Look up next time you’re outside and guess where the airplane above you is headed. Los Angeles? New York? Paris? Ask Siri this phrase, “What flights are overhead?” You’ll see the carrier, flight number and altitude in seconds. I love sharing simple digital life tips that make things easier.
Your phone’s smart assistant is high on the usefulness scale — if you know the correct commands. Here are five I use all the time.
When it’s dark, and you’re trying to read a menu or make your way down a dark hallway, you don’t want to fumble with your phone to find the flashlight. Say, “Turn on the flashlight.” It works for Siri and Google Assistant. Just say the wake name first to make sure they’re listening.
Don’t lose your precious memories. Here are the best ways to save your phone’s photos before it’s too late.
It’s easy to make spur-of-the-moment plans when you’re talking to someone. Then, when the time for the appointment strikes, you forget about it.
Instead of wasting a minute or two entering details manually, tell Siri or Google Assistant what your plan is, along with a date and time. For example, say, “Hey Siri, set up a lunch meeting with Bob tomorrow at 1 p.m.” You could also be more specific, like, “Hey, Google, add an event called Birthday Dinner on Sunday at 4 p.m.”
If you have multiple calendars, specify which one or it will fall into your default calendar.
Siri automatically connects to Apple’s Calendar app. If you use the Google Calendar, though, you’ll have to add it to Apple’s default app. Here’s how to get the two apps to play nicely together.
You’re just about to set a timer for tonight’s dinner. Then, you hear a loud thud from the other room, and one of the kids starts yelling for you. With a single sentence to your smart assistant, you can put a pin in your current task before running off to put out a fire elsewhere.
This privacy alert is for our female readers, but guys, you can read it too!
“FemTech” is the broad term for apps and programs catering to women’s health. Consumer Reports recently raised concerns about the privacy practices of women’s health apps, specifically period trackers.
🌤️ Rise and shine: Have an Echo? Say, “Alexa, good morning.” Your speaker will provide a personalized briefing — weather, news and the day’s events on your calendar.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
🇨🇳 Patreon copycat: Communist China app TikTok’s new Subscription feature lets you offer paying subscribers exclusive content, like videos, notes and unique badges. To qualify, you must be 18 or older and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past calendar month. I wouldn’t put my efforts into this until we know what’s going on with the ban.
The time it takes for Google to deem your account “inactive.” Log in to your old accounts, or you’ll lose your email address, messages, Drive access, your Photos backup, Calendar events and everything else.
If your company uses Google, you’re probably looking at Docs, Sheets, Calendar and more on a daily basis. Did you know you could easily open new Google files from within your browser? Here are the shortcuts you’ll wish you knew sooner.
Every computer user should mark the second Tuesday of every month on their calendar. If you don’t know why it’s because most software developers push out critical updates to various apps and operating systems.
While these can sometimes include new features and graphical overhauls, it generally plugs security vulnerabilities and flaws that hackers can exploit. September is essential if you have a Windows-based computer, as Microsoft patched 63 flaws with its latest release.
🎄 “How long until …” Christmas, a vacation or a birthday? Just ask your smart assistant (Siri, Alexa or Google) to do the math for you. This is way easier than counting on your fingers.
📅 Outlook hack: Drag and drop emails to create appointments or tasks. Open Outlook, grab the email you want and drag it onto the Calendar or Tasks icon in the bottom-left panel. A new window will pop up. Now, just edit the details like the subject line or time and hit Save & Close.
Next time you need a meeting or reminder on the cal: Tell Siri or Google Assistant what your plan is, along with a date and time. For example, say, “Hey, Siri, set up a lunch meeting with Bob tomorrow at 1 p.m.” or “OK, Google, remind me to thaw the steaks tomorrow at 8 a.m.” Nice.
🍹 Hola, beaches! “Quiet vacationing” is all over the internet. Millennials and Gen Zers are sneaking in time off work without taking PTO. The ruse takes a few fake meetings on the calendar and strategically timed emails to make your boss think you’re working. Yeah, this is also called stealing.
Small-biz smarts: When you have contracts with different companies and vendors, you’ll never remember those dates. Create a shared work calendar that gives everyone who needs it notice when a contract is renewing. Pro tip: Build in time in case you have a 30- or 90-day out.
WWDC starts tomorrow: That’s Apple’s five-day annual event where, this year, we’ll learn all about iOS 18. It starts at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT). You can add a calendar reminder on the Apple Events page, or just tune in at Apple.com. If you miss it, don’t worry — I’ll give you the recap on Tuesday!
Get it together: Microsoft’s beefing up its Copilot AI chatbot for Excel and Outlook. They say it’ll make life easier for finance pros, but hold the applause. The latest version of Outlook sends unencrypted passwords, emails, contacts, calendar details and even passwords straight to Microsoft’s servers when you add a new email account. No fix yet, so stick to using Outlook’s web version for now, not the desktop client.
When you want to discuss a promotion with your boss, you send an email. When you want to file a complaint with a company, you send an email. Email carries weight and formality lacking in other forms of communication such as text messages.
Here’s a challenge for you: Track all the time you spend reading and writing emails. It’s likely a lot more than you’d think. From work to friends to email newsletters, they come at us all day long.
Recently, we shared 7 tips and tricks to get more out of your Gmail account. Add an image to your signature, use handy keyboard shortcuts and even undo sending an email — a feature we use all the time.
Yes, your iPhone came with a user guide and there are a ton of how-to videos on Apple’s site and YouTube. But who has the time? You’ve come to the right place.
Did you know that you can record your iPhone’s screen? It’s better than a screenshot that only gives you a still photo. Tap or click here to find out how to record your screen.
The latest iOS update gave iPhone users tons of new features. That’s probably why there was so much hype around the rollout of the updated operating system.
After all, who doesn’t want access to things like new privacy features and more customization options that come with iOS 14? Unfortunately, those new features weren’t all that Apple rolled out with iOS 14. There were plenty of bugs that came with iOS 14, too.
Are you fed up with the lack of privacy and finally moved on from Facebook? If that’s the case, there still might be one thing you need from the site — It’s still a great way to keep track of all the birthdays in your social circle.
Let’s be honest, it’s been a rough year. Not only have we been cooped up inside for much of it trying to do our best at social distancing but in many areas of the country, the summer heat has been excessive. Finally, things are starting to turn around, at least as far as the weather is concerned, as fall is almost here.
