Mobile phone with lots of apps
By Lindsay Burnham / Mobile Phone Repairs / • • • • • • • • • • / 0 Comments

Why apps won’t download on an android phone

Using an android phone provides access to the Google Play Store and with it a wide selection of apps available to download. But what happens when you experience app download issues? It is frustrating when you want to read the latest book, listen to a podcast or play that popular game and you are waiting for the app to download. There can be many reasons why an app fails to download. In this blog, we outline the steps to take to resolve the issue of why apps won't download on an android phone.

Step 1 – Clear the cache

Clearing the cache on the Google Play Store app can solve many problems. By doing this, it can reset the pending settings and ensures you use the latest version of each of your apps. To clear the cache, go to settings and then apps. We would advise you to clear the cache regularly in the play store as this is good practice.

Step 2 – Check your connection

An app will only download when there is a strong connection with either WI-FI or mobile data. Check the connection icon on the screen to ensure it is visible. You can also check the connection in settings. If you are trying to download via WI-FI, you may want to try mobile data connection only. Disable the WI-FI in settings and use your data to download instead. Sometimes, the mobile data connection process works better for downloads on android phones.

Step 3 – Reset the App Store

If you are looking at a blank screen waiting for the app to download, force stop Google Play Store. If your connection is strong and the cache has been cleared, there could be a problem with the app itself. To close the Google Play Store app, visit settings and then apps and notifications. At app info, force stop the app. This acts like a reset and will when re-opened should then operate normally.

Step 4 – Check your permissions

Sometimes the Google Play store prevents downloads for security. To check your permissions, visit settings and then apps. Next, visit reset app preferences or permissions. This allows for unrestricted downloads of apps onto your android device.

Step 5 – Turning the phone off and then on

If the above fails, then you may have to power the phone down and restart the device. Although a cliché, a restart can solve many issues with your phone as it spends a long time on and in use.

We hope the above has fixed the issues you are experiencing, but if not contact us. We can offer advice over the phone and make an appointment for one of our technicians to review why apps won't download on an android phone.

Mobile phone with lots of apps
By Lindsay Burnham / Mobile Phone Repairs / • • • • • • • • • / 0 Comments

How to free up storage space on your phone

You’ve bought your phone because it has a great camera but have you considered the storage space needed for all the photographs you’ll take? Storage on both an iphone and an android device seems to be a continual problem. The combination of photographs and apps, message attachments and upgrades can all contribute to the reduction in your phone’s storage space. This blog post provides you with hints and tips on how to free up storage space on your phone.

To check your phone storage, visit settings. This will give you an overview of where the main culprits are. From here you can delete unused apps and games and review photos and files.

If there are photos that you just can’t get rid of, then back them up using an external storage provider. Icloud, Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive are all good options and simple to still access directly from your phone.

We would also recommend you delete unnecessary data and clear the cache from your apps. Apps build this in the background and whilst not a huge drain on your storage, it can add up and deleting the cache will free up some space to use for more important items.

Check the settings of your messaging apps. Some, such as Whatsapp, automatically save images, gifs and videos in your gallery. Check what you need to keep and delete what you don’t. Check your message quantity too as deleting old messages will also improve storage capacity.

If there are apps that you don’t want to remove or simply can’t because they came pre-installed with your phone, you can disable them. Disabling apps improves the storage space on your phone and is an “easy win” for quickly freeing up some space. It is often surprising just how many apps you have especially considering the average user installs two apps a week!

Just like on your laptop or computer you rack up a browsing history on your phone. Clear your browsing history and check your downloads. If you have downloaded documents or images from a website then they are also taking up valuable space on your phone. PDFs, video files and audio are large files and can remain in your downloads long after you have viewed them. Podcasts will also stay in your downloads until deleted and can be very large files. Check the download folder regularly to make sure you only keep what you need.

If you are still experiencing issues with storage on your mobile phone or any other problem, make an appointment with us at Gadget Rehab.

One of our engineers will be able to look at your phone and find the root cause of the issue. Call us today on 01494534008 or contact us.

Low Battery Life
By Lindsay Burnham / Apple iPhone Repairs • Mobile Phone Repairs / • • • • • • • • • • / 0 Comments

Are you experiencing battery life issues on your phone?

If you are experiencing the fast draining of your phone battery, it could be for various reasons. Spending time scrolling, liking, and taking pictures all takes a toll on the battery life of our phones. There are things however we can do to maximise the battery life and extend the time between phone charging.

We would always recommend you use an original charger, avoid overheating your phone and always keep your apps and system current by updating to the latest version when notified.

The first step to sorting the problem is to get the facts by checking your battery usage. On an android phone this is by going to settings, device care and then battery. Here you will be able to see the status of your phone and how your battery is being used, next you should carry out the following checks:

1. Phone Display
The brightness of your screen affects your battery use, so we recommend you set it at a low level. You can then adjust the brightness when you need it rather than always having it at a higher level. Next, check the length of time before your display goes into sleep mode and make sure it is on the shortest time setting. Making sure your phone display is not live for longer than it needs to be can save you some battery.

2. Phone Sounds and Notifications
Having keyboard sounds active so that you can hear taps or vibrations when you are using your phone drains the battery. Turn off keyboard sounds and vibrations and make sure your notification settings are for active apps only.

3. Apps
Apps are the greatest offender for battery use, but we also know they are the most convenient functions of your phone, so only have those you use set to active and uninstall apps that you don’t use. For the apps which you use often but drain a lot of battery power, check the notification settings, and reduce the frequency to a low level.

As apps are updated often, it is also advisable to check apps that continue to run in the background and change the settings to ensure only necessary functions remain active.

Some apps have location services active which run continuously and use the battery. Check this setting on all your apps and amend accordingly. Most location services run to send you localised ads and therefore will not affect the performance of the app.

If your phone offers you a “dark mode” for apps this will also reduce battery use and can make it easier to read text.

4. Connectivity
If you use your phone in the car, chances are you have your Bluetooth always set to active. Check this setting and only activate it when needed to prevent unnecessary battery usage.

If you have tried all of the above and are still experiencing battery issues, then we can help. Call us today on 01494 534008 to book an appointment for us to investigate the issue or contact us.