Technology can sometimes seem quite mysterious, so it’s all too easy for misconceptions to spread.
That helps explain why I continue to see technological myths reproduce. Do you have to bury a wet phone in rice? Do you need a VPN to use public Wi-Fi networks? Does your phone secretly record your conversations? The answer to these questions and more is no, but believing differently can be harmful.
Here is my attempt to expel half a dozen popular technical myths, and what you should do instead of believing them.
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Myth 1: Dry rice can save a wet phone
The idea that uncooked rice will remove the moisture from a water searched with water is so omnipresent that even Apple has tried to expel it. “Do not place your iPhone in a bag of rice,” says the company’s support documentation. “This allows small rice particles to damage your iPhone.”
What to do instead: Your phone may already be water -resistant, so that the rice trick is outdated. But if not, IFixit recommends Shake excess water, switch off the phone and let it dry for as long as possible. (Placing your phone in rice forces you to leave it alone, which can explain why the myth persists.)
Myth 2: You must regularly force all your telephone apps
Since the arrival of recent app menus in iOS and Android, I have grabbed too many people compulsively to force all their apps, wrongly believing that this will retain the battery life or help the phone faster. In fact, force everything can make the performance and lifetime of the battery worseBecause your apps will use more power every time when they are completely re -loaded. Even Apple says Force-Close an app only if it does not respondand the same logic Also applies to Android -telephones.
What to do instead: Use the battery menu in the settings of your phone to identify apps that drain your battery. Maybe you should do that Adjust the background settings For that app or find an alternative.
Myth 3: Incognito mode prevents websites from following you
Misconceptions about the incognito mode are so widespread that Google had to Register a lawsuit in the Class action last year After Chrome users claimed it gave a false sense of privacy. So here is what the incognito or private browsem mode of your browser actually does:
- Prevents sites in your browsing history, so that others with access to your computer cannot see them.
- This allows you to browse sites in a logged -in state, with neither of your interactions of earlier visits.
These modes do not make you invisible online, because websites can still collect data and use identification data, such as your IP address to follow you. And if you register with a website while using the Incognito mode, that activity will be linked to your account.
What to do instead: Use one Web browser with strong built -in tracking protectionand possibly a VPN if you are very concerned about privacy (although VPNs Are not Panaceas either). A advertisement Can help, but only if you have set it to be performed in the Incognito mode.
Myth 5: Public USB charging ports distribute viruses
Thanks Repeated FBI warnings Over the years, the idea is that public USB charging ports can infect your devices with malware, but the actual threat of “Sap Jacking” remains theoretically. To date, Nobody has given a single real-world example From loading gates that spread viruses. By the way, both Android and iOS need permission to transfer data when connecting your phone with another device – something that you will hopefully reject when connecting to a snode port.
What to do: Your own adapters and cables can still be faster – especially if you have done that followed my buying guide- But I would not worry about using hotel or coffee shop ports in a pinch.
Myth 5: You need a VPN for public WiFi
This is just as penetrating as the SAP-Jacking-Mythe, but at least it is Was used to be. Nowadays you will notice that almost every website has an “https” in its address, which indicates that your traffic is encrypted. That makes the coding of a VPN redundant. In the extremely rare case in which a website sends non-cooded data on Wi-Fi, your browser will use strict warnings to prevent you from visiting it.
What to do instead: According to the Electronic Frontier FoundationIt is best to ensure that the software and the operating system of your device are up-to-date, so you are not at risk of security vulnerabilities that can send non-coded traffic.
Myth 6: Your phone listens to you
You probably heard such an anecdote: I recently met a friend and they told me about something they had never heard of. Then a few days later I started to see Instagram advertisements for that exact product! My phone has to pick me up.
It is not, but the reality is no less worrying: if an app on your phone has access to your location and that data is shared with a company such as Facebook or Google, it is quite trivial for those companies to understand which devices are in the neighborhood and to direct advertisements based on what those devices have done. That is a lot easier than in secret recording audio, especially because your phone indicates when that happens.
What to do: If you find this behavior disturbing, take a few minutes to do the following:
- Switch off your advertisement -ID In iOS of Android.
- Manage which apps have access to your location iOS or Android.
- Switch off off-Facebook activity On this page Under “Managing future activities.”
- Switch out targeted advertisements from Google On this page.
- Consider using A web browser with tracking protection or an advertising block such as Ublock -Oorsprong.
These steps will not solve every potential privacy problem, but they will relieve the feeling that your phone is always listening.
This story first appeared inAdviserJared’s weekly Tech -Curies newsletter.SIGN FREETo get more tips every Tuesday.
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