With more and more schools replacing their heavy textbooks with lighter iPads and other tablet computers, it’s important to know how to look after them.
It might not matter so much when your child is careless with their school books, but an expensive tablet is a different matter.
In order to get the most out of it, whether it’s for school or just for fun, we have a a few helpful tips.
Battery Life
The battery always seems like the first thing to go on any computer or tablet, but there are things you can to make it last longer.
First, make sure that anything you aren’t using is turned off. Most tablets don’t close down apps, but instead run them in the background, draining the battery unnecessarily.
Show your child how to close down apps they’ve finished with and they’ll get much more use out of the tablet.
You should also turn off all notifications and alerts. Not only will it distract your child if things are constantly popping up, but it’s wasting battery. Go into settings to find where to do this.
Finally you can both save battery and increase concentration by putting the tablet in ‘Airplane Mode’. This temporarily turns off all internet access, which is the biggest drain on the tablet’s energy.
With Facebook, Twitter and Netflix out of use, the tablet will be just a textbook – and they might actually get some work done.
Screen protection
Tablet screens are notoriously delicate - one fall on the kitchen tiles could shatter the screen making it unusable. Because this is such a common problem however, people have designed ways to solve it.
To save the screen itself, you’ll need a screen protector – a piece of clear plastic stuck to the screen of the tablet. There are many different brands available, the best of which claim to be “bulletproof”.
While this is likely an overstatement, they are impressive. The bullet protectors are marketed with videos of people hitting phones and tablets with hammers and screw drivers in an attempt to damage them.
If they can survive that, they should make it through your child’s schoolbag unharmed.
Covers
A cover is vital keeping a tablet safe, and not just for the screen. While the rest of the tablet is tougher than the screen, it can still be dented and damaged if not careful.
While a screen can be easily (if not cheaply) replaced, if the hardware gets damaged you’ll have no choice but to buy a new tablet.
The best thing for protection is a ‘bumper’, a thick piece of silicone that goes around the edge of the tablet.
The bumper’s thickness makes sure the tablet doesn’t touch the ground in a fall; rather the cover takes all the impact. This along with the screen protector will make your tablet all but indestructible.
Speed
Most of the tips about extending the battery life will also help keep the tablet running smoothly, but you should also make sure you’re not overloading the device.
Filling up the tablet with apps, photos, videos and other data will slow the processor down. While the tablet might be able to cope with it when it’s new, after a while you will have to lighten its load if you want it in top condition.
Regularly back up and delete photos and videos, and remove apps you don’t need or haven’t used in a while.
