I just got a new smartphone but its screen has already lost its smoothness and anti-dust quality. Even when I clean it every now and then, my fingerprints are smeared onto it. I don’t like my phone screen sticky. Is there any solution to this problem? 

— Pramit Maharjan

Dear Pramit,

Taking care of any smartphone is a tricky thing these days. Even if we clean it regularly, our fingerprints and dust make the screen mucky. So, what I do is clean my smartphone with a microfiber cloth. Yes, there are lots of tutorials on YouTube on how to clean smartphones using some weird chemical or a solution. But I advise against all those. The best method to clean any smartphone is to use a microfibre cloth with little water. Regarding your screen, I suggest you install a good quality temper glass. You can find it easily in any mobile shop nearby. Phone screens are fragile, so one way to keep the smoothness intact is keeping it away from household and sharp items like keys and coins.

I’ll try to make my question simple. Why are some smartphone distributors here in Nepal charging a lot more for their products as compared to the distributors in India? 

— Rabin Ojha

Dear Rabin,

There are a lot of reasons why distributors here are charging a lot more for smartphones in comparison to our neighbouring country. I will try to spell out some of them:

The Offline Market

All distributors in Nepal emphasise on selling their smartphones through an offline channel. This means that all smartphones go through a chain here which starts at the National Distributors and ends with retailers. Every party in this chain claims a little profit from the devices for themselves that eventually stacks up the price tag. So, it is not surprising that these phones cost a bit more than those sold in India where they are sold exclusively through an online channel. 

Market Size

Another factor to keep in mind is the difference in market size in India and Nepal. If a smartphone manufacturer plans to sell one of its products in India, they aim to sell hundreds of thousands of devices because of India’s massive population. But if the same company sells its phones here, it only imports a couple of thousand pieces. This eventually increases the cost price of the devices in Nepal. 

Promotion

Yes, companies do promote their products in India as well. Ads are a necessity as they help all of us understand the kind of product on the table. However, it has also resulted in higher price tags for some smartphones. All those billboards, newspaper ads, and campaigns cost a fortune but unfortunately, customers have to bear that cost.

But contrary to the popular belief, smartphone manufacturers don’t really have to pay a huge tax to the Government of Nepal. They do however pay a tiny amount to Nepal Telecom.

What is rooting? Should 

I try it? 

— Bipin Rai

Dear Bipin,

Rooting is simply a process of gaining access to one’s android powered smartphone or tablets in order to make changes to the operating system’s subsystem. Rooting basically gives users permissions to alter various settings and applications which are otherwise inaccessible to other ‘normal’ users. You can basically understand rooting as hacking a device. However, in this case, it is not illegal and even the manufactures don’t mind. 

Yes, you should root your smartphone. The first time I did it, I was amazed by all the features that I had unlocked with just a 15-minute step. But there are some people who are against rooting their devices and they have valid reasons for that. First of all, once you root your device, your warranty will be annulled. And secondly, rooting might brick your device. But apart from these two reasons, I don’t see why anyone shouldn’t root their device. 

Here are some reasons why you should root your device: 

Faster performance 

Once you gain access to your smartphone, you will be able to remove bloatware and overclock your processor. Bloatware are applications that come preinstalled on your device and you can’t uninstall them. However, once these apps are uninstalled, your phone’s performance might improve. Overclocking, on the other hand, is a dangerous process that can crash your device. But for phones with slower processors, it certainly helps them perform faster. 

Custom ROMs 

Custom ROM is a custom-made Android based software which overwrites a smartphone’s original system files by replacing them with new ones to alter Android operating system’s behaviour. Rooting provides you with an option to modify your smartphone by installing these ROMs. I installed the Resurrection Remix ROM on my device and it gave me options to tweak my software however I wanted. 

Xposed and other features

One of the major reasons why I root my smartphone is because of Xposed. Xposed is a framework of modules which allows users to make system level changes without having to install any custom ROMs. Think of a change you want in your smartphone and Xposed probably already has it. Also, if you have already installed any custom ROM, you will be able to unlock a whole new theme for your device.

Root exclusive apps

There are some apps on Play Store which work only on a rooted smartphone. Titanium backup is a prime example of that. This app lets you back up data contained in other apps in your smartphone and it can be viewed later. 

Move apps to SD card 

If you do not have ample storage on your smartphone even when you have installed an SD card, you should root your device. Rooting can make your smartphone believe that it is installing apps on your internal memory even when the applications are actually being installed on your SD card.