Month: December 2022

Apple added Advanced Data Protection in its latest iOS update. It can mean big privacy changes — if users turn it on.

Apple is giving ultimate encryption power to its users by adding end-to-end encryption as an option to shield data on iCloud from both cybercriminals and law enforcement. What you save on your iCloud can truly be for your eyes only — and it comes with its own set of complications.

This extra layer of security has the FBI “deeply concerned,” as the agency told the Washington Post. And yet, privacy advocates, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, are thrilled. The opt-in feature — which launched in the latest update to iOS — puts more responsibility on users to not get locked out of their accounts and have backup keys if they forget their password.

Apple, a company that makes security a selling point, is setting a new standard for privacy. And as explained in the video embedded here, it also means other tech companies will very likely follow suit to compete.

Here’s how to easily save your phone’s battery and data.

If your phone’s battery is dying fast, people have probably given you the advice to close your background apps. Some say it conserves your battery, boosts your phone’s performance and saves data. Others, including executives from Apple and Google’s Android team, say no, background apps don’t take up enough of your phone’s resources to affect its performance.

Both groups of people can be right, though. While background apps may not use your phone’s resources on their own, Android phones and iPhones will refresh background apps periodically by default. This uses your phone’s battery and your data. While background apps refreshing don’t drain your resources as much as screen brightness and cellular connection, stopping apps from refreshing can help conserve your battery and data for when you really need them.

Low Power Mode for iPhones and Battery Saver for Android phones both stop background apps from refreshing, too. However, they also pause or change other settings, like screen refresh rate and device performance. These options will certainly save your battery and data, but they cause more dramatic changes compared to stopping background apps from refreshing.

Here’s how to stop background apps from refreshing, helping your battery last longer and saving your data.

Stop background apps from refreshing on iPhone
If you have an iPhone, here’s how to stop background apps from refreshing.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Background App Refresh.
4. Tap Background App Refresh again.

Here you can choose to turn background refreshing Off, limit background apps to refresh when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, or allow background apps to refresh on Wi-Fi & Cellular Data.

If you select Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi & Cellular Data, you can also select which apps can refresh in the background. For that, follow the first three steps above. Then you should see a list of apps near the bottom of the page and select which can refresh in the background.

Stop background apps from refreshing on Android
If you have an Android device, here’s how to stop background apps from refreshing.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Network & internet.
3. Tap Data saver.
4. Toggle Use data saver on.

Data saver will stop background apps from using data unless your phone is connected to Wi-Fi. Some apps you’re actively using might not load things like images, unless you tap on the image, which can be annoying. You can tap Unrestricted data just below Use data saver, and this lets you choose three apps to have unrestricted data access even with Data saver on.

You can also allow certain apps to use background data. Here’s how.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Network & internet.
3. Tap Mobile network.
4. Tap App data usage.
5. Tap the app you want.
6. Toggle Background data on.

Now you can decide what apps refresh in the background, potentially saving your battery and data.

For more phone tips, check out how to clear your iPhone’s cache and how to clear your Android’s cache.

Expect the update to bring your iPhone a new app, enhanced security and bug fixes.

We’d known it was coming for some time, and now it’s here. Apple released its iOS 16.2 update for iPhones earlier Tuesday, along with iPadOS 16.2, Watch iOS 9.2 and MacOS Ventura 13.1, according to an Apple support page.

The highlight of the update is the new app Freeform, a shared whiteboarding tool designed for “working creatively with friends or colleagues on Mac, iPad and iPhone.”

Other new features of the iOS 16.2 update include Apple Music Sing, a singalong-focused upgrade to the Apple Music app, and new lock screen functions. After downloading the update, you’ll be able to hide wallpaper or notifications when Always-On display is enabled on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. There’s also the Sleep widget, which keeps you informed of your sleep data, and the Medications widget to send you reminders of when to take your medicine.

Speaking of widgets, the Activity widget now lets you see what games your friends are playing from your Home Screen. Additionally, the update includes SharePlay support for multiplayer games in Game Center, enabling you to play with people you’re on a FaceTime call with.

The update also enhances iCloud security by increasing the number of data categories that are protected using end-to-end encryption. And, like with any good software update, there are a few random bug fixes and other minor improvements.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a great chance to get your hands on an Apple phone for less, as long as you can live with some dings and scrapes.

Looking for a way to get your hands on an iPhone for less? While there are plenty of deals out there, most of the best offers will require a trade-in or lock you into an installment plan. If you prefer to own your phone outright, you may want to consider a refurbished mode. You can save hundreds compared to shopping new with no strings attached, and today only Woot has a variety of refurb iPhone models to choose from, with prices starting at just $290. This sale expires tonight at 9:59 p.m. PT (12:59 a.m. ET), so be sure to get your order in before then if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.

According to Woot, all the iPhones at this sale have been graded as “scratch and dent” grade refurbs. That means that they have all been thoroughly inspected, repaired and returned to full working condition, but may exhibit signs of wear and tear. But if you can live with some dings and scrapes, this is one of the easiest ways to get your hands on an iPhone for less.

The most recent model available at this sale is the iPhone 13, which is just one generation behind the latest model. Featuring a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display, 5G support, a six-core CPU and 4K video recording, this older model is still a great pick for most people, and right now you can pick up the 128GB model for $580 or the 256GB model for $640. And if you want a slightly more compact and affordable model, the iPhone 13 Mini is also on sale for $540.

If you don’t mind going another generation back, there are also plenty of iPhone 12 models on sale as well. You can even pick up upgraded models like the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which features a larger screen, upgraded cameras and more powerful hardware, and is on sale starting at $550 for the 128GB model. The standard 6.1-inch iPhone 12 is also on sale and starts at just $370.

And if you’re really after the most affordable option, the iPhone 11 series is available starting at just $290 for the base model with 64GB of storage. There are also iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max models available as well, starting at $350 and $390 respectively.

Don’t let digital data clog up your internet browsers.

Your iPhone is just like every other piece of technology — it needs a little routine maintenance. And while you should definitely keep it in good physical condition, like regularly cleaning its screen, some of it should happen digitally, too. Even behemoths like the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max can get bogged down if you’re not keeping them optimized. One of the simplest pieces of upkeep is clearing your iPhone cache every month.

Believe me, I get it. We all have a laundry list of things to remember to do each month. Pay your rent or mortgage. Give your home a deeper clean than the weekly sweep. Talk to that person you meant to talk to last month. Those little tasks add up, which makes them easy to forget. But this is such a small task, you can do it in seconds after reading this guide.

Whether you’re browsing in Chrome, Safari or elsewhere on your iPhone, your cache builds up digital clutter over time. Clearing your cache gives your browser a new start, which can speed up your browsing whether you’re using iOS 15 or iOS 16. (And if you’re trying to get your phone to run faster, try managing your iPhone’s storage.)

Think of your browser cache like a digital storage closet. Over time, an iPhone stores website data like photos and banners in that closet so it can retrieve them when you visit a site. Most of the time, this speeds up your browsing. Before too long, though, that closet starts to get cluttered, and the contents may no longer match what you need.

Eventually, your browser’s cache becomes outdated and the data being retrieved no longer matches the data actually being used on the website. The result? Slower load speeds and wonky formatting.

That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage. Note that clearing your cache will sign you out of sites you’re currently logged into. Still, it’s generally worth that mild inconvenience every month or so to keep things moving quickly.

Here are step-by-step guides on how to clear your cache on your iPhone based on the browser you use.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari
Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your Safari cache in a few short steps. Starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed in to your iCloud account. As a result all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign in to everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Select Safari from the list of apps.
3. Go to Advanced > Website Data.
4. Scroll down and select Remove All Website Data.
5. Choose Remove Now in the pop-up box.

The much-anticipated headset likely won’t arrive in mass volumes until the second half of 2023, a noted Apple analyst says.

Mass shipments of Apple’s apparently upcoming augmented reality and virtual reality headset may be pushed back until the second half of 2023 due to unspecified “software-related issues,” according to information shared Sunday by noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Shipments of the much-rumored AR/VR headset are still expected to begin in the first half of the year, but not at the same volume previously predicted, Kuo wrote in a series of tweets.

Kuo had previously reported that the iPhone maker was looking to ship 1.5 million units of the face-mounted device in 2023 at a price of up to $2,000. He reported in August that Apple was expected to announce its headset during a January 2023 event and that the company had already presented the device to board members.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple’s first headset is expected to be pricey. One rumor last year suggested the company’s first VR headset would be “far more expensive” than other VR products that come in under $900, though it’s unclear if it would cost more than the $1,500 Meta Quest Pro.

The new operating system name could confirm the direction of Apple’s AR, VR headsets.

Apple has reportedly renamed the software that runs its upcoming augmented reality and virtual reality headset ahead of the product’s potential release next year.

While the operating system had been internally named “realityOS,” it’s now been switched to “xrOS,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported Thursday. That could reflect the headset’s focus on extended reality (“XR”), which encompasses both AR and VR.

Embracing “xrOS” would also be a departure from what seemed like a broad naming convention, as trademarks had popped up with product-sounding names like Reality One, Reality Pro and Reality Processor. The new Bloomberg report notes that a new shell corporation called Deep Dive has filed trademarks for “xrOS” in several countries and is in the process of securing the name in the US. Both cases could be true: the operating system could have been renamed, but the Reality brand could continue as the headset series name.

While a previous Bloomberg report suggested internal disagreement within Apple on whether to develop separate AR and VR headsets, the new xrOS name fits more recent rumors that a mixed-reality headset is on its way. Whichever the case, Apple’s first headset could be pricey: a rumor last year suggested the company’s first VR headset would be “far more expensive” than other VR products that come in under $900 — though it’s unclear if it would be more exorbitantly priced that the $1,500 Meta Quest Pro.

5G is on track to become the “fastest-scaling mobile connectivity generation,” according to a new report.

More than 1 billion people will be connected to 5G by the end of 2022, according to the latest mobility report from Ericsson.

Between July and September of this year, 5G added 110 million subscribers around the world, upping the total count to 870 million, said the report, released Wednesday. That’s almost double the number of 5G subscribers there were by the end of 2021, which the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker estimated to be 580 million.

If 5G users hit the 1 billion this year, that means fifth-generation networks will have hit the nine-figure subscriber mark two years faster than 4G did, said Ericsson, confirming that 5G is so far the “fastest-scaling mobile connectivity generation.”

“Communications Service providers continue to deploy 5G and the momentum for Fixed Wireless Access is accelerating,” Fredrik Jejdling, head of networks at Ericsson, said in a statement. “Global mobile network data traffic is practically doubling every two years.”

4G subscriptions are still growing as well, with 41 million subscribers added between July and September. It’s anticipated they will peak at 5.2 billion by the end of the year, and mobile subscriptions overall are forecast to exceed 8.4 billion.

By 2028, 5G is expected to reach 5 billion subscriptions globally and make up 55% of all network subscriptions, according to the report. Overall mobile subscriptions in 2028 are expected to be more than 9.2 billion.