The mince pies have been left out. The Elf on the Shelf has been banished back to Santa’s spy HQ. The presents are ready to go. Everything is done.
Or is it? If you have a few tech gifts for under the tree, you may yet have some work ahead of you.
It used to be that having spare batteries – and plenty of them – on hand was the only advance work you had to do, with any actual assembly left to Christmas Eve. But these days, with so many high tech gifts on offer, you might have a bit more to do. From setting up accounts to charging devices, you need to make sure you are on top of things – or expect a busy and frustrating Christmas morning.
1. Set up accounts
This is particularly important if you are planning to give a child any tech gifts for Christmas. Most devices will require some sort of online account and how you set it up can be important.
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If the correct settings aren’t applied to accounts, parental controls or other content filtering may not work correctly.
It can be time consuming but it is another thing that you can do ahead of time, and discreetly. The last thing you want to be doing while juggling the turkey basting and sorting out desserts is struggling with online accounts.
Consoles: For PlayStation, go to PlayStation.com and select: Sign in > Create New Account, and verify your age and email address. Then you can start to add family members by going to: Account Management > Family Management > Add Family Member, and select Add a Child.
If there is an Xbox under the tree, you can create a free Microsoft account by going to Xbox.com. Once that has been done, go to account.Microsoft.com, and select the family section. Click on: View Family, and then Add Family Member to create your child account.
The perennial children’s favourite, the Nintendo Switch, needs a Nintendo account. Go to accounts.Nintendo.com to create your own parental account. Once you have set yourself up, you can add members to your family group through the Nintendo website or on the Switch or Switch 2, creating profiles on the device and linking them to a Nintendo account.
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Smartphones: If you are setting up a smartphone account for a child, regardless of the platform, you will need an account of your own first to oversee it or at the very least access to another adult account that can act as a family manager.
On Apple, if you already have a family sharing group, you can add a child account easily. On an iPhone or iPad, go to: Settings > Family and tap the Add Member button. Tap: Create Child Account > Continue.
You’ll then enter your child’s birth date and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the set-up.
On Android, you need to go to accounts.google.com. If you are setting up an account for a child under 16, you will be asked to designate the account that will be used to manage it until the child turns 16.
2. Parental controls
For younger children, parental controls can keep a check on everything from screen time to content being viewed on the device. Getting ahead of this can help avoid any arguments down the line by setting up defined access times – locking the devices overnight, for example, or at school and homework times – or restricting certain content straight out of the box.
That includes in app purchases, which can add up to a tidy sum if your child is given free reign – or unsupervised access to your password.
With the EU rules opening up online platforms to competitors, parents must also be aware of the alternate marketplaces out there, which can be harder to oversee.
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On Apple devices, adult accounts can manage younger family members through Screen Time. To activate it, go to: Settings > Screen time > Continue, and then choose “This is my child’s [device name]”.
Set a passcode to stop any tech-savvy kids from making their own changes, and from there you can restrict content and time spent on the device, lock out alternate marketplaces and restrict in-app purchases to “ask to buy” or disallow them altogether.
On Android devices, Family Link can help you supervise your child’s account until they hit the appropriate age to manage it for themselves. You’ll need a device with Android 5.1 and higher for your child to use; once you have the account set up and linked to your family group, you can use the Family Link app to prevent new users from being added to devices, turn off in-app purchases, and age-gate certain content.
On consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, you can use parental controls to restrict spending on games and in-game, limit content, and restrict access to messaging.
3. Updates
Every year, the same issues rear their heads: you crack open the box of the latest tech toy and get it started up, only to find that it needs a series of updates. And now you are in a queue, waiting for what seems like an eternity to download it.
Software updates, like death and taxes, are inevitable. But they vary in the time they take – a set of headphones could take a few minutes for a firmware update while a console could put you out of action for much longer. So if you want Christmas morning to go smoothly, you need to plan ahead.
Plug in the console – surreptitiously of course – or start up the smartphone, tablet or other device, and see if there are any updates waiting as an additional Christmas surprise. Once you have them installed, you can power everything down, repack it all and wait for a smooth Christmas morning.
4. Back up devices
If you are planning a smartphone surprise for under the tree, backing up existing devices is a must if you want to keep all your important information. The good news is that the process is increasingly simple, thanks to cloud services.
Photos, contacts, emails and messages can be automatically backed up to the cloud, allowing you to create a digital copy of your device that can be easily installed on your new device.
But it is wise to do a full back up of devices, usually when plugged in and connected to wifi, before you transfer data to your new device. It can take some time to complete, and likewise to restore the data on the new phone or tablet.
To back up an iPhone or iPad, go to: Settings > tap on the Apple Account name, and go to iCloud. Scroll down to iCloud Backup, and tap “back up now”.
On Android go to: Settings > Google > Backup, or Settings > Accounts and backup > Back up data. Make sure it includes everything you need, such as apps and text messages.
Don’t forget to look at any services that may require a separate back up, such as WhatsApp chats.
5. Check for chargers
At one point, every device came with headphones, a charging cable and a plug in the box – and often a printed instruction manual. Now, the slimmed down boxes contain the device and sometimes little else.
The manual is no longer included, with manufacturers opting for a digital version instead, or a series of “tips” on the phone itself. Then the headphones were eliminated – no real loss there for most people – followed by the charging plug.
The last was attributed to cutting down on electronic waste, while conveniently shaving the cost of the plug from the manufacturer’s bottom line.
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Now, it seems that some phones are starting to ship without the USB cable for charging in the box at all. At first glance, it might not be as much of a big deal as you think. EU regulations have compelled electronics makers to use the same USB standard for charging and data transfer. As a result, many people have multiple USB C cables lying around that can easily sub in for the missing phone chargers.
Where you run into issues is when you don’t have spare cables. Perhaps they are broken. Or maybe they are all in use in the house. There is also the possibility that they are not suitable for the device because they don’t deliver enough power to charge quickly. Regardless of the reason, it is best to double check whether your device includes a cable before you reach December 25th.
And even if it does, you will need a compatible plug. Most smartphones and tablets ship with a USB C to USB C cable, so you will need a USB C plug to keep your device topped up.
