepare your smartphone for your trip.

 Physical protection

In an uncharted territory, anything can happen. Today, your smartphone may slip out of your hands and fall on the asphalt, and tomorrow it may get in the rain. The simplest accessories will help you keep the efficiency of the device:

• The cover protects against falls and mechanical damage.
• Toughened glass on the screen will protect the display from scratches.
• Waterproof handbag can be used to put the phone when it rains.

External battery

Even if you don’t plan to leave civilization, you still need an additional power source because in an unfamiliar city you will constantly use GPS-navigation and maps.

If you are to fly, it is important to know the rules of transport of batteries, which are guided by the carrier company.

Access Protection

Someone may get access to your smartphone and all the data on it. It can happen not only when your smartphone is stolen. Even if leave it on the bed in the hostel, someone may get access to your phone. Therefore, protect access to the device using a screen lock: set the PIN or pattern.

If the smartphone has biometric authentication tools, then it’s time to use them. Fingerprint scanner allows you to configure the unlock by fingerprint.

Public Wi-Fi networks

The best friend of the traveler is free Wi-Fi in cafes, airports, and railway stations. In general, free Wi-Fi can be found everywhere but not every network will be protected, and some may even be deployed by hackers to steal your data through dummy websites. Therefore, the first thing to do is make sure that you are connecting to the correct network. Usually in public places, there is a sign with the name of the network and the password. If you do not have one, ask the employees what Wi-Fi network you can connect to.

However, this is not all, because, as it has already been said, a Wi-Fi network may not be encrypted, which means your traffic is still under threat: it can be intercepted by any schoolboy with a smartphone and a set of specific applications. What to do? Configure a virtual private network (VPN). The bottom line is that you create a separate encrypted channel to use the internet through it.

 Roaming

Study the conditions, under which your provider offers roaming, and connect the service that suits you. This will allow you to stay in touch with the homeland and not go broke.

Local SIM card

Arriving in another country for a long time or planning a long trip, for example, around Europe, it is best to buy a local SIM-card. It will not work for calls to the homeland but it will be great for the mobile internet. However, do not rush to buy it at the airport. Most likely, you will be offered a universal option for the traveler, with packages of internet traffic, minutes, and SMS-messages.

Do not be lazy to get to the provider’s office and explore all the offers. The best option is simply an internet package that will immediately open access to WhatsApp, Snapchat, Skype, etc. If you suddenly need to call within the country, then just buy the minutes.

SIM-card for travel

If you travel a lot to different countries, the universal SIM-cards for travelers will save you. Calls and SMS with such options will be cheaper but the cost of the internet can vary significantly depending on the country.

The amount of mobile traffic

If you decide to do without the SIM-card of a traveler, and couldn’t buy a local card, disable the auto-synchronization in your smartphone, otherwise, once you get off the plane, the balance of your account can go to zero. Also, make sure that the traffic-saving feature is turned on in the browsers.

Downloading content

The best way to save traffic and stay protected is to go online as rarely as possible. To do this, download on your smartphone all the data that you need. For example, Chrome browser allows you to save pages for offline viewing, Google Maps allows you to select and download a map area, and TripAdvisor allows you to download the database for some cities. This will also help if, for some reason, your smartphone suddenly refuses to go online, and there won’t be any Wi-Fi networks nearby.