By Erin Smith
With the rollout and subsequent updates to iOS 14, Apple has made some changes to Siri, including modifications to the way a user views their Siri search history. Users are able to view previous Siri searches and delete previous Siri searches that are stored.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
This article will tell you about the new security updates iOS 14 brings to your iPhone. While a lot of the flashier features of iOS 14 have been getting the most attention—App Clips! Translate app! The new App Library!—one of the most important parts of this update is what it means for your security. The security updates include always being able to tell if your camera or microphone is recording, even if you don't have it pulled up on your screen; being able to choose which photos you share with an app, instead of always sharing your whole camera roll; controlling whether or not an app can see your approximate or precise location; more transparency in the app store; privacy reports on pages you visit; and joining Wi-Fi from a private network. This sounds like a lot, and it is, but it's important to know all the privacy features your iPhone has to offer, and to learn how to take full advantage of them. So let's take a look at each feature and what it means for you. For more great ways to get the most out of iOS 14, check out our Tip of the Day!
Keeping your iPhone and iPad Wi-Fi connected while at home reduces cellular data usage and ensures a fast internet connection. It's best to turn Wi-Fi off when you leave home, though, to avoid connecting to unsafe networks and to reduce the battery-drain that happens when your iPhone searches for available Wi-Fi networks. If doing this manually seems tedious and difficult to remember, the Shortcuts app is here to help. With this handy app, you can set up your devices to automatically disable Wi-Fi when you leave home. Here's how to use Shortcuts to automatically turn off Wi-Fi when you leave home, and automatically turn Wi-Fi back on again when you return.
If your recent iOS 14 update came with orange or green dots at the top of your screen, you’re not alone. But don’t worry, these indicators on the iPhone status bar are there to safeguard your security and privacy. They let you know when apps use your microphone or camera, and are especially helpful when you’re not aware that your microphone or camera is in use. Let’s take a look at what each dot means and how you can monitor which apps accessed your iPhone microphone or camera recently.
By Hannah Nichols
Customizing which photos individual apps can access is a great security feature. Now, you do not have to allow every app to access all of your photos. You can grant access to a few photos or even just one depending on what you are using the app for. In this article, you will learn how to customize the photos an app can access on your iPhone. This is a feature new to iOS 14. You must have iOS 14 on your iPhone in order to utilize this setting.
By Todd Bernhard
It might seem counterintuitive, but you should consider adding something to your travel kit that stops certain device functions. Specifically, the Databloc ($17.95) that Eyebloc sent me to try. The concept of the device is simple: it's a USB adapter that you add to the USB cable you normally travel with. The other end of the cable is either USB-A or USB-C depending on what you order. So what does this do, other than add an inch to your cable and convert a USB-A to USB-C if needed? It removes the data transfer functionality. Put simply, it's like a firewall that you don't even have to think about.
By Todd Bernhard
Everyone uses webcams for video conferencing these days. But sometimes you want privacy and to be certain that those cameras are off. The folks at Eyebloc have a solution that is different from traditional webcam covers. Eyebloc sent me a review sample of their Nanobloc Webcam Covers ($8.99). Instead of adding something plastic with moving parts that can break or prevent your laptop from closing completely, Eyeblocs are a peelable, reusable sticker that you place directly on top of the camera lens.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
This article will help you get into your iPhone if you can't remember your passcode, as well as offer some tips on how to keep track of and remember your passcode. The realization that you forgot your iPhone password can range from frustrating to terrifying. Perhaps you just got a new iPhone and can't yet remember the code, maybe it's a new one you haven't opened in a while, or maybe your brain is just stubbornly not giving you the information. Whatever the reason, when try after try yields nothing but an increasing time that your iPhone is disabled, it's time to look into other options. Let's look at how to unlock your iPhone if you forgot the password.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
Learn how to unlock an Apple Watch with an iPhone. Knowing how to unlock your Apple Watch from your iPhone not only saves you from entering your passcode each time you unlock your smart watch, but also offers the convenience of not having to type on your tiny screen.
Apps that you install on your phone can sometimes track your web and app activity outside of those particular apps—even when you’re not using them. This activity data is often sold to third parties to help them make advertising decisions. With iOS 14, they can’t track your data on the iPhone without your permission, but sometimes it’s easier to just stop apps from asking in the first place, so you never have to worry about allowing tracking by mistake. Let’s look at the simple way to stop apps from tracking your activity.
By Todd Bernhard
I previously reviewed the SecureDrive from SecureData and found it to offer impressive security and high-speed SSD storage, but I also felt it was expensive. The folks at SecureData sent me their lower-cost USB flash drive model which starts at a much more affordable price. The SecureUSB BT (starting at $119) comes with less capacity, 16 GB, but the company offers 32 and 64 GB options. Sure, they are more expensive than traditional thumb drives but they have some serious security built-in.
By Amy Spitzfaden–Both
In this quick guide, we’ll first show you how to turn off the passcode on your iPhone. Next, we'll show you alternatives that protect your security while minimizing the hassle of constantly entering your passcode without having to turn your iPhone passcode off, such as enabling Face ID or changing your Auto-Lock settings.
Young, old, or in-between, safety should come first and that's the idea behind the Silent Beacon Panic Button ($99.99) that the company Silent Beacon showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and gave me a review unit to try. Like many iPhone owners, I already have an Apple Watch and so do my family members. But the watch does so many things and the Emergency SOS feature is just one of them. The Silent Beacon is meant to do one thing, call for help, and it does it well, better than the Apple Watch in fact.
By Cullen Thomas
When I first heard the term contact tracing mentioned in the context of a phone app, my immediate thought was, “Oh no.” With a sinking feeling, I flashed to my Google Maps location history that records exactly where I’ve been every single day and what could happen if the government demanded all that data not just from me, but from everyone. On the one hand, it would be really useful, perhaps even lifesaving, to get an alert on my iPhone if someone I’ve come into contact with recently is diagnosed with Covid-19. The coronavirus pandemic, after all, has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide at this writing, according to the World Health Organization. On the other, nobody wants to arm the government with perfect knowledge of their movements and friendships. This seems a hard choice: surrender more privacy or accept the risk to your life. In order for contact tracing on the iPhone to be effective, epidemiologists say at least 60 percent of a population needs to participate. Unless our privacy concerns are adequately addressed, many will hesitate to opt in, despite the threat to public health. Amazingly, there is a technical solution that mostly resolves this dilemma. It turns out, Apple and Google have joined forces to create a voluntary system that addresses privacy concerns in quite an ingenious way.
Did you know that your iPhone tracks everywhere you go? It does; and if there is a place you visit often enough, it marks it as a Significant Location (a feature formerly known as Frequent Locations). This tip will show you how to find your iPhone location history in your Location Services settings. And we'll also cover how to turn Significant Locations tracking off and how to clear your iPhone location history, in case looking at the list of all the places you frequently visit gives you the heebie-jeebies.
By Todd Bernhard
The folks at Igloohome have been making smart door locks and lockboxes for a while, and they keep getting better. They sent me their latest, the Smart Keybox 3 ($189) to review and it improves over version 2 in multiple ways. This is not a door lock; it is a lockbox that hangs on a doorknob or gate. The circular keypad is used to unlock the lockbox using a PIN. You can also use the companion app to unlock the box via Bluetooth or generate more PIN codes for construction workers, cleaners, and other folks. It could also be helpful for Airbnb guests or keeping motorboat keys near the pier or a storage shed, etc.
By David Averbach
In 1982, researchers at Carnegie Mellon connected a Coca-Cola vending machine to the internet and created the world’s first smart appliance. The “smart vending machine” could report its inventory and whether or not the drinks were cold. It wasn’t until the rise of smartphones, however, that the so-called internet of things (IoT) became ubiquitous. By the end of last year, there were eight billion IoT devices and that number is projected to grow to 41 billion by 2027, according to Business Insider’s Internet of Things 2020 report.
By Tamlin Day
Wondering how to share a password from iPhone to iPhone or to an iPad or Mac? If you want to let someone else watch your Netflix account, or log in to a website to view your shopping list, sharing the password safely and accurately can be a real pain. Especially if you are using longer, more secure passwords. But you don't have to type and text the password or read it out loud to the person you're sharing it with. The easiest way to share a password securely is by using AirDrop. This tip will show you how to share a password iPhone to iPhone or to other Apple devices, without any mistakes. Let’s get going with how to use AirDrop for password sharing on the iPhone.
By Cullen Thomas
The Best VPN apps for iPhones and iPads can be difficult to choose. Between looking for VPN apps that don’t track you, that provide good server coverage, good customer service, and all the different features, there is a lot to check up on. We’ve written before about what a VPN is and what to look for when shopping for a VPN, but here we’ll list our favorite VPN apps, with a special emphasis on ease of use and simplicity rather than feature bloat.
