Category: computer (Page 1 of 2)

Clear out your digital clutter. Learn how organising your phone, laptop or tablet improves performance, frees up storage and makes your tech feel brand new

By Simon Ward

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Spring means many things. The return of nicer weather. A change in your wardrobe. A return to the great outdoors. Heck, some of us might even chance our arm and crack out the barbeque, because why not?

But for many of us, this season also gives us the fear, because one member of our household is about to suggest the two words that no one wants to hear at the exact same time it has just got sunny outside:

Spring clean.

Those words herald a seemingly endless process of clearing out drawers filled with old batteries and keys belonging to homes you once lived in, trying on clothes earmarked for the charity shop and an industrial level of cleaning not seen since 2020.

But we have to admit, it makes sense to do this decluttering once a year to keep our homes in tip-top shape. So why don’t we do the same for our devices?

If you find your device has been getting slower, it can prompt thoughts of needing a new one. Over time, laptops, phones and tablets get bogged down with files and apps that are no longer needed. This slows them down and sometimes makes them unstable to use.

But don’t trade in your tech just yet! Sometimes all you need is to spring clean your device to enhance your device’s speed, extend battery life and free up storage. You won’t even need a pair of marigolds or a feather duster.

According to research by O2, nearly half of British mobile phone users are paying for additional mobile storage. It reveals the true cost of being a digital hoarder: millennials are paying more than six times more than boomers pay (£33.36 vs £4.80) over the course of a year for extra storage.

Read on to discover the benefits of cleaning your devices, including some useful tricks to keep your electronics in tip-top shape!

More space

Is your device running low on space? No matter how much storage space a device has, over time it starts to run out. Apps, app data, downloads, screenshots, saved memes and other content can take up valuable room, so cleaning up old junk will free up space for fun and new stuff. Otherwise, you might find that you can’t take photos or install apps.

Here are a few tips to save device space:

1. Say no to automatic saving: Check to see which apps automatically save images, apps like WhatsApp can add images to your photo album without you even realising.
2. Clean out the voice notes, videos and photos from your chat history: These can unexpectedly take up a lot of space on your device, so remember to occasionally have a clear-out and delete any content you don’t need to avoid unnecessary build-up.
3. Once you’ve listened to it, delete it: Podcast downloads can easily pile up when you subscribe to them weekly, so try to delete episodes once you’ve listened. File sizes can be between 25MB and 50MB per episode, so these can very quickly dominate your device storage.
4. Steer clear of filming in 4K: This will require significantly more storage space than lower resolutions like 1080p, especially if you like to take numerous videos, because it has four times the number of pixels, meaning more data to store per frame.
5. Organise and delete unneeded apps: Regularly take stock of how much storage your apps are using. If you’ve not used an app in several weeks, consider whether you really need it.
6. Delete videos you’ll never rewatch: Gig-goers especially are renowned for taking photos at gigs, and while it’s great to capture those memories, do you really need 20 video clips of one song?

Faster performance

If your computer or phone feels slower than before, it could be because there are too many processes affecting its performance. A virus running in the background can also slow everything down. If you give your device a spring clean, apps will start up and run faster and more smoothly – and you’ll also remove any threats to your tech.

All this background noise on your device can also contribute to slower WiFi when you try to connect, so the benefits to your device’s performance are numerous.

Here are a few tips for faster performance:

1. Empty the cache: Regularly clear your app and browser cache to free up memory and keep things running smoothly.
2. Update your software: Running the latest versions of your apps or software ensures your device benefits from performance fixes and speed optimisations.
3. Limit background processes: Disable unnecessary background app refresh or startup items, especially on older devices.

Battery for days

Wouldn’t it be nice if your battery lasted longer? Well, cleaning your device can significantly extend your battery life. Remove unnecessary apps, potential malware and processes that consume your device’s battery, and you won’t need to recharge as often.

Here are a few tips to improve battery performance:

1. Delete battery-draining apps: Some apps or applications constantly run in the background and hog battery power on your laptop, phone or tablet. Ditch the ones you rarely use, especially social media or location-based apps.
2. Lower screen brightness: Your display can be one of the biggest battery consumers. Turn down the brightness or enable auto-brightness to save power.
3. Turn off unused features: Disable Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS or mobile data, if you’re not using them. They quietly drain your battery, even in standby mode.

Less risk to privacy

Many apps run in the background even when you don’t actively use them. They might also have access to user data including your location, contacts, browsing history and photos. Deleting apps you don’t need will remove unwanted data collection and free up some space too.

Here are a few tips to protect your privacy:

1. Uninstall unused apps with excessive permissions: Old or rarely used apps may still have access to your location, contacts or camera. If you don’t need them, delete them.
2. Review app permissions: Head into your settings and check what data your apps can access. Remove and revoke anything unnecessary.
3. Clear browsing history and cache: As well as speeding up your device, regularly clearing your browser history and cookies can prevent websites from tracking your activity.
4. Remove old accounts and stored logins: Go through your saved passwords or auto-logins and delete accounts you no longer use. Old accounts can be entry points for hackers, especially if you’ve used the same passwords on multiple accounts.

Taking care of your device also means protecting it

As viruses and malware can slow down your device, removing them can make everything run smoother. That’s why running a security check is crucial when spring cleaning your device. But cleaning your device from potential malware is only reacting to existing threats. Protect your newly cleaned devices against any future threats with antivirus software.

With a protected device you don’t need to worry about security issues. Installing security software automatically detects any malware on your device, making spring cleaning your device easier while protecting you online. Now, that’s a win-win!

eSIM is a digital SIM card that can be installed on a device to allow users to activate a cellular plan without a physical SIM card.  Not all smartphones can take an eSim, so it is worth checking if yours is compatible before purchasing.

Benefits of eSIM

• More secure: eSIMs are less likely to be lost or stolen because they can’t be removed. 
• More durable: eSIMs are less likely to be physically damaged than traditional SIM cards. 
• Travel: eSIMs can be used for international travel without having to carry physical SIM cards. 

Here are 3 brands of eSIM that I have tried out

Airalo

This requires the Airalo app. Select the country or region for which you need it and select the package that suits you for amount of data and length of time. In order to get this eSim I needed to take a selfie with ID and I found it impossible to get this accepted through the Airalo app so I gave up.

Saily

Requires the Saily App to be installed. From the App you select the type of plan you require and on payment you will receive a link to install the eSim. I found the eSim price very reasonable and it was very easy to buy and install.

Holafly

Does not require an App. The eSim can be purchased from https://esim.holafly.com/ and you will receive either a QR code or a manual installation code by email or whatsapp. Scanning the QR code will automatically install the eSim on your phone or you can add it manually by going to SIM manager.

Here are a few suggestions to help people who have problems with vision when trying to use their tablet or phone.

Siri – for iPad or iPhone

I have found the simplest feature to use is Siri, by holding down the home button for one second you can activate Siri and ask it to read emails or messages.

To have Siri start reading the Mail’s Inbox list say, “Hey Siri, check email.” Besides “check,” other variations you can use include “show,” “read,” “view” and “display”. You can also have Siri check for new email with, “Hey Siri, check for new email.” Siri will also read a list of emails in the Inbox from a contact, for example say, “Hey Siri, check email from Sam.”

When an email list appears Siri will announce a number if fewer than 25, or say, “You have at least 25 emails” if that number is 25 or more. Siri will then start reading the day or date, sender and subject of the first email in the list. Siri will pause and ask either, “Do you want to hear the next one?” or “Want to hear one more?” You can also specify how many emails to read from the list using a cardinal number, for example say, “Read 5 emails.”

In the pause after Siri asks if you want to hear another you can say, “Read it” to have Siri read the content of the last email read from the list. You can also specify an ordinal number from the email list to have Siri read its content, for example say, “Read the 6th one” or “Read the 3rd email.”

To dismiss Siri say, “Quit,” or synonyms or variations such as “cancel,” “bye,” “see you” or “so long.”

Voiceover – For iPad or iPhone

Since Siri is unable to manage or delete emails you’ll need to use another tool such as Apple’s gesture-based screen reader VoiceOver. It’s easy to use once you understand how it functions and what gestures to use to perform actions. It is transformative technology allowing a person with visual impairment full use of their device.

A few basic gestures:

Note, once an item is selected you can perform an action gesture anywhere on the screen to activate it, not just from directly over it.

• Place a finger on the screen and drag it around. VoiceOver speaks each item under the finger. Lift the finger to leave that item selected. You can also tap an item once to select it.

• Once an item is selected double-tap it to activate it.

Here’s how using VoiceOver might be used to read and delete email:

Say, “Hey Siri, open Mail,” then, “Hey Siri, turn on VoiceOver” and “Hey Siri, bye.” If Mail opens on the Mailboxes screen, slide one finger around and when Inbox is selected lift the finger and double-tap anywhere on the screen to activate it, taking you to the Inbox screen. VoiceOver will begin speaking the capsule of the first message in the list. If not, drag a finger to select the first message.

If you know you don’t want to have the full content of the email spoken, you can perform an action on it. With the email selected, from anywhere on the screen, flick one finger quickly up or down. Continue the flick gesture in the same direction until you hear the action you want to perform. With each flick of the finger the actions will cycle: Mark as Read (or Unread depending on state) > Flag > More > Delete > Activate (default) ↩. Double-tap to perform the selected action.

Drag one finger down the message list to select another email. To go to down another page in the list use a three-finger swipe up. Use a three-finger swipe down to go back up.

To have VoiceOver speak the content of a message, select the message and double-tap anywhere on the screen to go to the message screen. To speak the entire screen from the top use a two-finger swipe up. To speak the entire screen from a selected starting item, drag a finger to where you want to start and use a two-finger swipe down. Use a two-finger tap to pause speaking. Two-finger tap again to resume speaking.

To delete an email from the message screen, drag a finger to the toolbar at the bottom and select Delete. Double-tap anywhere on the screen to delete the message.

Speaking email – Android phone or tablet as well as iPad or iPhone

If you are visually impaired, Speaking Email might be perfect for you. The app reads out the contents of your inbox one email at a time, moving on to the next automatically. It skips over email signatures, disclaimers and other email-specific clutter – making for a smooth and seamless reading experience.

It is fully operable by voice commands for daily usage, such as checking emails, replying and managing mail. It can be set up to wait for your command at the start and end of emails. You can even tell it to “ignore” and emails from that person will be skipped over in future. 

More information or get a free trial here

Lookout

Another useful App for Android is Lookout. To get info about your surroundings, use Lookout. It uses the camera and other sensors on your Android device to tell you about objects and text nearby.

You can use the 7 modes in Lookout for different activities.

• Text: Point your camera at any text to read it. If the text isn’t read clearly:
  • Rotate your device between landscape and portrait.
  • Move the text closer or away.
  • Lookout will alert you when no text is detected.
• Explore (beta): Point your camera around you to hear about what’s in your environment, like objects and text.
  • Explore mode is still in beta and is less accurate than other modes.
• Food labels: To scan barcodes or recognize the front of a food product, hold the product’s label in front of your camera and slowly rotate it.
  • Food labels mode is only available in some countries. The first time you select Food labels mode, follow the prompt to download additional data. This download lets Food labels mode recognize food labels, get results faster, and work offline.
• Documents: Read full pages of text.
  • Hold your device in portrait mode and move your device slowly.
  • To take a picture of the entire document, listen to Lookout’s real-time guidance.
  • To read the text in view, you can use the “Take snapshot” button. Sometimes Lookout can read a snapshot better than a live camera view.
• Currency: To read currency, point your camera at one banknote at a time.
  • This mode is only available for US dollars, Euros, or Indian Rupees. It doesn’t recognize coins.
• Images: Capture, upload or share an image and get a d
  • Lookout detects text and objects in the image.
  • To help Lookout identify the image, hold your device, move it slowly, and listen to Lookout’s real-time object identification.
  • To capture an image, tap Capture or Selfie. You can also upload or share an image to Lookout.
  • To download a captured image, on your screen, tap Download.
  • You can get detailed descriptions of your image in English.
  • If you use English in the US, UK, or Canada, to ask follow-up questions and get AI powered answers, you can use the keyboard or your voice. To share your satisfaction with the Q&A results, tap Thumbs up  or Thumbs down .
  • Poor lighting, blur, low resolution, and occlusion can affect the image capture and description results. The image contents and composition may also impact the results.
• Find: Select an object to be found from a prefilled list of objects.
  • To choose an object, at the top right, tap Choose the item you want to find.
    • The default setting is “Seating & Tables,” the chair icon.
  • To help Lookout find the object, hold your device, move it slowly, and listen to Lookout’s real-time object identification