Expertise can appear fairly mysterious at occasions, so it’s all too simple for misconceptions to unfold.
That helps clarify why I hold seeing technological myths propagate. Do you have to bury a moist telephone in rice? Do you want a VPN to make use of public Wi-Fi networks? Is your telephone secretly recording your conversations? The reply to those questions and extra is not any, however believing in any other case will be detrimental.
Right here’s my try and dispel a half dozen well-liked tech myths, and what it’s best to do as a substitute of believing them.
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech recommendation publication. Join free to get extra ideas each Tuesday.
Delusion 1: Dry rice can save a moist telephone
The concept raw rice will draw the moisture from a waterlogged telephone is so pervasive that even Apple has tried to dispel it. “Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice,” the corporate’s assist documentation says. “Doing so may permit small particles of rice to break your iPhone.”
What to do as a substitute: Your telephone might already be waterproof, rendering the rice trick out of date. But when not, iFixit recommends shaking free any extra water, turning the telephone off, and leaving it out to dry for so long as attainable. (Placing your telephone in rice forces you to go away it alone, which can clarify why the parable persists.)
Delusion 2: It’s best to recurrently force-close all of your telephone apps
Because the introduction of current app menus in iOS and Android, I’ve seen too many individuals compulsively swiping as much as force-close all their apps, mistakenly believing this may preserve battery life or assist the telephone run quicker. In truth, force-quitting all the pieces could make efficiency and battery life worse, as a result of your apps will use extra energy every time they totally reload. Even Apple says to force-close an app provided that it’s not responding, and the identical logic applies to Android telephones as effectively.
What to do as a substitute: Use the Battery menu in your telephone’s settings to establish apps which can be draining your battery. It’s possible you’ll want to regulate the background settings for that app or discover an alternate.
Delusion 3: Incognito mode prevents web sites from monitoring you
Misconceptions about Incognito mode are so widespread that Google needed to settle a class-action lawsuit final yr after Chrome customers claimed that it offered a false sense of privateness. So right here’s what your browser’s Incognito or Personal Looking mode really does:
- Prevents websites from displaying up in your searching historical past in order that others with entry to your laptop can’t see them.
- Allows you to browse websites in a logged-out state, with none of your interactions carried over from earlier visits.
These modes don’t render you invisible on-line, as web sites can nonetheless accumulate information and use identifiers corresponding to your IP handle to trace you. And when you signal into an internet site whereas utilizing Incognito mode, that exercise might be related together with your account.
What to do as a substitute: Use an internet browser with robust built-in monitoring protections, and presumably a VPN when you’re extraordinarily involved about privateness (although VPNs aren’t panaceas both). An ad-blocking extension might help, however provided that you’ve set it to run in Incognito mode.
Delusion 5: Public USB charging ports unfold viruses
Because of repeated FBI warnings through the years, the concept public USB charging ports can infect your gadgets with malware has change into pervasive, but the precise menace of “juice jacking” stays theoretical. Up to now, nobody’s offered a single real-world instance of charging ports spreading viruses. In addition to, each Android and iOS require permission to switch information when connecting your telephone to a different system—one thing you’d hopefully reject when plugging right into a nefarious port.
What to do about it: Your individual adapters and cables could also be quicker anyway—particularly when you’ve adopted my shopping for information—however I wouldn’t fret about utilizing resort or espresso store charging ports in a pinch.
Delusion 5: You want a VPN for public Wi-Fi
This one’s simply as pervasive because the juice-jacking fantasy, however not less than it used to be true. Nowadays, you’ll discover that just about each web site has an “https” in its handle, indicating that your visitors is encrypted. That makes the encryption from a VPN redundant. Within the extraordinarily uncommon case the place an internet site transmits unencrypted information over Wi-Fi, your browser will use stern warnings to attempt to cease you from visiting it.
What to do as a substitute: In accordance with the Digital Frontier Basis, the perfect factor to do is be certain that your system’s software program and working system are up-to-date, so that you’re not susceptible to safety vulnerabilities which may transmit unencrypted visitors.
Delusion 6: Your telephone is listening to you
You’ve most likely heard an anecdote like this: I not too long ago met up with a buddy, and so they instructed me about one thing they purchased that I’d by no means heard of earlier than. Then a few days later, I began seeing Instagram adverts for that actual product! My telephone must be recording me.
It’s not, however the actuality is not any much less regarding: If an app in your telephone has entry to your location, and that information will get shared with an organization like Fb or Google, it’s pretty trivial for these firms to know which gadgets are close by and to focus on adverts primarily based on what these gadgets have been doing. That’s lots simpler than secretly recording audio, particularly as a result of your telephone signifies when that’s occurring.
What to do about it: If you happen to discover this habits unsettling, take a couple of minutes to do the next:
- Disable your advert ID in iOS or Android.
- Handle which apps can entry your location on iOS or Android.
- Disable off-Fb exercise on this web page beneath “Handle future exercise.”
- Flip off focused adverts from Google on this web page.
- Think about using an internet browser with monitoring safety or an advert blocker corresponding to uBlock Origin.
These steps gained’t resolve each potential privateness subject, however they’ll alleviate the sensation that your telephone is all the time listening.
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech recommendation publication. Join free to get extra ideas each Tuesday.
