HTC 10 Setup Guide: 7 Steps to Get Started

With the new HTC 10 smartphone now available or coming soon from US carriers, new owners will have plenty to learn and lots of questions. The HTC 10 will run great out of the box, but here we’ll share some initial setup tips to get started and make the most of your new phone.

On April 12th HTC revealed its best smartphone in years, the HTC 10. With an improved new design, better camera, bigger 5.2-inch screen and all day battery life. I also has a fingerprint for improved security, a clean version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow and more.

Read: 5 Best HTC 10 Quick Chargers

Following our HTC 10 setup guide and few tips below owners can setup the phone for the best experience in about 10 minutes. Everything from settings, disabling things you don’t need, using the fingerprint scanner for added security and more. This is our HTC 10 setup guide.

The HTC 10 has a bigger 5.2-inch Quad-HD display, a large 3,000 mAh battery, new 12 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, impressive dual speakers, a micro-SD card, 4GB of RAM and a powerful Snapdragon 820 processor to keep everything running smooth. It’s one of the best phones of 2016, and here we’ll make it even better.

It still has HTC Sense over Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but most of the software has the stock interface just as Google designs it. That said, HTC 10 owners have a few settings, customization, security and battery life options to look through. HTC packed a lot into this phone, and we’ll make searching through settings a little easier. Lets get started.

Better Security

An option that’s been available on Android smartphones for years that many choose not to use, is a passcode or pattern on the lockscreen. To make things even better, HTC ditched the typical buttons for a dedicated fingerprint scanner under the display. Owners will want to use it too.

Read: How to Speed Up the HTC 10 in Seconds

Setting up a fingerprint is extremely easy and only takes a couple of taps of a finger during setup or in the settings menu. Below is a screenshot of where to do this, if owners skipped the process during the initial setup.

Head into Settings > Fingerprint Scanner > Add Fingerprint and follow the instructions. We’d recommend three, both thumbs for ease of use, and one or both index fingers for when it’s laying on a table. It also requires a code for backup, and to access these settings once a fingerprint is saved.

The HTC 10 has a great fingerprint scanner that’s very easy to setup. Just 8-10 taps of a finger and it’s saved, rather than 15+ like Samsung. Make sure to move the finger in different angles, and if you’re using a case, do this with the case installed for the best experience moving forward.

Backup & Restore

While we won’t get into transferring from an old device to the new 10, we will explain a few simple steps you’ll want to take to keep your new phone backed up and ready to go. Google’s backup options will be mentioned during setup, which we’d recommend most users agree to, but you can always control more backup & sync options in settings later.

Settings > Backup & reset > Make sure this is turned ON

In settings scroll down to backup & reset. Here is where you can turn on/off Google’s backup solution. It isn’t an all-in-one solution, but will backup (and restore on a new device) your WiFi passwords, app data (and game saves) wallpapers, and other settings. This is extremely convenient. We even have an option to restore from HTC Backup, if users are coming from an older HTC smartphone.

Read: How to Backup Android in 5 Easy Steps

Disable Blinkfeed

HTC Blinkfeed is nice, but it isn’t for everyone. Swipe left on the homescreen and Blinkfeed is a news and information aggregator tool. Pulling information from news outlets, sports scores, Twitter, Facebook and more all in one place. Some love it, others want to do things their own way. If so, disable or remove this to get space back and save battery or data.

Long-press on the screen and select “Manage homescreen panels” near the bottom of the popup. Scroll to the left onto Blinkfeed, and select remove. This completely clears this screen, which can be re-added and filled with apps and widgets later.

Blinkfeed is nice, but some want to get news and information from other sources. If so, this will update often and drain battery life and data at the same time. Disable it if you don’t need it. This will also improve performance across the board.

Android Device Manager

Trying to find a lost or stolen smartphone is difficult, but not if owners setup the Android Device Manager when they first get a phone. Similar to FindMyiPhone, the Android Device Manager does it all. There’s almost no setup once you download the app from the Google Play Store, then just let Android’s device manager find your lost phone if needed.

This is essential in an HTC 10 goes missing. Users can access the ADM from another Android device, tablet, or a PC to find a lost or stolen device, then track it down and recover it. Even without it enabled, while logged into your Gmail account in Chrome just type “Find my Phone” in the Google search bar and it will find it’s nearest location. Pretty neat little trick that Google released earlier this year.

The Android Device Manager has other useful features too. Owners can lock the HTC 10 remotely, wipe out and erase any data in case of theft, or even make the phone ring at max volume if it’s lost somewhere. This can all be done using the Android Device Manager site from a PC, tablet, or another phone.

This is one of those small steps that many users overlook, but if you ever need it, you’ll be glad you took the 2-3 minutes to make sure it was ready to go. Don’t skip this.

Set Mobile Data Limits

Another good idea to keep things organized and on track is to set mobile data limits. It could save you a headache and money down the road. Whether you have a 2GB data plan with Sprint or Verizon, or are on a family plan with T-Mobile sharing 10GB of data across multiple devices, it’s always smart to set limits. This way users can’t go over, and end up with a huge smartphone bill at the end of the month.

Settings > More > Data usage > and set to the amount of data your carrier plan offers.

This will prevent owners from using too much data on YouTube, Netflix, or binge watching Game of Thrones. Set alerts based on data usage, like 5GB, and that’s it. Many don’t think about this because they have WiFi most places, but if you’ve ever received a huge bill for going over, these are steps owners will want to take to prevent it from happening again.

Improve Battery Life

One of the biggest impacts to battery life besides the big 5.2-inch display, Blinkfeed and having too many apps syncing 24/7, is Google location services. Whether your phone is always tracking you location to deliver weather updates, or you use Google Now and Google Maps for directions or navigation, this is a big drain on battery life. In Android 4.4 KitKat Google added a new location option which allows for more control here, and the battery saving option is your best route. I’m always surprised how much battery life this one simple setting saves. Changing location to use WiFi and Network, and not GPS. It’s amazing.

Settings > Location > Mode > Battery Saving

Battery saving mode turns off GPS, so turn by turn navigation may not be as accurate or need to be re-enabled, but for those who rarely use navigation, Battery saving mode is your best bet. While we’re in here, tap the three dots menu button near the top, select “Scanning” and turn off Bluetooth and WiFi scanning. This little trick many don’t know about, but saves some more battery life. Our phones scan WiFi and Bluetooth (even when turned off) to get location data, improve Google Maps and do other things for Google. It’s what makes their services so great, at the expense of our battery life. Turn it off.

Read: How to Add Always On Display to the HTC 10

Users can also head into settings > display > and lower the brightness to 40% or so, rather than automatic, which can also improve battery life and extend the phone usage into the next day without a charge. It’s another good idea to see how often Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and other apps are syncing, and if too often, it’ll keep waking up your device and lower battery life. The HTC 10 has a decent 3,000 mAh battery that charges fast, but if we can make it better we might as well.

HTC Theme Store

The HTC 10 runs the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow with minor changes here and there. It looks stock, but isn’t. It’s still covered in HTC’s user interface changes. However, like last year we have a Theme store to completely change everything.

Head to the application tray and find the multi-colored round “Themes” icon and app. Launch this, sign in if you’d like and look through all the themes. These change the entire look and feel in seconds, including icons and settings. Material themes make the phone look like stock Android, or choose from the huge selection to make the HTC 1o your own. The theme store is one of our favorite aspects of the HTC 10, so give it a try today.

Most of the themes are free, and you can always revert back to the original theme in seconds if the changes are too much.

Other Steps

Of course owners will need to sign into a Google account and get all their contacts, information and apps, but there are tons of other options you may want to consider. Google Now is an excellent option worth enabling. As it gives you information you may need, before you ask, as well as driving directions, hands-free voice controls, and much more. Google Now can be activated by sliding up from the bottom of the display, or long-pressing the fingerprint scanner. This also uses Google Now on Tap, which is nice.

Read: 10 Exciting HTC 10 Cases

Here we only went over a few important steps you’ll want to do when you first get the HTC 10. After you’ve enjoyed it for a few days, are comfortable, head into settings and look through all the options, camera controls and everything else this flagship phone has to offer. Don’t forget to toss in a micro-SD card, transfer apps to it, and set camera to default there in order to save space for other things. Enjoy, and check out some nice cases from the link above.