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When your iPhone 6’s battery suddenly starts dying, it’s tempting to say the whole phone is done for. You might even take the opportunity to buy the next model. But that’s quite an investment for a simple and relatively cheap fix.

If your battery is truly the problem slowing down your iPhone 6 and racking up charging times, it is a waste to replace an entire phone. Especially if you’re not financially equipped for it.

You can choose to take your iPhone to Apple or a third party repair service if you can afford to pay someone else to do it. And if you can afford to be parted from your phone while it’s getting fixed.

Unfortunately though, there is always a wait time to get Apple to replace your battery. You also have to wait much longer for shipping time to get parts and supplies you need.

The cheapest option, and often he most time efficient, is to replace it yourself.

So how do you replace your iPhone 6 battery yourself and what are the main secrets to doing it successfully? Read on for everything you need to know.

When to Replace Your Aging iPhone 6 Battery

First, you should make sure it’s actually the battery that’s the problem. It seems an obvious piece of advice, but there are a slew of other problems that can appear to be due to an aging battery.

After you’ve had your iPhone for a while, you’ll notice the battery doesn’t hold a charge quite like it used to. In fact, it may seem as though your entire phone is slowing down.

iPhones with aging batteries often take significantly longer to charge than those with new batteries. While it was new a single battery charge will allow a lot more activity before needing a recharge.

However, after about 500 full charging sessions, the battery will begin to lose its capacity to hold longer charges. Your iPhone 6 may even intentionally lower functioning to prevent a total battery failure.

If you’re getting to this point, you need a new battery as soon as possible. The iPhone 6 battery can eventually end up holding only about 20% of its original capacity.

How You Can Check Your Battery for Aging and See If It Needs Replacing

Again, it’s a well-advised move to check and ensure that your battery is actually the problem. Luckily, there are ways to determine how well your battery is functioning.

Within your iPhone’s settings

While we already know the battery capacity begins to degrade after about 500 full charge cycles, your phone doesn’t keep track. Essentially, there’s no real way to get the exact number of full charge cycles you’ve gone through. However, you can check some basic battery information from your phone.

Pull up your settings menu and select “battery.” Now select the option “battery health.” It should now display what’s called ‘maximum capacity.’

Put simply, it’s the measure of your battery function from when it was brand new versus the current state.

Under maximum capacity, you will see ‘peak performance capability.’ This will let you know how your battery is functioning when under the highest demands. It’s worth noting that if it states peak performance management has been applied, your battery has already experienced some issue causing a shutdown or lessened capacity.

Use an app 

There are plenty of apps that can help you determine if your battery is becoming aged. Apps like BatteryLife can make battery capacity more ‘readable’ for many people because they include visuals and extra information.

In essence, they provide you with the information you’ll get from your phone settings and a bit more.

Use your PC or Mac 

This is an option that most users aren’t even aware is available. While it may seem counter-intuitive to use a computer for phone diagnostics, it’s actually a solid option. Often you get much more detailed and specific data than if using only phone settings or an app.

Whether you use a Mac or PC, you have software options for battery capacity data. They’ll display your battery capacity, charge, voltage, and more.  You can also expand most or all of these data points to get more detailed information.

The trick you’ll love about using this method of diagnostics? Now that you know about the 500 full charge cycles issue, you finally have software that actually gives you a count of your approximate charge cycles used.

If You’re Not A Tech Expert, Can You Still Do It Yourself?

Replacing your iPhone 6 battery yourself doesn’t require expert level technical ability. It does, however, require the right tools and a good guide. In fact, many kits to replace various iPhones are available and often very affordable.

When you’re replacing an iPhone 6 battery, you do have an advantage over replacing batteries on newer models. The iPhone 6 doesn’t have adhesive as a sealant or near the battery area (aside from the easily removed holding strips) so it’s much easier to replace.

Plus, you have the advantage of not needing to use heat or soldering for any part of the process. This means that despite complicated inner hardware, you only need to worry about connectors and screws.

All in all, the process can be intimidating the first time. iPhones are more than a daily go to, they’re an investment too. Don’t worry. As long as you take proper care and use a qualified reference (or many), the process only becomes easier.

How to Replace iPhone 6 Battery – The Main Secrets You Need to Know!

There are some secrets to making an iPhone 6 battery replacement easier on yourself. Before you get into the actual process of replacing your battery, there are some background things to consider:

Get prepared

First, ensure you have all the equipment and hardware needed. There’s nothing quite like beginning an iPhone 6 battery change only to realize you’re missing a crucial component of the process.

Remember, there are kits to help ensure this doesn’t happen. That said, verify the contents of your kit before you begin to replace your iPhone 6 battery.

Next, you need to organize your work area, wherever that may be. Make sure it’s a clean, clear area. You don’t want to go to the work of replacing your battery only to leave dust or debris inside your phone. It’s also a good idea to get your supplies organized ahead of time.

To keep all those tiny screws together you can use a small container, magnet or magnetic mat, or even a strip of packing or scotch tape. Just remember to keep them separated as most will not be interchangeable with others.

Lastly, make sure your work area has good visibility. Ample lighting will be essential to see and keep track of tiny components. It’s also a good idea to make sure your surface isn’t one that small pieces will easily roll off of and get lost.

Bonus tip:

Always backup your phone before having any work done on it, or attempting any work on it yourself.

Now to get to the iPhone 6 battery replacement

First, take a look at the bottom of your iPhone 6 near the lightning port. Here on the left and right of it, you’ll see two pentalobe screws. Gently remove these.

If you’ve purchased a battery replacement kit you should have received a pentalobe screwdriver to use for this step.

Now, you need to separate the screen from the rest of the iPhone. This step requires a lot of patience and a gentle hand. This can be done with either a thin flat object like a metal spudger, plastic flat tool, or a suction cup-like a tool. Which you use will often depend on what your kit (if you purchased one) includes. If you’re using a tool like the metal spudger to gently pry it apart, don’t insert the tool too far or fast.

Open the phone from the bottom and display to about 90 degrees. Note: do not attempt to open it further than this as it can damage display cables.

Now, you will see two small Phillips head screws that connect the battery to the connector, or bracket. Remove these and set them aside in a secure and separate place.

Keep the two screws separate from each other as well, they are different sizes.

The bracket or shield that you just removed the two screws from will come off next. After removing that, gently take off the small rectangular battery connector. Now, you will see the battery unobscured on the logic board.

Use the thin plastic tool previously used to remove the battery from its place on the logic board. Now you need to remove the four screws attached to the display bracket. Keep these screws separate and well ordered.

It’s worth noting that being careless in this regard can permanently damage your iPhone 6. Once the screws are out, remove the panel from the logic board.

The next step is to disconnect the cable connectors:

First, disconnect the front camera connector and sensor cable connector. The next cable you will disconnect is the home button connector.

Next, disconnect the connector for the data display cable. Next, you will do the digitizer cable connector. When disconnecting this one, work on one side and then the next until it begins to pull up.

Do not pull or push from the middle of the digitizer cable connector.

Now, you can remove the back and the display panel. Next, gently and slowly remove the adhesive strips from the battery. They will expand but continue gently pulling until one is removed and then move onto the next. It’s best to take care with this step to avoid tearing the strips.

You’re ready to remove the old battery now.

Once removed, carefully place the new battery in its place and secure with the adhesive strips. Next, the process that you began with is replicated. Except for in reverse. Take care that you are not skipping steps or reassembling your iPhone in a different order, as this can lead to damage or poor assembly.

Conclusion

Replacing your iPhone 6 battery on your own is a gratifying process once you’ve completed it the first time. It’s important to remember that once you have replaced it, allow the battery to drain completely or (if you can’t bear being without it that long) to at least below 10 percent capacity. Then allow it to charge to full capacity without interruption (even though it may be difficult).

The other upside to replacing your iPhone 6 battery yourself is that once you’ve purchased the tools or kit required, it’s even easier and more convenient to replace it yourself again, or for a friend, should the need arise.

The iPad is Apple’s answer to the laptop. Easy-to-use, lightweight and extremely portable. Chances are most of us have used Apple products at some point in our lives and the iPad is without a doubt one of the most popular.

Unfortunately, although the Apple iOS operating system is reliable and extremely well-optimized, it is not without its own set of problems. Sometimes, your iPad may just freeze or malfunction in some way. When that happens, you’re going to need to restart your iPad.

Reasons to Reboot

Anyone who has ever worked in IT, worked with computers or even called up tech-support would have heard of the common phrase; have you tried restarting it?

As frustrating and as cliched as it may seem, rebooting your iPad is actually a relatively safe and easy method of fixing minor problems. Given that iPads are well-engineered devices, chances are rebooting it may come at a relatively late time in the device’s life.

One misconception that most iPad users have is that turning off your iPad’s screen is the equivalent of switching it off. In fact, doing so merely means that your iPad is in sleep mode. It will be in the exact same state in which you left it.

This means that any problems or bugs that the iPad has is left in the system. The installation and removal of apps leave leftover memory which would affect your iPad’s performance in the long term.

Performing a reboot cleans out the device’s system. It allows it to run a lot smoother. Rebooting kills any redundant processes and deletes excess information left on the hard drive. Hence, this is why rebooting a device fixes many issues.

Due to the fact that we leave our iPads running for months or even weeks, system clutter and other minor bugs are bound to appear. These faults result in a slower response time. They may crash apps and cause your iPad to freeze.

If you notice that your iPad frequently crashes and freezes, the time has come for a reboot to be performed.

Difference between rebooting, restarting and hard rebooting

The terms rebooting and restarting are often used interchangeably. For those of you who didn’t know, rebooting and restarting are exactly the same.

However, hard rebooting or a hard restart is used to define a situation where you force your iPad or Apple device to restart itself.

Restarting your iPad is a relatively easy process which we will be discussing below. However, should your iPad fail to respond to your commands, you will need to perform a hard reboot.

Does It Harm My iPad?

When it comes to rebooting, most Apple owners are naturally worried about whether the process will harm their devices. This is entirely natural given that iPads are extremely costly.

First things first, a simple restart of your iPad is not harmful in any way. In fact, rebooting your iPad regularly is crucial for it to run smoothly. As mentioned, rebooting your device allows it to remove redundant processes as well as clean up any bugs that may be lingering in the system.

Also, the recent iOS updates allow apps to run in the background. Rebooting your Apple device closes these apps and speeds up the device.

Many experts agree that rebooting an Apple device is actually a required part of maintenance. So, the next time you find yourself struggling with your device, try a system reboot before you head down to the store.

Chances are that you’d be charged a service fee just to get your iPad restarted by the technician behind the desk. In the long-term, both your wallet and your device will thank you for taking the time to reboot it yourself.

Risks To Take Note Of

So you’ve taken all of the required steps to get your iPad working but it just doesn’t seem to respond. Now, you need to perform either a factory reset or a hard reboot.

Before you go about doing so, here are some risks that you should be aware of:

1. Data loss

Your iPad has a reset factory settings feature that wipes out all data and apps. This essentially restores your device to its pre-purchase status and could result in you losing precious data on your device.

Before you perform a factory reset, make sure all of your data has been backed up and stored safely. Failing to do so can result in a ton of heartache and time wasted.

Think of the reset factory settings feature as a reformat option which is regularly performed on both laptops and desktops.

Thus, if you plan to sell your device or if you are facing major problems, a factory reset may actually be in order.

2. Loss of personal settings

Because the factory reset option removes all data and prior settings, any personal preferences and settings will be reset to default. This makes the factory restore settings ideal if you’re selling the device.

However, besides loss of data and custom settings, resetting factory settings does not harm your device in any way. In fact, resetting your factory settings could actually solve some problems.

Just ensure that you have taken all the required steps to backup your data before performing a factory reset.

How to Reboot Your iPad

Simple Restart Process (10-second restart)

Rebooting or restarting your iPad is a quick and easy way to solve minor problems with your device. However, given that most of the time Apple devices are fairly reliable, we don’t see a need to restart them. Thus, chances are not many people know how to actually restart an iPad.

To help you out, here’s how you can restart your iPad:

1. Press and hold the power button for a few seconds.

In case you didn’t know, the iPad power button is a small rectangular button located in an indentation on the upper-left hand side of your iPad.

All you need to do is to hold the button down for several seconds.

2. After pressing the power button, the screen will darken and a Slide to Power Off button appears on the home screen.
3. Next, swipe the Slide to Power Off button.

This will result in your device turning off and the screen fading to black (thumbs up for the Metallica reference)

4. Now, you will need to hold and press the power button once.

This will result in the Apple icon appearing on the home screen.

5. After your device has successfully started, you will be asked to enter your passcode.

This applies even if your device uses thumbprint identification. Thus, it is crucial for you to remember your device ID. If your device fails to respond to the above instructions and remains frozen, you will need to consider a force-restart.

Force Restarting Your iPad

Maybe you’ve tried performing a simple restart but your iPad is still frozen and not responding to your commands. Now, you will need to consider a hard restart which is the step that forces your iPad to restart.

This step should only be used when your device is frozen entirely and not responding.

1. First, hold down both the home button and power button of your iPad simultaneously for several seconds. Ensure that both buttons are pressed at the same time.
2. Don’t worry if your iPad is unresponsive and does not appear to restart within several seconds. Keep both buttons pressed until the screen turns black and the Apple logo appears. Now, you can release both fingers from the buttons.
3. The device will now complete the restart sequence and you will be brought back to the home screen. Here, you will be asked to key in the security pin of your device.

Note: even if you have fingerprint authentication enabled, you will be still prompted to provide the passcode.

4. Key in your pin number and access your iPad.

How to kill an app

One of the most frustrating things that an iPad user can face would be the presence of misbehaving or non-responsive apps. These apps tend to freeze and clog up your device. One little-known trick that many iPad users are unaware of is that you can actually kill an app instead of restarting your device.

Follow these few steps to kill a misbehaving app.

1. Get your iPad to “force quit” an app by holding down the power button.
2. Keep your finger on the button until a red slider appears.
3. After that, hold down the home button until the app is closed and you are returned to the home screen.
4. Uninstall the errant app or check for updates.

Reboot a disabled iPad

If you have forgotten your iCloud password this can be extremely frustrating as it makes accessing your iPad impossible. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that you need to dispose of your iPad. Instead, you can follow these simple steps to reactivate a disabled iPad.

1. First, connect your iPad to your computer.

If you have previously synced iTunes with your iPad, you will be able to use iTunes to restore your iPad. While all previous data will be wiped, you will still have access to your device.

2. Next, open iTunes and click on the iPad icon. The icon will usually be on the upper left-hand side of the iTunes tray next to your iTunes library.
3. Click on the option to “restore” the iPad.
4. Click restore to confirm.
5. After confirming, the process of restoring your iPad can take up to several minutes. Wait until the entire process is completed.
6. Once the restoration process has been completed, you can start the setup process as usual.

Tips

Before you go for a hard reset or factory reset, it may be more prudent to go for a soft-restart i.e. 10-second restart. This usually fixes 99% of the smaller problems faced by iPads. For example, slowness or even an inability to recharge the battery.

If you do opt for a hard reset, you will need to ensure that all of your previous data has been backed up and kept safe.

To backup your iPad before restoring it, connect your iPad to your computer and open iTunes. Once you have accessed iTunes, click “File” then “Devices” and finally “Backup”.

After your iPad has been reactivated, restore data by going to the File menu in iTunes and accessing the Devices tab. From there, you can click on restore to have your backed up data reinstated.

Conclusion

Rebooting your iPad is an effective way of solving the majority of the device’s issues. For more serious issues, you should always refer to an authorised Apple service centre or dealer.

It can happen in a heartbeat. One minute you have a perfectly smooth and healthy iPhone 6 screen and then one drop later, you’re left with tragically cracked one. Luckily, iPhone 6 screens are actually pretty easy to replace if you’ve got the right know-how and materials.

Of course, you may want to replace your screen for a number of other reasons. Maybe your touchscreen just doesn’t work and your iPhone has gone rogue, opening apps without permission. Regardless, with some guided instructions, you’ll be having a new iPhone 6 screen in no time.

Common Issues with iPhone 6 Screen 

Before you go headfirst and try to dismantle your screen, you may be able to solve the problem in other ways that don’t require complete disassembly. However, if you’re certain that the problem is with your screen, then go right on ahead to the screen replacement portion of this article.

Before you do anything at all, just clean your screen first. A lot of touchscreen issues on our phones can be resolved if we just put the effort in to clean our screens.

It can be as simple as getting a cloth and some screen cleaner and you may be surprised to find that your touchscreen is working perfectly.

Your phone issues are most likely not caused by a dirty screen, but it’s always good to check. Plus, if you are planning on taking the phone apart, having a clean screen is not a bad idea.

Whether you’re experiencing software glitches, trigger touchscreen issues, random flickering, or home button malfunction problems, they can all be classified under two main types: software and hardware.

Software issues tend to be easily solved and don’t require the whole disassembly process. If you can help it, you’d probably want to avoid the disassembly process altogether.

Software problems may just be the result of misconfigured settings or certain apps just going rogue. In this case, the problem can be solved just by making a few settings changed or deleting some pesky apps.

So before you go head first into phone surgery, consider trying the following.

Configure Your Display Settings

Sometimes it’s just as easy as turning brightness a little lower. Having your phone crank out a ton of lumens all the time can be taxing in a battery sense so it can mess with how you interact with your phone. Just turn auto-brightness and set your brightness low.

Restart Your Phone

Turning it on and off again is basically cliché in the technology world but more times than not, it does turn out to be the solution. Chances are, those small bugs can easily be eradicated with a simple reboot.

Check Your Phone’s Memory Status

An overabundant usage of memory storage can often lead to freezing and an unresponsive touchscreen. Check your iPhone’s internal memory storage to see if it’s good enough to carry out any more processes.

If not, it’s time to chuck some things into the trash can.

Factory Reset: A Last Resort

Factory Resetting your phone means that trying everything else just did not work at all. This should only come as a last resort as after you initiate the factory reset, all your data is going to disappear, restoring the phone to its initial default settings. If there were any software issues before, they should be cleared up at this point.

If not, then it’s definitely a hardware problem. That means it’s finally time to get your hands dirty with some DIY screen replacement.

iPhone 6 Screen Replacement

Before you start, make sure you have the right tools and materials. This includes:

An iPhone-specific toolkit (some tools below might be included so just get this item first)

Replacement iPhone 6 LCD screen (be sure that it doesn’t come with a home button)

• Suction Cup
• Plastic Pick
• Small Crosshead Screwdriver
• 5-Star Pentalobe Screwdriver
• Black Plastic Spudger
• ESD – Safe Tweezers
• Protective Eyewear (Just in case, safety always comes first)

In total, this might cost you just under $125 for all the items in total.

Now, it’s time to do some actual disassembly/assembly. Before you start, be sure to first discharge the battery below 25%. Of course, make sure it’s completely turned off when you’re taking your iPhone 6 apart.

Step 1: Unscrewing the Pentalobe Screws and Taping Over the Display

The first step is simple. Just remove the two 3.6 mm-long Pentalobe screws next to the Lightning connector.

Next, add overlapping strips of clear packing tape over the iPhone’s display until the entire face is covered. Do this especially if your display case is cracked as to prevent any further cracking during your repairs.

The added structural integrity makes lifting the display off much easier.

Step 2: Manually Lifting the Display

Now, grab your suction cup. Place the suction cup right above the home button and press down tightly enough to ensure it is sealed. While holding the iPhone down with one hand, pull up the display with the other. Be sure to take your time and apply a constant force.

Now using a plastic opening tool, pry the rear case down and away from the display assembly all while still applying the same constant and gentle force with the suction cup.

Be wary of the several clips holding the front panel near the rear of the case and use a combination of the plastic tool and the suction cup to pry it open.

Step 3: Opening the iPhone 

Pull the plastic nub to release the vacuum seal on the suction cup and start to steadily remove the display assembly.

Try swinging the home button end of the front panel away from the rear case here and using the very top of the phone as a hinge in order to open up the phone. (When you’re reassembling, make sure the clips near the hinge portion are clipped back into their slots).

Now, opening the display open, try keeping it propped up against something (like a wall or a book, just so the phone is opened while you’re working on the phone).

Step 4: Disconnecting and Removing the Battery

Remove both the 2.2 mm Phillip screw and the 3.2 mm Philip Screw from the battery connector bracket and gently remove the metal battery connector bracket from the iPhone.

Once you’ve done this, disconnect the battery connector by first grabbing the plastic opening tool before gently prying the battery connector out of its socket located right on the logic board.

Be extra careful that the socket specifically be removed and not the logic board itself as it could break the connection.

Step 5: Removing the Front Assembly Cable Bracket

Remove the three 1.2 mm screws, the 1.7 mm screw, and the 3.1 mm screw.

Be sure to a good record of where these screws are supposed to go afterwards! Screwing in the wrong screws could result in damaging the logic board.

Then, extract the front panel assembly cable bracket right from the logic board.

Step 6: Disconnecting All the Inner Parts

Now grabbing a spudger, disconnect the front-facing camera and sensor cable connector. Using the same spudger, disconnect the home button cable connector as well, being sure not to damage the logic board itself. Then, use the spudger once more to disconnect the display data cable connector.

Next, use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the digitizer cable connector (be sure that when reconnecting the digitizer cable, don’t press directly on the center but rather on one end of the connector, then press the opposite end.

Step 7: Removing the Home Button 

Next, remove the front panel assembly from the rear end of the case and proceed to unscrew the two 1.9 mm Phillips screws securing down the home button bracket before gently removing.

Next, using the point of a spudger, disconnect the home button cable connector by pushing it up away from the home button before gently pushing the top left corner away from the very front of the panel.

Peel the home button all the rest of the way off the display using the spudger and then carefully fix the spudger under the home button cable from the adhesive. With all the adhesive removed, you can now remove the home button cable.

Any glass shards lying in the home button should be carefully removed with caution.

Peel the home button all the rest of the way off of the display using the spudger and then carefully fix the spudger under the home button cable from the adhesive.

Step 8: Reassembly

 This should be relatively simple as all you really need to do is follow the previous instructions in reverse order. If you can, replace all the screws you just used, although reusing the same screws should be fine as well.

Be sure you apply proper adhesive and use a heat gun to apply the adhesive for 3-5 minutes whenever appropriate (this will be when you’re reapplying your LCD case and putting the home button back on it).

Potential Issues after Screen Replacement 

To avoid any possibility of issues after fixing, always be sure that you did the job right the first time. That means making sure all the connections were firmly placed and screwed properly.

Don’t cut corners when it comes to these things. If your phone is lagging or the touchscreen still isn’t working, it’s very possible it’s your pesky software acting up once again.

If your phone isn’t turning on properly when being charged, check to see if you need a new cable or if any lint and other debris is blocking up your cable port.

Backup your phone data and then restore your device again and be sure to set the iPhone up as a new device. Swipe to check for functionality and see if the issue are still occurs. If it does, then again back to the drawing board, but if it doesn’t you can freely restore the data on your phone (unless you chose the factory rest of course).

In this case, the drawing board means you might have to go back to assembling and disassembling the iPhone once again if any touch screen issues persist even after restoring the software issues.

Conclusion

Getting your iPhone 6 screen fixed is should now be a doozy. If you have any issues with touch sensitivity, just make sure it’s a software problem and not a hardware problem. Or you’ll have to do redo the whole process over again and tighten up any loose screws.

It’s imperative that you keep track of all the screws that you’ve unscrewed as putting back the wrong ones can spell disaster and wreak havoc for your phone.

We’ve all been there: you’re casually scrolling through your phone when all of a sudden, your hands just carelessly lose grip. You reach for your phone lying face down on the ground, only to realize your Samsung Galaxy S4 screen has been smashed. Thankfully, you’ve also come to the right place. No matter how dramatic your Samsung Galaxy S4 damage was, all is not lost. Replacing the screen on your Samsung Galaxy S4 is a whole lot easier than you might think.

Be Cautious!

A quick word of caution before even starting. Be sure to have steady hands. Although it is a relatively simple process, screen replacing is still a very delicate procedure – no matter the phone brand. Electrical work of any kind deserves your full attention and a cautious attitude. You’ll also be working with some hot materials. But just as long as you stick closely to the following instructions and are aware of the hazards, your screen replacement should run smoothly.

Prepare What You Need First

Getting everything you need may seem a tad pricey. But trust us when we say that a little shopping and some elbow grease is a lot less expensive than having your screen replaced from a mobile store.

You will need:

• Samsung Galaxy S4 replacement glass (which you can get from Amazon, also check for replacement packages that may already be equipped with the materials you’ll need)
• Heat gun or hair dryer (Hair dryer will take much longer so use a heat gun is preferable)
• Metal Spudger (Regular spudger is also fine)
• Plastic opening tool (think guitar pick or gift card, also get a few of these)
• Contact solution/cleaner
• Plastic razor blade
• Microfiber cloth
• 3M 2mm strips
• Safety glasses (better safe than sorry)

Again, some of these materials may already be in a replacement kit so do a little research on what your kits do or do not have.

For example, kits might already come with plastic opening tools, adhesives, spudgers and plastic razor blades. The kits are unlikely to have anything electrically powered such as a heat gun.

How to Replace Glass/Screen

Now that you’ve got all your gear in order, here’s the fun part.

Again, exercise caution please as you are working with delicate parts.

Step 1: Removing the Case, Batteries, and Chips

The first step is taking the back cover off. Be sure to have the rear camera facing towards you. Locate the divot right next to the power button. Use your plastic opening tool and gently pry open the case and then set aside.

You’ll see three things: a large battery, a smaller SIM card, and an even smaller microSD card.

For the SIM card, use the plastic opening tool to gently push the SIM card deeper until you hear a click. Releasing the card will make it pop out, leave it the side.

Same procedure with the microSD card except you’ll want to use the smaller spudger instead of your plastic opening tool. Push until you feel a click, release, then put to the side.

For the battery, gently wedge your plastic opening tool into the side of the battery then lift. Take the battery out, then put to the side.

Step 2: Heating Up the Screen

This step heats up the adhesives underneath the screen which is important for prying it open later.

Grab your heat gun and put it to the lowest setting. Heat up the entire screen for 2-4 minutes but be sure not to have the heat gun too close to the screen. A good 6 inches from the screen should be okay with a heat gun. Too close and this could melt the digitizer. If you see any discoloration on your screen, turn off the heat gun right away.

Again, it’s better to use a heat gun as using a hair dryer will take significantly longer. Plus, it’s unpredictable as to when the glue will be significantly melted enough.

Step 3: Removing the Screen

Be very careful when attempting this step. The phone display is delicate remember.

Locate the border where your screen is connected to the mid-frame at either of the top corners of your S4. Grab your plastic opening tool and insert it in between. Insertion may come with a little resistance but if heated well enough, shouldn’t pose that much of an issue.

Once successfully inserted slowly and gently make your way around the screen. Once you get towards the midpoint, try lifting up the screen a little.

It’s possible the glue will dry up again and stick onto the screen again. If that’s the case, simply apply the heat gun to the screen once more for a minute or two and continue. You can also prevent the glue from drying by inserting other plastic opening tools into the border as you make your way around.

Continue making your way around and be sure to be extra careful around the home button and the capacitive touch buttons as these are sensitive to shattering.

Once you’ve made your way around, gently lift the whole screen off using the plastic opening tools to assist you.

Now that the screen’s removed, used your cleaning solution and micro cloth to wipe off any adhesives left over. Wipe both the edges and the digitizer thoroughly.

Step 4: Replacing Your Screen

It’s finally time to put in your nice and clean screen.

Grab your replacement screen and pull off the blue tape to reveal the adhesive. If your replacement screen didn’t come with adhesives, you can place 3M 2mm strips all around the edges of your S6.

Gently place the screen onto your naked phone with the adhesive facing the digitizer. Make sure you don’t contaminate the underside of the replacement screen or get any dust on it.

Apply pressure along the sides and along the center of your screen onto the digitizer. This pressure should be applied to every area of your replacement screen. Too much pressure could damage the digitizer.

Step 5: Reassembly.

You’ve now finally replaced your old screen! All that’s left now putting the parts back together.

First, insert the battery. Insert the top of the battery going in first, push, and the bottom of the battery should lock into place.

Next, the chips should be placed inside their slots just as easily as when you put them in with that same satisfying click upon insertion (obviously, the bigger SIM card goes into the bigger slot and the smaller microSD card goes into the bigger slot).

Wipe everything down afterwards.

Conclusion

What’d we tell you? Just be a little more careful next time with your screen.

But if it should ever crack again, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Have you been considering giving your phone a hard reset? Many people will perform a hard reset if they are giving their phone to someone or if their phone is having issues. A lot of people will choose a hard reset as a last resort. A hard reset is not difficult to do, but it does delete everything off of your phone. Don’t worry, we are here to help you through the process. We hope that our information and step by step instructions make it as easy as possible.

What is a Hard Reset?

The easiest way to explain what a hard reset is that your phone will revert back to its factory settings. You want to back up everything on your phone before resetting your phone. A hard reset will delete all of the data and information on your phone. You will lose all of your photos, contacts, applications, and anything else that was added to the phone after you bought it.

Understand Normal vs Hard Reset First

There are two different types of resets that you can perform when your phone is having issues – a normal reset and a hard reset. While both may fix your issue, a hard reset is usually a last resort for many people.

Normal Reset

A normal reset is a great choice if your phone is just running slow or having issues responding within apps. This type of reset doesn’t delete any of your apps or personal information, instead it just clears caches out. This is a great first option if you don’t want to factory reset your phone.

Hard Reset

While we have mentioned that a hard reset deletes a lot of information from your phone, let’s get into a little more detail. Before you even want to perform a hard reset, you need to backup all of your content onto your Google account. You should backup any photos, videos, ringtones, images, and passwords that you can. It is also a good idea to link any apps to Facebook or Google if possible. If you can’t, make sure you remember all of your passwords.

If you do not backup all of your information and data, it may be lost forever. Since you are completely resetting the phone, there will be no way to retrieve the information. You may even want to try and login to certain websites from another source to ensure you know the password for that site. No one wants to lose photos of their loved ones, or other important information they may have on their phones. Especially since a lot of people have almost their whole life within their phone these days.

How to Perform a Hard Reset of Samsung Galaxy S4

Once you have backed up all of your data and information, you’re ready to hard reset your phone in just a few easy steps. There are two different types of resets, you can either do it by using keys on your phone, or from your settings menu. If you still can access everything on your phone, it may be easier to reset your phone through the settings. If there isn’t a way for you to get to the settings menu, you’ll have to use your keys on your phone.

Using Keys

To use the keys on your phone, you will first need to turn the phone off completely. Next, you will need to hold in the home button, volume up button, and the power key all at the same time. When your phone starts to vibrate, only let go of the power key, and hold on to the other two keys still. You can release the volume up and home buttons once the system recovery shows on screen.

Next, use the volume down button to select the option to factory reset, may also say wipe data. Then, simply hit the power button to select the option. Use the volume down key again to choose delete all user data. Use the power button again to select this option. Your phone will automatically begin to hard reset. Once it has completely reset itself, it will say reboot system now, press the power button and your phone will restart. That is all that it will take for you to hard reset your phone using the keys on your phone. It will take around 5 minutes, and just a few simple steps.

Settings Menu

First, you will need to be on your home screen, then you can select menu. Once the menu is pulled up, choose settings, then select accounts. Backup and reset will be one of the options that you can choose, choose that one. If you choose to reset your phone this way, go on your Google account and ensure that everything is backed up. If you are planning on using the same phone once it’s reset, you can choose automatic restore. This will restore all of your data once it’s done resetting. You also have the option to choose backup my data, which should backup all of your information for you. Next, tap on the factory data reset option. And then you will need to choose reset device. If you have a password or PIN to unlock your phone, you’ll need to enter it before choosing continue. Last step is to choose delete all. After you have done these steps, your phone will restart and will be back at the factory settings.

Conclusion

Whether you want to hard reset your phone due to hardware issues or because you are giving the phone to someone else, we hope our information has helped you. As you can see, it is not hard to reset your phone. Just be sure that a hard reset is what you actually need done. Most of the time, a normal reset will suffice if you are having issues with your phone. And most importantly, make sure any data and information you need is properly backed up on to your Google account.