Let the store peeps do it

I want things like hardware upgrades to be seamless and easy to do.

Unfortunately, the lucky charm graphical user interfaces on our phones betray the pitfalls that await most consumers if/when they try to transfer apps, photos, and data themselves.

Generally speaking, transfer software is very hit or miss.

Take my case where only the received text messages came across. Again, the software does a mostly good job, but there are instances where everything is not perfect.

But what is, right?

For most folks, I recommend going to your respective carrier’s store and letting an associate perform things like data transfer from your old device.

Yes, it’ll take time for things to complete, depending on how much stuff you have on the phone. But, you can have them investigate things like photos not transferring after they give the new phone back to you to check everything is alright.

That should save you some time and aggravation if you were doing this yourself.

I made a considerable jump from the Android 8.0 operating system to Android 11.0.

The phone is speedy.

I tend to keep hardware around for longer than I should, upgrading only when the phone can no longer perform up to minimal standards.

In addition, app developers kind of force your hand when they stop supporting the latest version of their app when your device is a couple of generations behind the latest OS as mine was.

All in all, it’s nice to splurge on something new, but again, do yourself a favor and let the sales associates handle data transfer for you from your old device to your new one.

My tip of the day is to make sure your Sim card is inside the phone before you power up the device for the first time.

There were quick start instructions that came in my device’s box. However, nowhere did it instruct me to install the Sim card.

It had been so long since I had purchased a new phone that I forgot things like the ability to make and receive calls would not be possible without a Sim card inside the phone.

I had transferred all of my data from the old device to the new one. But, unfortunately, my phone was displaying an “Emergency calls only” message.

No dial tone.

No calls are coming in.

No texts are coming in.

Only the ability to surf the Internet and send and receive emails.

I tried a few things before I retried the box the phone came in.

Buried underneath the cardboard that supported the phone and charging cord was a pin-like tool.

This instrument is something to use when accessing the Sim card.

I still could not see anything that looked like a Sim card.

Until I opened the thin cardboard box that the quick start instructions came in, that is.

A folded piece of paper that looked like a mini-envelope was screaming, “Detach me, Bob, and explore my innards.”

Well, maybe not innards, but I like that word over something like “contents.”

Eventually, my fingers were able to pull off the mini envelope from the interior sidewall of the small box.

I opened the envelope to find another folded-up piece of paper that contained the Sim card.

This odyssey was about to end.

I pulled apart the Sim card from its plastic housing.

I took the pin-like tool to the hole on the top of the phone and inserted it while pressing on the Sim card storage cover flap.

The drawer opened slightly, and I grabbed the lip between my thumb and forefinger, gently pulling out the Sim drawer.

I placed the Sim card in the tray and gently pushed the entire tray with Sim card back into the phone.

Before I did all of this, I did turn off the phone.

Now that I installed the Sim card, however, I started the phone back up.

It booted up quickly as fresh new phones should do, and I made and received calls.

Texts started raging in like white water rapids.

Well, maybe not raging, but there were enough texts that came in that I could tell sending and receiving texts was working.

It took me a while to do all of this.

However, functionally speaking, the phone is just as good or better than if a store associate had completed the task.

All good.

But, what are you going to do?

That’s ultimately your call, but for most of you, dear readers, please let the store peeps handle your new phone’s setup and data transfer.