{"id":1065,"date":"2014-07-17T09:51:32","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T09:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=1065"},"modified":"2015-01-06T10:57:54","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T10:57:54","slug":"9-surprisingly-easy-but-often-forgotten-tips-for-using-your-phone-on-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/07\/17\/9-surprisingly-easy-but-often-forgotten-tips-for-using-your-phone-on-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Surprisingly Easy (But Often Forgotten) Tips for Using Your Phone on Holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of us are about to jet off on our holidays, desperate to get away from the dreary grey skies of the \u201d\u02dcgreat\u2019 British summer.<\/p>\n

Most of us will be taking our smartphones too, so that we can take pictures, make calls, read books, watch movies and brag about our holiday on social media.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, fancy smartphones are a big target for thieves in tourist hotspots. There\u2019s also the risk that all the calls and data you use will leave you with a bill with more zeroes than Bill Gates\u2019 bank account.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean you have to leave your phone at home, though. Just follow the tips in our surprisingly easy guide to using your smartphone on holiday.<\/p>\n

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Download everything you need before you go<\/h4>\n

Downloading stuff abroad costs an absolute fortune \u201d\u201c just ask the poor woman who decided she needed to download The Best of Neil Diamond<\/i> while in South Africa and nearly ended up paying \u00a32,600 for the privilege (she managed to knock it down to \u201d\u02dcjust\u2019 \u00a3400)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Download everything you need \u201d\u201c apps, music, movies and so on \u201d\u201c before you go using your Wi-Fi at home. That includes any Google Maps or important documents (hotel bookings, etc) you might need too.<\/p>\n

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Check your roaming data plan and upgrade if you need to<\/h4>\n

Different providers charge different rates for using your phone abroad, and this rate can vary depending on your plan. Check your rates before you go so that you don\u2019t leave yourself open to nasty charges.<\/p>\n

You might save yourself some cash by paying for temporary data too. 3 offer unlimited data for a day for \u00a35, which is ideal for a short city break, while O2 will give you 25MB of overseas data for \u00a31.99 a day (a better long term option).<\/p>\n

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Find a good bar or cafe with Wi-Fi<\/h4>\n

Find a nice cosy bar or cafe with free Wi-Fi and pop in for a daily pint\/latte while you do your phone business. It\u2019s a no-brainer, really.<\/p>\n

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Use Skype and What\u2019sApp instead of texting or calling<\/h4>\n

If you use Wi-Fi, it\u2019s completely free and you\u2019ll save a fortune. The only downside is that you\u2019ll only be able to stay in touch with people back home while you\u2019re on Wi-Fi, but isn\u2019t the whole point of going on holiday to get away from the people who pester you on a daily basis?<\/p>\n

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Do not, under any circumstances, use your phone in the pool or the sea<\/h4>\n

One slip while taking a selfie in the sea will make your \u00a3500 iPhone the most expensive piece of fish food in the world. Insurers aren\u2019t too sympathetic to people who drop their phones into massive bodies of water either, so you\u2019ll have to fork out for a brand new phone when you get home.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t have your phone out all the time<\/h4>\n

Nothing screams \u201d\u02dccareless tourist\u2019 more than pointing your phone at every mildly pretty scene and taking 500 snaps. You might as well put on a sign saying \u201d\u02dcrob me, please\u2019. Take photos, but use common sense and, if possible, make sure someone is watching your back.<\/p>\n

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Don\u2019t let anyone borrow it<\/h4>\n

The best scams are universal, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

\n

Just ditch it<\/h4>\n

We\u2019re so attached to our smartphones that the thought of just leaving it behind rarely crosses our mind. Leave your smartphone behind and give yourself a break from the stresses of life back home and enjoy your holiday! You won\u2019t have to worry about it being nicked either.<\/p>\n

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Replace your smartphone with other (cheaper) gadgets<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s easier than you might think: the camera can be replaced by an \u201d\u02dcold school\u2019 digital camera (which you can buy for about \u00a310 these days), a physical map book and guide can replace the internet and an old phone with an international SIM card can cover your calls and texts. You can do everything you\u2019d use your smartphone for and not worry about getting it stolen.<\/p>\n

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Have you got any top smartphone security tips? Share them with us in the comments.<\/p>\n

And if you need a bit of cash during the post-holiday financial blues, you can always sell some stuff with musicMagpie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of us are about to jet off on our holidays, desperate to get away from the dreary grey skies of the \u201d\u02dcgreat\u2019 British summer. Most of us will be taking our smartphones too, so that we can take pictures, make calls, read books, watch movies and brag about our …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1065"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3058,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065\/revisions\/3058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}