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Device Setup & Maintenance for CoMapeo

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Why is it important to maintain my device?​

Looking after your mobile device or computer to keep it well maintained helps it stay fast, secure, and free from performance issues.

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💡 Tip: Consider carrying out the steps below to optimize your smartphone for using CoMapeo.

🚧 Recommendations for computers and use of CoMapeo Desktop coming soon

Setting up your device to use CoMapeo Mobile

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Here you will learn what to do on your android Android smartphone or tablet phone (outside of CoMapeo) to get the best performance from it as you start to use it.

✔️ Checklist​

✅ Turn on GPS

Make sure your Location / GPS is turned on on your phone. You can usually find this in the quickfind menu, located by pulling down from the top of the screen. Screenshot_20250729_132958_Gallery.jpg

✅ Check Battery life: To optimize battery life during data collection use flight mode. If possible bring an external battery pack and phone charging cable to recharge whilst in the field. Also try and make sure that other apps are not running in the background, draining your battery.

✅ Manage and maintain storage CoMapeo isn’t a large app, and the observation data (GPS coordinates and notes) don’t take up very much space. However if you start taking lots of photographs, or recording audio, these can begin to fill up your memory.

  • Manage your storage use by deleting unwanted apps within Settings > Apps > Sort by "Last used" or "Size".

  • If there are a lot of photos and videos in your phone gallery, consider moving them to a different media storage device.

Good maintenance procedures for your phones​

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🔒 Secure your phone

  • Make sure you have a strong PIN, pattern, or fingerprint to open the screen - to keep CoMapeo data safe if you lose your phone, or it falls into the wrong hands.

  • You can also secure access to CoMapeo by setting an app passcode: see Working with an App Passcode

✅ Keep your operating system updated

Step 1: Go to Settings

Step 2: Tap on Software Update

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✅ Keep your android apps updated

Step 1: Open Google Play Store

Step 2: Open main menu (Google profile picture)

Step 3: Select Manage apps and devices

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Step 4: Select a prefered update setting. If you have good internet access, select “Update all”. If you have limited internet access, select “See details” to manually update specific apps you use regularly. Remember to select CoMapeo.

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👀 Practice a regular maintenance routine ✔️ Reboot / Restart your phone

✔️ Run a malware scan

✔️ Check your storage

✔️ Check you battery usage

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Protect your phone against physical damage​

Smartphone cases.

Choose a case that offers protection from exposure to water, accidental drops, and general abrasion. Adding a screen protector is recommended

Weather and Climate Considerations.

Common experiences of using smartphone in high exposure environments

  • High heat → Device overheats and shuts off
  • Extreme cold → Accelerated battery drain
  • High Humidity → Accelerated corrosion of device parts, especially charging ports
  • Rain → Moisture may seep in ports affecting charging ports and in severe cases the chipsets inside the device

Examine CoMapeo Mobile on Android​

To learn about the space and permissions being used by CoMapeo, open the App Management screen for CoMapeo Mobile

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💡 Tip: If CoMapeo is on the homescreen, long press CoMapeo app icons to open app options. Select app-icon-about-info information to jump to the App Management screen for CoMapeo Mobile Screenshot_20250929_181127_One_UI_Home.jpg

Related Content​

Go to 🔗 Installing CoMapeo & Onboarding

Having Problems?​

Go to 🔗 Troubleshooting: Setup and Customization

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