Back again after a year… 😉

OK. So you bought a new Windows Phone (probably a Nokia Lumia) and you have to get started. I assume that you already have a Microsoft Live account with your contacts, calendar and OneDrive (SkyDrive) files. Let’s begin:

• As the User’s Guide says, first fully charge your smartphone – hahaha I’m just kidding…
• If it is bought outside Greece, you need to change your regional settings at Settings/system–> region, your language (probably) at Settings/system–>language and add your keyboard at Settings/system–>keyboard (needs reset after download/installation and you can have as many keyboards as you want).
• Connect it to a WiFi hotspot because you’ll need to download and setup everything over the internet.
• Check if there are any OS or Firmware updates at Settings–>phone update – 99% there will not be anything since it’s a new device, but you may be lucky to buy it just after Microsoft issued an update.
• Connect your Hotmail/Live/Outlook/whatever_MS account to bring your contacts/calendar to the phone.
• Connect to a Nokia account (you only need to give your Live account to go on) – you will need this account for Nokia apps like Here Maps where you can save your favourite places.
• Setup backup of photos/SMS/videos.
• Enable Battery Saver at Settings/system–>battery saver.
• I also enable SMS notifications at Settings/applications–>Messaging.
• And of course download the Greek map for offline use (or any other country you will need) at Settings/applications–>maps–>download maps.
• When you finish with the installation of apps, go back to Settings/applications–>background tasks to check if there apps that you don’t want to waste energy…

What are the essential apps to start working?

• Nokia camera (and then switch to this app as the default camera app at settings/applications–>photos+camera)
• Nokia Car App (and setup your speed dial contacts)
• HERE Transit (incredible flexibility if you also have a data connection – I took a night bus in London directly to my hotel and skipped the taxi!)
• HERE Drive – the difference with HERE Drive+ is that in plain Drive you can only navigate with your country’s map (your SIM defines your country), but you can still use ANY online/offline map to show you the way in HERE Maps
• Skype
• Facebook
• Messenger (by Facebook)
• MeteoGR
• PDF Reader (by Microsoft)
• Battery by Semenov (not needed in WP8.1)
• ConnectivityShortcuts (not needed in WP8.1)
• Εορτές
• Calculator Toolbox Free
• World Clock (by Microsoft)
• Unit Converter
• Fotor
• Nokia Creative Studio
• Bing Health & Fitness (it also has a very nice GPS Tracker)
• Bing Food & Drink (with an impressive list of Greek wines)

And what I also use for my work/life:

• Whatsapp (Viber is also available)
• Evernote
• OneDrive
• Office Lens
• Amazon Kindle
• Amazon Mobile
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Kayak
• Translator (by Microsoft – you can download offline dictionaries)
• TeamViewer
• Nokia Beamer (amazingly simple app)
• Nokia Video Trimmer
• Nokia Video Upload
• Instagram (beta)
• SophieLens for Nokia or SophieLens HD
• Picture Perfect
• CamScanner
• Bing Weather (or Accuweather)
• Shazam (with Cortana in WP8.1 it’s now useless)
• MusiXmatch lyrics player (mainly for the lyrics)
• TuneIn Radio
• Free GPS Speedometer
• Speedometer by Sygic
• Adidas miCoach (not that I’m running, but I have paid for the miCoach hardware)
• Currency (xeCurrency)
• ATHAirport
• Audio Recorder
• Flightaware
• How far from?
• HubiC (another cloud storage solution – check it, it’s European)
• IMDb
• Is it down? (for a quick look on the status of your websites)
• Lufthansa
• Network Tools
• NFC Writer Reader or  Nokia NFC Writer
• Office 365 Admin
• Office Remote (it’s not very stable for big presentations but it’s a good start…)
• PassWorld (with WiFi hotspot passwords around the world)
• Remote Desktop
• Smart Resize
• Softlayer Mobile
• SpyCamera (it’s funny)
• TouchDevelop (check it – it’s amazing…)
• Trellizzo (an unofficial app for Trello)
• Weave News Reader
• Windows Phone App Studio
• WordPress
• YouSendit

Final tip: Playing with the regions (avoiding setting up the Greek region actually) gives you Nokia MixRadio which is amazing