Fix guide · New Device Setup

First Settings to Change on a New Phone

By , Tech Cheat Codes Team

Published 5 min read · Works on iPhone (Find My, App Tracking, optional iCloud Private Relay) and Android (Find Hub). For a phone you own, after the first sign-in. Not a data-transfer walkthrough.

You're in Easy Mode. Plain English, step by step. Flip to Pro for the technical details.

You're in Pro Mode. Expert details are showing under each step. Flip back to Easy any time.

Easy Mode steps come first. Open the Pro Mode boxes for the technical details.

Illustration: a new phone on a kitchen table next to a small checklist (find the phone, tracking off, two-step on), no brand logos.
Illustration: Tech Cheat Codes
On this page · 7 sections
  1. Quick answer
  2. Easy Mode: find it, then tighten the obvious privacy switches
  3. Still stuck? Find your situation
  4. Pro Mode
  5. References
  6. Want AI to answer your clients?
  7. Related fixes

Quick answer

Easy Mode

After the phone is on your account, turn on the finder first. On iPhone: Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone, and leave Find My network and Send Last Location on so it is easier to locate if it is lost. On Android: Settings > Security > Find Hub, turn on Allow device to be located, keep Location on, and stay signed in; you can find it later at android.com/find. Then on iPhone go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track if you do not want those prompts. Add two-step verification on the Apple or Google account, and save the backup codes. If you already have iCloud+, Private Relay is under Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay.

Pro Mode

Find My iPhone includes Activation Lock, which is what makes a lost iPhone much harder to reuse. Find Hub needs Location and a signed-in Google Account; Google also tells you to keep 2-Step Verification backup codes somewhere you can reach without the phone. App Tracking is the official iPhone path verified here. Android advertising or My Ad Center clicks were not independently verified for this draft, so this guide does not invent that menu. Data transfer, if you still need it, is a separate guide.

A new phone is exciting for about twenty minutes, and then it is the thing that holds your photos, your mail and a way into your bank. The first settings that matter are the ones that help you find it if it walks off, and the ones that stop every app from asking to follow you around.

These steps follow Apple's Find My and App Tracking pages and Google's Find Hub help, all opened Nov. 10, 2026. They assume you already signed in. Moving messages and photos off the old phone is a different job: use the data-transfer guide.

Easy Mode: find it, then tighten the obvious privacy switches

1. Turn on the official finder and leave it on

iPhone: Go to Settings, tap your name, tap Find My, then Find My iPhone, and turn it on. Leave Find My network and Send Last Location on as well. Send Last Location tells the iPhone to try one last update when the battery is about to die. Find My also ties into Activation Lock, which is what makes a lost iPhone much harder for someone else to set up as new.

Android: Go to Settings > Security > Find Hub and turn on Allow device to be located. Location has to be on, and you have to stay signed in to the Google Account. Later, you can locate the phone at android.com/find. If you ever replace the phone, sign out of Find Hub on the old one so you are not searching a device you no longer have.

Do this before the phone goes in a coat pocket and leaves the house. It is a dull step. It is also the one people remember after a cab ride.

Illustration of someone holding a phone that shows a simple map pin, with a new phone sitting on the table.

2. Decide what apps are allowed to ask to track you

On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. If you do not want apps asking to track your activity across other companies' apps and websites, turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track. That is the official switch. You can still allow a specific app later if you change your mind.

On Android, advertising and ad-personalization controls exist, but the exact menu names were not independently confirmed on an official page for this draft. Look in the phone's Privacy or Google settings for ad or personalization options, and use the labels on your screen rather than a guessed path.

3. Put two-step verification on the account, and save the backup codes

The Apple Account or Google Account on a new phone is the keys to the phone. Turn on two-step verification if it is not already on, and store the backup codes somewhere that is not only this phone. Google's Find Hub help specifically reminds you to keep those codes. The walkthrough is in our two-step verification guide.

4. Optional: Private Relay, if you already pay for iCloud+

On iPhone, Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay can hide some Safari browsing if you have an iCloud+ subscription. It is not available in every country, and it is not a reason to buy a plan you do not already want. If it is already part of your storage plan, turning it on is a short extra step.

If this phone is a gift for someone in the family, set up Family Sharing or Family Link next. A gifted-device sharing guide is coming soon.

Still stuck? Find your situation

What you see Likely cause What to do
Find My or Find Hub is greyed out You may not be signed in, or Location is off Sign in; on Android, turn Location on (step 1)
Apps keep asking to track on iPhone Allow Apps to Request to Track is still on Step 2
You still need photos off the old phone That is transfer, not these settings Use the data-transfer guide
You cannot find the Android ad setting The path varies and was not verified here Use the Privacy or Google settings on the phone (step 2)
Two-step codes would only live on this phone A lost phone would lock you out of the account Save backup codes off the device (step 3)

Pro Mode

Pro Mode Pro Mode: Activation Lock and the backup-code problem

Activation Lock is the unglamorous reason Find My iPhone is worth turning on the first day, not the third. If you ever sell or trade the phone, sign out and remove it from your account so the next owner is not stuck. The wipe guide covers that end of the story.

On Android, Find Hub is only as good as the Google Account and the Location setting. A forgotten 2-Step Verification code, with the backup codes still sitting in an email on the missing phone, is a sad loop. Print them, or keep them in a password manager you can open from another device.

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References

All 4 reference links

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