If you have decided to skip upgrading to last year’s iPhone X and made the decision to purchase an iPhone XS or XS Max this year, congratulations on your new ownership as you have certainly purchased one of the very best smartphones that has ever released this year, and here’s 10 things that you will want to do after unboxing your iPhone Xs.
#1: Get a Good Case and Screen Protector
Apple has an official collection of iPhone XS cases and a folio case that you may want to consider, however if you want to be even more careful on your investment, you might want to check out tougher cases from UAG, Otterbox and RhinoShield.
Although Apple has claimed that the iPhone XS’ glass is the strongest that they have ever used on an iPhone, any glass would still break if you aren’t careful, make sure you also pick up a screen protector to avoid spending more than RM2000.
#2: Invest on a Fast Charger and a USB-C Lightning Cable
Rather than getting a wireless charger, my advise is to invest in a USB PD (Power Delivery) charger and Apple’s official USB-C Lightning cable, its unfortunate that Apple still didn’t include these in the box despite selling the phones at a premium price tag.
Although you will need to purchase the official USB-C Lightning cable, you don’t need to invest in Apple’s pricey 29W USB Charger at RM269, you can look out for third party chargers from manufacturers such the Tronsmart W2DT charger that retails at RM126.90, if you prefer other brands, just make sure they support Power Delivery charging and you will be able to fast charge your iPhone XS.
#3: Get an AirPods or Bluetooth Earphones
#4: Set up your iCloud Account
Since the iPhone XS has large storage capacities, the chances of you deleting things such as photos are going to become less frequent, it is good that you don’t depend on Apple’s free 5GB storage plan, invest the 50GB storage plan at just RM3.90 per month. If you happen to have any family members that uses an iOS device, you can share your iCloud storage with them if you are on the 200GB and 2TB storage plan.
#5: Set up your Medical ID
#6: Configure Widgets
Your home screen isn’t just about your apps, as you can swipe to the right on your first page to reveal a dashboard of widgets, in that way you no longer need to go into your apps to access certain features. For instance, I have Waze on my list of widgets so that I can navigate to work or home with just a single tap.
#7: Create your Memoji
If you haven’t been using the iPhone X, you may have missed out the fun on Animojis. With iOS 12, Apple has introduced Memoji, which allows you to create your very own animated emoji that can be used on iMessage and FaceTime, the feature is accessible on the Messsages app, you’ll need to create a Message, tap on the App Store button next to the text space and tap on the Animoji app, you will then be able to create your own Memoji by tapping on the “+” button.
#8: Siri Shortcuts
Siri just got a little better on iOS 12, and it now comes with Siri Shortcuts, which helps minimize a lot of tapping on your phone by letting you define a set of actions and using a custom voice command, execute them all in one shot. For example, you can actually have Siri shortcuts help you resize the most recent photo you have taken, convert the file format and send it in e-mail. Otherwise, you can also set a shortcut to send a text message to your loved one everytime you say “send a message to someone I care” to Siri.
#9: Take your first Portrait Lighting Selfie
Portrait Lighting is now out of beta on iOS 12 and it now comes with an adjustable aperture feature on the iPhone XS, simply switch to your front camera and tap on Portrait, make sure you have good lighting and snap your selfie. After that, preview your photo and tap on the Edit button, you will see an adjustable aperture bar right below the portrait lighting options, set your background blur level to the one that works for you.
#10: Control your usage with Screen Time
#11: Try AR Apps and Games
Now that you done all of these, enjoy your new iPhone XS!