Advice for iPhone noobie

Associate
Joined
27 Nov 2008
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Cambridge
Evening all, I've just bought a cheap iPhone XS to have a play with, having used only Android devices since the HTC G1/Android 1 days.

I've already been advised to check battery health and face ID functionality. Do you have any other tips and advice? Either hardware checks/settings or must-have software.

I appreciate that the XS isn't the latest and greatest, but I've not bothered with a flagship for years, probably a Galaxy S5 :p.
 
Soldato
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If you haven't worked it out yet, battery health is under Settings -> Battery -> Battery Health

For face ID just enable it and see if it works. If it doesn't the phone has probably had a non-Apple screen replacement.
 
Commissario
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In the radio shack
If the battery health is down a bit or if it has a lot of cycles, I'd be tempted to get a new battery fitted by Apple. That way you know you've got the best available, you've got a real Apple battery, it'll have a bit of warranty on it and if they break it while they're replacing it, you'll get a replacement phone.
 
Associate
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12 Jun 2021
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UK
Evening all, I've just bought a cheap iPhone XS to have a play with, having used only Android devices since the HTC G1/Android 1 days.

I've already been advised to check battery health and face ID functionality. Do you have any other tips and advice? Either hardware checks/settings or must-have software.

I appreciate that the XS isn't the latest and greatest, but I've not bothered with a flagship for years, probably a Galaxy S5 :p.
make sure you turn off automatic ios updates, worth waiting a bit to see if any issues arise from a release before downloading it
 
Associate
OP
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Cambridge
Gents, apologies, I forgot to turn alerts on for this thread and thought it had died unanswered.

After a few days of frustration at the lack of fine control over certain settings I began to realise that they were things I didn't need to control as the phone knew what was what.

IOS clicked pretty quickly and I was impressed with the camera and general snapiness. Face ID and battery health were both fine too.

Unfortunately the phone only lasted 2 months before the speaker died. Sent it back under warranty, but the seller refunded rather than replaced and then increased their prices.

For now I'm back with a Samsung A8 and hating the (previously unnoticed) terrible camera and laggy operation.
 
Associate
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12 Jun 2021
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UK
Conversely, I've always had this on and never had a problem. Same with app updates, just let the phone do what it wants.
it is indeed better now than it was before. i remember back in my iPhone 4 days updates were so temperamental at times!
 
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