Under a new Apple policy, app makers must reveal what data they are collecting. Google says its Gmail app is taking in information ranging from third-party advertising to analytics. And some observers say that it’s too much data. “Apple’s new privacy policy has exposed the outlandish amounts of personal and usage information collected by Google, Facebook, and others,” Chris Hauk, consumer privacy expert at privacy website PixelPrivacy, said in an email interview....

Music Memos was released in 2016 and aims to make it easy for anyone to record brief snippets of song. It features a built-in tuner and the ability to quickly add backup music. The best part is there’s no learning curve; push the record button, and you have your own extremely basic recording studio. I used it to record some of my own songs, which thankfully will never be released....

What Is Green Technology? Green technology is any technology that is environmentally friendly. It takes into account the environment and is rooted in environmental science. But it goes even further. Green technology is how technology is designed to have a better impact on the world around you. For example, think of energy efficiency, renewable resources, and recycling. These are all part of green technology and all elements in producing green products, or products designed to be environmentally friendly....

Indicators that someone may have hacked your Facebook account are: Your email or password has changed. Your name or birthday has changed. Fake friend requests have been sent from your account to people you don’t know. Friend requests have been sent to people who are already your friends. Posts that you didn’t create appear to be from you. Friends receive messages from you that you didn’t write. If any of these telltale signs happen to you or you notice any other unusual activity, take fast action to protect your account....

Riggs is the founder of Smart Alto, a qualification and appointment-setting platform designed to help real estate agents make additional money each year. The company’s platform integrates with agents’ lead sources, prescreens new leads, filters false inquiries, sends targeted text messages to the right leads at the right time, and ultimately enables agents to schedule five times more appointments than they would by themselves, Riggs told Lifewire in a phone interview....

What Is a Multi-Zone Audio Receiver? Multi-zone is a function that allows a home theater receiver to send a second, third, or fourth source signal to speakers or separate audio systems in different locations. This is not the same as connecting additional speakers and placing those speakers in another room, nor is it the same as wireless multi-room audio. Multi-zone home theater receivers can control either the same or a separate source than the one being listened to in the main room, in another location....

Shopping for a good USB-C hub can be a bit of a minefield as buyers are forced to sift through a sea of cheap products with misleading claims about their features. Luckily, as this market matures, better options are slowly starting to rise to the surface and distinguish themselves. The HooToo USB C Hub is definitely one of the better choices we’ve seen so far, and performed very well in our testing with its numerous connectivity options, Power Delivery (PD) port, and support for 4K HDMI and SD cards....

Determining Your Needs Printers come in a wide price range, so it helps narrow the field by deciding what type of printer you need. Do you want to print colorful images, or will you mainly be printing black-and-white documents like contracts? Do you need a real workhorse, or are you just printing occasionally? Is a stand-alone printer adequate, or would you like a machine that combines multiple functions? Figuring out your printer’s intended use is the first step to choosing the right one....

Zoom is rolling out a video background feature called Immersive View that could make video calls more engaging. The feature lets you join a virtual room with friends or colleagues. It’s part of a growing wave of new tools designed to make video meetings feel less like a chore. “For example, you might struggle through a round of icebreaker questions since participants don’t have the same visual cues they would in a room....

Search engines often pay device manufacturers to preinstall software. Google could pay Apple $15 billion to remain the default search engine, according to a new investor note. The fact that major search engines are used by so many people shapes how users view the web. “Google pays browsers and platforms to be the default search engine, so they retain a high market share,” search engine expert John Locke told Lifewire in an email interview....

Through a new deal with the NHL, Sling TV will air up to 40 live, out-of-market games each week, giving the live-streaming service a much-needed boost as it faces off with the likes of YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV. Adding a subscription to NHL Center Ice, for $29 per month, puts Sling TV, considered the cheaper option of the three, at a similar price point as its competitors....

Car Thing connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and provides a touch-display, two knobs, a row of buttons, and can be controlled via voice. And while fiddling with yet another dashboard computer is bad for your attention and road safety, it’s a lot better than futzing with your phone. And that may be the entire point. “The main advantage of Car Thing is that it’s specifically devoted to playing music/podcasts/talk shows,” Adam Chase, president of Music Minds, told Lifewire via email....

Not sure where to get started? Here’s a rundown on how your Apple Watch can help you reach your fitness goals: Set a Goal The first step in using your Apple Watch as a fitness tool is to set a goal. We recommend starting with something that you know you can handle. For instance, burning 350 calories a day. While that seems like a low number, the Apple Watch counts the number of calories you’re burning from movement, not overall....

The mSATA interface was designed to create a thin profile card that could interact with the SATA interface. A new problem emerged when the SATA 3.0 standards limited the performance of SSDs. A new form of compact card interface had to be developed to correct these issues. Originally called the NGFF (Next Generation Form Factor), the new interface has been standardized into the M.2 drive interface under the SATA version 3....

Download an Ad Blocker to Your iPad Perhaps the hardest part of the equation is actually finding a good ad blocker to download. Many ad blockers are paid apps, which means you will be charged a dollar or two for the blocker. There are also blockers like AdBlock Plus, which claims that unobtrusive ads aren’t blocked to “support websites” but actually charges a fee in the form of a cut of ad revenue from some of these websites....

Connect USB 2 and USB 1.1 to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) USB-C peripherals can plug directly into the Mac Thunderbird port. Connecting older peripherals with earlier versions of USB requires an adapter that converts the USB 2 or USB 1.1 to USB-C. A USB-C to USB adapter, like the one available from Apple, has a USB-C connector on one end and a USB Type-A connector on the other. Use this type of adapter to connect flash drives, cameras, printers, or other standard USB devices to your Mac....

How Do I Temporarily Disable My Laptop Keyboard? If you just want to disable your Windows 11 laptop’s keyboard for the current session, follow the steps below. This will turn off all of the keyboard’s functionality until your Windows laptop is restarted or turned off and on again. How Do You Lock the Keyboard on a Laptop Permanently? The above method for disabling a keyboard is effective, but as soon as your laptop is restarted, it will automatically reinstall and activate the keyboard again....

Apple explains that reducing the blue light and shifting the color balance toward the warm end of the color spectrums produces an image that’s easier on the eyes. Apple also says that less eyestrain in the evening hours promotes better sleep patterns. Finding the controls for Night Shift and setting up the service can be a bit of a chore, but it doesn’t take long to get Night Shift working on your machine....

Restart the iPad Press and hold the Sleep/Wake Button for at least 30 seconds, or until you see the Apple logo. This step forces a hardware shutdown that should override any software glitches that prevent normal operation. Charge the Battery If your iPad presents a black screen, the problem could be that the battery is depleted. If the battery is too low to support a low-battery message, the iPad doesn’t have enough power to display the charging symbol....

No Man’s Sky does very little handholding. Unlike most games that give you a long tutorial to explain everything to you, you’re on your own from the outset. It can be incredibly daunting just to be thrown out into the cold and hostile galaxy, but this guide will show you some of the best first moves you can take to get used to playing the game and see some of its features....