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Things I’d Set Up First on Any New Phone
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items A new phone feels fresh, but the real upgrade comes from setting it up properly. These are the apps and settings I’d add first to make a phone safer, more private, more useful, and easier to live with every day.
Sections
4
Lock It Down First
Privacy & Safer Communication
Productivity Basics
Everyday Utility
Lock It Down First
Before adding fun apps, I’d start with security. These picks help protect your accounts, recover your phone if it gets lost, and make sure your most important digital life is not protected by passwords alone.
A password manager is one of the first things I’d install on any new phone. It helps create strong, unique passwords for every account and keeps them available across devices without needing to remember everything manually.
Download the Bitwarden Password Manager App for iPhone, Android, Chrome, Safari, and More | Bitwarden
Two-factor authentication is one of the easiest ways to make accounts harder to break into. I like Microsoft Authenticator because it is simple, reliable, and useful for work, email, cloud accounts, and everyday logins.
Microsoft Mobile Phone Authenticator | Microsoft Security
This is one of those settings people forget until they actually need it. I’d set it up immediately on Android because it can help locate, ring, lock, or erase a lost phone.
Find Hub: Locate, Lock, or Erase Your Device
For iPhone users, Find My is essential. It adds peace of mind because you can locate your phone, devices, or shared items much faster if something gets lost.
iCloud - Find My
Privacy & Safer Communication
Your phone is where most of your private life happens — messages, browsing, photos, banking, and personal searches. These apps help reduce noise, protect conversations, and give you more control over what happens on your device.
Signal is one of the first messaging apps I’d recommend for private conversations. It is clean, simple, and focused on secure communication without unnecessary distractions.
Download Signal
A good browser matters because so much of phone use happens online. I like Brave because it feels fast, blocks a lot of tracking by default, and makes private browsing easier for normal daily use.
Brave Browser Download | Brave
This is a simple privacy-focused browser for people who want fewer trackers and a cleaner search experience. It is easy to use and makes privacy feel less complicated.
Download DuckDuckGo for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android
A privacy-focused email app is a smart addition if you want a cleaner separation from your usual inbox. I like Proton Mail because it gives you a more private option for important accounts, signups, or personal communication.
Proton Mail: Get a free email account with privacy and encryption | Proton
Productivity Basics
Once the phone is secure, I’d add apps that make it useful every day. These picks help with notes, tasks, files, scanning documents, and staying organized without turning the phone into a cluttered mess.
Notion is useful if you want one place for notes, lists, plans, projects, and personal organization. I like it because it can be simple at first but powerful enough to grow with how you work.
Download Notion for mobile
Todoist is great for turning random thoughts into clear tasks. I’d use it for daily reminders, errands, work items, and anything I don’t want floating around in my head all day.
Todoist Downloads | Apps For Every Device
This is one of the most practical apps to keep on a phone. It turns documents, receipts, forms, and notes into clean scans, which is extremely useful when you need to send something quickly.
Scan to PDF: Scan documents with a free scanner app | Adobe Acrobat
Cloud storage is one of the first things I’d set up on a new phone. It helps keep important files, photos, and documents available across devices instead of trapped on one phone.
Google Drive: Share Files Online with Secure Cloud Storage | Google Workspace
Everyday Utility
Google Maps is obvious, but I’d still set it up early because it is essential for navigation, saved places, and getting around confidently. Offline maps are especially useful when traveling or when signal gets unreliable.
Your guide to anywhere
DeepL is one of my favorite translation tools because the wording often feels more natural. It is useful for travel, messages, documents, and understanding text in another language quickly.
DeepL
Whenever Wi-Fi or mobile data feels slow, this is the fastest way to check what is actually happening. It is a simple utility, but surprisingly useful when troubleshooting connection problems.
Speedtest Apps: Our internet speed test available across a variety of platforms
Wise is useful if you travel, send money internationally, or deal with multiple currencies. I like it as a practical finance app because it makes cross-border payments and currency exchange easier to understand.
Wise: The international account | Money without borders | Wise United States