Black cats and broken mirrors are said to be bad luck, but for this Friday the 13th, we thought we'd take a look at a few common smartphone superstitions. Fortunately, none of these involve seven years of misfortune!
Prepaid is worse than postpaid
There's a belief that since prepaid can be cheaper than postpaid, it must be worse. This isn't quite true. You don't necessarily got all the flashy add-ons you'd find in a postpaid plan, but prepaid services use the exact same networks as a telco's postpaid plans, and provide the exact same kind of connection. In some cases, they're even better value, and since you've got a hard cap, there's also no risk of bill shock!
Take a look at some of the best prepaid plans available below:
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#1
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Boost Mobile 
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#2
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felix mobile 
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#3
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Exetel 
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#4
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Superloop 
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#5
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Kogan Mobile 
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A night in rice will fix a water damaged phone
Before water-resistant phones were widely available, the common suggestion for fixing a water damaged device was leaving it in a bag of uncooked rice overnight. It's said that the rice will absorb the moisture out of a phone and bring it back to life. While this can work, it's not a guaranteed solution, and other options like silica gel can actually work better at absorbing water.
The fact you can't remove the battery from most phones now doesn't help, as it makes it harder for them to dry out. If you want to try and save a water-damaged phone, you might be better off disassembling (water-damage has likely already voided your warranty), blowing any water off (don't use heat) and then adding it to rice or silica gel.
Read more about what to do if you drop your phone in water here.
Buying a phone on a contract is better value
People often say that you should buy a phone on a plan rather than outright. While this can save you a big outright purchase, you're not actually saving money if you buy a phone on a plan. Telcos are now dividing the retail price of the handset over 24 or 36 months and tacking it onto your bill. The days of cheap phones are over.
If you buy your phone on a plan, you're stuck with whatever your telco - almost certainly Telstra, Optus, or Vodafone - is offering. If you buy your phone outright, you can pick a more affordable SIM-only plan from a smaller provider if you'd prefer. While plans from smaller providers are a little more no frills, they often represent better bang for buck. Here are a few of the most popular plans from telcos outside the big three:
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#1
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SpinTel 
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#2
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Dodo 
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#3
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Tangerine Telecom 
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#4
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Moose Mobile 
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Link not supplied
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#5
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Belong 
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Link not supplied
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#6
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Everyday Mobile 
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Link not supplied
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5G is dangerous
There is are no established health effects from 5G. Claims made by anti-5G campaigns are unfounded.
The Australia Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) safety standard has set limits for the radiofrequency frequency electromagnetic energy (RF EME) that phone networks emit. These limits are well below the level at which harm to people could potentially occur, and 5G networks comply with these standards.
In short, 5G is fine. And no, it's not causing coronavirus to spread.
On a related note, there is no evidence linking mobile phone usage to adverse health effects such as cancer. "Anti-radiation" stickers and cases are snake oil. Don't buy them.
Closing background applications saves battery
While it might seem like closing apps you aren't using improve your phone's performance, this isn't the case on either Android or iPhone. Both operating systems will keep apps you're not using paused in your phone's RAM, which in turn, lets them open faster. By shutting it down, you're forcing the phone to reload the app next time you open it, which can actually use more battery life.
Apps that actively use your GPS in the background can however be an exception to this. If you're trying to get the most mileage out of your phone's battery, it might be worth closing Apple Maps or Google Maps after you're done with them, for example.
Want something actually spooky? Check out our Netflix horror movie recommendations.
Alex Choros
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