It feels like we’re always upgrading to the latest release and replacing old gadgets on an almost yearly basis these days, which leaves us with a lot of old phones, tablets and other devices. Sure, you could leave them in a drawer forever in the off chance you need to use it when your new device breaks, but that day usually never comes, leaving us with a lot of clutter we don’t need. If you’re not planning on using your old devices anymore, you should free up some space by using one of the numerous websites around that will take your old gadgets and give you something for them. It can be hard finding the best price for your device across dozens of websites, so that’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best sites and services out there that will buy your used electronics at a fair price. If you’re ready to start selling your disused devices for some extra cash or other incentives, read on.

There are plenty of companies where you can sell electronics — places that’ll happily buy old fitness trackers, smartwatches, gaming consoles, laptops, digital cameras and other electronic equipment. In exchange, they’ll send you cold hard cash, often in the form of a gift card or PayPal transfer. (Not too shabby for that MacBook gathering dust in your closet.) You can even sell your old electronics without having to visit a physical location such as a pawn shop. And you won’t have to worry about paying for shipping or shouldering the cost of a fee, which is somewhat commonplace with services that sell electronics and old equipment. 

The prices offered with trade-in programs on an old device are usually a little lower than what you could sell electronics for, but the reduced price is worth forgoing the headache of trying to sell on your own. Some places will even take broken items, of course at a much lower cost than a gadget that is still in good working order.

Read on to see the best places to sell electronics and gadgets, unless it’s one of these seven used items
— those things you should probably never buy or sell.

Decluttr

Payment Method: Direct deposit, Paypal or charity donation

Turnaround Time: Three to five days, depending on shipping

If you’ve never used Decluttr before, you’re in for a treat. This is one of the fastest bidding services you can use for selling a ton of different kinds of tech. Plug in your details to the form, and you’ll see a bid for your gadget in seconds. As long as it’s a bid you like, you’ll be presented with an option to complete the sale and start the shipping process. Payments are made quickly, which is why this company has one of the highest TrustPilot ratings you can find. 

Valid for a limited time only, you can get 10% extra on all tech with a max bonus of $40 by using code CNET10EXTRA. 

See at Decluttr

Amazon Trade-In

Payment method: Amazon gift card 

Turnaround time: Two business days after Amazon receives the item 

Amazon’s trade in program works a lot like its retail store. You do an easy search for an electronic item, enter any necessary details (storage, screen size and so on) and then select the device’s condition. Amazon will then make an offer for your electronic gadget and, if you accept it, provide a free shipping label for the item. 

The number of items Amazon accepts spans across a wide spectrum, including video doorbells, wireless routers and other home security devices. 

Once you ship the item, Amazon will inspect it to ensure the item matches your original description. If it all checks out, your Amazon account is credited with an Amazon eGift card for the offer amount. If the item is in better condition than you described, Amazon’s customer service promises to pay you more. 

If you’d rather trade-in a device in person, Amazon has a list of locations, where you can take Amazon devices and select phones. Amazon states that even nonworking devices can be accepted. 

The drawback? Your money is locked to your Amazon account. 

See at Amazon

Apple Trade In

Payment method: Apple Store gift card

Turnaround time: Instant if done in an Apple Store. Two to three weeks if done online

Apple’s trade-in program will take devices from a wide range of companies, not just its own. Currently, Apple will accept your laptop, smartphones, tablets, watches and “other” devices and old equipment. If the company doesn’t have a trade-in offer for your device, like iPods or AirPods, Apple will recycle it free of charge.

Apple states it will take two to three weeks to complete the online trade-in process. If you want to place your order for a new device right now, the company will credit your payment method with the trade-in value once it’s processed. Alternatively, if Apple Stores are open in your area, you can visit the store and get an instant store credit for your trade-in. It’s especially helpful with the launch of the iPhone 14.. 

Using Apple’s trade-in service makes sense if you’re already planning on buying a new iPhone or Mac. It’s not a worthwhile option for someone who wants to buy the latest Samsung Galaxy phone, for example. 

See at Apple

See photos from the $400 iPhone SE and Galaxy A51

+13 more

See all photos

Best Buy Trade-In Program

Payment method: Best Buy gift card

Turnaround time: Instant if done in store. Seven to nine business days if mailing in an item.

Getting a quote from Best Buy is as simple as picking a product category, manufacturer, model and condition. Once you’ve filled out the questionnaire, the tool will estimate the unwanted device and give you an instant quote. The offer amount, if you choose to accept it, will only be awarded as store credit in the form of a Best Buy gift card.

The company lists just a handful of stores that don’t participate in the trade-in program.

Best Buy’s payment turnaround time is slower than other services, but the company accepts a wider variety of gadgets — matching nearly every type of electronic device it sells, including various laptop options, smartphone options, wearables, digital camera options, and video game consoles. You can trade in your gaming system, video games, and an iPhone or iPad at the same time, for example. 

See at Best Buy

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ItsWorthMore

Payment method: PayPal, Zelle or check 

Turnaround time: Typically 72 hours after receiving your item(s), but you can pay for 24-hour turnaround. 

Unlike the previous services for selling electronics online, the ItsWorthMore program will pay you through your choice of PayPal, Zelle or an old-fashioned paper check. 

The process for selling electronic goods entails answering some questions about the old cell phone, tablet, Apple Watch (or other Apple device) or computer you’re selling. ItsWorthMore will then give you an offer and, if you accept it, provide you with a prepaid shipping label. During the checkout process, you can select how you want to receive your payment. You also have the option to pay $15 for two-day shipping and 24-hour processing time. Otherwise, standard shipping and a turn around target time of 72 hours. However, processing can take up to five business days. 

When your device is received, ItsWorthMore will verify if the indicated working condition is accurate — that is, whether it’s in good condition, fair, broken, and so on. If there’s a discrepancy, you’ll have a chance to ask for the device back or accept the revised offer.

See at ItsWorthMore

BuyBackWorld

Payment method: PayPal, direct deposit, BuyBackWorld gift card, prepaid debit card or check 

Turnaround time: 48 hours after passing inspection 

BuyBackWorld will buy a wide range of products including phones, tablets, iPods, cameras, game consoles, computers, headphones, drones and, well, you get the point. You can even get a custom quote for products that aren’t listed on the site. 

After getting a quote and selecting how you want to be paid, send your item(s) into BuyBackWorld. Once they receive your shipment, they’ll inspect your items and you’ll get paid. If the quote is adjusted after inspection, you’ll have the option to accept the new offer or have your device returned to you. 

See at BuyBackWorld

More Ways to Trade in Your Phone

• Best Trade-In Options for iPhones and Android Phones 
• How to Sell Your Old Phone: Learn These 6 Tips Now to Get the Most Cash
• How to Make the Most Money From Old Gadgets
• The Best Ways to Sell or Trade-In Your Old iPhone in 2022

The post Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics for 2022 first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

If you bought one of the new iPhone 14 models today, you’re probably ready to tear open the box and start experiencing all the new features of iOS 16. While getting a new phone is exciting, we don’t recommend rushing the setup process. Instead, take the time to make sure your new iPhone 14 is set up to your liking. 

Apple has several options for transferring data from iPhone to iPhone, depending on your situation. For instance, you can set it up as brand new, but you’d be starting from scratch with no settings, messages, photos, apps or accounts transferred over. There’s also the option to move everything from your current phone to the iPhone 14 — even if you’re currently an Android user. 

We’ll explain the four different methods for restoring your phone from a recent backup of your current iPhone. 

1. Restore a recent iCloud backup to your new iPhone

The easiest and quickest method to set up your new iPhone is to restore from a recent iCloud backup. As you walk through the initial setup process, tap Restore from iCloud Backup, sign in with your Apple ID and then pick the most recent backup of your old iPhone. 

If the backup is more than a day or two old, I suggest you take an extra few minutes to create a new backup. To do so, open the Settings app on your old phone and search iCloud Backup (click the icon), then select Back Up Now. 

Once that finishes, go back to your new iPhone and select the backup you just created as what you want to use to restore from. 

Your phone will then restore your settings and preferences, and you’ll be able to start using it in about 15 minutes while it finishes downloading your installed apps. 

Once everything is restored, you’ll need to sign back into any accounts you added to your phone, as well as go through your apps and make sure you’re still signed in. 

2. Use Apple’s direct transfer method

During the setup process, you’ll be asked if you want to directly transfer apps and information from your old iPhone to your new one. This feature was first rolled out with iOS 12.4, so if it’s been a few years since you’ve upgraded phones, it’ll be the first time you’ve seen the option. 

The tool is straightforward to use. Make sure you have both phones, preferably plugged in and charging to ensure they don’t run out of battery, a Wi-Fi connection and enough time for the process to finish — it could take over an hour. 

The more information you have on your phone, like photos in your camera roll, the longer it will take. When the transfer starts, the phones will show you a time estimate. Every time I’ve used this tool, that estimate has been accurate within a couple of minutes. It’s worth taking the time if you don’t use Apple’s iCloud service to back up your phone.

3. Use a Mac or PC to transfer your data to an iPhone

The method I personally use with every new iPhone is to restore from an encrypted backup using a Mac or PC. Not only does this process transfer all of your apps, settings and preferences, but it also means you don’t have to sign into the countless apps you have on your phone. 

Before you can use this method, you’ll need to create an encrypted backup of your current iPhone. I know that may sound intimidating or overly complicated, but it only means you have to check an extra box and enter a password. 

On a Mac, you’ll use Finder to back up your old iPhone. We outlined the steps when Apple killed iTunes. Just make sure to check the Encrypt backup box and enter a password you’ll remember when prompted. Let your Mac go to work, creating a backup file. It will let you know when it’s done. 

On a PC, you’ll need to use iTunes (it’s not completely dead) to create a backup. That process is explained here. Again, you’ll need to make sure the Encrypt backup box is checked and enter a password. 

To restore your new phone, open Finder or iTunes, and connect your phone to your computer. Click Trust when prompted, and then follow the prompts, selecting the backup you just created as what you want to use to restore the phone. You will need to enter the backup’s password before the process begins — so make sure you don’t forget it! 

Once it’s done, your new phone will be an exact copy of your old phone and you won’t have to spend any time signing into apps or random accounts. 

4. Android user? This app is your answer

Apple doesn’t have many Android apps listed in Google’s Play Store, but Move to iOS is one of them. This free app will connect your Android phone to a new iPhone and allow you to transfer the most important information from one phone to the other. 

Here’s the entire step-by-step process as well as some caveats, like the fact that it won’t transfer any locally stored music or PDF files. 

No matter the process you used to set up your new phone, you’re sure to be giddy with excitement as you explore what it can do. 

The post Bought the New iPhone 14? Here’s the Easiest Way to Transfer Your Data first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Google’s been developing its Messages app on Android to better compete against Apple’s iMessage for years, and at the same time has been advocating for the RCS texting standard that powers this app to replace SMS and MMS across the phone industry. The company has been particularly targeting Apple in a campaign to bring the standard to the iPhone to allow for interoperability between the two phone platforms, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said at Vox Media’s Code Conference that he doesn’t “hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy on that at this point,” and if you want seamless messaging with your family, you should “buy your mom an iPhone.” 

While RCS-powered texting is currently only available on Android phones, Google reported in May that there are now half a billion people actively using the standard in its Messages app. Google’s Messages app is now the default texting app for most Android phones, and the RCS standard allows for features that are similar to Apple’s iMessage without requiring a specific type of phone or setting up a third-party texting app. These include typing indicators, encryption and higher-quality photo and video sharing.

RCS now has the support of the three major US carriers with Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T committing to make Google’s Messages app the default on Android phones sold by the carriers. But despite Google’s campaign, the chances of Apple supporting RCS appear bleak. In the meantime, Google has improved its Messages app to correctly display reaction icons sent by Apple’s phones instead of showing a text describing who “Liked” your message. The iOS 16 Developer Beta appears to be supporting a similar translation for reactions sent over SMS.

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While RCS isn’t yet close to becoming the true replacement to SMS, you should still turn it on if you have an Android phone. Google’s Chat features make texting between compatible phones a breeze, especially if you aren’t sure whether your friend or family member uses another service such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram or another texting app. The Chat features in Google’s Messages app are not to be confused with the entirely separate Google Chat app on iOS and Android, which replaces Google Hangouts.

Let’s take a closer look at how to start using Google’s Chat features, and some of the more nuanced aspects of Chat.

How to get started with Google’s Chat feature

First, you’ll need an Android phone with Google’s Messages app installed and set as the default text-messaging app. The first time you launch Messages, it will ask if you want to set it as your default app. Just follow the prompts and don’t worry, you won’t lose your conversation history by switching. 

After setting Messages as your default messaging app, take a couple of minutes and set up Messages for Web, which allows you to send and receive text messages from your computer. 

The service is globally available, so it shouldn’t matter which carrier you use or what country you live in, as long as you have the Messages app installed and are using it, you’ll have access to Chat. 

Turn Google’s Chat features on

After installing Google’s Messages app and setting it as your default texting app, there are two different ways to enable Chat. You can either wait for a prompt in the Messages app asking if you want to see when your friends are typing — a prompt that has shown up almost instantly for me on the last few Android phones I have set up, or you can go into the Settings section of Messages select Chat features and slide the switch next to Enable chat features to the On position.

This same settings page is also where you can go to turn your read receipts on or off, as well as disable the typing indicator whenever you’re typing and control what happens if Chat fails to send a message. 

If you run into issues with sending messages, you can also view the current status of your phone’s connection to the Chat service in the settings section of the app. As long as it says Connected, your phone number is registered with Chat and should use the service whenever you’re talking to a contact who also has Chat enabled.

That’s an important aspect of Chat. Whoever you’re talking to will also need to have the feature enabled on their device to use the new chat features, though of course all usual texting features still apply. 

You’ll be able to take advantage sooner by getting your friends to use Google Messages. You can guide them through the setup process (or send them a link to this post). 

Use the new Chat features in a conversation

After you turn on chat features, the Messages app will continue to work and look the same, and you should keep using it the same way you always have. The app knows when you’re talking to someone through text or another contact with chat turned on. 

The easiest way to tell if a conversation is using old-fashioned text messaging or the new chat features is to look at the text box before you start typing. If the box says “Chat message” then the conversation will have typing indicators, read receipts, and the rest of the features that RCS Messaging offers. Another way to quickly identify the type of messages you’re sending is by the color of the text bubble. A regular text conversation will have a light blue bubble, while a chat message will be a darker shade of blue. 

A fun feature available in chat is adding reactions to messages. Just long-press on a message until a bubble shows up, presenting you with a few different options, including like, love, laughter or anger. 

When chat features are in use, you’ll see delivered and read receipts underneath each message you’ve sent, and you can send full-resolution photos and share files with fellow chat users. You don’t have to do anything special to send a high-resolution image, just tap on the photo icon in the app and pick a photo or video. You’ll see a loading circle on the image as it’s uploaded and sent, but otherwise the process looks and works the same as sending a text message. 

Because Chat works over mobile data or Wi-Fi, you can put your phone in airplane mode and you’ll still be able to send and receive messages with other Chat users using only a Wi-Fi connection. 

Switching phones? Make sure you turn Chat off

Just like Apple’s iMessage tries holding onto your phone number if you forget to disable it, so does Chat. Before you remove the SIM card from your phone, make sure to turn off Chat. If you forget to turn it off before moving your SIM card to a new phone, chat features could continue to work for up to eight days. Meaning, you may not get messages sent to your number by someone else who is using chat. 

Disable Chat by opening Settings > Chat features in the Messages app and slide the switch next to Enable chat features to the Off position. I suggest waiting a few minutes after turning it off to let Google’s servers process the request, and ensure your number doesn’t get stuck in limbo. 

How to tell if a chat is encrypted

Right now, only conversations between you and another person using chat are encrypted. Encryption for group chats is still in the works. There isn’t anything special you need to do to start using the one-to-one encryption feature, but it is possible to check it’s working properly. 

When starting a conversation with another Chat user, you’ll see a banner on your screen with a lock icon and a confirmation that you’re “Chatting with [name/number].” Furthermore, the send icon, which looks like a paper airplane, will have a small lock icon on it. The timestamps included in your conversation will also include a lock icon. That lock is a quick and easy way to see that a particular message or conversation is encrypted.

The post Google’s Messages App and RCS Bring iMessage first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Apple announced the new 2nd-generation AirPods Pro, its latest wireless headphones, during Wednesday’s “Far Out” event. And while these AirPods won’t be released until Sept. 23 (you can preorder this Friday), there’s still a lot to explore with the current AirPods you might own.

Apple’s Newest Releases

• iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max Review: Welcome to Apple’s Dynamic Island
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• Apple iOS 16 Released: New iPhone Features From the Update

No matter if you have the 2nd- or 3rd-generation AirPods, the original AirPods Pro or even the over-the-ear AirPods Max, there are many features that Apple’s wireless headphones share, offering more capabilities than simply streaming music into your ears. 

Below, I’ll walk you through the essentials, then move on to tips about saving battery, sharing music with a loved one or friend and customizing the controls.

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Pairing is as quick as 1, 2, 3

The pairing process for the AirPods takes three seconds — literally. Open the charging case, wait for the prompt on your phone, tap Connect and you’re done. Truly, that’s it. 

You don’t have to worry about repeating these steps on the rest of your Apple devices as long as you’re using the same iCloud account. Yes, that means after you pair your AirPods to your iPhone, your AirPods are automagically paired to your Apple Watch, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. It’s pretty cool.

You can pair them with non-Apple products, too

Notice that small, flush button on the back of the charging case? That’s what you’ll use to pair AirPods to an Android device or anything else that doesn’t work with Apple’s proprietary chips.

To start pairing to anything new, put the AirPods in their case, then flip the lid up and press and hold the small button on the rear of the charging case until the little LED light starts pulsing white. They should then show up in any Bluetooth-pairing settings on an Android phone, or computer, or TV. Complete instructions can be found here.

Keep in mind that when you’re paired with a non-Apple product, they lose some of their magic. Taking an AirPod out of your ear won’t pause music, and playback controls won’t work either. Android users can install this app for checking AirPods battery level.

To go back to using AirPods with your iPhone, just reselect “AirPods” from your iPhone’s Bluetooth settings and they’ll re-pair.

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Use the Find My network to locate a lost earbud

Individual AirPods can be easy to lose, but thankfully you can track them down using Apple’s Find My app. If your AirPods are linked to your Apple ID and you’ve set up Find My on your iPhone, you’ll be able to view your AirPods’ last location on a map. If you happen to lose one AirPod, you can also prompt it to play a sound so that you can find it as long as it’s near your other Apple devices and connected to Bluetooth. 

You can do this by launching the Find My app, navigating to the Devices tab, tapping on your AirPod, and pressing the Play Sound option. With iOS 15, Apple extended the range of Find My so that you can now locate lost AirPods Pro or AirPods Max before they’re even within Bluetooth range

Turn on spatial audio for a surround sound effect

If you have the third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max over-ear headphones, you’ll be able to take advantage of spatial audio. This technology creates a 360-degree surround sound effect when watching TV, listening to music or participating in FaceTime calls. To activate spatial awareness or to check whether it’s turned on, make sure the AirPods you’re wearing are connected to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth. Then tap Settings > Bluetooth, and choose your AirPods. Press the “i” icon and select Spatial Audio. 

To save battery life, keep one in and swap buds

I’ve never run out of AirPod battery life in a single day, but if you’re a power user making lots of phone calls, you might find them running low. One AirPod can work on its own as a Bluetooth headset. Keep the other in the case to charge, and then swap as needed. The other bud takes over seamlessly.

Listen to stereo streaming with one earbud

If you want to listen to a livestream while doing other things casually, pop a single bud in while the other is in the case. It’ll pump a stereo signal into one bud. Otherwise, with both AirPods out, it’ll only get one ear’s worth of stereo.

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Check remaining battery using your iPhone

You have a couple of options when it comes to checking the battery status of your AirPods and the charging case.

You can either open the charging case next to your iPhone (it works on the iPad and iPod Touch, as well), which should prompt your phone to display a popup with battery status. Or, you can add the battery widget to Notification Center’s Today panel using the instructions in this post. Keep in mind, the Battery widget will only include AirPods if you are actively using them.

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Check AirPods battery status on an Apple Watch

If you own an Apple Watch, here’s a cool trick: Place your open AirPods case next to your watch, then open Control Center and tap the battery option. In addition to displaying battery stats for your watch, you will also find stats for your AirPods and the case.

Your AirPods are always listening for ‘Hey, Siri!’

The second-gen AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max all recognize the Hey Siri wake command. So if you’ve got the AirPods in and your iPhone in another room, you can say “Hey, Siri” and control volume or music playback, ask for a message to be sent or any of the other commands you can give to Siri. If you’re using your AirPods with an Apple Watch, Hey Siri still works as long your watch has a data connection.

After saying “Hey, Siri,” the volume of whatever you’re listening to will lower, indicating Siri is listening and ready for your command.

Have Siri read your latest messages to you

Siri can read your incoming messages directly to you through your AirPods without you having to do a thing. You can then reply to the message with a quick voice command. It’s pretty cool. You don’t have to do anything to set up this feature, but if you’d rather turn it off, you can do so by going to Settings > Siri & Search > Announce Messages. 

Have Siri announce notifications through your AirPods

Siri can do more than announce messages. The digital assistant can also recite time-sensitive notifications, as well as any other notifications you might want to add. To manage how Siri announces reminders and notifications through your AirPods, open the Settings menu and press Siri & Search. Choose Announce Calls to turn this feature on or off, or to customize when Siri announces calls. From the Siri & Search menu, tap Announce Notifications to choose which apps you’d like to receive notifications from through your AirPods, if any. You can choose the Reminders app from this list if you want Siri to read these notifications.

Change the name of your AirPods

There’s no dedicated app for altering settings and customizing your AirPods. Instead, you’ll need to do it through your Bluetooth settings.

With your AirPods connected to your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Then tap on the “i” icon next to your AirPods’ name. Next, tap on the Name field and enter your preferred name. The new name will sync to the rest of your iCloud-linked devices.

Customize the AirPods controls

While viewing your AirPods’ settings, you can also change the double-tap or press-and-hold function for either earbud. Once again, with your AirPods connected to your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Then tap on the “i” icon next to your AirPods’ name. Tap on Left or Right to alter the functionality of each AirPod, or disable any interaction at all.

Use AirPods as a hearing aid

Your iPhone has a feature called Live Listen, which essentially turns your AirPods into on-demand hearing aids. There’s a bit of setup you’ll need to do, but once it’s done, you can place your phone on a table closer to the person you’re talking to and it will send audio to your AirPods.

On your iPhone go to Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls and tap on the green “+” symbol next to the Hearing option. Then, when you need to use the feature, put in your AirPods and open Control Center on your iPhone and select the Hearing icon followed by Live Listen. Turn off the feature by repeating those final steps in Control Center.

However, if you have the AirPods Pro, there’s a new-ish feature called Conversation Boost, which works better than Live Listen to use your AirPods as heading aids. Conversation Boost uses the AirPods Pro microphones to isolate another person’s voice, if they’re talking in front of you, and make it clearer.

To enable the Conversation Boost feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > AirPods > Audio Accessibility Settings > Headphone Accommodations > Custom Audio Setup, follow the prompt and then toggle on Conversation Boost. Once enabled, you can swipe down from the top-right of the screen to access the Control Center and then toggle Conversation Boost (icon is an ear) on or off.

How to better use AirPods on a Mac

If you want to use AirPods to listen to all audio coming from your Mac, you will need to select it as an audio output device. To do that, Open Control Center from the menu bar, click Bluetooth and select your AirPods.

Alternatively, you can use the AirPlay icon in the Music app to select AirPods to stream music from your Mac to your ears. Though, my experience with connecting to AirPods through AirPlay in Music has been hit or miss. Mostly miss. 

Customize AirPods’ controls on a Mac

It’s a little buried, but you can adjust your AirPods settings on a Mac by navigating to your Mac’s Bluetooth settings. With your AirPods connected to your Mac, open System Preferences > Bluetooth. Click your AirPods in the list of devices, then click the Options button. There are several dropdown options and toggles, each of which controls various settings for how your AirPods act when they’re connected to your Mac. Adjust them to your liking, click OK and close the window. 

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Your friends can’t just use your AirPods without asking

What happens when someone else tries using your AirPods? A message letting them know the AirPods aren’t theirs shows up. Of course, he or she can pair the AirPods to their iPhone by tapping Connect, but it’s nice to know they can’t sneak in some listening time on your AirPods without you knowing.

How to share phone calls using AirPods

Splitting AirPods between two people is like sharing headphones, minus the wire. But, alas, AirPods only make one mic active at a time. That means two people can’t hop on one phone call. But, you both could listen in while only one person speaks.

You can assign microphone duties to a given AirPod in the Bluetooth settings section under Settings > Bluetooth > tap “i” next to your AirPods then Microphone and select the AirPod you want to use as the all-time microphone.

Share audio with friends, the right way

If you’re listening to a new album or streaming a show and a friend or family member who also has AirPods wants to listen, use the new Audio Sharing feature. Have your friend hold their iPhone near the top of yours, then follow the prompts.

Check if your AirPods firmware is up to date

Apple’s quietly been pushing new firmware to AirPods to help with performance. You can’t update the firmware manually, but you can check to make sure you have the latest version.

In Settings, go to General > About on your iPhone when your AirPods are in your ears. Scroll down until you find your AirPods name, tap it, then view all of the nerdy info about your earbuds, including your firmware version. With that information, you can then search Google for your AirPods model name and the firmware to see if you have the current firmware. 

You can buy a first-gen wireless charging case 

If you don’t really care to upgrade your standard AirPods, but you like the idea of wirelessly charging your AirPods you can buy the latest case by itself. It’ll set you back $79.

Apple continues to improve and add features to the AirPods with iOS updates. For example, the release of iOS 15 introduced improved Find My support for the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. 

The post 21 AirPods Tips and Tricks to Master Apple’s Wireless Headphones first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

It feels like we’re replacing old gadgets on an almost yearly basis these days, which leaves us with a lot of old phones, tablets and other devices. Sure, you could leave them in a drawer forever in the off chance you need to use it when your new device breaks, but that day usually never comes, leaving us with a lot of clutter we don’t need. That’s why you should use one of the numerous websites that will take your old gadgets and give you something for them. It can be hard finding the best price for your device across dozens of websites, so that’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best sites and services out there that will buy your used electronics at a fair price. 

There are plenty of companies where you can sell electronics — places that’ll happily buy old fitness trackers, smartwatches, gaming consoles, laptops, digital cameras and other electronic equipment. In exchange, they’ll send you cold hard cash, often in the form of a gift card or PayPal transfer. (Not too shabby for that MacBook gathering dust in your closet.) You can even sell your old electronics without having to visit a physical location such as a pawn shop. And you won’t have to worry about paying for shipping or shouldering the cost of a fee, which is somewhat commonplace with services that sell electronics and old equipment. 

The prices offered with trade-in programs on an old device are usually a little lower than what you could sell electronics for, but the reduced price is worth forgoing the headache of trying to sell on your own. Some places will even take broken items, of course at a much lower cost than a gadget that is still in good working order.

Read on to see the best places to sell electronics and gadgets, unless it’s one of these seven used items
— those things you should probably never buy or sell.

Decluttr

Payment Method: Direct deposit, Paypal or charity donation

Turnaround Time: Three to five days, depending on shipping

If you’ve never used Decluttr before, you’re in for a treat. This is one of the fastest bidding services you can use for selling a ton of different kinds of tech. Plug in your details to the form, and you’ll see a bid for your gadget in seconds. As long as it’s a bid you like, you’ll be presented with an option to complete the sale and start the shipping process. Payments are made quickly, which is why this company has one of the highest TrustPilot ratings you can find. 

Valid for a limited time only, you can get 10% extra on all tech with a max bonus of $40 by using code CNET10EXTRA. 

See at Decluttr

Amazon Trade-In

Payment method: Amazon gift card 

Turnaround time: Two business days after Amazon receives the item 

Amazon’s trade in program works a lot like its retail store. You do an easy search for an electronic item, enter any necessary details (storage, screen size and so on) and then select the device’s condition. Amazon will then make an offer for your electronic gadget and, if you accept it, provide a free shipping label for the item. 

The number of items Amazon accepts spans across a wide spectrum, including video doorbells, wireless routers and other home security devices. 

Once you ship the item, Amazon will inspect it to ensure the item matches your original description. If it all checks out, your Amazon account is credited with an Amazon eGift card for the offer amount. If the item is in better condition than you described, Amazon’s customer service promises to pay you more. 

If you’d rather trade-in a device in person, Amazon has a list of locations, where you can take Amazon devices and select phones. Amazon states that even nonworking devices can be accepted. 

The drawback? Your money is locked to your Amazon account. 

See at Amazon

Apple Trade In

Payment method: Apple Store gift card

Turnaround time: Instant if done in an Apple Store. Two to three weeks if done online

Apple’s trade-in program will take devices from a wide range of companies, not just its own. Currently, Apple will accept your laptop, smartphones, tablets, watches and “other” devices and old equipment. If the company doesn’t have a trade-in offer for your device, like iPods or AirPods, Apple will recycle it free of charge.

Apple states it will take two to three weeks to complete the online trade-in process. If you want to place your order for a new device right now, the company will credit your payment method with the trade-in value once it’s processed. Alternatively, if Apple Stores are open in your area, you can visit the store and get an instant store credit for your trade-in. It’s especially helpful with the impending launch of the iPhone 14.. 

Using Apple’s trade-in service makes sense if you’re already planning on buying a new iPhone or Mac. It’s not a worthwhile option for someone who wants to buy the latest Samsung Galaxy phone, for example. 

See at Apple

See photos from the $400 iPhone SE and Galaxy A51

+13 more

See all photos

Best Buy Trade-In Program

Payment method: Best Buy gift card

Turnaround time: Instant if done in store. Seven to nine business days if mailing in an item.

Getting a quote from Best Buy is as simple as picking a product category, manufacturer, model and condition. Once you’ve filled out the questionnaire, the tool will estimate the unwanted device and give you an instant quote. The offer amount, if you choose to accept it, will only be awarded as store credit in the form of a Best Buy gift card.

The company lists just a handful of stores that don’t participate in the trade-in program.

Best Buy’s payment turnaround time is slower than other services, but the company accepts a wider variety of gadgets — matching nearly every type of electronic device it sells, including various laptop options, smartphone options, wearables, digital camera options, and video game consoles. You can trade in your gaming system, video games, and an iPhone or iPad at the same time, for example. 

See at Best Buy

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ItsWorthMore

Payment method: PayPal, Zelle or check 

Turnaround time: Typically 72 hours after receiving your item(s), but you can pay for 24-hour turnaround. 

Unlike the previous services for selling electronics online, the ItsWorthMore program will pay you through your choice of PayPal, Zelle or an old-fashioned paper check. 

The process for selling electronic goods entails answering some questions about the old cell phone, tablet, Apple Watch (or other Apple device) or computer you’re selling. ItsWorthMore will then give you an offer and, if you accept it, provide you with a prepaid shipping label. During the checkout process, you can select how you want to receive your payment. You also have the option to pay $15 for two-day shipping and 24-hour processing time. Otherwise, standard shipping and a turn around target time of 72 hours. However, processing can take up to five business days. 

When your device is received, ItsWorthMore will verify if the indicated working condition is accurate — that is, whether it’s in good condition, fair, broken, and so on. If there’s a discrepancy, you’ll have a chance to ask for the device back or accept the revised offer.

See at ItsWorthMore

BuyBackWorld

Payment method: PayPal, direct deposit, BuyBackWorld gift card, prepaid debit card or check 

Turnaround time: 48 hours after passing inspection 

BuyBackWorld will buy a wide range of products including phones, tablets, iPods, cameras, game consoles, computers, headphones, drones and, well, you get the point. You can even get a custom quote for products that aren’t listed on the site. 

After getting a quote and selecting how you want to be paid, send your item(s) into BuyBackWorld. Once they receive your shipment, they’ll inspect your items and you’ll get paid. If the quote is adjusted after inspection, you’ll have the option to accept the new offer or have your device returned to you. 

See at BuyBackWorld

More Ways to Trade in Your Phone

• Best Trade-In Options for iPhones and Android Phones 
• How to Sell Your Old Phone: Learn These 6 Tips Now to Get the Most Cash
• How to Make the Most Money From Old Gadgets
• The Best Ways to Sell or Trade-In Your Old iPhone in 2022

The post Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics for 2022 first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

The majority of calls I receive on my phone aren’t from my friends and family or coworkers. No, instead they’re from scammers and telemarketers, notifying me that I’ve “won the lottery” or simply pretending to be the IRS and threatening me to pay up.

It’s why I don’t pick up any phone numbers I don’t easily recognize, even if it might actually be important, because I’m scarred from the sheer amount of spam calls I get every single day.

This year alone, Americans are expected to get over 52 billion robocalls, which breaks down to approximately 1 billion calls every week, according to YouMail, a company that specializes in blocking them.

And these calls come in all shapes and sizes. You’re likely familiar with the good ol’ “scam likely” calls, but there are also more sophisticated attacks, that involve spoofing local numbers and those of popular companies, to convince you to give up your personal information and cash. More recently, these attacks have moved over to SMS, where there are phishing text messages that come from your own phone number.

No matter what the calls say, one thing is certain — they need to stop. 

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission aimed to wrangle the robocall problem by requiring major wireless carriers to start using Stir/Shaken technology. Stir/Shaken verifies all incoming and outgoing calls for wireless carriers that are routed through their networks. By verifying each call, carriers can reduce the number of fake or spoofed calls. But it only stops robocalls on one avenue — it’s not the be-all and end-all. You may still get spam calls for free trips or fake notices that your student loan payment is overdue. 

Read more: CNET’s Interview With FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel

You can read more about Stir/Shaken here. As the FCC continues its crusade, keep reading this story for things you can do to help curb the number of times your phone rings throughout the day with calls from potential fraudsters.

How to keep annoying robocalls at a minimum

According to the FCC, there are some easy steps you can take to help reduce robocalls:

• Don’t answer calls from blocked or unknown numbers.
• Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize.
• Don’t assume an incoming call is really from a local number just because it looks like it is.
• Don’t respond to any questions that can be answered with a “Yes.”
• If someone calls you and claims to be with XYZ company, hang up and call the company yourself. Use the company’s website to find an official number.
• If you do answer a call and hear a recording such as, “Hello, can you hear me?” just hang up.
• The same goes for a call where you’re asked to press a number before being connected to a representative.

When you answer a call and interact with the voice prompt or by pressing a number, it lets spammers know your number is real. They can then sell your number to another company or begin targeting your number more frequently.

When it first launched, Google’s Call Screen feature arguably went against the FCC’s advice by answering and interacting with the robocall on your behalf. However, Google added new features to Call Screen for its Pixel phone lineup. The feature can now detect robocalls and spam calls and block them before they reach you. Google Assistant will interact with the caller, and if it determines that the call is legitimate, it will route the call to your phone.

Apple’s iPhone has an option to Silence Unknown Callers, which adds the option to route calls from numbers not found in your Contacts, Mail or Messages straight to voicemail. Any legitimate callers can leave a message. But that’s the rub: We often receive important calls from numbers we don’t store on our phones, like a doctor’s office or a repairman, so you could miss important calls this way. But if all else fails and you’re desperate to stop robocalls, this is a valid option.

If you find yourself receiving a lot of spam text messages, you can forward the message to the number 7726 (which spells “spam”). It won’t stop the number from texting you right away, but it will allow your carrier to look into where it came from and put an end to it.

Check with your wireless carrier

All four major wireless carriers offer some sort of call-blocking feature. All have a free option and a premium tier. But let’s be frank, all robocall-blocking services should be free. This shouldn’t be a way for carriers to make some money off of us. 

• AT&T ActiveArmor is available for iOS and Android. The free version blocks spam and fraud calls and provides nuisance warning labels and a personal block list, and you can block all unknown callers. AT&T ActiveArmor Advanced runs $4 per month per line, with additional benefits of caller ID for unknown numbers, reverse number lookup, identity monitoring and public Wi-Fi protection.
• Verizon’s Call Filter app is automatically enabled for Android users on a postpaid plan. The service offers spam detection, a spam filter, a call log for blocked or spam calls, the ability to allow calls from specific numbers (iOS only) and the option to report numbers for free. You can pay $3 per month (or $8 per month for three or more lines of service) for caller ID, spam lookup, a personal block list and a spam risk meter. Call Filter is built into most Android devices out of the box (you’ve probably been prompted about it if you have an Android phone) but is also available in the App Store for iOS users.
• T-Mobile’s Scam Shield is free to all customers and includes multiple features designed to protect you from robocalls and sharing your personal information. Dial #662# from your phone to turn on Scam Block, or download the free Scam Shield app in your phone’s respective app store. With Scam Shield enabled, you’ll get full caller ID, scam reporting, scam blocking before your phone ever rings and the option to mark numbers as favorites so they still ring your phone. 

Use a different wireless carrier? I suggest calling its customer support or visiting its website to see if it offers a similar service. 

Use a third-party app to limit the number of robocalls you get 

If your provider doesn’t offer an app or service to cut back on robocalls, or does but it’s too expensive, there are plenty of third-party apps available. You want to find an app that works on your device, offers automatic call blocking and spam alerts for suspicious calls and makes it easy to report a number if a call slips through.

Hiya is a free app I have used on Android and iOS for some time now with success. It’s from the same company that powers AT&T’s ActiveArmor app, as well as Samsung’s built-in call block and spam protection service. Samsung Galaxy owners can enable the built-in service in the Phone app under Settings > Caller ID and Spam Protection. Setup is painless, and it offers an easy way to report a number.

Nomorobo is the service that Verizon uses for its Fios users, but it also has a phone app. The service is free for VoIP users and costs $2 per month for mobile users. Additional services with similar capabilities include YouMail and RoboKiller.

The Firewall app is only available on the iPhone and does a fantastic job of blocking calls. In the event you need to make a call that you’d rather not use your real phone number for, the $4-a-month subscription provides unlimited single-use fake phone numbers. 

Another option is to get a free Google Voice phone number that you can use to sign up for things instead of giving out your real number — and once the robocalls start coming in on that Google Voice number, use the block feature. Just know that blocking calls may end up being a lot of work, as robocallers are constantly spoofing different phone numbers.

None of the above solutions is perfect, but they supplement your carrier’s integration of technology now required to check for caller ID spoofing. So right now you have to do some extra work to keep the number of robocalls you receive to a minimum. Between being cautious about calls from unknown numbers and using a service (paid or free), you can reduce the amount of unwanted calls and spam you have to deal with.

In sum, carriers have started using Stir/Shaken technology to verify callers, which so far hasn’t significantly cut down on the number of robocalls we all receive. So for those with an iPhone, learn where the setting is to block unknown callers, but remember using it could mean you miss calls from doctors’ offices and the like. And for those with a Pixel phone, Google’s Call Screen feature will surely help, and may even entertain you.

The post Tired of Spam Calls Every Day? Here’s How to Stop Them first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

You’ve made the switch to an iPhone from Android. Maybe the iPhone 13‘s features finally convinced you, or maybe you’ve bought the 2022 iPhone SE. Whichever Apple phone you now carry, you’ll notice a learning curve when using iOS after you’ve been accustomed to Android. On the one hand, it’s exciting: You’re now part of the blue bubble club, and you can explore all the handy features in the newly released iOS 15.4.

But you also have to learn a new operating system that shares some similarities with Android yet feels entirely different. For example, you can’t install apps from just anywhere. You’ll need to get them from the Apple App Store and only the App Store. Or what about the fact that you’re still forced to use a rigid app grid, and can’t place apps wherever you please? You also can’t see information like the time and notifications even when the display is off as you can with many Android phones. Annoying. 

If this is all starting to sound familiar, you might be happy to know that there are ways to make your iPhone feel a lot more like your old Android phone. For instance, did you know you can add widgets, create custom app icons or use a third-party keyboard that’s more like what you’re used to? I’ll walk you through several changes that might make your new iPhone more Android-like in just the ways you want.

Create a custom home screen with widgets and Smart Stack

Widgets, and for that matter, a custom home screen, are a convenient way to keep information at your fingertips, but perhaps more importantly you get to create a completely personalized experience.

Good news. Your iPhone supports widgets on the home screen as well, and they’re pretty awesome. You can add a single widget, or create what’s called a Smart Stack that will rotate through a series of widgets based on which widgets you interact with and the time of day. 

Place a widget on your iPhone’s screen by long-pressing in a blank spot. I usually do it just above the apps in the dock (where the row of dots are for each home screen). Tap on the plus sign in the top-left corner, and then drag and drop widgets to your screen. 

Create a Smart Stack of your own by dragging widgets of the same size on top of one another.

You can’t install themes or launchers, but you can still customize the iPhone’s look

If you’re used to creating custom app icons, you’ll be pleased to know that your iPhone can support custom icons, too. You’ll need to use the Shortcuts app in order to achieve your custom look, and be ready to invest some time in each new creation — you have to do it on an app-by-app basis. So instead of having the stock Mail, Safari or Messages app icons, you can instead use the AOL Mail icon, or whatever photo you want, to replace the default icons. 

Hopefully Apple will add support for theme or icon packs in the future, but as of right now, the steps outlined in this post are as good as it gets. 

Use FaceTime to chat with your Android friends

Yes, you read that correctly. In iOS 15, you can FaceTime with friends and family members who don’t have an Apple device. It might not make your iPhone feel more like your old Android phone in the same way as other tips on this list. But it could help with the transition since it provides a way to easily video-chat with your Android friends without having to install a new app.  

FaceTime calling works a bit differently when you’re communicating with users of non-Apple devices. You need to generate a link that they can click or tap to join the call from a web browser. Just open the FaceTime app and tap the Create Link button to get started. From there, you can simply copy the link or tap an app like Messages or Mail to share the invite with your friend or family member. 

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Miss Google’s keyboard? You can download our favorite, and also learn some iPhone keyboard tips

The little things can be what we end up missing the most about our old devices. Take the keyboard as an example. Google’s keyboard, Gboard, is beloved by many Android users. But don’t fret, you can install third-party keyboards on the iPhone, although you may find they’re not as feature-packed as the Android equivalents. Android’s Gboard is available on the iPhone if you want to give it a shot. 

However, if you find that third-party keyboards just don’t cut it, here are some of my personal tricks for getting the most out of the iPhone’s keyboard. 

• Move the cursor by long-pressing on the spacebar until the keys disappear, turning it into a trackpad of sorts. Here’s a post with a fancy animated image that shows you how it works.

• Create custom text replacement shortcuts by going to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. This makes it easier to type cuss words (sorry not sorry, Mom), or quickly enter information like your email address.

• You can swipe-to-type on the iPhone’s keyboard, just like you can on almost every Android keyboard. If it’s not working, make sure it’s turned on by going to Settings > General > Keyboard > Slide to Type and making sure the switch is in the On position.

You’re not locked in to Apple’s default apps. Use Google’s apps instead

You’re in luck. Google does a good job of keeping the same apps you’ve come to know and love on Android updated on the iPhone. Instead of linking you to every single Google app, I’ll instead point you to Google’s developer page in the App Store where you can find all of the apps that are available for the iPhone (or iPad). 

You may be surprised at just how many apps Google has built for the iPhone. Google Maps, Gmail, the Chrome browser, Google Docs, Google Drive and Google Keep are just the tip of the iceberg. See the next section for an even more pervasive Google app.

Don’t like Siri? Use Google Assistant

One of the apps Google has made available on the iPhone that’s worth pointing out is Google Assistant. I know Siri has a bad reputation in some ways, and I won’t get into that debate here, but for those who wish to use Google’s virtual assistant over Apple’s, you can download and install the dedicated app. 

But that doesn’t solve the problem of not being able to say, “Hey, Google” and have your iPhone respond. In order to do that, you’ll need to create a Shortcut in the Shortcuts app that will use Siri to launch Google Assistant. 

With Google Assistant installed on your phone, open the Shortcuts app and tap on the plus sign to create a new shortcut. Tap Add Action > Apps > Assistant > Ask Google and turn off Show When Run. Name the Shortcut either “Hey, Google” or “OK, Google.”

The next time you want to talk to Google Assistant, activate Siri (hold in the side button or say, “Hey, Siri”) and then use the name of your Shortcut. 

For example, you can say “Hey, Siri, OK, Google, what’s the weather?” And Siri will pass your request to the Google Assistant app. 

It’s clunky and not ideal, but if you really don’t like Siri, it’ll get the job done. 

Face ID isn’t perfect. Here’s how to make it better

If you’re switching from an Android phone with fingerprint unlock, Face ID can feel frustrating if it doesn’t always recognize your face (like if your head is half-buried in a pillow) and unlock your iPhone in a proper amount of time. Here’s what I suggest: Add an alternate appearance, which is just like scanning your face a second time; this is the equivalent of scanning four fingerprints in your old Android phone instead of just one. 

But instead of putting on sunglasses or some other accessory to change your appearance, go through the registration process with the “typical” look that gives you the most trouble. If that’s just out of bed with disheveled hair and bags under your eyes, so be it. This kind of data is stored only on your phone, and this is face unlock, not a beauty contest.

To scan your face again, open Settings > Face ID & Passcode and tap Set Up an Alternate Appearance. 

Now that your iPhone looks and feels more like your old phone, take some time to get to know iOS a little better. Check out these settings you need to change, and make sure you’re keeping up on the latest iOS 15 features. Oh, and there are hidden features you should know about too.

The post 7 Tips to Make Your iPhone Work Like Android first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

If you’ve bought a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro iMac, Mac Studio or Mac Mini within the past couple of years, it almost certainly uses Apple’s own processor, either the Apple Silicon M1 or Apple Silicon M2, instead of an Intel chip. In your day-to-day use, you likely won’t notice any operational difference, and that’s a good thing. However, when it comes time to reset the new Mac, either because you’re selling it, handing it down or troubleshooting it, there are completely new steps to completely wipe the M1 and M2-based models. 

More specifically, the steps to access Recovery Mode, the tool you need to use to reset your Mac, have changed. I’ll walk you through how to get to Recovery Mode and use all of the options as well as provide a couple of workarounds to problems I’ve encountered. (Side note: The easiest way to tell if you have an Apple Silicon Mac is to click on the Apple icon on the far left of the menu bar, followed by About This Mac and look at the Chip section.)

How to access MacOS Recovery on an Apple Silicon Mac

Click on the Apple Icon and Shut Down your Mac. Once your computer has completely shut down, press and hold the power button. When the Apple logo first appears, you’ll see text just below it letting you know to continue pressing it to access startup options. Press it until the text switches to “Loading startup options,” which should take about five seconds. Next, click Options > Continue. 

Select a user with administrator privileges (that’s likely to be you, if you originally set up the system) and enter the account password when asked. 

The new recovery tool gives you a few options

After signing into a user account, you’ll see a list of Apps available in Recovery.

Restore from Time Machine: Use this option if you want to restore your Mac from a previous Time Machine backup. This is helpful if you’ve lost a bunch of files, changed settings, or installed an app that’s caused severe issues with your Mac. 

Reinstall MacOS Monterey: If you’re having issues with MacOS, you can try this option to reinstall the latest version of MacOS without deleting any of your files or losing any data. 

Safari: You can use Apple’s browser to search and troubleshoot how to fix your Mac. 

Disk Utility: The tool you’ll use to repair, troubleshoot or erase your hard drive.

In the menu bar at the top of the screen you’ll also have access to other apps and tools like Terminal, Share Disk and Startup Security Utility. 

Erase the hard drive, reinstall MacOS

To completely remove all of your information from the hard drive and reinstall MacOS, open Disk Utility and then select the internal disk, which is labeled Macintosh HD. If there’s an option titled Erase Volume Group, check the box. Otherwise, click Erase and follow the prompts. Leave the volume name and format alone, but for reference, it normally is “Macintosh HD” for the name, and you should use AFPS for the format. 

A few seconds later, the hard drive will be completely wiped, taking with it all of your files, user accounts and apps. 

Once that’s done, close Disk Utility and then select Reinstall MacOS from the list of options. You’ll be asked to select where you want it installed, which should be Macintosh HD (or whatever name you gave your hard drive if you decided to change it). 

Your Mac will then download the latest version of MacOS, install it, and when it’s finished, it’ll be as if it was never set up. 

How to fix the ‘No users available for authorization’ error

I followed the steps I outlined above — the steps Apple recommends on its support page — but ultimately ran into an error message that there wasn’t an authorized user available to approve the reinstallation of MacOS. Subsequent to user reports of the same error, Apple has provided instructions to deal with it.

To complete the OS reinstallation, use Disk Utility to select the “Data” drive that’s grayed out, and erase it. Once it’s erased (again, using AFPS format when promoted), you should be able to install MacOS without issues. 

If you can’t create a new user account

I was unable to create a new user account after reinstalling MacOS: The MacBook Pro would freeze when I tried to create the default user account. Basically, this happens because MacOS is looking for account information in a place where it no longer exists. 

If the system isn’t freezing, try rebooting into Recovery Mode again, launch Terminal, type “resetpassword” at the command line, choose the Reset Password option, then launch the Recovery Assistant from the menu bar and select Erase Mac or use Disk Utility to delete the Data partition as in the previous note. This comes from an old thread in Apple’s forums.

If it is freezing, you need to try accessing it from a second device. You can connect it to another Mac and follow the process described in this StackExchange thread or delete the partition from your iPhone as instructed in this Reddit comment. (Note that I haven’t tested the latter, since the former worked for me.)

Once you have your Mac reset, you can return it, sell it to someone or set it up again with a clean slate. Ready to become a MacOS Pro? Here are some tips that will help make you one. 

The post There’s a New Way to Factory Reset M1 and M2 Macs. Here’s How first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Your Android phone, much like your car, requires regular maintenance to identify problems, prevent future issues and keep it running at its best.

To start, you can give the exterior of your phone a good clean, since you’re likely putting it close to your face every day. Dust, dirt and gunk can quickly collect in the charging ports and speakers, and it’s not only bad for your hygiene — it can also shorten your smart phone’s lifespan.

But the most important upkeep is under the hood, including phone settings you may never have touched before.

An investment of just a few minutes can turn your Android phone into something that looks and feels new — at least until you’re able to upgrade. Read on to find five simple tips for decluttering, reorganizing and customizing your Android phone to keep it in tip-top shape.

Delete all of your forgotten apps

Take a few minutes to go through your home screen or app drawer and delete any and all apps you no longer use. Not only do those apps take up precious storage, but they potentially have access the personal information or permissions you approved when the app was first launched. 

How you go about deleting an app can vary based on who makes your device, but I covered all the bases in this post. Give it a read if you don’t see an uninstall option after long-pressing on the app’s icon. 

Eliminate old files to free up storage

After removing any old apps, free up more storage by going through the files saved on your Android phone. It’s far too easy to forget about all of the files you’ve randomly downloaded — like the takeout menu of the new place down the road or a GIF a friend sent. And those files add up. The quickest and easiest way to manage your phone’s storage is to use the Files app that comes preinstalled. 

Actually, some phones use a variation of that same app. On Samsung, for example, it’s called My Files. On the Pixel lineup, it’s just Files. On the OnePlus 10 Pro, it’s File Manager — you get the point. 

I recommend opening the app drawer on your phone and reaching for “files.” Odds are that will reveal whatever your phone-maker calls the app. 

Start with checking the Downloads folder, where you can either delete the files you no longer want or move them somewhere like Google Drive.

Most file apps will also reveal any large files that are saved on your device. For instance, the OnePlus 10 Pro’s File Manager app has a dedicated section in the app for files that are taking up a lot of space.

Tweak home screen settings for a new look

One of the best parts of Android is how much you can customize the entire look of your phone. From installing app icon packs to completely replacing the launcher your phone uses, there are plenty of options to personalize your phone. 

While you can definitely jump into tweaking launchers and installing app icons, start by digging into the home screen settings your phone already provides. I do this once in a while and it’s surprising how subtle tweaks to aspects like app layout can make it feel like an entirely new phone. 

Long-press on a blank area of your home screen, then select Home settings (or some variation of that). That will open the options for your home screen, where you can customize various settings. 

Read more: These are Android 12’s best features and some hidden features we found

Settings like the size of the app grid. It may seem like a small change to go from a grid of 4×5 apps to 5×5, but that extra column can make a big difference (the same can be said about shrinking the grid). 

This is also where you’ll find settings for things like swiping down on the home screen to view notifications instead of having to swipe from the top of the screen. 

Go through the respective settings your phone has and experiment with your home screen setup. 

Optimize your device settings

Speaking of settings, now is a good time to go through and change any settings that have been annoying you. I have a roundup of settings you’ll want to change and customize on any Android phone to get the most out of it. 

For example, turning on dark mode not only makes the app look better, but it saves battery life. And yes, I even show you how to stop app icons from automatically appearing on your home screen. 

Customize your privacy options

Before you take a break, do yourself and your Android phone one last favor — double-check your privacy settings.

Open the Settings app then tap Privacy > Permissions Manager. Go through each category to see which apps currently have access to which treasure trove of your personal data. Find an app you don’t want to have access to your location? Turn it off. The same goes for contacts, calendar or camera. 

It doesn’t take long to go through each section, and even if it did, it’s well worth the effort. 

After you’re done giving your Android phone a tuneup, check out these hidden features you’re sure to love. There’s also a document scanner that makes it easy to make digital copies of paperwork. And take a look at all the reasons to consider buying a Pixel phone.

The post 5 Tips to Make Your Android Phone Feel Like New Again first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

If you forgot your Apple ID password, don’t panic. It’s likely we’ve all forgotten a password or two at some point. Losing your Apple ID password for your iPhone, iPad or Mac (here’s what to do if you lost the password to your computer) is about as frustrating as losing your car keys. Your password, like your keys, unlocks access to something important: your iCloud account, and in turn all of your Apple devices. Like Face ID and Touch ID, your password is intended to keep your information safe, but entering it incorrectly a few times can get you locked out. This means you may have to contact Apple Support for help.

Apple released iOS 15 last September and one of the features it rolled out makes getting back into your account as simple as a phone call to a family member or friend. That feature, called Account Recovery, allows you to pick a trusted contact (or contacts) who can then give you a special code to unlock your account. It’s pretty cool and makes getting back into your Apple account a whole lot easier. 

As long as you have iOS 15 installed on your iPhone, you can add trusted contacts to Account Recovery.

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Choose trusted Account Recovery contacts

Before you can set up Account Recovery, you’ll need to have all of your Apple devices — be it a Mac, iPad or iPhone — running the latest version of Apple’s software. In this case, that means MacOS Monterey, iPadOS 15 and iOS 15, respectively. 

Once all of your devices are on the latest software, select your recovery contacts for Account Recovery by following these steps. 

Open the Settings app and tap your name at the top of the screen. Next, select Password & Security > Account Recovery > Add Recovery Contact. A page will pop up detailing what exactly the contact can see or do with your account (Spoiler: They won’t have access to your iCloud account at any time), and briefly detail what you’ll need to do if you ever get locked out of your account. Tap Add Recovery Contact at the bottom of the screen to continue. Enter your Apple ID password when prompted, then follow the rest of the prompts to select your recovery contacts.

What to do if you get locked out of your Apple ID or iCloud account

If you happen to get locked out of your account, you’ll need to call one of your Account Recovery Contacts using your iPhone. Your contact will then give you a short code they can access directly on their iPhone, which you’ll then need to enter in order to unlock your account. 

Once your account is unlocked, you’ll be asked to create a new password. Instead of leaving it to your memory, or picking an easy password you think you’ll remember, I suggest using a password manager app. It’ll create a secure password for you, save it, and even enter it when prompted.

There are a lot of great features in iOS 15, including the addition of sending FaceTime links for calls on Android and Windows. The AirPods are also getting plenty of useful tricks, along with the Apple Watch. 

See also

• Buy a ‘Free’ iPhone 13 With Trade-In at Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T: What You Need to Know
• Should You Upgrade to iPhone 13? We Compare to iPhone 12 Through iPhone 7 to Find Out
• IPhone 13 Is Missing 5 Useful Features You Can Get on Android Phones

The post Forgot Your Apple ID Password? This iOS 15 Trick Might Help first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.