Phone Medics

In the early days of the iPhone, users enjoyed service plans for AT&T (and later Verizon) that promised unlimited data. Unfortunately, it was too good to last. After a few years, the carriers decided that giving smartphone users unlimited data was either technologically problematic or insufficiently profitable (there’s some debate on this point), and they began to be replaced by limited data plans. Once that happened, we had to start worrying about how much data we used, because the last thing anybody wants is to burn through their monthly allotment and start being charged by the gigabyte. With that in mind, we’re going to spend the next couple posts talking about some of the ways you can manage your cell phone’s data usage, so that you still have some data left at the end of your month. In today’s post, we’re going to talk about how to handle data usage on your iPhone. Next time we’ll cover Android. Turn Off Wi-Fi Assist When you go looking for ways to reduce your data usage,...

In a world where we are increasingly dependent on electronics, water has become the boogeyman. We live in constant fear of dropping our phones into our pools, sinks, and toilets. But while water damage is scary, everybody knows that the best way to fix it is to just drop your phone into a bag of rice, right? Unfortunately this is one of those times when what “everybody knows” isn’t really true. The reality is that putting a wet phone into rice won’t help at all, and might actually hurt. You see, the common wisdom is that since rice is a dry food that absorbs water as it cooks, then it must be able to absorb the water out of a wet phone, but that isn’t actually the case. Yes, we cook rice by forcing it to absorb hot water, but that doesn’t mean that the rice will actually absorb the water out of your phone just because it happens to be nearby. In fact, rice doesn’t absorb water out of the air very efficiently at all (that’s why we boil it). To make matters worse, rice is also dusty,...

We live in an increasingly DIY-focused world. When something goes wrong, we tend to want to take care of it ourselves, rather than pay someone else to take care of it for us, and the age of the internet makes that easier than it's ever been. If you want to learn to do it, chances are there’s somebody on YouTube who’s eager to teach you. We’re big fans of DIY solutions at Phone Medics Plus, but the truth is that when it comes to your electronics, DIY repairs can get pretty tricky. The truth is, sometimes you're just better off bringing your phone or computer problems to a professional. In today’s post, we’ll tell you a few reasons why that's the case. Identify the problem quickly We’ve seen it all, so if you’re not sure exactly what’s wrong, we have the experience and knowledge to quickly troubleshoot the problem. Help you understand the problem and the best way to fix it Some problems have more than one solution, and some solutions are easier or cheaper than other...

In previous articles we’ve talked about keeping your computer safe from malware  and from excess apps and files that can slow down your performance . What we haven’t talked much about before is the best way to protect your phone. The truth is that while your phone is safer from malware than your PC in many ways, you still need to be careful about what you download, and be aware of what certain apps are doing with your data. Malware Now, you may be thinking, “can my phone really get a virus?” The answer is “yes, but…” While there are legitimate malware threats out there that can infect your phone, there aren’t many programs that really infect your phone the way malware infects your computer. This is especially true for iPhones, since Apple’s “walled garden” development philosophy heavily restricts the access third party apps have to the device’s basic functions. So, in other words, malware for phones does exist, but most of the time the threats to your phone are going to com...

Apple's made lots of changes to their iPhone line over the years, some changes have been great, others have been not so great. Some of those changes, though, have been a bit of a mixed blessing. For example, beginning with the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017, the newest iPhone models all have a glass panel on the back. While this glass makes the phone look fantastic from an aesthetic standpoint, it also means that now there's one more thing on your phone that can break. Fortunately, back glass repair is one more service we offer at Phone Medics Plus. Our experienced repair technicians have the skills and the knowledge to handle even a tricky repair like this one. So when disaster strikes and you find that your shiny new phone's beautiful glass back is broken, bring it to the phone repair experts at Phone Medics Plus . You can give us a call , book online , or visit our repair facility at 91 E. Merritt Island Causeway in Merritt Island.

At Phone Medics Plus we’re dedicated to helping you keep your phone in great shape for as long as you own it, but we also know that there will come a time when you want to upgrade to a newer phone. We want to be there for you during that process, too, so that the transition from your old phone to your new phone is as smooth as possible. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of things you should do before you sell your Android phone. Backup Your Stuff The first thing you should do is backup your phone. We talked about how to backup your Android phone in a previous article. To recap, there are several ways to backup your Android device’s data. Use your Google account to backup all of your account data, calendars, contacts, web bookmarks, app data (for Google apps and apps that use Google Play Services), wifi passwords, and device settings. Use an app like Google Photos to backup all your photos and videos, and an app like SMS Backup and Restore (free in the Google Play S...

In our last two articles we’ve told you a bit about how lithium ion batteries work  and why they sometimes expand . Today we’re going to round out our series on batteries with a few tips on the best ways to make sure your batteries last as long as possible. Batteries are one of the most important components in cell phones, tablets, and laptops - they’re what make your mobile devices mobile. By keeping the battery in your device healthy, you can extend the useful lifespan of the entire device. Here’s how. Avoid Extreme Temperatures The first thing to do is avoid extreme temperatures, especially extreme heat. Heat increases the wear on a battery’s internal components and can shorten its lifespan. So in general, try to avoid leaving your phone, tablet, or laptop in a hot car or laying out in the sun on a hot summer day. Run Fewer Apps in the Background Another thing you can do to keep your battery healthier longer is to reduce the amount of things your device is running i...

In previous posts we’ve told you about how lithium ion batteries work  and discussed some of the benefits of replacing the battery in your phone. Today we’re going to talk about why some lithium ion batteries expand, and what you should do when that happens. The battery on this iPhone 8 has swollen and popped the phone open. This is a topic that’s been in the news a lot the last couple years. As you may recall, in late 2016 Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 phones experienced severe battery problems, to the point that some phones actually burst into flames. Then in late 2017, as Apple began shipping their new iPhone 8, there were reports that some customers were experiencing battery swelling - sometimes after charging their phone, and sometimes right out of the box. In some cases, the swelling was so bad that it actually caused the screen of the phone to separate from the casing. So the big question is, why does this happen? Why lithium ion batteries expand? Well, as it turns out...

Many of the questions we get here at Phone Medics Plus relate to phone batteries. Why does my battery stop working? How can I improve my battery life? Why isn’t my battery charging/holding charge? With that in mind, we’ve put together a quick primer on just how your the battery in your phone, tablet, or PC works. How Batteries Work Every battery - from the button battery in your watch to the AAs in your remote control to the battery in your car to the battery in your phone - has three basic components: a negative electrode (the anode), a positive electrode (the cathode), and an electrolyte. In a fully charged battery, the anode is holding onto a bunch of electrons. When the battery begins to discharge, those electrons start to move from the anode to the cathode, through the electrolyte. That movement generates the electricity your device uses. The more electrons make their way to the cathode, the less power the battery puts out. Once the battery isn’t putting out enough po...

At Phone Medics Plus, people come to us for help with lots of different problems with their phones. There are a few problems, though, that we see pretty regularly. One of them is the so-called “Touch Disease” that afflicts the iPhone 6 Plus. The touch IC chips are outlined in red. In August of 2015, reports of an increasingly common problem with the iPhone 6 Plus began to hit the internet. Users were seeing a flickering gray bar at the top of their iPhone 6 Plus screens, and their screens were not responding to touch input. For some users, that meant that multi-touch features - like pinch-to-zoom - were not working. For others, their touchscreen stopped responding completely. The problem was nicknamed the “touch disease” on the internet, and as with the infamous “Bendgate” controversy, where the iPhone 6 Plus frame was bending in users’ pockets, the touch disease appeared to be a flaw in the design of the device. The two touch IC chips - the chips that control the to...

In our last article we told you all about how LCD screens work . In that piece, we talked a little about the history of LCDs and how important they’ve been to the rise of personal mobile electronics like smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Today we’re going to talk about another crucial component of this technological revolution: the touchscreen. The first touchscreens were designed in the 1960s, but the technology was expensive and imprecise. It wasn’t until the 1990s that there were serious attempts to bring touchscreen technology into the consumer world. IBM was the first company to attempt to bring the technology to mobile phones, with the Simon in 1993, while Sega made an aborted attempt to incorporate touchscreen technology into mobile gaming. It wasn’t until the early 2000s, with the introduction of PDAs and early smartphones, that touchscreens began to see use in mobile electronics. Pretty much all modern touchscreens fall into two basic categories: resistive touchscreen...

At Phone Medics Plus, we’re always here for you to repair your devices when they break, but we also want to help you keep your devices safe so that they don’t break. That’s why we offer a full range of protective products for your cell phone or tablet. That includes a wide selection of phone and tablet cases , tempered glass screen protectors, and now, we’re excited to announce that we’ve added a brand new product to that lineup: Qmadix Invisible First Defense liquid glass screen protectors. Traditional screen protectors are great at keeping your phone safe from scratches and cracks, some even do an okay job of keeping away fingerprints, but they can also be bulky, difficult to apply, and have an unsightly edge that can spoil the aesthetics of your phone, especially if you have a curved screen. Qmadix Liquid glass screen protectors offer a comparable level of scratch protection with no bulky layer or ugly borders, and without the difficulty of making sure you’ve got everything lin...

At Phone Medics Plus, we’re here for you when your phone gets damaged, but we also want to help you protect your phone from damage. That’s why we sell a variety of cases to help you keep your phone safe. Certain things in life are inevitable. The old joke goes that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes, but the truth is, there are a few more things that you can’t really escape. One of them is a damaged phone. If you own a cell phone, then sooner or later it’s going to get dropped, wet, or dirty. Maybe it slips out of your hand as you're opening your car door, maybe it gets dropped in the sand on your day at the beach, or maybe a careless elbow and a knocked-over glass splashes it with water. One way or another, the odds are good that sooner or later your phone is going to experience some rough times. The best thing you can do to prepare yourself for that fateful day is to have your phone in a good case. But what, you may ask, makes for a good case? That’s an exc...

At Phone Medics Plus, we’re not just committed to providing the best possible repair service for your phone or PC. We also want to make sure you have the tools to get the most out of your experience with your device, and to make sure that even when something does go wrong, you can get back on your feet as quickly as possible. That’s why we’ve spent our last two blog posts talking about the best ways to backup your data. In our first post, we talked about the best backup solutions for your iPhone , then we talked about how to backup the data on your PC . In today’s post, we’re going to finish up by talking about the best ways to backup the data on your Android device. As with PCs and iPhones, there are two basic ways to backup your Android device: on-site and off-site. On-site backups are saved to your own computer, while off-site backups are saved to the cloud. There are a wide variety of applications out there that will help you create both kinds of backups. Manufacture...

At Phone Medics Plus, we strive to be as open and transparent as possible when handling your repair. When you leave your phone, tablet, or computer with us, we want you to know that it's in good hands. With that in mind, we've recently added a new feature to our website: a customer portal. If you're curious about how your repair is going, you can login and see where we are in the process. To access the customer portal, just head on over to our website and click the link at the top that says Customer Portal . This link will take you to the login page, where you'll enter your ticket number and last name. There you can see the status of your current ticket, along with invoices for previous work we've done for you. At Phone Medics Plus we're always looking for ways to improve our service. That's why we recently added a way to book appointments online . It's also why we've added our new Customer Portal feature. Our goal is to perform quality work...

At Phone Medics Plus, we pride ourselves on being as accessible to our customers as possible. We work hard to make your repair experience as smooth as possible, and to make sure you have a variety of ways to get in touch with us and bring us your device when it’s convenient for you. Our customers can simply walk in, or you can contact us via phone, Facebook Messenger, or the contact form on our website to ask questions, request quotes and schedule appointments. As of this week, we’ve added a new way for you to schedule your repair: online appointment booking. When you visit our website, you’ll see that we’ve added a new “ Book an Appointment ” option to the links along the top of the page. When you click that link, you’ll be taken to our appointment booking page. Simply click on the time that works best for you. You'll be asked for your name, email address, and phone number, then after you click Next, you'll be asked for a brief description of the issue you're having wi...

At Phone Medics Plus, we’re committed to helping our customers make the best decisions regarding the services they need for their phones and computers. That's why we offer free battery testing services for your mobile devices. When you bring your phone to us we can evaluate your battery’s health and advise you on the best course of action to keep your phone operating at its best. Our Cadex C-7000 battery analyzer  Of all the components in your cell phone or tablet, the battery is the one most vulnerable to aging. You’ve probably noticed it happening: the older your phone gets, the more often you need to charge it. That’s because your battery has a limited number of charge cycles. As your phone ages, and as it gets charged and discharged over and over again, the chemical components inside start to break down and its capacity starts to diminish. Most cell phone batteries can last a couple years before the diminished capacity starts to become a real problem, depending on a vari...

Here at Phone Medics Plus, we are committed to helping you extend the lifespan of your device for as long as possible. That’s why we have offered battery replacement services to the people of Brevard County for more than four years. In early 2017, users of certain older iPhone models began to notice that their phones were running slower after updating to iOS 10.2.1, and that replacing the battery fixed the problem. Rumor ran wild around the internet that Apple was deliberately using iOS software updates to slow down older phones in an attempt to entice users to upgrade to newer devices. Apple quickly responded to the controversy, apologizing for the situation and explaining why they had chosen to slow the older iPhones down. While most of the components inside an iPhone don’t really break down with age, the battery is an exception. The lithium ion batteries inside most consumer electronics are perishable: they have a limited number of charge cycles, and as they age, the chemicals ...