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📝 Post: Is Your Old Phone Actually Ready to Be Traded In?
🗞️ In Case You Missed It: Tech Headlines
😎 Pick of the Week: Click Around and Play
📦 Featured Product: Ember Smart Mug
📝 Is Your Old Phone Actually Ready to Be Traded In?
If you took my advice from last week’s post on Are You Paying for a Phone You Could Be Getting for Free?, perhaps you have a new phone in hand and ready to send back your old one. Except…
Read this first!
There are a few things you need to triple check before turning in (or donating/selling) your old phone. If a phone were ever lost, stolen, or damaged, perhaps you weren’t able to backup your old phone and restore to your newer phone. Having been through that recently myself, it is a pain! However, a simple backup and restore is not without its own pain points. Let’s discuss the key areas that will help make sure your process is smooth and your old phone is ready to be traded in!
But before you do anything, do not delete or erase anything yet. Backup, Backup, Backup! Make sure your old phone is backed up whichever way you choose to do so. Either through a computer, the cloud, or manually. Especially your photos! Generally, you can verify photos are backed up by simply looking at the number of pictures and make sure the first and last pictures are included in the backup, while maybe randomly spot checking a few others.
Newer iPhones and Androids are usually pretty good at the restoring process from your older phone. Put simply, setting each of your phones next to each other with WiFi and/or Bluetooth on and you can start the process of “cloning” one phone to the other. After this process is completed, your apps, screen layout, background, settings, and all should be ready to go on your new phone. Without looking at the physcial phone itself, you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two.
With a few exceptions. Sometimes, apps do not always move over with your account still logged in. Meaning, you have to enter your user name and password in order to use that specific app again. This is one of a few reasons on Why You Need a Password Manager along with practicing Password Security and Management.
Next, I have a small, but lengthy tip you may utilize to guarantee you can be certain everything you need and want from your old phone to your new phone is transferred accurately after a restore. This process works on Android or Apple, too.
After a backup is complete and you have two “identical” phones next to each other, open the app drawer on each phone. Alphabetically, one by one, open each and every app on both phones to verify they both open and function the same, have the same login information, are setup the same, etc. Remember, not every app will always bring your login information over appropriately. After verifying an app works properly on your new phone, simply delete that app from your old phone.
Repeat this process until every app has been opened and is setup on the new phone and every app has been deleted on the old phone. This process can also be used for phone settings (home screen views, saved dictionary/keyboard words and shortcuts, etc). This is tedious, but it works!
Once complete, the old phone is now ready for the next few steps. Regardless if using an Android or Apple device, each have their own version of a security lock that needs to be removed. On Android, you can follow the steps to Removing your Android activation lock. On Apple, follow the steps on How to remove Activation Lock. This is also known as “Find My.”
After verifying removal of the security measures, your phone is now ready to be erased and wiped for trade in. On Android, follow these steps on How to reset your Android device and what you need to know beforehand, and for Apple, follow these steps on how to Erase iPhone based on the version of iOS installed.
Once wiped, the last step is to prepare your phone for shipping and return. Typically, you have the option to ship it with a provided return label, or turn it in to a physical storefront. To be fair and clear, I’ve heard horror stories of both ways of returning a phone, but we can help mitigate any possible issues. Essentially, the receiver will say the phone was either not received or turned in with damage.
The easiest way to remedy this situation is by filming the return process. Whether in store or via shipping, video the phone after turning it on, and show a few different angles of the “Welcome” screen to indicate it’s ready for a new user and the screen and body of the phone is free of cracks and major damage. Keep the video playing while powering off the device and putting it in the box with tape and the shipping label placed, or physically handing it to an employee within the company. Ask for a receipt for either, indicating who received the item. If shipping, make sure to purchase insurance if not included. If in person, ask for their business card - this could also be helpful when leaving a positive review.
Again, to be clear, I’ve done this process 3-5 times and have personally never had an issue, but that doesn’t mean others haven’t. Just be careful and take precautions.
Are you ready to trade your phone in?
🗞️ ICYMI: Tech Headlines
At the Meta Connect Keynote 2026, they Launched a $1,299 VR Headset That Look Like Glasses to Rival Apple Vision Pro and an AI Muse Charm [that] Could Be Meta’s iPod Moment.
Amazon delivery drones spark resident revolt in Texas suburb as [they] block Meta’s Muse AI assistant in new standoff over agentic shopping.
Google Gemini accessed three companies during AI hacking test
Trump wants a new AI czar and an “AI Force” modeled on Space Force
YouTube promises custom feeds and a lot more AI later this year
😎 POTW: Click Around and Play
This week’s picks are a little nostalgic, a little competitive, and very easy to lose time in.
📦 Featured Product
For any of you that know me well - I am not a coffee or tea drinker. But that doesn’t mean I don’t look out for my fellow caffeine connoisseurs. If you find yourself heating up your coffee one or more times throughout the day, consider an Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug. You can use the app to control the temperature of your mug between 120-145°F all day (in tandem with the coaster), or up to 80 minutes on battery. Happy sipping!
