Have someone flying in to visit this summer? No more tracking them online or trying to figure out if they’ve been delayed if you use this hack.
😵💫 That’s not quite right: You’re texting with your voice and it went all wrong. To delete the last word you dictated, say, “Delete the last word.” To delete the last sentence, say, “Clear sentence.” If you want to get rid of everything you just said, say, “Clear all.”
December 7th, 2024
FBI warns everyone: stop texting ASAP. Big updates on the murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO. Plus, a travel hack stirs up drama, why Googling makes you seem old and how to start your day like a tech billionaire.
📱 Job text scam-a-palooza: Scammers are texting people fake job offers (i.e., Target hiring you to click buttons for $200/hr), and folks are falling for it (paywall link). Losses topped $470 million last year. AI makes these scams dangerously believable, and Gen Z is out here click-click-clicking their way into identity theft.
About 80%
The amount of time teen drivers are actually watching the road. The rest? Spent on their phones. Most of that screen time isn’t for directions. It’s music, texting and social media. Terrifying when you realize that looking down for 5 seconds at 55 mph is like driving a football field with your eyes shut.
📳 Who’s texting you? Set custom vibrations so you know without even checking your screen. For iPhones, go to Contacts > contact name > Edit > Text Tone > Haptics. On Android, open your Contacts > name > More (three dots) > Change ringtone/vibration > Call vibration. These may vary depending on your Android.
iPhone tip: 3 new iOS 14 messaging features
Apple’s iOS 14 introduced widgets, a new app library and a bunch of new privacy and security features. Some of the biggest changes, though, are all around messaging. In this Komando DIY, three new iPhone texting and messaging tricks you need to try.
🖼️ Before texting your pic: Remove the location data to hide where you snapped it from snoops. On Google Photos, just find the pic and tap the three-dot icon in the top right. Then, hit the pencil icon next to the location and select Remove Location. This helps protect your privacy.
🔋 More battery, less buzz: You can save iPhone battery by turning off haptic feedback, the setting that makes your keyboard vibrate slightly when typing. It’s nice, but if you’re texting all day, it drains battery faster. To turn it off, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and disable Haptic.
3,000
Fewer words spoken each day. In 2005, we said an average of 16,000 words a day. Today, that’s down to 13,000 because of texting and social media messages. Women tend to chat more than men, averaging 13,349 words a day versus 11,950. (Now, did you expect a joke here, really?)
Do you text like an old person?
Gen Z’s texting style is a whole new world compared to everyone else’s. Here’s your guide to staying in the loop.
Go stealth mode while texting
Want to read messages without anyone knowing? Here’s a sneaky way to trick the system.
5 texting shortcuts people over 35 don't know
Are you “trill” enough to know what’s “lit” with Gen Z? If you have no clue what I’m saying, get up to date in this one-minute podcast.
Know if someone is responding to or reading your texts
Wondering why the person you’re texting hasn’t gotten back to you yet? Listen now for a one-minute trick you can use to sniff out the truth.
How to know if someone is responding to or reading your texts
Wondering why the person you’re texting hasn’t gotten back to you yet? Listen now for a one-minute trick you can use to sniff out the truth.
Digital signs your significant other is cheating
Late nights at work, texting more often and other suspicious behaviors from a spouse are telltale signs they might be cheating. Is it an affair or is it something else? In this episode of Komando on Demand, Kim shows you technology to help you find out if your spouse is fooling around. You’ll hear from award-winning author, educator and private investigator Larry Kaye about the ethics of investigating a spouse or significant other.
Tech clues to catch a killer - Part 2
You may or may not have heard of Kimberly Proctor, a teenage girl who was brutally murdered by 2 young boys. Following a trail of digital clues like texting, emailing and even a World of Warcraft chat room, police tracked down her killers. In this episode of Komando on Demand, Kim talks to retired FBI agent James Fitzgerald and linguistics professor Tim Grant at how digital forensics can help solve crimes.
Technology to bust a cheating spouse
Late nights at work, texting more often and other suspicious behaviors from a spouse are tell tale signs that they might be cheating. Is it an affair or is it something else? In this episode of Komando on Demand, Kim delves into the technology that will help find out if a spouse is fooling around. You’ll hear from award-winning author, educator and private investigator Larry Kaye about the ethics of investigating a spouse or significant other.
Attention Lawmakers: Follow the path of Georgia and Washington state!
Do you remember the Uber self-driving car accident in Arizona that killed a pedestrian? The driver was trying to stream a show on her phone. Forty-seven states have banned texting while driving but that’s not enough! It’s time to get serious and follow the example of Georgia and Washington State.
The tragedies of texting and driving
Texting and driving is an epidemic that claims more and more lives every day. Here are just a few stories out of thousands of heartbreak and loss. Please, put your phone away. There’s no call or text more important than a life.