How to keep your smartphone working for years
Many new phones from Google, Samsung and Apple now come with seven years of security fixes and software updates. Just a few years ago, you were lucky to get three years.
If you want to stick to that seven-year upgrade cycle, though, you need to do some smartphone housekeeping along the way.
🌎 Listen around the world: Radiooooo.com (that’s five o’s, if you’re counting) lets you pick any decade from the past 100-plus years, then click a country to see what they were probably listening to on the radio. Like the Rolling Stones? Check out Zambian radio in the 1970s — it rocks! Btw, just click on Basic Mode. You don’t need to join.
🤢 Phone got you carsick? Apple found a way to get rid of motion sickness while you text. Hallelujah. Vehicle Motion Cues show animated dots on the edges of your iPhone or iPad screen that move with the car’s direction, tricking your brain and calming your queasy stomach. ETA: Later this year.
Don’t live in the past (or, if you do, erase it): You went down the Facebook rabbit hole while snooping on an ex and you want to wipe away the last 20 minutes of your search history. Log into Facebook on your browser and tap your profile picture. Select Settings & Privacy > Activity Log. Click Logged actions and other activity, then Search history. Tap Clear Searches.
WTH do I do now? Jim in Philly wrote to me because he downloaded an app that totally screwed up his phone — random ads everywhere. Sorry, Jim, but you need to do a full factory reset. It’s a royal pain in the rear, I know, but it’s the only way to ensure your phone is clear from adware and malware. After that, do like I do and get a solid AV software on your phone.
⏸️ Cheapskate pro tip: You can pause your internet and/or cable package if you’re going to be out of town for a while. So much better than paying full price. Get steps for your provider here. Bonus: You don’t need to turn in your cable boxes.
🔎 Tricky, tricky: Zoom in or out by holding down Ctrl on a PC and spinning your mouse scroll wheel up to zoom in and down to zoom out. Some websites and apps, such as Google Maps, let you zoom in and out simply by scrolling up and down. Beautiful.
Customize your own white noise: A Soft Murmur is free (yay, no ads!) and lets you make background noise just how you like it. Extra waves for me, please. I miss living in Maui!
Your eyes only: Make sure someone can’t open a doc on your PC. In MS Office and Google Docs, click the Help button in the menu bar. Click Help again, then type in Encrypt with Password. Your program of choice will walk you through the steps.
🆓 Free magazines: With an Amazon Prime account, you can access a rotating library of popular magazines free for 30 days. Check them out here. Titles include Wired, Popular Science, Reader’s Digest and Taste of Home. Score.
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