“Kim, I’m concerned that my phone is going to give me cancer. My wife tells me I’m paranoid. What do you think? Thank you for your newsletters and shows. It helps me keep up with our two teens.” — Robert in San Antonio, Texas

I understand your concerns, Robert. The FCC says the radiation coming from your cellphone is no big deal. A cancer surgeon friend told me he begs to differ. I play it safe and keep my phone away from my body and head as much as possible. (Yes, I’m that person taking calls on my AirPods or speakerphone.)

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Sensors in today’s smartwatches can detect your heartbeat, track how you sleep and even monitor blood oxygen levels. If Apple gets its way, your watch will be able to track your blood sugar (and possibly send reports about it to your doctor).

If you’ve ever wondered, “Just how accurate are these smartwatch readings?” You’re far from alone, so I took a look. Smartwatches and fitness watches have some serious flaws you should know about.

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Your mobile phone is a lifeline to many daily activities. It is often the first thing we reach for in the mornings to check social media or pour over the latest news with a cup of coffee. It also keeps us in touch with family and friends.

So, when you forget to charge your iPhone overnight and it dies unceremoniously at lunchtime, you might feel lost or incomplete. Luckily, it doesn’t mean that all the functions are dead. There are a couple of handy features on your iPhone that still work.

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It’s a cozy evening, and you just started streaming your favorite show. But, as the plot thickens, your Wi-Fi takes an unexpected hiatus. Annoying, right?

Before you unplug your router, look at your smartphone. The culprit could be apps chowing down on precious bandwidth.

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Health apps track your steps, heart rate, sleep patterns and more. But they’re capable of so much more. You can add your health information to certain apps to keep all your records in one place and share them with your doctors. You can even track your medication.

These health apps are quite helpful if you have someone in your life with medical problems or an elderly family member who needs assistance keeping up with their medications and doctor appointments. Here’s how it works.

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All I want for Christmas is to help keep your data safe. The bad news is there are a ton of cybercriminals out there doing their best to stop me.

Apple recently shared the results of a study from MIT on the growing threat of cyberattacks around the globe. A mindblowing 2.6 billion personal records were breached in 2021 and 2022. I’d say it’s time to act if you haven’t already.

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You leave your phone charging, then wake up — late — because, whoops, it’s dead and the alarm did not go off. That cord gave out on you. That’s the best-case scenario. Worst case: A phone charger starts a fire while you’re sleeping.

Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me and think, “Kim, you’re so dramatic.” It happened to a girl who went to bed with her iPhone next to her. She woke up to flames and was severely burned after the charger caught fire and ignited the blanket. Cheap knock-off accessories were to blame.

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Fun fact: When you set up your iPhone, invisible dots create a detailed map of your face so you can open your phone by looking at it. How many dots are used to map a face? Quiz your friends and family over the holidays. The answer is 30,000. Whoa.

I’m giving away an iPhone. Yep, you can win a new iPhone 15 (valued at $799). To enter, try one issue of my free daily tech newsletter. That’s it. It’s easy to cancel the newsletter if it’s not for you, but I bet it will be.

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OK, honesty time: I bought the new iPhone 15 Pro Max. I opened up my fancy $1,600 smartphone to realize … it was the same as the iPhone 14 Pro Max I was already using.

The big (only?) change I can spot is the charging port on the bottom. After all these years, Apple is ditching its Lightning cable for the one every other tech company uses for charging and data transfer: USB-C. Some new AirPod models are getting the same treatment.

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Ever had one of those “oops” moments taking pictures? Your hand wobbles and the photo is as elusive as a Bigfoot sighting. (Or, in my case, my dog Abby doing something super cute.)

Before you rush to hit delete, hang tight! I’ve got a few helpful tricks to fix blurry photos. 

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It was a little anticlimactic when I went from the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the 15 Pro Max. Side-by-side, they look an awful lot like the same phone. The one thing that stood out was how shiny and clean the 15 looked.

You don’t have to shell out a lot of money — jump into the settings and use a little elbow grease to make your current phone sparkle.

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I want to document walking my city’s 100-mile hiking trail system on YouTube. I tried with an old GoPro, and the footage and sound were so jumpy. Any ideas?

— Albert in Texas

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]]> 895590 https://www.komando.com/tech-tips/declutter-digital-memories/896934/ Sat, 04 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0000

I remember my parents saying, “Kim, stop wasting the film.” Oh yes, the days of putting film in a camera, taking up to 36 pictures and then waiting for it to get developed to see if any shots were good. Those days are long gone.

Today, the average American takes around 20 photos every single day. And I bet many of those are three shots of the same thing. So, how do we tackle the deluge of doubles? 

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]]> 896934 https://www.komando.com/smartphones-gadgets/photo-recovery-steps/896892/ Sat, 04 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.komando.com/?p=896892

You’re browsing photos, your finger slips and poof! A cherished image is gone forever. Before you panic, know there might be a way to bring it back. The best part is it works even if you accidentally deleted something days ago.

Google Photos 

Google Photos is one of the most forgiving apps when it comes to accidental deletion. There’s usually an “undo” button that flashes on your screen for a few seconds after the deed. 

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]]> 896892 https://www.komando.com/tech-tips/tech-steps-before-you-pass/894009/ Thu, 02 Nov 2023 22:00:00 +0000

I know — it’s a grim topic. But we have to think about what happens to all our online accounts, data, notes, photos, videos, websites, playlists, blogs and subscriptions once we’re gone.

Do your loved ones a favor and get this sorted out beforehand.

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]]> 894009 https://www.komando.com/kims-column/finding-your-phones-expiration-date/895357/ Wed, 01 Nov 2023 14:00:00 +0000 https://www.komando.com/?p=895357

Your phone has an expiration date. Here’s how to find it.

Trying to squeeze every last drop of life out of your smartphone? It’s one thing to deal with a battery that doesn’t last a day and crashing apps to avoid spending a big chunk of change.

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]]> 895357 https://www.komando.com/smartphones-gadgets/stop-group-text-notifications/895083/ Sun, 29 Oct 2023 17:00:00 +0000 https://www.komando.com/?p=895083

Someone added me to a long chain of useless text messages. Now, I’m getting constant notifications. Can I delete the entire thread without suffering through every annoying response? I have an iPhone.

— Susan in Illinois

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]]> 895083 https://www.komando.com/how-tos/60-second-security-checks/852075/ Tue, 24 Oct 2023 22:00:00 +0000

I have to tell you this story. When my college-bound son moved to Los Angeles, he asked me for the house number of a place nearby that I rented 28 years ago for two months. I laughed because I couldn’t remember it. Then, I was shocked!

About five minutes later, he texted me a link to a free people search site that showed that house number, along with every address I ever lived, my current address, links to my relatives, their ages, my age and my cellphone number. All this data was not behind a paywall. It took just a search of my name and bam — privacy was gone.

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]]> 852075 https://www.komando.com/gadgets/smartphone-lifespans/894795/ Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://www.komando.com/?p=894795

Trying to squeeze every last drop of life out of your smartphone? I know many of you put up with crappy battery power and random glitches longer than you should to avoid costly upgrades. 

But using your phone past its end of life is risky business. I did the work to figure out the lifespan of popular models, plus I’ll help you find out how old your phone is and if you’re still using a model you need to ditch. Why? Because I want to help you.

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]]> 894795 https://www.komando.com/smartphones-gadgets/batch-text-notifications/895477/ Sun, 22 Oct 2023 18:12:29 +0000

Does it bother you when talking to someone and they get a notification on their phone, look down and read it? It’s like the convo just wasn’t as important as knowing the exact moment someone liked a tweet or posted a new vacation photo. So rude.

As you probably know, I write a lot and get much more done without alerts clogging my brain. My solution: I only let notifications come through at specific times. This way, I stay focused on what matters, not every buzz and beep. It’s so liberating because you have control.

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