⚡ Meta’s new toybox: Zuck is taking the stage tomorrow for Meta Connect, where he’s expected to drop two new smart glasses (one with a tiny display), an $800 Prada tie-in, plus fresh Meta AI bots. No new headsets, but Meta’s VR games, apps and third-party VR gear should get airtime. Think less “metaverse utopia,” more “notifications on your face.”
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More likely Gen Z is to treat travel like a dating app. Priceline’s 2025 Trend Report says Gen Z’s rolling their suitcases straight into romance. If you’re going to be single, might as well do it somewhere with cocktails, not push notifications.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Set up bank alerts for every purchase, so you’ll know right away if someone steals your card. In your banking app, go to Settings > Alerts or Notifications and turn on Text and Email. So smart.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Discord, you can temporarily mute a friend’s DMs so you don’t get notifications. Right-click their profile > Mute, and choose how long. You’ll still see the chat, just no pings.
Remove ads in File Explorer: Windows 11 sometimes slips in ads for OneDrive and other Microsoft services. To turn them off, open This PC, click the three-dot menu at the top, and select Options. In the new window, go to the View tab > Advanced settings, untick Show sync provider notifications, then hit Apply and OK.
🔔 Flash alerts on Android: Waiting for an important message? You can make your phone’s camera LED flash along with the screen. Go to Settings > Notifications > Flash Notifications, then toggle on Camera flash and/or Screen flash. FYI: For each one, you can choose whether it applies to all apps or only a specific app.
⌚ watchOS 26: The Workout app has a new look. Scroll through the list of workouts, and when you pick one, you’ll see five buttons. Play at the bottom starts your session. Top-left is Workout Views to choose your metrics, top-right is Goals and Targets, bottom-right is Notifications, and bottom-left is Autoplay Media.
🔔 Turn on Instagram post notifications: Following too many accounts? Don’t miss updates from your favorites. Take me as an example. Go to my profile, tap the bell icon and toggle All for Posts, Stories, Reels and Live videos.
🔋 Find power-hungry apps on your phone: On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery and check the Activity chart and Battery Usage by App. On Android, open Settings > Battery > Battery Usage to see the app list. Once you track down the main culprits, cut down their background refresh, notifications or sync times.
🌪️ Turn on emergency alerts: Your phone can warn you about severe weather or local threats. On Android: Go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Wireless emergency alerts and toggle on Allow alerts. On iPhone: Go to Settings > Notifications, then under Government Alerts, switch on Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts.
Turn off Windows 11 notifications: Some app alerts get annoying fast. Go to Settings > System > Notifications > Notifications from apps and other senders, and toggle off the ones you don’t want. To silence them all, go back to Settings > System > Notifications, and turn it off completely.
🔔 Keep Android notifications private: Put that lock screen on lockdown. Go to Settings > Notifications > Lock screen notifications and toggle on Hide content. FYI: You can also set it per app if you only want it for some.
Left your iPhone behind? Your Apple Watch can let you know. Press the Digital Crown > go to Find Devices > select your iPhone > tap Notifications > Notify When Left Behind, then toggle it On.
✍🏻 Need to concentrate? Windows 11 has a focus mode that hides notifications and those red dots on your task bar. Go to Settings > System > Focus, choose how long you want, then click Start focus session. A timer from the Clock app will pop up. Taking a break? Hit Pause.
AT&T’s $5K oops: Did your call logs hit the dark web? You might get paid for it. AT&T agreed to shell out $177M over two juicy data breaches, one from 2019, the other from 2024. You could snag up to $5K, but you’ve gotta prove actual losses. Notifications begin Aug. 4.
🙈 No peeking: Disabling message previews keeps prying off your texts. On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages. For Android, it’s Settings > Notifications > App Notifications > Messages > Lock screen. Now that “urgent code” from your bank won’t show up while your phone’s unattended at a café.
Disable Microsoft ads: Windows loves promoting its own services. To turn it off, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Windows permissions > General, and toggle off all five options. Then go to Settings > System > Notifications > Additional settings, and untick Get tips and suggestions when using Windows.
🔔 See old notifications: Swiped an alert away too fast? Turn on Notification history on your Android. Go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Notification history and toggle it On. Bonus: If a text or DM popped up before it was deleted, you might still catch it here.
Weather the storm: Get alerts about severe weather and earthquakes right on your phone. On Android, go to Settings > Notifications > Wireless emergency alerts. For iPhone, open Settings > Notifications. Under “Government Alerts,” toggle on Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts.
🪫 Battery blues? Let’s find those power-hungry apps. On iPhone, go to Settings > Battery and scroll down to see which apps are sucking the most juice. For Android, head to Settings > Battery > Battery usage. You can tweak notifications or give them a time-out to save power.