Pro tip: Add a six month buffer after buying a new phone!

It's new phone time! Typically a couple (or three) years after you bought the last one. And, happily, the transfer of your data to your new iPhone or Android device went well, using the manufacturer's suggested method (e.g. wirelessly, using a cable, or via the Internet). Most things came across, your homescreen is back to your preferred normal, and all that's left to do is sign into the likes of WhatsApp and any banking apps again.

Phew! All done, so you put your old phone on eBay or sell it in some other way. Wrong! 

Or at least that's my contention. 

Because however well the transfer process (iPhone to iPhone Samsung to Samsung, with Smart Switch, or just things restored from the cloud via your Google account) went, it will only have transferred 99% of your data at best. There are ALWAYS things that get missed. Trust me.

In my case, this very year, I was two weeks into my new phone (iPhone 17 Pro Max) ownership when I realised that over 100 photos hadn't come across from the old phone. No problem, I still had the old phone in a drawer. I booted it up and sent (AirDropped) the photos over to the new one. Then, over a month in, I noticed that half a dozen small but important text files that I had stored on the internal drive of the phone had also not come across. Again, boot up the old phone and transfer manually. Phew!

My point, then, is that there's a very real case for keeping your old phone for a bit before selling it on. As here, there's the issue of missing data or images or settings that need checking and re-setting. Plus if there's an issue with the new phone then you can get it replaced but live for a week while the exchange happens by using your old phone to house your SIM card, etc.

Comments welcome. But I'm suggesting a six month buffer before you leave let go of an 'old' phone completely!

PS. If you like my work then think about buying me a beer at paypal.me/stevelitchfield - thanks!