DROID Turbo Installation Guide: 5 Steps to Get Started

Motorola’s impressive DROID Turbo smartphone works great right out of the box thanks to nearly stock Android 4.4 KitKat software and soon Android 5.0 Lollipop. But you’ll want to make a few immediate changes to be better prepared, be safer, perform better, and have the best experience possible.

Announced and released late last year, the DROID Turbo hit Verizon shelves in November and has become an instant hit with its large Quad-HD display, massive battery and impressive 20-megapixel camera. If you just bought a new one, here are some steps to fully enjoy it.

Everyone is different when it comes to how and what they use their smartphones for, but below you’ll find 5 essential tips to help you get started with Turbo. With Android 4.4 KitKat, everything is bright and fluid, the lock screen is smarter and easier to interact with, and with Google Assistant, information is a tap or voice command away, but you’ll still want to make a few of these key changes.

The average user will find that Android 4.4 KitKat, which Google developed to better serve you, the user, is available. The instructions will walk you through the initial boot process, and everything is enhanced like never before, based on previous versions of the operating system, and everything is easy to understand and navigate. However, it still does not recommend that users set a password lock, pattern, or other security after they sign in to Gmail and for the rest of their lives. We want better security, data usage limits, battery saving additions and more, here they are. Android 5.0 Lollipop has some new features, but Turbo has not been updated at the time of writing this guide.

Device Security

While Android is great at skipping the first few steps, signing in and syncing your Gmail and generally getting started, it forgets one important important feature. Security! Setting up a passcode or pattern lock takes about 30 seconds and your device is protected from prying eyes or in case of loss/theft and here’s how to do it.

Scroll down the notification bar and go to settings or find the gear-shaped icon from the screenshot above in the app tray.

From the same menu, you will also be able to enable lock screen widgets, which we will talk about below, and even add lock screen owner information. We used @Moyens I/O but others can put their email in case the device goes missing. When you set up a PIN, you’ll see additional options in this menu for the time before lockout and things like that, so you won’t be constantly typing in a pin every time you use the device. I found 5-10 minutes to be ideal.

Speaking of security, it’s not worth the other two things either. One is to enter the Google Play Store and enable password protection for purchases under settings. This ensures that a lost device is free of charge and that kids don’t accidentally buy loads of games or apps. At the same time, the head Android Device Manager and prepare the device for these services. This allows you to search, lock or even wipe the device if it is lost, lost or stolen.

Set Mobile Data Limits

We all wish we could have unlimited data from carriers, but unfortunately that is becoming less and less of an option. As a result, many users have 2 or 4 GB data plans for their smartphones and even pay-as-you-go plans. With fast 4G LTE and a large Quad-HD display, DROID Turbo can scramble data if you’re browsing the web, watching YouTube and Netflix, or loading big games like Asphalt 8.

Before you go over your data limit and incur additional charges from a carrier, you’ll want to quickly set a mobile data limit for the device. You do this by going to:

From here, you can scroll bars to specific days when your plan starts/ends and even see what’s taking up the most data. You can switch between previous months and even enable WiFi monitoring in settings. As a reminder, this may not be 100% accurate with carrier data limits, so be careful. However, we have seen this to be extremely true in the past. The settings menu within data usage can also be used to enable data roaming, restrict background data usage, and more to keep your device under control.

Enable Backup and Restore

Google offers an Android 4.4 KitKat-friendly backup and restore feature for smartphones and tablets, and you’ll want to make sure it’s enabled. It gets even better with Lollipop but that’s enough for now. A quick swipe to the Backup & Reset option in settings will give you a summary. During your device’s initial startup, you may have restored it from your Gmail account, but whether you did or not, you’ll want to enable backup on your new DROID Turbo.

Not only will this backup data include WiFi passwords and other information, but auto restore will even change settings and app data when an app is reinstalled. From custom settings to game progression and more. This has been improved recently with Google Services Framework and is better than ever with Android 4.4 KitKat. We highly recommend backing up your new DROID Turbo. This saves your business in case it is lost, stolen or broken and when you upgrade to something better in the future.

Battery Tips

Everyone can appreciate the effort to achieve longer battery life, while the DROID Turbo packs one of the largest battery choices of any smartphone in the United States, at 3,900 mAh.

The three key areas we want to focus on for battery life are screen brightness, sleep time, and location settings. For starters, you’ll want to go in and choose the screen brightness. Many prefer the automatic mode, but this causes the screen to fluctuate a lot, especially outside, which can cause the battery to drain faster. I myself use somewhere around 25-30%, which is hard to judge from a slider, but go ahead and turn it off. You don’t need a screen to be the spotlight, and your battery will thank you.

(and don’t forget to set the “sleep feature” I’m using 1 minute, the default is 30 seconds)

Disabling things like animations in developer settings can improve the battery, but it can change the way things look while using the device, so we’ll skip that. The second thing you see above is the location settings. This is new in Android 4.4 KitKat and helps you better control what uses location services and when. GPS data kills for Maps, Google Assistant and Facebook. Personally, I turn off all location services except essential ones.

High accuracy is best, but Google Assistant worked great for me with battery saver mode enabled instead. The phone will continue to use WiFi and mobile networks to determine location and GPS will not turn on and drain your battery. These are just a few of the many tips. give them a chance.

More

Enabling things like Google Assistant will help you bring more content to your fingertips faster; Motorola Migrate and Assist are great apps that users can enjoy. Those with tutorials on first boot to help you understand them. Make sure to use Moto’s display features for quick notifications or even Mindful Display in settings. This prevents the device from going black or turning off while you’re looking at it. It’s a neat little feature that not many know about.

Everyone has different needs and preferences, although in the end it’s all up to the user. A few changes outlined above will improve your overall experience with your new DROID Turbo, as well as keep it safe and secure in the event of an accident or theft. You can use the device comfortably, restore data and apps if necessary, and get better battery life than you expect. It’s simple and easy to make, so give it a try and enjoy.