Can I get a few questions answered about my new S4?

[Zac_AUS]

Just took the plunge...

Hello,

After many hours of research I finally brought an S4. Since this is my smartphone I have a couple of questions.

- What is the highest capacity memory sd card can I put in? I'm thinking about an 64GB Micro SDXC UHS-I Memory Card - SanDisk Ultra. Do I insert the micro sd card into the phone then format it then put the media onto the card from my computer?

- Screen protectors people could recommend? (Shipping to Australia hopefully)

- Cases people could recommend? --> I'm buying two cases: a normal case and a wallet case.

-Apps to recommend? I'm thinking about getting the apps:
- Cerberus anti theft
- Pocket casts for my podcasts

- I've been reading about a laucher you can put on the phone which can change the appearance, save battery life and make it run faster. Would this make the phone buggy/less secure to do some banking on it?

-Any links/videos of anything helpful (or for the questions above)?

Cheers and thank you for reading

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Just took the plunge...

- What is the highest capacity memory sd card can I put in? I'm thinking about an 64GB Micro SDXC UHS-I Memory Card - SanDisk Ultra. Do I insert the micro sd card into the phone then format it then put the media onto the card from my computer?

64GB max, it should work as-is, but if you format it, do it in the phone (with the charger connected - power loss during formatting could be a disaster. Fortunately, even though you pay a little more for SanDisk, if you do have a problem, they're a great company to have to ask for help from. [Use the live chat on their website.])

- Screen protectors people could recommend? (Shipping to Australia hopefully)

I used one of the cheap 3 for $5 protectors for a year. It's still on the phone, but it's in an Otterbox Defender now, which has its own protector. The original one is as good as the day I put it on, and it's still on.

(Find some really bad transparent tape - the kind that doesn't stick well. After cleaning the screen as well as you can (fingerprints, etc.), roll the tape around your fingers, sticky side out, and use that to pick up any dust, hairs, fibers, etc., on the screen. Then shine a flashlight just a bit higher than parallel to the screen (so small particles will cast long shadows) to make sure that you haven't left a single speck of dirt on the screen. Then apply the protector. (One speck of dust can make a pretty large bubble in the protector.)

- Cases people could recommend? --> I'm buying two cases: a normal case and a wallet case.

Otter Box Defender for a "normal" case. It's a strong solid case. It costs more, but when you hold it, you'll feel why. (It feels well made - it has a good build feel, in cellphone-speak.)

-Apps to recommend? I'm thinking about getting the apps:
- Cerberus anti theft

Android Device Manager does that without an app. (You have to set the phone up, but it takes a few seconds.

- Pocket casts for my podcasts

Try a lot of free podcast apps. They're all different and you may find one you like better than the others.

- I've been reading about a laucher you can put on the phone which can change the appearance, save battery life and make it run faster. Would this make the phone buggy/less secure to do some banking on it?

You can change the appearance. Save battery life? Maybe a bit, but not much. the launcher is going to be one of the least battery-using apps on the phone. Run faster? Only when you're in the homescreen. Turn off all animation and it'll run faster. Once you're running an app, you're not running the launcher, so it won't have any effect. (The launcher is just another app.)

-Any links/videos of anything helpful (or for the questions above)?

About 25% of Youtube, maybe. Google is your friend. If you have question, put it into Google and start reading. Read Battery University - How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries so you don't keep replacing batteries. And read Wet Phone so you'll know what to do if your phone ever gets wet - and how to keep it from getting wet.