Posted on July 13, 2023
How to Prepare for a Lost or Stolen Smartphone
You never want to think it will happen: Your smartphone — and everything inside it — is missing. Has it been lost or stolen? You can’t find it anywhere. It feels like a catastrophe.
Luckily, with a bit of preparation, you can mitigate the fallout. In this week’s tip, we’ll give you some easy-to-follow steps you can take today to protect the data in your iPhone or Android phone — and hopefully get it back — before it goes missing.
Before we begin: If you have already lost your smartphone, or it’s been stolen, please check out our blog post, “How to quickly find a lost or stolen phone.”
Now, here’s how to prepare, just in case:
For both Android and iPhone users:
- Enable Lock Screen Security
It may seem basic, but the first line of defense is often overlooked. Enable PIN, password, pattern, or biometric (fingerprint or facial recognition) security. This will prevent unauthorized access if your device ends up in the wrong hands. Here’s how on an iOS device and Android.
- Regularly Backup Your Data
Regular backups ensure that your data, including photos, contacts, and files, are safe. Both Android and iOS offer automatic backup services – Google Drive for Android and iCloud for iOS. Make sure you have this feature turned on and your important data is being backed up regularly.
- Know How to Use Your Phone Finder App
Both iOS and Android platforms have built-in phone finder apps – ‘Find My’ for iOS and ‘Find My Device’ for Android. These apps allow you to locate, ring, or wipe your device if it’s lost or stolen. Make sure they’re activated and you know how to use them.
For iPhone Users:
- Enable ‘Send Last Location’
In your ‘Find My’ settings, ensure the ‘Send Last Location‘ feature is turned on. If your battery is critically low, your device will automatically send its location to iCloud, which can be crucial in finding a lost phone.
For Android Users:
- Set Up a ‘Lock Screen Message’
Before you lose your phone, you can set a lock screen message so that it will appear when your phone is locked, enabling anyone who finds your phone to contact you. It could be as simple as “If found, please contact (alternative contact details)”.
Here’s how (this may vary by model): Open the Settings app > Security & location > Screen lock preferences > Lock screen message.
- Secure Your Google Account
Your Google account is the key to much of your phone’s data. Ensure you have a strong, unique password and two-step verification enabled to prevent unauthorized access.
Remember, prevention is better than cure. It’s easy to think, “It won’t happen to me,” but it’s much less stressful to spend a few minutes now to prepare for the worst than it is to deal with the consequences of a lost or stolen phone. Stay safe, stay connected, and, most importantly, stay prepared.
Posted on July 10, 2023
CREDO grantee Take Back the Court is reforming the Supreme Court to preserve democracy, rights, and freedoms
Note from the CREDO team: This July, Take Back the Court is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help the organization rebuild democracy, protect the rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color, tackle the climate crisis, and mobilize progressive activists to take action.
Read this important blog post about Take Back the Court’s critical work, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this July.
In 2016, the right-wing movement stole the Supreme Court.
In an unprecedented political move, Mitch McConnell and his Senate cronies refused to hold a vote for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. In doing so, they shrunk the Court to 8 seats for more than a year. But they weren’t done.
In the fall of 2020, they tossed out their own rulebook and rammed through the confirmation of Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett in record time — even though 63 million people had already cast ballots in the election that would ultimately unseat President Trump.
Without those two insidious moves, the Supreme Court would have a 5-4, narrow liberal majority. Instead, the highest court in the land is being held hostage by 6 right-wing extremist politicians in robes — 5 of whom were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. Their radical agenda won’t win at the polls, so they’re imposing minority rule from the bench.
Take Back the Court was established to counter this threat to our democracy — to reclaim for the American people the most powerful legal institution in the country from the radical politicians who spent decades carefully plotting to enact a regressive and anti-democratic agenda against the will of the majority of Americans. Take Back the Court is the only organization dedicated primarily to expanding and rebalancing the Supreme Court to strengthen American democracy and preserve fundamental freedoms for all Americans.
The Supreme Court Is Stripping Us of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
We are watching the Court strip away more and more of our fundamental rights and freedoms each and every year. In just the 2.5 years since Justice Barrett took the bench, the Court has eviscerated voting rights protections three times. It has gutted rights for working Americans twice. It has defanged the 50-year-old environmental protections that protected our air and water from pollution twice. They have stripped LGBTQ+ people of their right to shop in stores, made our communities more vulnerable to gun violence, blocked student debt relief, ended protections for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people, and, of course, cut off access to abortion.
Only Expansion Can Rebalance the Court and Protect Us From Its Current Radicalism
So what are we doing about it? We’re building a movement to expand and rebalance the Court. Our country was founded on a principle of checks and balances, and historically, Congress has checked the power of the Supreme Court by changing its size and composition. It’s happened 7 times before, and we can make it happen again to correct the right-wing theft of the Court. By passing a bill, the Judiciary Act, to add 4 seats to the Court, we can create a more balanced institution committed to upholding our rights and freedoms — and unlike other judicial reforms, the current Court could not strike down Court expansion.
In just 4 years, we’ve taken Court expansion from a lofty idea to a blossoming movement and mainstream policy goal with more than 65 supporters in Congress and the endorsement of more than 130 diverse organizations. Groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Color of Change, Black Lives Matter, VotoLatino, March for Our Lives, Greenpeace, Lambda Legal, SEIU, and many others have joined this fight because they know we cannot create a future that works for all with a broken Court attacking our rights and freedoms.
And we’re just getting started. Because of our work, Americans are realizing that if they care about nearly any issue — voting rights, climate change, labor rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial and economic justice, tribal sovereignty, abortion and reproductive rights, immigration, student debt relief, gun violence prevention, and carceral state reform to name a few — they care about the Supreme Court and what it’s doing. We need a Court that will respect our rights and freedoms rather than standing in the way of progress if we are going to meet the challenges currently facing our country.
Occasional decisions that do not inflict maximum pain on Americans aside, this Court is not going to stop its assault on our more cherished rights, freedoms, and progress.. And the justices embroiled in ethics scandal after ethics scandal are not going to voluntarily check their own power or miraculously wake up and decide to “do the right thing.” We’re making sure all Americans, their organizations, and their congressional representatives know exactly the threat the Court poses and what we can do about it.
Despite losing the popular vote in 7 out of the last 8 presidential elections, Republicans have held the Court for 50 straight years. Without expansion, we are unlikely to see a liberal majority on the Court until at least 2065.
We’ve seen the harm the Court can do with just one decision. We’ve seen the devastation that follows just one term. We cannot withstand 40 more years of this Court rolling back our rights and freedoms. We must take back the court — today! Join us at takebackthecourtfoundation.org.
Posted on July 10, 2023
The Center for Economic and Policy Research: Full Employment for All
Note from the CREDO team: This July, Center for Economic and Policy Research is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help fund CEPR’s Full Employment For All campaign, by lifting demands made 60 years ago at the March for Jobs and Freedom to push Congress to fix the nation’s chronic joblessness problem through a national subsidized jobs program.
Read this important blog post about CEPR’s critical work, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this July.
The Center for Economic and Policy Research is excited to be a CREDO July 2023 grantee, and we are so grateful to all CREDO members! In the past, your generous support has allowed us to ramp up our fight for economic justice, both in the US and abroad, and we can’t wait to do it again.
This year, CREDO members will help fund CEPR’s Full Employment For All campaign. We are commemorating the August 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by pushing for Congress to address the joblessness in the country’s “forgotten places” (to paraphrase President Biden). The historically low national unemployment rate is worth celebrating, but it is important to remember that not everywhere is actually experiencing low unemployment. For example, in the first quarter of this year, in Yuma, Arizona, the unemployment rate was 8.5 percent – more than twice the national rate. And for many parts of the country, the reality is even harsher. The unemployment rate was 9.3 percent in Calhoun County, West Virginia, nearly 11 percent in Flint, Michigan and 13.2 percent in the Kusilvak Census Area in Alaska. In Reedley, California the unemployment rate is nearly a whopping 20 percent. We have a lot of work to do.
CEPR’s Director of Race and Economic Justice, Dr. Algernon Austin, is helping to spearhead the effort of a broad coalition of social and economic justice and grassroots advocacy organizations committed to finally actualizing the powerful economic agenda set by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The coalition is calling for a national subsidized employment program targeted to high-unemployment areas so that we can achieve full employment for all.
Algernon’s research has revealed that the country has made ZERO progress over the last 60 years in breaking the two-to-one, Black-to-White unemployment-rate ratio. The Black unemployment rate continues to be roughly twice the White unemployment rate, and therefore Black America never truly experiences low unemployment. A targeted subsidized employment program would help us make serious gains in securing full employment for all.
In fact, a targeted jobs program would help all communities, regardless of race, that face persistently high rates of joblessness. While the problem is most acute for the Black and Native American populations, communities facing disproportionately low employment can be found in all states and among all races, including in White rural communities. With this understanding, CEPR is building a multiracial, class-diverse coalition to address the complexities of this enduring, yet underreported, economic crisis.
It is unconscionable that such little progress had been made in the 60 YEARS since Dr. King brought this issue to Congress’ doorstep. At CEPR, we know that economic and racial justice are inextricably linked. We believe in a country where there is full employment for all – not just low unemployment for some. CREDO members can help us force Congress to finally do their jobs and right this wrong. Together, we will work to achieve what Dr. King set out to do 60 years ago.
Posted on July 10, 2023
Thanks to CREDO members, the Zinn Education Project continues teaching our accurate history
Our grantee partners at the Zinn Education Project introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula and help equip students with analytical tools to make sense of and improve the world today.
In December 2022, CREDO members voted to donate $27,433 to help the Zinn Education Project double the number of Teaching for Black Lives teacher-led study groups; expand its Climate Justice and Reconstruction education campaigns; and defend the right to teach honestly in the face of anti-history education laws. In total, members like you have helped us donate $138,270 since 2015.
Powered in part by the generosity of CREDO and our members, Zinn Ed Project had some recent victories and launched some great new initiatives. Here’s a quick report on how your donations are making an impact from our friends at Zinn:
Teach Truth Day of Action
We hosted the third annual Teach Truth Day of Action in more than 65 cities across the United States with more than 50 co-sponsors including Color of Change; National Women’s Law Center; Learning for Justice; GLSEN; Red, Wine, & Blue; Human Rights Campaign; the National Education Association; and many more organizations of note.
Teach Banned Books at SXSW
We were invited to co-host a Teach Banned Books installation at SXSW in Austin in March of 2023 — allowing us to reach beyond our typical audience of educators. We traveled with the same installation to Orlando for the NEA Conference on Racial and Social Justice later in June.
New Lesson on Water and Environmental Racism
We released a new lesson for grades 7+ on water and environmental racism. Inspired by the 2016 Democracy Now! documentary Thirsty for Democracy, the lesson introduces students to the struggle of residents to access safe water for drinking, cooking, and bathing in the majority-Black cities of Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; and Newark, New Jersey. Thanks to the support of CREDO and other donors, this lesson — and all the lessons at the Zinn Education Project — are free for teachers to download. Read more and access the lesson.
If you’d like to learn more and get involved with ZEP, please visit their website, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Posted on July 6, 2023
Reflect on 2023 so far, and vote now for a very special donation!
Thanks to our amazing CREDO customers, we’ve donated to 18 incredible progressive nonprofit groups so far this year. In celebration, we’ll be giving a special, extra donation of $10,000 to one of the groups we funded in 2023. Read below for a refresher on our grantees from January through June this year (list in alphabetical order), and then cast your vote now, and help send some extra support their way!
Democracy Now!
Grantee in February 2023
Democracy Now! is a daily, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman, Juan González and Nermeen Shaikh. Its reporting includes breaking news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the frontlines of today’s most pressing issues. Visit www.democracynow.org to learn more.
Action Against Hunger
Grantee in April 2023
Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization that takes decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger. It saves the lives of malnourished children. It ensures everyone can access clean water, food, training and healthcare. It enables entire communities to be free from hunger. Visit www.actionagainsthunger.org to learn more.
Equal Rights Advocates
Grantee in January 2023
Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools. Since 1974, it’s protected and advanced rights and opportunities for women, girls, and gender-expansive people with free legal services, bold legislation, and community advocacy. Visit www.equalrights.org to learn more.
Evergreen Action
Grantee in February 2023
Evergreen pairs bold policy products with campaign-style communications and advocacy tactics to drive positive change. It fights for a just and thriving clean energy economy through raising standards, catalyzing investment, and centering justice. Visit www.evergreenaction.com to learn more.
Family Equality
Grantee in June 2023
Family Equality’s mission is to ensure that everyone has the freedom to find, form, and sustain their families by advancing equality for the LGBTQ+ community. It is creating a world where everyone can experience the love, safety, and belonging of family. Visit www.familyequality.org to learn more.
Friends of the Earth Action
Grantee in May 2023
Friends of the Earth Action believes that environmental protection and social justice are both part of the struggle for a healthy and just world. It fights for laws and lawmakers that echo that mission, and helps the public join in the battle. Visit www.foeaction.org to learn more.
Futures Without Violence
Grantee in March 2023
For over 40 years, FUTURES has led groundbreaking programs and policy solutions to create safer homes, schools, and communities for women, children, and families everywhere. Its vision is for all individuals to have equitable access to education, safety, justice, and economic freedom. Visit www.futureswithoutviolence.org to learn more.
Global Fund for Women
Grantee in June 2023
Global Fund for Women envisions a world where movements for gender justice have transformed power and privilege for a few into equity and equality for all. Visit www.globalfundforwomen.org to learn more.
Green America
Grantee in April 2023
Since 1982, Green America has worked tirelessly to harness economic power – the strength of consumers, investors, and business leaders across the country – to create a more socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Visit www.greenamerica.org to learn more.
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
Grantee in April 2023
KIND’s vision is a world in which children’s rights and well-being are protected as they migrate alone. KIND’s team is made up of global experts on the rights and needs of unaccompanied and separated children and the laws, policies, and practices that affect them. Visit www.supportkind.org to learn more.
Life After Hate
Grantee in February 2023
Life After Hate helps individuals disengage and deradicalize from violent far-right extremist (VFRE) hate groups and hateful online spaces. Visit www.lifeafterhate.org to learn more.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Grantee in May 2023
For more than 27 years, the National Domestic Violence Hotline has answered the call – over 6.5 million calls, chats, and texts to date – for those affected by relationship abuse. It provides crisis support and hope for a life free from violence. Visit thehotline.org to learn more.
National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)
Grantee in June 2023
The National Fair Housing Alliance is the country’s only national civil rights organization dedicated solely to eliminating all forms of housing and lending discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all people. Visit thehotline.org to learn more.
Paid Leave for All
Grantee in May 2023
Paid Leave for All represents dozens of organizations and tens of millions of workers, families, small businesses, and advocates, and its campaign provides the strategy and coordinated effort to pass a federal law ensuring paid leave for all working people. Visit www.paidleaveforall.org to learn more.
Pesticide Action Network
Grantee in March 2023
Across the US and around the world, PAN works with those on the frontlines of industrial agriculture — farmworkers, family farmers, rural communities, Indigenous people and children — to eradicate pesticide use and build a just, healthy food system. Visit www.panna.org to learn more.
SAGE
Grantee in January 2023
Founded in 1978, SAGE has offered programming and direct services to LGBTQ+ elders and their caregivers for nearly 50 years. It advocates for impactful policy changes, and provide education, technical assistance, and training for aging providers. Visit www.sageusa.org to learn more.
Social Security Works
Grantee in March 2023
Social Security Works knows that the best defense against right-wing lies is a good offense. That’s why it fights every day to expand―never cut―our Social Security system! Visit socialsecurityworks.org to learn more.
Women’s Refugee Commission
Grantee in January 2023
WRC is proud to partner with displaced women, children, LGBTQI+, and people with disabilities to catalyze gender-transformative change, by ensuring their voices are heard – and heeded – by local, national, and global decision-makers. Visit www.womensrefugeecommission.org to learn more.
Posted on July 5, 2023
What You Need to Know About the Latest Attack on Abortion Care: the Mifepristone Abortion Pill
Note from the CREDO team: This July, Planned Parenthood Action Fund is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help PPAF fight to restore and advance abortion access wherever possible while laying the foundation to reclaim and expand reproductive rights for all
Read this important blog post which was originally published on the PPAF website about the recent attacks on medication abortion, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this July.
UPDATE: Access to mifepristone — a safe, effective pill for medication abortion — remains safe for now. The Supreme Court has issued a stay that protects access to mifepristone.
This is good news — but FDA-approved mifepristone should never have been at risk in the first place, and it’s not over yet.
In an yet another attack on abortion care, in early April 2023 a federal judge in Texas ruled in favor of anti-abortion organizations suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The lawsuit challenges the FDA’s approval of mifepristone — also known as mife, one of two medications used in medication abortions. The court’s ruling means that mife could become unavailable to people who need abortions.
Although this decision came from a federal court in Texas, it doesn’t just apply to patients in Texas — it could apply to people in every state in the nation.
If the ruling stands, it will affect access to mifepristone across the country — but it will not end medication abortions. In states where abortion is legal, medication abortions will remain a safe and effective way to end an early pregnancy.
The supportive, expert staff at Planned Parenthood health centers are dedicated to providing the education and health care patients need, including abortion. Contact your nearest Planned Parenthood health center to learn more and book an appointment or a virtual visit.
What this lawsuit is really about
This case is about controlling the medical decisions of women, trans people, and nonbinary people. Not satisfied with ending the federal right to an abortion in June 2022, a group of anti-abortion activists and organizations asked the federal court in Texas to order the FDA to end its 22-year approval of mife. The judge ruled in their favor — threatening access to mifepristone across the nation.
This case is not about safety.
- Medication abortion is safer than other common medicines like penicillin, Tylenol, and Viagra.
- Medication abortion has a strong safety record — serious complications happen in less than ⅓ of 1% of cases, whether a patient gets their abortion pills in person, at a doctor’s office, or remotely through a virtual visit.
- In 2021, more than half of all documented abortions were medication abortions.
Medication abortions are safe and are still available where abortion is legal, even if the case succeeds.
Lots of people refer to medication abortions as the abortion pill, although medication abortion in the U.S. most commonly involves taking two pills: mifepristone and misoprostol. Both medications are safe and effective and have been used for decades by millions of people to end early pregnancies. Because of the court’s decision, mifepristone may be taken off the market. But misoprostol is — and will be — available as an option to end an early pregnancy.
Misoprostol by itself is a safe and effective way to end an early pregnancy. Reach out to your local Planned Parenthood to talk about your options and what kind of care is best for you.
- Get fast facts on misoprostol-only medication abortion at plannedparenthood.org.
Medication abortions without mifepristone are common around the world.
In the U.S. most people have relied on a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol for medication abortions. But for decades, all around the world, many people have used just misoprostol to safely end early pregnancies when mifepristone isn’t available.
Misoprostol works on its own to empty your uterus.
A few facts about misoprostol:
Misoprostol is, on its own, a safe way to end an early pregnancy.
- Respected medical organizations like The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Ipas, and the World Health Organization agree that misoprostol-only abortions are a safe alternative.
- Using misoprostol pills to have an abortion is legal in states where abortion is legal.
- Misoprostol has been around for more than 30 years. Besides abortion, misoprostol has other medical uses — like miscarriage management and preventing and treating ulcers.
Planned Parenthood health centers are here for you.
Planned Parenthood health care professionals will do everything we can to make sure you can get abortion care, where it’s legal. Contact your local Planned Parenthood health center to learn more about your options.
Posted on July 3, 2023
Vote for Center for Economic and Policy Research, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Take Back the Court
Every month, CREDO members vote to distribute our monthly grant to three incredible progressive causes – and every vote makes a difference. This July, you can support groups fighting for economic justice, abortion rights and expanding the Supreme Court by voting to fund the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Take Back the Court.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
CEPR fights for economic justice everywhere. We provide progressive research and ideas to push Congress for economic policy that empowers all people to prosper, not just those at the top.
CREDO’s support will fund CEPR’s Full Employment For All campaign. We are lifting demands made 60 years ago at the March for Jobs and Freedom to push Congress to fix the nation’s chronic joblessness problem through a national subsidized jobs program.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Planned Parenthood was founded over 100 years ago on the revolutionary idea that women have the right to access the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives. Today, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund fights to protect that right.
Funding from CREDO members will help the Planned Parenthood Action Fund fight to restore and advance abortion access wherever possible while laying the foundation to reclaim and expand reproductive rights for all.
Take Back the Court
The current Supreme Court poses a grave danger to a wide range of issues. By expanding and rebalancing the Court, we can rebuild democracy, protect the rights of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color, tackle the climate crisis, and more.
This term, the Supreme Court will decide major cases threatening democracy, the environment, racial & economic justice, and more. Funding from CREDO members at this critical moment will allow us to mobilize progressive activists to take action.
Your vote this month will determine how we divide our monthly donations among these three progressive groups. Be sure to cast your vote to support one, two or all three by July 31.
CREDO members who use our products and services everyday are the reason we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile and join our movement.
Posted on July 3, 2023
Our June grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible nonprofits. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups fighting for LGBTQ rights, gender justice and fair housing. In June, CREDO members voted to distribute our monthly donation among Family Equality, Global Fund for Women, and National Fair Housing Alliance.
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our April grant recipients thank you.
Family Equality
“Thank you for your support for Family Equality and LGBTQ+ families. Together we fight for what matters most – Love. Family. Freedom.” – Stacey Stevenson, CEO, Family Equality
To learn more, visit www.familyequality.org.
Global Fund for Women
“We are in a time of change and great possibility, globally, and I am hopeful. I’m certain that shifting power to drive equity, equality, and justice for all is not only possible, but inevitable. I hope you will join us.” – Latanya Mapp Frett, President and CEO, Global Fund for Women
To learn more, visit www.globalfundforwomen.org.
National Fair Housing Alliance
“The work of breathing life into the rights guaranteed by the Fair Housing Act requires vigilance, fortitude and persistence on a national scale. Thank you for your generous support which allows us to continue this work.” – Lisa Rice, President and CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance
To learn more, visit nationalfairhousing.org.
Now check out the three groups we are funding in June, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.
CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile, the carrier with a conscience.
Posted on June 29, 2023
How to Take Better Smartphone Photos with Built-In AI
Whether you’re an aspiring photographer or someone who just enjoys capturing daily moments, your smartphone can be a powerful tool. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mobile technology, taking stunning photos has never been easier.
In this week’s tip, we’ll show you a couple tricks on how to use AI on both iPhone and Android devices to make your smartphone pictures even better.
iPhone Users: How to use Photographic Styles, Live Text and Sharpness
iPhone’s latest iOS offers a feature called Photographic Styles on the iPhone 13, iPhone 14 and iPhone SE (3rd generation). Photographic Styles uses advanced AI to personalize your camera’s look and adjust it to your aesthetic preferences. Here’s how you do it:
- Open the Camera app, and swipe up or tap the triangle to reveal the settings.
- Tap on ‘Photographic Styles’.
- Choose from the available styles: Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, or Cool.
- Here, you can also customize the tone and warmth of these styles.
iPhone’s AI can also recognize and interact with text in your photos using the Live Text feature. So, you can take a photo of a recipe, a phone number, or an address, and then copy, paste, or call directly from the photo. It’s as simple as pointing your camera, taking the photo, and then tapping on the identified text.
Here’s how:
- Open your Camera app, then position the viewfinder so the text appears within the camera frame.
- After the yellow frame appears around detected text, tap the icon with a square and three lines, then choose one of these options: Copy Text, Select All, Look Up, Translate, Search the Web, or Share.
- Note: You can also touch and hold the text, then use the grab points to select specific text and perform the actions above.
Tap a quick action at the bottom of the screen to do things like make a phone call, visit a website, start an email, convert currencies, and more. - Tap the same button to return to your Camera app.
For blurry photos, you can open the image in your Photos app, tap edit, and slide your finger across the options until you find the adjustment for sharpness.
But if you’ve intentionally shot your image in Portrait Mode (which provides a blurry background), you can edit the background in your Photos app.
Android Users: Leverage Google Lens, Night Sight and Magic Eraser
Android devices, particularly the latest Pixel models, also have powerful AI-based features. Google Lens is an image recognition technology that can provide information about objects and texts it recognizes in your photos. Here’s how you can use it (note: all instructions below may vary between model, manufacturer and operating system):
- Open your Camera app and select ‘Google Lens’.
- Point your camera at the subject of your image.
- Tap on the object or text on your screen.
- You’ll then see results or actions based on what you’ve tapped.
For those who enjoy nighttime photography, Android’s Night Sight uses AI to brighten your photos taken in low-light conditions while preserving the details and colors.
- Open your Camera app and scroll to ‘Night Sight’.
- Steady your phone and take the photo.
- Wait as the AI works its magic – it might take a bit longer than a typical photo.
If you are a Google One subscriber (Pixel owner or not), you can now take advantage of the Magic Eraser feature in Google Photos to remove annoying background distractions, like street signs, power lines and even people. Here’s how:
- Open the Google Photos app on your smartphone and choose the photo you’d like to edit.
- Tap Edit > Tools > Magic Eraser.
- You may now see some suggestions based on the built-in AI to remove distractions, or you can swipe your finger across the elements you’d like to remove.
With these features in your hands, you can really improve your photography and create great long-lasting memories. Remember, the best camera is the one you have with you, and with AI, your smartphone’s camera is more powerful than ever. Happy snapping!
Posted on June 15, 2023
Turn off these default smartphone settings to protect your privacy
Our smartphones are amazing little machines. But did you know that these devices can collect a lot of personal data about our usage habits by default without us even knowing?
It’s true. Manufacturers and app makers are collecting data by default to improve their products, fix bugs, and even serve up advertisements — but sharing too much information is unnecessary and probably not in our best interests.
In this week’s tip, we’ll give you a few quick ways you can turn off these default settings to protect your privacy.
Turn off these default settings on Apple devices
- Allow Apps to Request to Track allows app manufacturers to track your usage across other apps and websites. By turning off this default setting, you can automatically deny all apps from tracking.
To turn it off: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking > Toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track
- iPhone Analytics allows Apple to track how you use your device to improve its services and devices, but it could drain your battery, too.
To turn it off: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Toggle off Share iPhone [& Watch] Analytics
While you’re there, you can toggle off sharing iCloud analytics as well.
- Apple Advertising. Apple promises that it does not track you, but it can personalize ads for you among its own sites and apps and you may not want to share this kind of data.
To turn it off: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising > Toggle off Personalized Ads
- Location Services allows apps to know your current location. It’s an important setting when using maps, a rideshare service or another app that relies on your location to function properly. However, many apps that have know business knowing your location still want to know where you are and where you’ve been.
To turn it off on an app-by-app basis: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > then click on the app you want to change > choose from the options Never/Ask Next Time/While Using the App/Always.
A tip from the New York Times: You can also turn off Apple-specific location services tracking by scrolling down to the bottom of the list, choosing System Services, and toggling off “iPhone Analytics and Routing & Traffic to prevent the device from sharing geodata with Apple for improving Apple Maps.”
Turn off these default settings on Android devices
- Turn Off or Limit History by visiting https://myactivity.google.com/ and changing the settings for Web & App Activity, Location History and YouTube History. You can set these to never store your history or to auto-delete after a set period of time.
- Personalizations allow Google to track you around the web. You probably want to turn this off.
Go to: myaccount.google.com > Manage your data & privacy > Turn off Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History.
To turn off personalized ads, click on My Ads Center > Toggle off Personalized Ads.
- Location Tracking. Just like iPhone, Android devices can track your location and you can turn this off as well. The settings may differ by manufacturer or your OS version, but to turn this off on an app-by-app basis:
Go to Settings > Privacy > Permissions manager > Location > then choose the permissions for each app (Allowed all the time, allowed only while in use, or denied)
To learn more about protecting your privacy on your Android device, visit this great post from Android Police.
