There are many ways to make our technical devices work more efficiently, and many applications that make the user's life easier (French)
In their article published by the American Wall Street Journal, writers Cordelia James and Joanna Stern provided advice on how to make devices more useful, safe, and fun this year.
The advice included a set of useful information, applications and guidance that can provide benefit and make the lives of technology users more productive and comfortable.
Get prepaid data for international travel
If you're going on an international trip and don't want to pay expensive data roaming fees, your best option is to use the shared data SIM included through your country's provider's telecom app.
But instead of buying a data card at the airport after your long flight, the authors recommend downloading the Oubji app and setting up a virtual SIM card.
You can choose how much data you want, then follow the steps to download and set up an embedded SIM.
Make sure you set this up at home just before you leave because you'll need internet access to download them, and turn off data roaming for your line in your phone's settings to avoid paying extra charges.
Check your phone's battery cycles
All lithium-ion batteries have a specified lifespan. To measure the life of your phone's battery, you must take into account the charging cycles it went through, that is, the number of times you fully charged and discharged your phone. If you start with a full battery and then completely drain it, that's one cycle. You can find out the number of cycles on the iPhone 15 by going to Settings, then General, and clicking “About.”
But to check battery cycles on iPads and older iPhones, you need to download an app called Coconut Battery for Mac, plug in your device and it will display the device's battery cycle count, battery temperature, charging speed and more.
If you just want to check your iPhone's battery health, go to: Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charge. If its capacity is less than 80%, it's probably time for a new battery.
Make your own emojis
Google's Emoji Kitchen app is now available on the web and directly in Google Search, allowing you to combine two emojis into one that you can send to friends.
Go to Google and type Emoji Kitchen and you will see the tool at the top of the search results. Click “Start Cooking” to get started.
Block sensitive content on social media sites
After the October 7 attack in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza and shocking images online, it is understandable why some people might want to limit hard-to-watch visuals in their social feeds, without blocking the news.
Here are ways to do this:
On
the
On TikTok
: Click on your profile, then click on the horizontal lines at the top right, then click on Settings & Privacy, then Content Preferences, then Content Restriction Mode.
On Instagram
: Highlight the Profile tab, then tap the three horizontal lines at the top right, then tap Settings & Privacy, then Content Preferences, tap Sensitive Content and then Less Signal.
Check for compromised passwords
To find out which of your passwords are insecure, follow these steps:
Apple iCloud Keychain
: If you store passwords in the iCloud KeyChain password manager on your Apple device, go to Settings > Passwords > Security Recommendations.
Google Chrome
: To get the passwords stored in Chrome, go to PasswordGoogle.com, then Check Password and then Verify Passwords. Last year, Google also began alerting Gmail users when their email addresses appear on the dark web.
Microsoft Edge
: You can find compromised passwords in Microsoft Edge by going to Settings and More, then Settings, then Profiles, then Passwords. After turning on Password Monitor, you should receive a notification if any passwords are compromised.
Download the Flyte application to track air travel
No app will save you from delays, missed flights, and lost luggage, but having the Flight app for iPhone - which does not work on Android devices - will help you keep track of your trip details better, according to the two writers. It is sometimes faster than your airline's application.
Enter your flight number and you'll get live updates, including your plane's real-time location, how many times it was on time, detailed breakdowns of estimated departure times, landing and take-off times, quick access to customer service information and more.
To get the most out of the app, you'll need to subscribe to the Pro version which costs $48 per year or $6 per month.
Block fraudulent calls
Sometimes constant unwanted calls can't be ignored, like offers to refinance your non-existent home. To block these calls on your iPhone, go to Settings, then Phone, then Silence Unknown Callers. As such, any caller who is not in your contacts will be blocked.
Most newer Android phones can also block unwanted calls in the phone settings through: the phone application, then more options, then settings, then spam and call monitoring.
Schedule notifications for later
Clearing notifications is great for mental health, the authors explain. iPhones running at least iOS 15 have a Scheduled Summary feature that lets you select apps to group together and provide notifications at a specific time. Go to Settings, then Notifications, then Scheduled Summary.
Source: Wall Street Journal