With a possible recession on the horizon, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your spending habits. Inflation is steep, utility bills are skyrocketing this fall and winter, and gas prices are on a roller coaster, but little changes you make around the house can produce a big difference in your monthly costs. Whether it’s swapping warm water for cold in your laundry cycle or turning off the lights when not in use, we’ve got over two dozen tips to help you ease the strain of inflation. 

With tips that range from easy lifestyle adjustments to investing in energy-efficient gadgets, here are 27 ways you can start cutting costs in your home right now. (You can also check out whether or not it’s cheaper to buy groceries online than in the store, and if meal kits are more cost-effective than buying individual ingredients.) 

Best Affordable Smart Thermostats of 2022

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Save money in the kitchen

Grow herbs: A bundle of herbs costs three or four bucks. Keeping a little herb garden on your window sill will cost about the same upfront, but can yield herbs for months. If you’re looking to get started, read more about the five easy steps to growing fresh herbs at home.

Don’t buy bottled water: Bottled water seems cheap, but it gets expensive fast. Settle for a water filter pitcher so you can use tap water. It’s cheaper over time and it’s better for the environment, too. There are many options on the market today, but you can learn about our favorites here.

Make your own coffee: It seems obvious, but those daily cafe Americanos can easily take a chunk out of your bank account (trust me, I know). Use a coffee maker or French press to get that caffeine fix instead. Here’s how to make iced coffee, dalgona coffee and imitation Starbucks favorites. You can also make your own cold-brew coffee or homemade espresso. 

Throw almost-spoiled fruits and veggies in the freezer: Buying fresh produce, then opting for tastier freezer meals while the bananas and spinach spoiled was a weekly ritual in our house. Then we started tossing them in the freezer to use for smoothies. It cut our weekly waste way down. Here are more tips to keep fridge food fresher for longer.

Keep your freezer full: Speaking of freezers, when you keep your freezer full, it works more efficiently, taking less energy to keep the contents cold.

Keep your dishwasher full, too: Running half-loads of dishes is a quick way to waste water and dish detergent.

Break out that Dutch oven: It could be a Dutch oven or a slow cooker of any kind, but cooking in bulk really helps cut down the costs associated with more individual-size meals. 

Eat leftovers: This isn’t a tip so much as a choice. Keep your leftovers and don’t give yourself the excuse not to eat them. It’ll stretch your dollar way further. Plus, we have tips for the best way to reheat your leftovers to get the most out of your uneaten food. 

Be selective about organic foods: Organic food can be pricey, and ethically grown meat is even more expensive. So, for the most problematic products, buy organic to avoid pesticides and hormones, and get the standard fare for the rest of your grocery list.

For more tips on slashing grocery costs, check out

• Here’s How Much You’ll Save Buying Store-Brand Groceries
• Here’s How Much Money You Can Save by Going Meatless Once a Week
• Here’s How to Keep Fruits and Vegetables Fresh Longer

Save money in the laundry room

Hang-dry your clothes: Save energy by hang-drying the laundry. (Nobody will notice your wrinkled shirt.)

Wash with cold water: Another way to cut costs is washing with cold water. Unless you have serious stains or odors you’re trying to remove, most clothes can wash in the cold cycle without issue.

Run full loads of laundry: Pack your washer to capacity, because you’re going to use the same amount of water either way. May as well get as much use from it as you can.

Check your mechanical closet

Lower that water heater temperature: Check the temperature on your water heater (if you can access it). You generally don’t need it to be above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.8 degrees Celsius), and higher temps come with higher fees.

Change filters: It’s not just your water heater’s inefficiency costing you money; your HVAC system can burn a hole in your wallet if you haven’t changed its filter recently, so learn when to swap in a new filter. 

Here Are 23 Ways to Save On Your Electric Bills Right Now

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Save while paying bills

Switch credit cards: If you spend a lot of money at Whole Foods or on travel, consider specific credit cards that will offer the best rewards for your current spending habits.

Use a budgeting app: One of the hardest parts of budgeting is just developing awareness of our spending habits. Using a budgeting app like Mint is a great way to see exactly how your impulse buys really do shape your monthly budget.

Use coupons: Coupons are basically like cash. If you buy things online, doing a 30-second search for coupons will often save you 10% or more. Check out these 21 money-saving browser extensions and apps.

Pay bills online: There are few things I hate more than late fees on bills. Setting up autopay on your electricity and water bills will help avoid those unnecessary fees, and they’ll also remove the need for postage on paper bills.

Unsubscribe from services: While you’re thinking about bills, check on your subscriptions. If you haven’t used a certain streaming service or that fitness app in a month or more, cancel it. You can always restart it in a few minutes if you change your mind.

Save on entertainment

Use library online resources: If you have a library card, your public library likely offers a lot of free online services, such as ebooks or even streaming services. Give them a shot.

Check out Project Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg is a great online resource for ebooks, offering over 60,000 titles. You can read more about it and other ways to download and read books for free.

Go outside: Not to sound like a dad from the ’90s, but go outside! It’s a free way to mix up the day, get some exercise and remind yourself that your bedroom is not the whole world. Here are some ideas for fun games to play outside and setting up a backyard movie night.

Start a garden: While you’re outside, think about starting a garden to grow your own veggies and herbs. If you have a backyard, you can avoid many of the upfront costs of a raised bed and simply get seeds to plant in the ground. You can get plenty of seeds for less than $20, and that will translate into much more than $20 worth of food over the following months.

Build a compost bin: OK, this one is a longer-term investment, but building a garden can be hard and expensive if you’re starting from scratch. If you start tossing your food waste into a compost bin now, though, you won’t have to buy tons of fertilizer or expensive soil for your garden next year. Plus, composting is another good way to help the environment. Here’s a beginner’s guide to composting, and how to start a worm compost bin for excellent fertilizer. 

3 miscellaneous tips for cutting costs

Dress for the temperature: If you work from home, that means adjusting the “office thermostat” now directly affects your monthly bills. So adjust it less and dress comfortably for the temperature. After all, no one’s around to judge you for wearing sweats.

Switch fan direction: Most ceiling fans have a small switch on them that changes the direction they spin. In the summer, run the fan counter-clockwise so it blows air down on you. This can help avoid the need for more air conditioning.

Use energy-efficient bulbs: LED bulbs cost more to buy, but in the long term, they cut down on electricity costs. As bulbs burn out in your house, make the switch.

More money-saving tips:

• Peak and Off-Peak Energy Explainer: Save Money, Find the Cheapest Time to Use Electricity
• Does Unplugging Your Appliances Actually Save Money?
• The Best Energy-Saving Smart Home Devices to Help You Save on Utility Bills
• Change Your Water Heater’s Set Temperature and Save Money
• This Is the Ideal Temperature to Set Your Thermostat to This Summer
• What’s My Favorite Kitchen Appliance? The One That Saved Me Hundreds of Dollars
• Good Wine Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive. Here’s How to Shop for Bargain Beverages
• It’s a Mistake to Throw Out Your Food Scraps

The post Save Money Around the House All Year Long: 27 Cost first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Blink, the Amazon-owned smart home security camera brand, announced a pair of new products Wednesday at Amazon’s September hardware and services event: a Wired Floodlight Camera that costs $100, and a new $30 Pan-Tilt mount for the Blink Mini that’ll let you adjust the viewing frame up and down or left and right.

The former is built for outdoor use, with its built-in floodlights offering up to 2,600 lumens of light whenever they detect motion. The wired design eliminates the need to worry about batteries while offering anytime access to the 1080p video feed in Blink’s app, as well as two-way talk capabilities. Support for Amazon’s Alexa lets you pull up the feed on a compatible Fire TV or an Echo Show smart display with a quick voice command. 

Blink Wired Floodlight Camera

Price: $100Release date: Q4

The wired floodlight camera delivers 2,600 lumens of light whenever it detects motion without needed batteries, and you can you pull up the feed on a compatible Fire TV or an Echo Show smart display with a quick voice command via Alexa. 

$100 at Amazon

Blink adds that the camera is built around Amazon’s AZ2 Neural Edge Processor, which enables enhanced motion detection features like person detection and activity zones, while also enabling footage to be processed locally on the device itself instead of in Amazon’s cloud. You can store footage locally, too, provided you’re using a USB flash drive and a Sync Module 2, each sold separately — otherwise, you’ll need a Blink subscription plan to store video clips and images on Amazon’s servers. A Blink spokesperson tells CNET that the new camera will be available for purchase on Amazon within the next few months.

New product No. 2 isn’t a camera at all, but a motorized mount for the Blink Mini, a budget-priced indoor camera that costs $35. Dubbed the Blink Mini Pan-Tilt and available for preorder starting today at $30 — or $60 packaged with the camera — the mount is built to turn the Blink Mini left and right, or to tilt it up and down, all of which users can control from the Blink app to adjust the direction the camera’s pointing in.

Blink Mini Pan Tilt mount

Price: $30 or $60 bundled with the cameraRelease date: In preorder now

What it says on the tin: It’s a motorized mount for the Blink Mini that allows you to pan left and right and tilt up and down via the app for better remote viewing.

$60 at Amazon

The new Blink products reflect Amazon’s growing focus on selling cameras and camera-equipped gadgets for the smart home. It’s not just Blink — at the same event, Amazon also revealed new spotlight cameras for the Ring lineup, as well as new Echo devices with built-in cameras and a virtual security guard use case for Astro, the camera-equipped patrol bot.

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“The Blink Wired Floodlight Camera is our first wired floodlight device, and it adds to the existing lineup of easy-to-use, reliable, and affordable security devices that help customers keep an eye on their homes,” said Mike Harris, Blink’s chief operating officer. “Plus, it leverages the intelligence of Amazon silicon, enabling features such as computer vision and local video processing for the first time.”

The Blink Mini Pan-Tilt is available for preorder on Amazon starting today, while the Blink Wired Floodlight Camera is set to hit the market within the coming months. We’ll keep an eye out for each and let you know once we’ve had a chance to test them out.

More from Amazon’s event

• Amazon Event Live Blog: Kindle Scribe, Halo Rise, Astro and More
• Amazon’s Halo Rise Is a Sleep Tracker You Don’t Have to Wear
• Kindle Scribe Is an E Ink Tablet With Stylus for Notation Nerds
• Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Knows When You Enter the Room

The post Amazon’s Blink Adds a Wired Floodlight Camera and a Pan first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

The latest operating system for Apple iPhones — iOS 16 — was released last week, and third-party apps were right behind it, with many launching new versions on the same day. The biggest feature addition for apps in iOS 16 is the ability to provide information or functionality from the iPhone’s new customizable lock screen.

With the new iPhone lock screen, you can tweak the background, change colors and fonts and add new widgets that stay on your screen when your iPhone is locked. Two types of widgets — circular and rectangular — sit below the displayed time, while a third type — inline — appears as a bar above the clock. 

You can add built-in Apple widgets from apps like Weather, Calendar or News, or tons of third-party widgets from your favorite apps, even Google (soon). Check out some of the coolest apps with widgets for the new iPhone lock screen with iOS 16 below. For more on iOS 16, here are the first things to do after you get up and running and why your iPhone may not have all of the cool iOS 16 features.

iOS 16 apps for designing your own widgets

Widgetsmith

Widgetsmith — a robust iPhone app for creating and editing your own widgets — debuted back in 2020 when iOS 14 added widgets to its home screen. Now, the app is adding its widget customization tricks to iPhone lock screens.

With Widgetsmith, you can create and customize all three types of lock screen widgets to add calendar items, text, weather updates, photos and much more.

ScreenKit

ScreenKit is another widget customization app that takes the plunge into lock screens with iOS 16. The app includes tons of custom icons and other aesthetic features. 

ScreenKit makes it easy to create your own lock screen widget from scratch, and then customize it further by tweaking the background, colors or decorations.

iOS 16 apps that trigger functions or other apps

Launcher

Widgets from Launcher have been available for the home screen and Today View for years. The app lets you create shortcuts for quickly accessing bookmarks, playing music, starting up other apps or communicating with your top contacts via phone, message or FaceTime.

Now you can get most of Launcher’s functions on your iPhone lock screen. Just tap the face of your favorite person to send them a message or phone call.

Launchify

Add quick shortcuts on your lock screen that go to your favorite iPhone apps or bookmarks with Launchify, a new app released on the same day as iOS 16. The app lets you import your own custom icons or use thousands from its own library. 

The free version of Launchify lets you add only two circular widgets to your lock screen — a subscription for $17 a year or $2 a month unlocks additional widgets and the ability to add apps not included in the Launchify database.

iOS 16 utilities, trackers and social media apps with lock-screen widgets 

Flighty

The popular flight-tracking app Flighty has already been updated to include support for lock screen widgets. Now you can just glance at your iPhone to get the latest updates on arrivals and departures. 

You can also add lock screen widgets with a countdown to your trip, the weather in your destination, an in-flight progress bar or other detailed information about your flight, including gate number, seat assignment and baggage claim info.

Facebook

The social media giant Facebook surprised users on the day of the iOS 16 launch by updating its iPhone app to include support for two lock screen widgets. You can add birthdays at a glance or top updates from your friends. 

The birthdays widget comes in both circular and rectangular versions. The top updates widget is only available as a wider rectangular widget, and it includes your most recent Facebook notifications.

Dark Noise

The ambient sounds app Dark Noise has become a popular tool for iPhone users who like to have background noise for sleeping or focusing. Now you can access white noise directly from the lock screen. Dark Noise has added all three types of widgets for the various sounds and noises included with the app.

Apollo for Reddit

Heavy Reddit users will appreciate the new lock screen widgets from this third-party app for tracking the popular message board site. Apollo for Reddit developer Christian Selig has already created several new lock screen widgets for monitoring Reddit activity at a glance while your iPhone is locked.

You can add widgets that show how your most recent post is doing, new messages in your inbox, your updated karma points, trending posts or bookmarks to your favorite subreddits, among many options.

WaterMinder

The health-focused iPhone app WaterMinder helps keep you hydrated, and now you can get reminders to drink more water — straight from your iPhone lock screen. The app recently updated to add eight styles of lock screen widgets.

You can now view your current water levels, see hourly and weekly graphs and log your drinks directly on your iPhone’s lock screen.

Things

Things is a popular personal task manager for iPhone that lets you create to-do lists and track your progress in completing them. A new update for iOS 16 puts much of the power of Things directly into your iPhone lock screen. 

Three new widgets from Things let you view the tasks on your to-do list, quickly add a new task or track your progress in completing your tasks. Things’ lock screen widget defaults to the tasks in your Today list, but you can customize it to show other items like your inbox, deadlines or shopping lists.

Parcel

The useful package-tracking app Parcel lets you monitor the progress of your deliveries from 300 services, including UPS, FedEx, DHL and the US Postal Service. With its latest update for iOS 16, the app now adds the ability to track a specific package directly from your lock screen. Parcel’s lock screen widgets come in all three formats — circular, rectangular and inline.

More apps with new lock screen widgets for iPhones with iOS 16

Many more iPhone apps have updated or added lock screen widgets for use with iOS 16. Here’s a list of the programs we’ve found that have new lock screen widgets:

• Aviary 2 — Twitter app
• Calory — diet coach and nutrition tracker
• Calzy — calculator app
• CardioBot — heart health tracker
• Carrot Weather — humorous weather app
• Daily Dictionary — word of the day app
• Empirical Sleep — sleep tracker
• Fantastical — calendar app
• Flitsmeister — speed trap detector
• Foodlapse — diet tracker
• Gentler Streak — workout tracker
• GoodLinks — link aggregator
• Halide Mark II — camera app
• Home Widget for HomeKit — home automation app
• Lock Screen Shortcuts — lock screen widget app
• LookUp — dictionary app
• Lumy — sun tracker
• Mercury Weather — weather app
• MoneyCoach — budgeting app
• Motivation – Daily Quotes — inspirational daily quotes
• NapBot – sleep cycle monitor
• Overcast — podcast app
• Personal Best – Workouts — exercise tracker
• Pestle – grocery list and meal planner
• Pretty Progress — countdown timers
• QuickScan — OCR scanner app
• RainViewer – storm tracker and weather radar
• Scanner Pro — mobile scanning app
• Slopes: Ski & Snowboard — snow report and GPS tracker
• SmartGym — fitness app
• Soor — music player
• Speedy — quick access to contacts
• Steps — activity tracker
• Streaks — to-do list
• Tempo for Runners — running log
• Themify — home screen customization
• Todoist — task manager
• TripIt — travel planner
• Weather Strip — weather app
• Zones: Time Zone Conversion — global time tracker

For more on iOS 16 and the new iPhone 14, learn why your iPhone might not get all of the iOS 16 new features and how to remove the new search button from your home screen.

The post iPhone’s Lock Screen at Your Command: Try iOS 16’s Best New Widgets Now first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Apple’s iOS 16 comes with plenty of new features to love, including the return of the battery percentage icon and the ability to edit and unsend text messages. But, there are also some less desirable features, too, like the frustrating new search button on the home screen that’s a little too easy to accidentally tap, or the unexpected personal photo pop-ups that might just be a little too personal.

Fortunately, there’s a way to eliminate or disable some of the more annoying features and settings in iOS 16. Find out how to turn off these irritating settings below. Also, if you want to learn more about what iOS 16 has to offer, check out these hidden features, like password-protected photo albums and two new features available in Apple Maps.

Read more: The Best iPhone 14 Cases So Far

If you haven’t downloaded the newest iPhone update yet, here’s how to do it. Just make sure you have a compatible device like the iPhone 8, iPhone SE (second generation and up) or any iPhone released after 2017.

Apple’s Newest Releases

• iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max Review: Welcome to Apple’s Dynamic Island
• iPhone 14 Review: A Good Upgrade for Most People
• Apple Watch Series 8 Review: Improvement By Degrees
• Apple Watch SE Review: Almost Everything I Want
• Apple iOS 16 Released: New iPhone Features From the Update

Stop personal photos and videos from popping up unexpectedly

Apple’s artificial intelligence helps surface photos and videos in various places across your iPhone it thinks you might want to see, as a friendly reminder of family vacations, couple photos and holidays — but you may not always want your personal photos to pop up unexpectedly, especially if they’re private, embarrassing or inappropriate.

Fortunately with iOS 16, you can now prevent Featured Photos, as well as curated collections known as Memories, from appearing in photo widgets on your home screen and the Search and For You sections in Photos. 

To block these tailored photos, launch the Settings app, go into Photos and toggle off Show Featured Content. All featured content will no longer appear across your device — instead, it’ll only be available in your photo library and albums.

Prevent the side button from accidentally ending your phone calls

The side/power button on the side of your iPhone allows you to quickly sleep and wake up your device, but if you accidentally hit it during a phone call, you’ll prematurely end your call. If that’s something you’ve encountered in the past, iOS 16 finally allows you to prevent that from happening.

In Settings, go to Accessibility > Touch and toggle off Lock to End Call to prevent the side button from ending your calls. If you do hit the side button accidentally, your screen will go to sleep, but you’ll stay on your phone call, uninterrupted.

Remove the search button from your home screen

The Search feature on your iPhone allows you to quickly find what you’re looking for, whether it’s a text message, third-party app, file, note and location — pretty much anything on your device or on the web. And the best thing about the feature is that it’s easily accessible from the home screen; all you need to do is swipe down anywhere on the screen, and it appears. 

And iOS 16 has added another way to access Search from the home screen, via a small button right above your dock. Unfortunately, it’s easy to accidentally trigger, because it’s near where your thumb might go when you swipe between your various home pages.

Fortunately, like many new features on iOS 16, this one can be disabled as well. Simply launch the Settings app, go to Home Screen and toggle off Show on Home Screen to remove the search button from your home screen. The Search bubble should disappear, replaced by a few small dots representing your various home screens.

Revert to old lock screen notifications

Apple’s latest redesign brings widgets, customizable fonts and colors, a wallpaper gallery and stylized date and time to the lock screen, as well as one overlooked change to notifications. Instead of appearing at the top of your lock screen, notifications now appear at the bottom, which you can then tap on to appear full screen.

However, not everyone may be happy with this change. If you want to go back to the way notifications appeared on iOS 15, launch the Settings application and go to Notifications > Display As. You’ll then see three options:

• Count: Notifications appear as a numbered count at the bottom of the screen.
• Stack: Notifications appear in a stack at the bottom of the screen.
• List: Notifications appear fully across your screen.

To go back to the old notification style, choose the List option.

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The post Even the iPhone’s Most Annoying iOS 16 Features Can Be Turned Off first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Sure, Amazon can view all your streaming data while you’re using an Amazon Fire TV Stick, but that doesn’t mean you want your internet service provider to see what you’re watching. A solid VPN, short for “virtual private network,” is the best way to keep your viewing habits hidden from your ISP. The best VPN for Fire Stick devices will offer you total privacy protection without costing an arm and a leg. A bonus is that a VPN also helps you unblock geo-restricted content, letting you view streaming content that otherwise might have been restricted wherever you are. 

Thanks to the rise of the smart TV, we’re now in the age of smart surveillance. Long gone are the days of viewer anonymity we once enjoyed with the now-obsolete, fuzzy-pictured TVs. And as with any internet-connected device in your home, your media habits are subject to monitoring by your internet service provider, malicious snoops and your government (where applicable). But with the help of our top VPN recommendations for Amazon Fire Stick users, you can draw the encryption curtains on would-be peepers. A Fire TV Stick VPN can protect your online identity, help you avoid online surveillance by your ISP, and offer you total privacy. It can also prevent your internet service provider from throttling your internet speeds.

Two key callouts for this list: First, each of these is available as an app on current versions of the Fire Stick. Simply search the store for the VPN app as you would for any other streaming app, such as Showtime or Hulu. Second, you’ll see that all my recommendations are drawn from the top three performers in CNET’s directory of the best overall VPNs to use in 2022. That’s due to the obstacle course CNET puts VPN services through during our testing and evaluation process. One of the primary factors in securing a top spot on our best VPN list is a VPN’s platform compatibility, so it’s little surprise that my top three picks are VPN services that work on a wide range of devices and systems. 

But when we evaluate VPNs for Fire TV Stick use, the priorities are straightforward. We’re looking for the fastest
, most streaming-friendly services with strong-enough security to keep your ISP blind to your content choices and your service provider blind to your whereabouts. As always, I strongly recommend you avoid free VPNs and instead use a tried-and-true paid VPN that offers the cheapest deals. Here are our recommendations for the best Amazon Fire Stick VPN.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN

The speed leader with Fire TV flexibility

When it comes to speed, security and unblocking capabilities, ExpressVPN is tough to beat. After a set-back in 2020, ExpressVPN is again currently in first place as the fastest VPN we’ve tested. ExpressVPN caused us to lose just 2% of speeds in our 2022 speed tests, so you shouldn’t have any issues achieving enough speeds for a smooth streaming experience whether you’re streaming in 720p or 4K UHD. 

Normally, if you’re using ExpressVPN on a smart TV or gaming console, you’re going to need to install the VPN’s router app and setup your connection to cover multiple devices. But if you have a Fire TV or a Google TV, you can bypass ExpressVPN’s custom router setup altogether and install the ExpressVPN app right onto your smart TV. 

The VPN also unblocks Netflix and other streaming services more reliably than most other VPNs, has servers in 94 countries around the world — so basically any geographic region you’d want access to is available in its extensive global network of VPN servers. ExpressVPN’s collection of setup guides, detailed FAQs and troubleshooting articles give it a clear advantage for Smart TV users, even if you’re connecting your TV to several other consoles and devices. That’s also where ExpressVPN’s 24/7 customer support, and its no-questions-asked, 30-day money back guarantee come in handy. 

ExpressVPN’s included Media Streamer smart DNS feature is also simple to set up on any smart TV. Just keep in mind that while smart DNS can help you unblock geo-restricted content, your connection won’t be encrypted, so you won’t have the same privacy protections as you would via your VPN connection. But if you’re a casual user and streaming is your only objective here, then Media Streamer could be a good option for you. 

All this comes at a price, however. ExpressVPN may be the best VPN for smart TVs, but it is also one of the most expensive. ExpressVPN’s best plan offers five simultaneous connections for $100 a year (which includes three extra months, for a limited-time deal totaling 15 months of service). You can also opt for a $13 per-month plan, or pay $60 for six months. While you can get a better month-to-dollar bargain with ExpressVPN’s two-year subscription, we don’t recommend anyone purchase any two-year VPN subscriptions at this time due to overall market volatility.

Read our ExpressVPN review.

ExpressVPN

• Competitive speeds
• Solid security suite
• Company is based in privacy-friendly jurisdiction

49% off with 12-mo plan (+3 free months)

$6.67/mo at ExpressVPN

Surfshark

Surfshark

High speed on a budget

Surfshark’s network of servers may be smaller than some of its competitors, but this service is tall on speed and features. Its most obvious win, particularly if you have a penchant for connected smart home devices, is its support for unlimited devices. That means you can install Surfshark on your Fire TV Stick without sacrificing one of a limited number of connection choices, as you would with either of the two providers below. 

With more than 3,200 servers in 65 countries, I lost less than 17% of average internet speeds during my most recent Surfshark speed tests. That’s faster than the 27% speed loss I saw in previous tests, and pushes the VPN service ahead of ExpressVPN to be the current front-runner in CNET’s speed comparisons. 

If you’re a Brit abroad, for instance, and want to use your usual broadcast news app, then you’re going to need a VPN fast enough to deliver high-quality live streaming content at maximum resolution without lagging, even after you’ve encrypted and obfuscated your data, bounced your connection through servers in other countries, and funneled back to your location. Whew. Long trip, no? Surfshark — the fastest-performing VPN I’ve tested so far — can handle it without breaking a sweat. 

In terms of security, Surfshark received generally high marks when its Chrome and Firefox extensions were audited for privacy by German security firm Cure 53 (PDF link of full report), and its encryption options are on par with its peers. While its Fire TV Stick app offers multiple protocol options, its general encryption default is IKEv2 — not the strongest, but the one you’d expect to see used by most VPNs to ensure platform compatibility on your smart TV. You can also enable its kill switch on your Fire TV device, which prevents network data from leaking outside of its secure VPN tunnel in the event the VPN connection fails.

Surfshark’s ability to hop over geoblocking on a streaming platform like Netflix is likewise renowned. Its normal desktop Multihop option, which jumps your connection through multiple countries to hide your trail, is also available on its Amazon Fire TV app.

The best part about the Surfshark VPN? Not only is it the fastest VPN I’ve reviewed so far, and not only does it have an excellent suite of privacy features, but it remains the least expensive VPN subscription you can buy. 

Unlike many of the other VPN providers, Surfshark doesn’t offer a one-year plan. Its best offer is currently $2.30 a month, for its two-year plan (you pay about $60 up front). A six-month plan is $6.49 a month (about $40 up front), and month-by-month plans are $13 a month. Definitely take advantage of its generous 30-day trial to decide if you like this service (and if you choose the two-year plan, maybe set a reminder in 23 months to see if you can talk it into a continued discount rate).

Read our Surfshark review.

Surfshark VPN

• Market-leading speeds
• Doorbuster pricing
• Multihop VPN

83% off with 24-mo plan (+3 free months)

$2.21/mo at Surfshark

NordVPN

NordVPN

The VPN juggernaut

NordVPN is like the final boss you have to fight if you’re a VPN industry newcomer. Why? Because it’s got an answer to every advantage you might bring to the table. Your VPN is faster this year? Watch how fast Nord can get when it expands its fleet again. You’ve beefed up your VPN’s security? That’s great, but Nord’s gone 100% RAM-disk and offers co-located and bare metal servers after its 2019 scare. Even if you’re an established contender like ExpressVPN, you’ve still got to constantly deal with NordVPN’s advertising war chest and willingness to slash prices at the drop of a hat to dominate the market. 

In CNET’s list of overall best VPNs, ExpressVPN currently outranks NordVPN. The key here that puts NordVPN ahead of ExpressVPN for Fire TV Stick is Nord’s consistency. I found NordVPN’s speeds were reliable. There were never any sudden dips or service interruptions, and where I expected the VPN to underperform, it proved itself up to the task. That reliability is what you’re going to need most when it comes to streaming data-heavy media content from providers like HBO Max.

NordVPN offers a generous simultaneous connection count, with six simultaneous connections through its network, where nearly all other providers offer five or fewer. It also offers a dedicated IP option, for those looking for a different level of VPN connection. NordVPN offers a kill switch feature and the ability to VPN into Tor. I detected no privacy leaks during my tests.

In my most recent speed tests, NordVPN’s performance was on par with many of its competitors, reducing my speeds by 53% on average (which is slower than the 32% loss measured in previous speed tests). Like ExpressVPN however, NordVPN has been prepping for its next round of races and aiming for the trophy. 

The company’s two-year VPN subscription plan costs $3.29 a month ($78.96 billed at once). That price is lower than most contenders, but creeps up for the one-year plan ($4.99 a month or $59.88 total) and the monthly plan ($12 a month). But it does have a full 30-day refund policy. 

Read our NordVPN review.

NordVPN

• Reliable, competitive speeds
• RAM-disk servers
• Feature-rich software

62% off with 24-mo plan

$3.99/mo at NordVPN

Other VPNs available on Fire TV Stick

The three services above are my favorites, whether you’re using an Amazon Fire TV device or some other device. But note that these other services are also available as downloadable apps on the Fire TV platform:

• Hotspot Shield VPN (read CNET’s Hotspot Shield review)
• CyberGhost VPN (read CNET’s CyberGhost review)
• IPVanish VPN (read CNET’s IPVanish review) 

More VPN recommendations

• Best Android VPN of 2022
• Best iPhone VPN of 2022
• 3 Great VPNs for Xbox in 2022
• Surfshark vs. IPVanish: Which Cheap VPN Is Best?
• Fastest VPN of 2022
• Best VPN for Chrome

The post Best VPN Service for Amazon Fire TV Stick in 2022 first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

You almost never think of your Wi-Fi password after setting up your devices. A friend comes over, asks you for the network password and you stumble to remember — what was it again? Is it this number on the back of my router?

Even if you don’t have the password saved anywhere and you haven’t memorized it, there’s a simple way to find all your Wi-Fi passwords at once — just check your computer.

Read more: Best Password Managers for 2022

As long as your Windows or Mac computer has connected to the network before, that Wi-Fi password is permanently stored in your settings. It may require a bit of digging on your part, but all of the passwords are there, saved, and ready to be shared with anyone who wants to connect to Wi-Fi.

Here’s how to find the passwords to all of the Wi-Fi networks you’ve ever connected to on MacOS and Windows. For more, discover 17 essential settings for customizing your MacBook or how to get the most out of Windows 11. 

How to find Wi-Fi passwords in MacOS

Every password you’ve entered and saved on a Mac is stored in Keychain Access, the password management system for MacOS. And that includes Wi-Fi network passwords. 

To start, use the search feature to open the Keychain Access app and do the following:

1. Click on System under System Keychains in the sidebar.

2. Next, click on Passwords at the top of the window.

3. Find the Wi-Fi network you want the password for and double-click on it.

4. Finally, check the box next to Show password and enter your password when prompted.

The password field will then show the password you used to log in to that Wi-Fi network. You can double-click in the password field to select the password and copy it to your clipboard, if needed.

How to find Wi-Fi passwords on Windows

Finding the password to the Wi-Fi network you’re currently connected to is simple on Windows, but getting your hands on all stored Wi-Fi passwords takes a bit of work, so we’ll discuss both methods below.

To find the password to the Wi-Fi network you’re currently connected to on Windows:

1. Click the Start button and then go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center (Windows 11) or Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network and Sharing Center (Windows 10).

2. Next to Connections, click your Wi-Fi network name highlighted in blue.

3. In the Wi-Fi Status page that opens, click Wireless Properties and then on the Security tab.

4. Finally, check the box next to Show characters to display your Wi-Fi network password above it.

However, this isn’t the only way to find your Wi-Fi network passwords. The method above only allows you to view the password to whatever Wi-Fi network you’re currently connected to, but there is a way to find the passwords to all the Wi-Fi networks you’ve ever connected to on your Windows computer.

To find all your Wi-Fi network passwords on Windows:

1. Right-click on the Windows icon in the taskbar on your desktop.

2. Click Windows Terminal (Admin).

3. Type in netsh wlan show profile and hit Enter on your keyboard to view every Wi-Fi network you’ve connected to.

4. Once you find the Wi-Fi network you want the password for, type in netsh wlan show profile “(Wi-Fi network name)” key=clear (for example, netsh wlan show profile “Netgear667” key=clear), and then hit the Enter key.

Settings for profile, connectivity, security and cost will appear. The Wi-Fi network password will appear under Security settings, and next to Key Content. In addition to Windows Terminal, you can also use the Command Prompt application to type in the commands listed above to find your Wi-Fi passwords.

If you want to read more about passwords, whether it’s on your computer or your smartphone, check out the best password managers to use and nine rules to follow when creating a password.

The post You Lost Your Wi first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Uber’s computer network was breached Thursday, leading the ride-hailing giant to take several internal communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated the hack, as reported earlier by The New York Times.

Uber said its investigation is ongoing as of Friday at 10:30 a.m. PT, but said there’s “no evidence that the incident involved access to sensitive user data.”

Uber, Uber Eats, Uber Freight and Uber Drive were all up and running on Friday, and Uber is now bringing back online its internal software tools.

Uber had said in an earlier statement that it is investigating a cybersecurity incident and is in contact with law enforcement officials. The FBI is reportedly helping Uber investigate the incident. Uber didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on this.

On Thursday, the company had instructed employees not to use workplace messaging app Slack, the report said, citing two employees. Other internal systems were also inaccessible, the Times reported.

According to the Times, shortly before Slack was taken offline Thursday afternoon, Uber employees received a message on the app that read: “I announce I am a hacker and Uber has suffered a data breach.” The message also listed several internal databases that the hacker claimed had been compromised, the Times reported.

The hacker, who said he was 18 years old, said he was motivated by what he called weak security and provided screenshots of internal Uber systems to prove his access, the Times reported.

The hacker sent the message through the app after compromising a worker’s account, Uber told the Times. The hacker apparently was also able to gain access to other internal systems, posting an explicit photo on an internal information page for employees, the newspaper reported.

Uber has been hacked before. In 2018, it agreed to a $148 million settlement over a 2016 data breach the ride-hailing service failed to disclose. Hackers were able to steal data on 57 million drivers and riders, including personal information such as names, email addresses and driver’s license numbers.

Rather than publicly disclosing the hack, which companies are required to do within a certain number of days in states like California, Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the information and had them sign a nondisclosure agreement.

Joe Sullivan, who served as Uber’s security chief from April 2015 to November 2017, was indicted in 2020 for allegedly covering up the breach. Sullivan described the payment as a bug bounty reward, which companies often pay to researchers who discover security flaws, but prosecutors said the payment was more of a cover-up than a bounty reward.

The post Uber: No Evidence of Sensitive Data Breached in Security Incident 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.

It’s pretty easy to keep everything forever on your iPhone, but sometimes you don’t want your words to be saved for all time in an email or text message. That’s one reason why apps like Snapchat, which features self-destructing text messages, have gotten popular.

While iOS 16 adds the ability to unsend text messages that you want to rescind, it’s not quite the same thing. However, a built-in iPhone app has been allowing you to send temporary, secret messages with a collaborator since iOS 10.

The iPhone app Notes allows you to collaborate with others on notes, whether they’re grocery store lists or collections of dad jokes. Anyone who’s part of a collaborative note can edit in real time, which enables hidden conversations. You could have an incredibly long, personal conversation — without any lasting proof that it ever existed.

To learn how to turn a note into a hidden conversation on iOS, here’s what you need to know.

First, create a note in the Notes app

On your iPhone, launch the Notes app and tap the Compose button on the bottom right to create a new note. Next, type anything into the note to keep it, or else it’ll automatically be deleted when you exit from the note. You can also just go into an existing note, but it’s better to start fresh with a new one.

Adjust your note’s share options to add collaborators

Once your note is up and ready to go, you can begin the process of adding another person as collaborator, which means they can read and edit whatever is in the note. To start, tap the More button on the top right, and then hit Share Note.

Now tap Share Options and make sure the Can make changes option is selected under Permission. You should also toggle off Anyone can add people in case you want to be the only person who can add collaborators to your note. Go back to the last page when you’re finished configuring these settings.

Add friends you want to include and share the link

Next, choose a method to share the note: You can send it via text message, email, social media and more. If you swipe on the share options, you can also select Copy Link, which copies the note link to your clipboard and allows you to paste it wherever you want. 

For this example, I’ll choose the Copy Link option to share the note.

At the top of the Copy Link page, enter the email address or phone number of the person you want to access the note. You can also tap the Add icon to search through your contacts. Adding a contact to the note is required — if you share the link without adding a contact, the other person won’t be able to see or edit the note, even with the link.

Lastly, hit Copy Link to copy the note link to your clipboard and share it with your collaborator.

Send secret messages using Notes

The other person, on the receiving end, must now open the note link and accept the invitation. If they accept, they’ll be redirected to the Notes app and to the collaborative note you just created.

To communicate, simply type something into the note, which the other person will be able to see in real-time, without you having to hit send. They’ll also receive a notification anytime the note is altered. 

Each person in the note will have a corresponding color appear (only for a moment) so that everyone else knows who typed what. You can also swipe right from the middle of the note to see the name of who wrote the message, as well as a timestamp for when the message was written and any corresponding colors. 

You can also tap the Share Note button (with the checkmark icon), go to Manage Shared Note and then toggle on Highlight All Changes. That way, all messages will stay permanently highlighted in their corresponding color, making it easier to read the conversation.

And if you want to keep your communications more low-key, delete your message or the other person’s message to strike it from the note. That way your conversation is more like it would be on Snapchat, with ephemeral or short-lived messages that outsiders can’t see if they snoop through your notes. You can do this with any text in the notes, as well as photos, videos, links, drawings or any other attachments you add to the note.

Permanently delete your secret chat

Not all secret conversations can go on forever, and so it’s time now to end it. 

If you’re the owner of the note, and want to keep the note intact for everyone but prevent them from editing it, you can easily do so. On the top right, tap the View Participants button and then hit Manage Shared Note. To remove a participant, you can either swipe left on their name and then hit Remove or you can tap on their name and then tap Remove Access.

Additionally, you can tap the Stop Sharing option, which will not only remove participants from the note, but also delete the note from all of their devices.

If you’re not the owner of the note, you can just delete the note from the Notes application.

The post Hidden iPhone Messages Let You Chat Secretly: How It Works first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.

Apple released iOS 16 this past Monday, which you can download right now on your compatible iPhone. Not wasting any time, Apple already has an update to that update. iOS 16.1, which is known as a “point update,” is available to download and install, as long as you have a developer account.

iOS 16.1 brings several new features and improvements, including more support for the battery percentage icon, developer tools for the Dynamic Island and a new Clean Energy Charging feature.

In the run-up to the public release, Apple had nine versions of the iOS 16 developer beta.

But just because the iOS 16.1 developer beta is out, should you download it?

Apple’s Newest Releases

• iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max Review: Welcome to Apple’s Dynamic Island
• iPhone 14 Review: A Good Upgrade for Most People
• Apple Watch Series 8 Review: Improvement By Degrees
• Apple Watch SE Review: Almost Everything I Want
• Apple iOS 16 Released: New iPhone Features From the Update

Although it’s easy to download and install iOS 16.1, developer beta versions aren’t intended for general use, especially because they may have unfinished features and issues that might make the iPhone difficult to use. Certain iPhone apps might not work completely with iOS 16.1 yet. These early beta releases are intended for developers, to help them keep their apps up to date while also providing early access to the newest features.

In short, you probably shouldn’t install the developer beta on your primary iPhone. If you really want to get iOS 16.1 early, try to find a spare iPhone that is new enough (iPhone 8 or later) to work with iOS 16.1 instead. For those who still want to dive in, we’ll show you how to install the iOS 16.1 developer version, as well as what to do in case you want to revert to a stable version of iOS 16.

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Watch this:

Testing iOS 16 (Edit/Delete Sent Messages, New Lock Screen…

16:22

If you want to learn more about iOS 16, check out the all the new features you should know about, including some cool hidden features and some other not-so-cool settings.

What to know before you download the iOS 16.1 developer beta

Because the iOS 16.1 developer beta is an early prerelease version, the software could have bugs and other issues.

Again, if you’re thinking about downloading iOS 16.1, do it on a backup or secondary phone, if available. The iOS 16.1 developer beta’s issues could cripple your iPhone and make it difficult to use, disabling phone calls or text messages or making it extremely laggy. However, if you only have your main phone or tablet available, make sure to back up your iPhone on iOS 16 before updating to iOS 16.1. That way you have the option to return to iOS 16 if there are too many issues on the new OS.

Also, you must have an iPhone 8 or later to run iOS 16.1. iOS 16 and its updates are not supported on the iPhone SE (2016), iPhone 6S, ‌iPhone‌ 6S Plus, ‌iPhone‌ 7 or ‌iPhone‌ 7 Plus and earlier. 

In order to download the iOS 16.1 developer beta, you must be enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 a year. If you don’t want the latest developer’s beta release, you can join the Apple Beta Software program and download the public beta version for free (currently iOS 16, but will soon be iOS 16.1).

How to enroll in the Apple Developer Program

The first step to get the iOS 16.1 developer beta on your iPhone or iPad is to enroll in the Apple Developer Program if you aren’t already a member. If you’re on your iPhone or iPad, here’s how you can enroll:

1. Download the Apple Developer app from the App Store.

2. Launch the app, go to Account and tap Enroll Now.

3. Sign in with your Apple ID credentials.

4. Read through the various benefits and instructions, enter your personal information and scan your ID to verify your identity.

5. Once this information is submitted, you must choose your entity (individual for most people) and agree to the program license agreement.

6. Finally, pay the Apple Developer membership fee (with Apple Pay), which is $99 (about £80 or AU$140) a year.

After you successfully make the payment, you’ll be redirected to your Account page in the Apple Developer app. Here you can verify that you’re now enrolled, and you can also check out the date of your membership’s expiration next year.

Download iOS 16.1 beta with an over-the-air update on your iPhone

The easiest way to download the iOS 16.1 developer beta is via over-the-air update, the way you would update to any other new software release on your device. Here’s how:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to the Apple Developer Program download page, tap Install Profile for iOS 16.1 beta and hit Allow.

2. Next, open the Settings app, tap on Profile Downloaded and hit Install on the top right when it appears. Enter your passcode if prompted and then tap Install two more times. Your phone will need to restart.

3. Once your phone boots back up, connect it to power, make sure you’re on Wi-Fi and go to Settings > General > Software Update. If you don’t instantly see an update available, wait a few minutes and check again.

4. Finally, hit Download and Install > Install and enter your passcode to update your device.

After your phone finishes rebooting, you should have access to the latest iOS 16.1 developer beta.

Download the iOS 16.1 developer beta using your Mac

Over-the-air updates require a certain amount of storage, and if you don’t have that available, using your computer is really the only way to update to iOS 16.1 without manually clearing out space.

1. On your Mac, go to the Apple Developer Program download page, find iOS 16.1 beta and click Download Restore Images.

2. Download the iOS beta software restore image for your specific device.

3. Next, connect your device to your computer and enter your device passcode or hit Trust This Computer if prompted.

4. Open Finder and click your device in the sidebar under Locations.

5. In General, next to Software, you’ll see the latest software your device is running. 

6. Hold down the Option key, click Check for Update and choose the iOS 16.1 beta software restore image you just downloaded from the Apple Developer page.

The iOS 16 beta software will install on your device. Wait for a few minutes and when your phone reboots, you should have access to iOS 16.1.

If you just want to run the regular iOS 16, here’s how you can download it right now. And after you do, here are three things to check out with the new iPhone OS.

The post There’s Already an iOS 16.1 Developer Beta You Can Download on Your iPhone. Here’s How first appeared on Joggingvideo.com.