I have been using mobile devices for 5 years and have also grown from being a beginner. I deeply understand some of the psychology and difficulties that beginners face. I do not look down on or despise beginners, but some of the concepts and practices of newcomers nowadays are indeed not very conducive to growth. Through this post, I would like to offer some suggestions and share some experiences, hoping to help beginners develop good habits for using devices and learning, and provide a correct direction so they can avoid unnecessary detours.
I hope experienced users will give criticism and corrections, as well as their own opinions and suggestions. I will continuously improve this post, and will indicate the sources of those who give advice and suggestions. I hope beginners will take some time to carefully read this post. I believe the benefits will far exceed what you would gain from spending the same amount of time looking for software or games.
Main Text:
1. Smartphones are not difficult; don't let them intimidate you before you understand them.
2. If you have never used a smartphone, don't think it is very complicated. It is called a smartphone because it is smarter than a regular phone, able to do things that non-smartphones cannot do or cannot do well, and is more user-friendly. However, smartphones are not omnipotent; don't fantasize that they can completely replace other electronic products or do everything.
3. If you have used smartphones with other systems, such as Symbian S60, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Palm, Symbian UIQ, Linux, etc., or other brands with the same system, do not compare them to each other. Don't measure other systems or brands by their standards, and do not say things like "XXX (system or brand) works, why can't YYY (system or brand)?"—such meaningless statements will not be explained.
4. Whether you are using Android or other smart system phones, if you avoid registering and learning on various related websites and forums out of laziness, then don't use it—go use domestic knockoffs instead. But I'm afraid such people wouldn't even understand advanced knockoffs nowadays.
5. When you encounter a problem, search online first. Remember, whether it's a phone or another problem, 99% of the time you are not the first person asking. Others must have already encountered the problem and provided answers. Don't say you can't find it—that's because your basics are insufficient, or your specialized terms and terminology are incorrect, or your description is inaccurate, leading to a 'search keyword mismatch'.Six, if you just got an Android phone or any other smartphone you haven't used before, don't rush to install apps or games. First, suppress your excitement, put the phone aside, and search online for various basic tutorials for that system or model. Even if you don't understand, grit your teeth and keep going. This way, you will gradually form an overall concept of the system or phone in your mind, accumulate some technical terms or terminology, and it will greatly reduce obstacles when communicating, asking questions, or searching online.Seven, before installing third-party apps or games, spend a few hours exploring all the pre-installed programs on your phone, each menu, each function, especially the settings items under each interface and function. Check every selectable and configurable item. For functions you understand, you can customize them according to your preferences. For functions you don't understand, try not to touch them; you can refer to relevant tutorials online and set them while learning. The purposes of doing this are: one, to personalize your phone, and two, to become familiar with all the phone's functions and settings. This way, when you have issues or communicate with others, there will be no obstacles. When someone talks about it, you will know exactly where the related functions and settings are, and you won't need to ask 'Where do I set this?' This saves you a lot of trouble and you won't need to bother others for step-by-step instructions. If you ask in such a way, it's fine if someone answers, but if no one responds or if you encounter someone like me making sarcastic remarks, you will only get more frustrated.Eight, after completing the previous steps, you can freely look for and enjoy third-party apps and games. But don't rush; spend 10 minutes searching for well-known websites, forums, blogs, and other resource hubs for Android or your smartphone system, and save them in a Word or TXT document for future reference. Friends without a computer at home can save them to Qzone, a blog, or even email them to themselves. Those with a computer can save them like I do, as a group of URLs that can be opened quickly with one click. Finding resources will no longer be troublesome. Looking for these websites, forums, and blogs is far more rewarding than randomly installing apps and games one after another.9. Find a QQ group related to the system or model you are using. Joining such a group will make things much easier for chatting, asking questions, or "observing others' questions and answers." Your progress will be much faster. When looking for resources, avoid being a freeloader; don't always ask for things without trying yourself. When you encounter a problem, don't immediately ask; as mentioned before, always search first, and only ask if you really can't find the answer.
10. Commonly used software for computers, such as 91 Assistant or Wandoujia, are very useful, convenient, and simple to use. You can choose whether to install them or which one to install based on your personal needs. They will likely be very helpful to you.
11. If you install software on your phone and don't know how to use it, don't immediately ask others how to use it. Try to figure it out yourself first. Press around and explore various functions and settings; it's not difficult.
12. There can be many reasons for the same problem. If the answers you find online or the answers your friends in a QQ group give you can't solve your problem, don't say that these answers are not correct. The truth is, the answers are indeed correct for the problem, but you should add "one of them" after "the answer." Even if they didn't help you solve the problem, don't say anything unpleasant or directly deny them. Just say thank you and continue looking for the answer that works for you.
13. Some things are subjective, like themes, wallpapers, and other aesthetics. Don't go around asking for them, like "Who has some nice themes or wallpapers to share?" or "Who can teach me how to beautify my phone?" What others find attractive, you might not, and what you find attractive, others might not. Imagine if someone really sent you a few, and you said "ordinary" or "not good looking," how would the sender feel? Would they still send you more in the future? Therefore, it's better to find such subjective things by yourself. Learning to use beautification software also requires personal exploration. Major forum websites have sections for resources like themes and wallpapers. Download a few beautification apps and wallpaper icons you like, and then gradually explore on your own.\14. Regarding flashing issues, never ask whether a ROM is stable. Asking this way is meaningless. Also, don't constantly say a ROM is unstable. First, explain what 'stable' means. You probably can't even explain it clearly yourself. This is also a very subjective issue, so don't mislead others. If you really want to know how a ROM performs, you still need to flash it yourself and use it for a while. If you like it, continue using it; if you don't, flash back to the one you are accustomed to. But even after flashing back, don't go around spreading that a ROM is 'unstable' in general terms. You can only say 'that ROM doesn't suit me' or point out specific problems and bugs in the ROM with solid evidence.
\15. If you don't have basic computer skills, playing with your phone will be very difficult. Don't doubt it, this is an undeniable fact. I often encounter QQ help-seekers like this. Due to lacking basic computer knowledge, they can cause a 'problem leading to a series of problems,' which is very frustrating. For example, they ask: 'How did you make your desktop look like this?' Then a series of questions arise—Do I need to install software? Where can I download it? What is a forum? Do I need to register for a forum? How do I download after registering? Using Xunlei, why is it downloading a PHP file? How do I install it? What is a file extension? How do I install a downloaded RAR file? Extract it? How to extract? After extracting, how do I transfer it to my phone? After connecting the data cable, how do I find my phone on the computer? Where should this software be installed on the phone? It says to put it in the root directory, what is the root directory? … Anyone would collapse dealing with this … This is the consequence of not having basic computer skills. Although my example is extreme, it illustrates the point—most of the time, it's not a real phone issue, but problems caused by weak computer skills that cannot be understood or resolved.
\16. Develop the habit of categorizing, backing up, and organizing software and game installation packages.Smartphones often encounter situations where they won't turn on or have issues that require a temporary reset or wipe. If you don't have a backup at that time, you'll regret it, especially if you have installed many apps and games. You will have to grit your teeth and go to various places to recover the things you used to rely on, which is very troublesome and extremely frustrating. Only then can you truly understand how important it is to 'not delete the original installation packages' after installing apps and how convenient it is to 'organize and store installation packages categorically.'
Seventeen, learn to participate in forums. For beginners, participating in forums is the fastest way to grow. First, pay attention to sticky posts (most beginners jump straight to finding software and don't even know what sticky posts are or pay attention to them, which is not advisable), especially the sticky posts in the specific section. Tutorials and resource collections for new users of certain models are very helpful for beginners. The details won't be explained here, but you should figure out the purpose of sticky posts yourself (except for promotional sticky posts necessary for forum survival, but considering support for forum development, it's still good to support them). If you don't use such great resources, your growth will not be healthy. Second, learn to use the 'site search,' especially 'advanced search,' to effectively utilize various search options to find what you need, achieving twice the result with half the effort. For example, if you are looking for the latest version of a certain software, in advanced search you need to enter the software name as the search content, then select 'Sort by post time,' and limit the search to the 'Software Release Section.' The results will be clear at a glance, and the latest version of the software you need will be among the first few results. If you are not specifically looking for a certain software but need a large number of useful and practical software or information, try changing the post sorting to 'sort by number of replies' when browsing the forum. Then, popular software resource posts and important software release posts will appear in descending order according to the number of replies, and you can filter and look for things you are interested in among these posts that everyone is paying attention to.Some forums have restrictions for newly registered users or those with lower levels, or they may require some type of currency for downloads. This is not the forum's fault because it involves the forum's survival and development, and beginners should understand this. Moreover, on forums with such restrictions and rules, earning currency and leveling up is usually very easy. Typically, by completing some beginner tasks, you can level up and get your first batch of download funds. After that, it depends on you, but remember to avoid posting meaningless content.
Eighteen, the art of asking questions. As mentioned earlier, many suggestions are for you to solve problems on your own, but this does not mean you cannot ask questions. You must understand that asking questions is a skill, an art, and how well you ask can greatly affect the speed and quality of problem-solving. Always clearly state the specific situation of your problem, such as what prompt appeared, under what operations the problem occurred, provide your system version, and other relevant information you think is important. This greatly helps others provide clues to solve your problem. For example, if someone asks, ‘The software cannot be installed, please help,' without providing any other information, such a question is unlikely to get answers. The possible causes are numerous; no one has to guess your exact situation or list all possibilities, such as you didn't enable the 'unknown sources' installation permission, or you were trying to directly install a RAR file, or you installed a widget without a proper interface and thought the software couldn't be installed because there's no icon in the program menu. Another example is when someone asks a question with a specific attitude, such as 'Experts, come in...' Most people won't respond to such a post because those who know the answer are not necessarily 'experts.' They may see the title and not want to read the question or reply. Even true experts may not know the answer, and they may worry that giving the wrong answer will make them seem pretentious. By unnecessarily limiting the range of respondents, you are essentially lowering your chances of getting your problem solved. Similarly, posts that deliberately adopt a posture such as 'begging,' 'urgent urgent urgent,' etc., often fail to get effective help. Therefore, asking questions is an art, and learning to ask questions is as important as learning to solve problems.\