Fix guides
Expert guides, zero jargon
45 step-by-step guides for Android and iPhone. Pro-only repairs stay locked until you upgrade.
Fix battery drain on Android
Find the apps and settings that quietly drain an Android battery, then put the biggest consumers on a leash without a factory reset.
12 min · Easy · ★ 4.9
Stop the display from eating the battery
The screen is usually the largest power draw. Lower it without making the phone hard to read outdoors.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Stop overnight battery drain
A phone that loses 10% or more while you sleep is doing work you did not ask for. Isolate it in one night.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Fix slow charging
Most slow-charging complaints are the cable, the port, or a setting, not a dead battery. Rule those out before you buy a new cell.
10 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Stretch iPhone battery life without guessing
Use Low Power Mode and iOS battery settings with intent, and read Maximum Capacity so you know when a battery is actually worn.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Decide if a battery actually needs replacing
Separate a worn cell from a software drain, then replace the battery without destroying the board or the waterproofing.
15 min · Medium · ★ 4.6
Speed up a slow Android phone
Make an older Android phone feel responsive again by removing startup load, reclaiming storage, and avoiding the 'cleaner' apps that make it worse.
15 min · Medium · ★ 4.8
Stop apps from starting with the phone
Autostart is why a freshly rebooted phone is already warm. Turn it off app by app on the skins that hide the switch.
7 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Cool down an overheating phone
Heat throttles performance and ages the battery. Find whether the cause is a workload, a case, or a failing cell.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Understand thermal throttling
When a phone slows down after looking fine for ten minutes, it is often protecting itself from heat. Here is how to tell, and what actually helps.
9 min · Medium · ★ 4.5
Reduce RAM pressure without a cleaner app
Android will fill RAM on purpose. The problem is apps that refuse to be killed, not the fact that RAM looks 'full'.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
Speed up an older iPhone
Older iPhones feel slow when storage is full, animations pile up, or a worn battery is triggering performance management.
10 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Fix Wi-Fi that keeps disconnecting
Random Wi-Fi drops are usually a saved network, a power-saving feature, or a crowded channel — not a mystery radio failure.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Improve weak Wi-Fi on a phone
Get a usable signal in the rooms where the phone actually sits, instead of staring at the router in the hallway.
7 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
Fix mobile data that will not connect
Work from the SIM and APN outward so you do not reset the network stack for a data toggle that was off.
10 min · Medium · ★ 4.7
Reset network settings safely
A network reset clears Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and VPN preferences. It does not delete photos. Know what you will have to enter again.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Fix VPN and Private DNS conflicts
A VPN, an always-on private DNS, and a firewall app can each block the internet while Wi-Fi still says connected.
8 min · Medium · ★ 4.5
Free up storage on Android
Recover gigabytes in a safe order: copies of photos first, then unused apps, then caches. Do not delete folders you do not recognise.
12 min · Easy · ★ 4.9
Clear cache without losing data
Cache is disposable. App data is your login and files. Here is the difference, in the exact menus.
5 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Move photos off the phone safely
Free the camera roll without discovering next month that the 'backup' was only thumbnails.
10 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Free space on iPhone without erasing it
Use iOS storage recommendations in the right order so you do not delete a photo library that was never uploaded.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Fix a flickering screen
Separate a software flicker from a failing display cable before you pay for a screen.
8 min · Medium · ★ 4.5
Fix an unresponsive touchscreen
A screen that misses taps may be a screen protector, moisture, a software overlay, or a damaged digitizer. Test them in that order.
8 min · Medium · ★ 4.6
Check for dead pixels and uneven colour
A full-screen sweep of solid colours shows dead pixels, stuck pixels, and blotches that a wallpaper hides.
5 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Fix brightness and eye-strain settings
When the screen is too dim, too blue at night, or flickers at the bottom of the slider, the fix is usually a setting, not a new panel.
5 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
First aid for a cracked screen
Keep a cracked phone usable and your data recoverable until the glass is replaced.
10 min · Medium · ★ 4.6
Fix apps that crash on startup
An app that closes the moment it opens is usually a bad cache, a stale login, or an update — not a dying phone.
7 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Remove malware from Android safely
Most phone 'viruses' are apps the user installed. Remove them without paying a scareware cleaner or wiping the phone first.
15 min · Medium · ★ 4.8
Fix Google Play Store errors
Download pending, authentication errors, and a store that will not open are usually cache and account issues.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
Install an Android update safely
A system update is safe when the battery, storage, and backup are ready. It is how security patches actually reach the phone.
10 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Get out of a bootloop
A phone that restarts forever can often be saved from recovery without wiping. Wipe only when the other options are gone.
25 min · Hard · ★ 4.4
Fix an iPhone app that will not open
The iOS version of the crash-on-launch fix: offload, reinstall, and check screen time and date before you erase the phone.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Recover recently deleted photos
Recently deleted photos are usually still on the phone for about 30 days. Restore them before you empty that album or shoot a full card of new pictures.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Recover lost contacts
Contacts almost always live in an account. Find the right account and its trash or an older sync before you type them in again.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Back up a phone before a reset
A reset deletes what is not in a backup you have verified. Make the copy, open it, then reset.
15 min · Easy · ★ 4.9
Copy data off a phone with a broken screen
If touch or the image is gone but the phone still boots, you can often get photos off without a new screen.
20 min · Hard · ★ 4.5
Use Android developer options safely
Developer options are useful and mostly harmless if you change only the switches this guide names.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
Fix Google Play Services battery drain
Play Services is a shared library, not an app you should disable. Drain from it usually means a broken update, a bad location mode, or another app calling it.
10 min · Medium · ★ 4.5
Use Android Safe Mode to find a bad app
Safe Mode boots without third-party apps. If the problem disappears, you have proved an installed app is the cause.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.7
Use wireless debugging without bricking anything
Wireless ADB is a support tool for logs and installs. It is not a backdoor, and it should not stay on.
20 min · Hard · ★ 4.4
Fix sensors and blocked permissions
When rotation, compass, camera, or microphone 'stop working', the permission or a case magnet is the usual cause.
7 min · Easy · ★ 4.5
Use iPhone recovery mode and know when DFU is too far
Recovery mode reinstalls iOS and can keep your data if the phone still offers Update. Restore erases it. DFU is for phones that cannot enter recovery.
20 min · Hard · ★ 4.5
Fix an iPhone that only charges at an angle
Lint packed into the Lightning or USB-C port is the most common 'charging' failure on iPhones. Clean it before you replace the port.
8 min · Easy · ★ 4.8
Control iPhone background activity
Background App Refresh, location, and push are three different switches. Turn off the ones you do not need without breaking messages.
6 min · Easy · ★ 4.6
Deal with Activation Lock and Find My
Activation Lock is account security. You can remove it from a device you own. You cannot remove it from someone else's iPhone, and this guide will not pretend otherwise.
8 min · Medium · ★ 4.6