Top Mobile Tips For Summer Festivals
Festivals are events which are full of great experiences and awesome performances. But they aren’t always the safest places for our smartphones, not with all that mud and booze around…
So, if you’re planning on heading to one of this summer’s biggest music favouring events, then why not prepare your smartphone for the festivities as well?
The top mobile tips for festivals go far beyond a recommendation of apps, although you will find a few of those herein. Discover festival tips for mobile phone security, optimising battery performance, perfecting festival photography and more…
Protect it: 3 mobile phone security tips
The ‘safety first’ approach applies equally to your prized possessions, including your mobile phone or smartphone. So how can you protect your mobile from thieves?
1. Prepare for the worst: Before even leaving for the festival, it is wise to backup your phone data and apps. Next, go online to familiarise yourself with the Android Device Monitor or your operating system’s equivalent. These can be used to locate the phone, lock it and erase it under a worst case scenario.
2. Temporary phone: Festival goers may like to consider taking a temporary phone to the festival. This could be an old phone or just a cheap backup such as the Nokia 3310. In both cases the original mobile is safe at home, while the low value temporary phone isn’t likely to catch the eye of a thief.
3. Smartwatch: If your smartphone isn’t seen then it is unlikely to be stolen. A smartwatch can help here, allowing the smartphone to be left in a pocket or bag when checking everything from notifications to festival navigation.
Make the most of it: 3 festival accessories
Everyone needs an array of festival accessories and the mobile phone can be hooked up to a wide variety of these.
1. NFC / Bluetooth speaker: When the festival stage is empty, it is still possible to enjoy music by pairing a smartphone with a NFC / Bluetooth speaker. The ‘no cables’ aspect is perfect for the festival scene and even relatively cheap units have plenty of wattage for music appreciation by all.
2. Power banks: These are for many considered as an essential festival accessory. Available in a variety of capacities, often over 4,000mAh, power banks are charged before departing for the festival and can be used to recharge a smartphone. In fact, they can hold so much power that they can recharge most smartphones twice!
3. Solar phone charger: Although slightly more cumbersome, compared to a power bank, solar phone chargers can perform their magic over and over again, using the natural power of the sun. As a rule, solar chargers are still pocket friendly, unless you opt for the solar-powered umbrella configuration.
Interact with it: 3 festival apps
Festival apps can add a whole new level of festival interaction and there are literally thousands to choose from.
1. Shazam: This app is still king for festivals and will let you identify, watch, buy or share a song, just by allowing the app to listen to it. On-screen lyrics invite a sing-a-long with links for following the artist on social media.
2. St Johns Ambulance First Aid: Accident prone or not, festivals can be a hive for medical emergencies. Those intoxicated stumbles, cases of heatstroke and allergic reactions can be handled with relative confidence with this app, while professional help is on its way.
3. The official festival app: Popular festivals, such as the Reading Festival in August, have their own official festival app. Typically these are free and give the smartphone user all the information about the line up, orientation and news.
Sustain it: 3 battery life tips
Preserving phone battery life can be key at festivals. Not only does the smartphone need to cope with more usage as the event is photographed and shared on social media, but it also may need to cope with a multi-day stay.
1. Don’t leave it in the sun: A hot phone uses more power so it is well worth considering this fact during a summer festival. Don’t leave the phone in the sun or a car where battery standby will fall just as quickly as temperatures soar.
2. Turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS: These little critters eat up power so turn them off when they are not actively performing a task.
3. Turn on battery saving mode: Most modern smartphones have advanced battery saving modes that can really extend standby. This is done through a number of innovations such as decreasing the screen time-out, lowering the screen brightness and restricting CPU performance and background app activity.
Remember it: 3 photography tips
In a few months, or the next morning for some, that festival memory will begin to fade. The camera phone is ready to capture, and remind you of, those precious moments, but how do you take the best festival pictures?
1. Flash versus no flash: Under low light conditions, such as at the main stage after sunset, deciding whether to use the flash is quite easy. First of all it is handy to know that the flash on a smartphone can only illuminate objects within a few metres. So, if your intended focus isn’t within this range then it is time to turn off the flash.
2. Natural illumination: It is always best to find natural illumination whenever possible. This could be via the lights of the main stage or by a lighted sign. If natural illumination is available then choose a high ISO level in the camera settings. This increases the cameras sensitivity to light, but don’t increase the ISO level too much or else background electrical interference, known as noise, will become a problem.
3. HDR: Outdoor festivals can make photography tricky in the day. The bright sky can often make portraits looks dark with a loss of detail. Tackle these festival conditions by turning on HDR. This takes two photos at different exposure levels and blends the best bits of both into one.
Find the perfect smartpgone for your next festival adventure over at Mobiles.co.uk.