Has your smartphone not been lasting as long as you think it should? Here are five things you are probably doing wrong, and how to fix your bad habits.

These days, it feels like smartphones become outdated after only a few months. By the time your phone is ready for an upgrade, a new release is due to hit stores in a few more months. Short of buying every new phone available, how do you make sure your phone stays up to date for as long as possible? Whether or not you believe in "planned obsolescence," there's a good chance your own bad habits are slowly damaging your phone over time. Here are some things you should avoid.

 1. Buying Cheap Cables (and Treating Them Poorly)

Let's start with the most...explosive way you can destroy your phone: cheap, off-brand charging cables. Many of these cables can permanently damage your device—or worse, put you at risk of fire or electrocution. It isn't worth the short-term savings: buy your chargers from a known brand not some random roadside seller.

Then, once you have quality cables, treat them with care. If you abuse them, you can cause the wires inside to fray, which in and of itself is a fire hazard. So stop wrapping your cables so tightly, and avoid yanking them out of the wall from the cord—pull them out from the actual plug. You don't want to end up on the evening news as a victim of another battery explosion.

2. Not Using a Case (or a Good Warranty)

How many people do you know with a cracked or shattered screen? We all think it won't happen to us...until it does. You may prefer the cleaner look of a caseless phone, but it just isn't worth the risk—even small chips and cracks can ruin the structural integrity and make large-scale damage more likely. Not only that, but those small chips and cracks can destroy the phone's resale value when you want to upgrade down the line. So in a nut shell, keep your phone in a case! A good case with a "lip" around the edge is ideal, and a tough screen protector is a good idea, too (because, your screen is not scratch-proof).

If you are ready to leave your phone without a coverage, just be prepared to pay for repairs if accidents happen. And if you find those accidents happening more often than expected , then the best thing to do is to buy a case for your phone.

3.Draining Your Battery Too Often

Most of us are culprits of this crime. We can't seem to get over our phone. It has a nice feeling when youre with your phone, that can't seem to pinpoint. Your phone's battery degrades over time. That means that in a few years, its maximum battery life won't be as high as it was when you bought it—and in the case of the iPhone, your device may even slow down as the battery degrades. These things are inevitable, but bad habits can speed up that degradation and kill your battery sooner.

To avoid this, you should perform regular, shallow discharges, and recharge your phone before it offs. You don't want to run it down to 0 percent all the time. Don't worry about charging it overnight, or putting it in the freezer (how did that myth start?). Just try to keep the battery above 30 percent or so, as it would help in keeping your battery healthy as long as possible.

4. Reduce the Underwater Selfies

There's no such thing as a truly "waterproof" gadget, im contrast to what some advertisers of some phone brands might say. Certain devices may be more water-resistant than others, but there's always a chance water can find its way inside, and the more you expose your device to water, the more you degrade its resistance.

So even if your device is rated IP67 or IP68 (which indicate high levels of water resistance), use in water sparingly. It may not damage your phone right away, but over time and repeated exposure, you're just asking for trouble. And if you love your phone, you would want it to get in touch with water anyways. This is the habit of those that love taking underwater selfies.

5. Not Practicing Good Security

Too many people are quick to throw security to the wind for quick gratification. Case in point: software updates. Those "security" patches that appear on your phone may seem boring and non-urgent, but they can protect your device from malware and other serious issues. Don't put them off. Update your apps too, as they'll often contain similar bug fixes and security updates that keep you safe.

On the more extreme end of things, be very careful with the apps and tweaks you do install. If you're trying to pirate paid apps using a sketchy app store, you're going to have a bad time. Just don't do it: the $3 savings is definitely not worth the increased risk of getting malware.

Similarly, be wary of "fake" apps in the iOS App Store and Android's Google Play. These are often adware-riddled apps designed to mimic popular tools like WhatsApp or VLC, and they're regularly sneaking their way into otherwise legitimate app stores. Keep a close eye on what you download, read the reviews, and make sure it's the official version of the app you're looking for. You don't want malware compromising your phone just because you didn't look closely enough.

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