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How to Free Up Storage on Your iPhone

You’ve probably seen the dreaded pop up telling you your device is out of space, especially if like most people you don’t pay the extra cash for a higher tier of storage when you buy a phone. Sometimes it can be confusing what your options are. Given that Apple wants to sell you additional iCloud storage, they don’t have much incentive to make it clear. Fortunately, there are a few quick solutions for offloading the most common storage hogs.

Photos

Having too many photos is probably the top cause of limited storage, but it turns out it’s actually pretty easy to deal with this. You could plug your phone into a computer to offload those photos onto a hard drive, but there are also easy ways to store them in the cloud for easy access from all your devices.

iCloud Storage: If you have multiple Apple devices or your want to be able to share your photos with friends and family, iCloud is the easiest way to store your photos. The problem is that Apple doesn’t give you much free iCloud storage space. If the meager amount you get for free isn’t enough to store all your photos, you can always pay the few dollars a month for additional storage. It’s annoying, but it is convenient and you’ll have easy access to everything right from the Photos app on all your devices. Simply open Settings, tap your Apple ID at the top, tap iCloud, and make sure photos is set to “On.”

Google Photos: This is another option that might be better for most people. First of all, it’s free and unlimited. Simply download the Google Photos app and it’s a pretty simple process to upload your photos from there. Of course, nothing is truly free and there are a couple of downsides that may or may not matter to you. First, Google Photos has a file size cap, so if you take a bunch of high resolution photos, it will compress those photos during the upload so you may lose some detail in the image. Most people won’t be able to notice this though. Second, Google isn’t exactly known for protecting its users’ privacy. It’s very likely that Google is using some of these photos for its own data purposes, like training its algorithms to recognize objects in images. Again, that may or may not matter to you personally.

After backing up your photos in the cloud–it might be wise to actually backup your photos on a hard drive and in the cloud–you can simply delete the photos on your phone by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Messages

The options for messages are much the same as for photos, except there’s really not a Google Photos-like option. You can back up your messages by plugging your phone into your computer and opening iTunes. Using the exact same process as for photos, you can also keep your messages stored in iCloud.

The only real free option without a computer or iPad Pro is to simply delete old messages. It’s not ideal, but some people don’t have a need to go back and read messages from a year or years ago. Simply go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.

Unused Apps

We all download apps from time to time just to use them once and never open again. Annoyingly, these unused apps can still take up a ton of space. Fortunately, this one has the simplest solutions.

Delete Apps Manually: You can simply delete apps by long pressing on them until it goes into jiggle mode. From there, just tap the X on the app icon. Don’t worry about losing those apps if you paid for them. You can always re-download them without paying again.

Second, Apple has already built a feature to offload unused apps. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores and make sure Offload Unused Apps is toggled on. Apps offloaded in this way will still show up on your home screens but will take a minute to re-download if you try opening them again.

Unused App Media

The last common storage hog is media data stored by apps like Spotify and Netflix. If you frequently download playlists or TV shows, these can fill up your phone very quickly. The process for solving this is simple. Go into Spotify (or other music app) and toggle off Downloaded for any playlists you don’t need frequent access to. In video apps like Netflix, check if you have any shows or movies downloaded and delete any you don’t need or have watched already.

Alternatively, you can look at a full list of apps ordered by how much space they take up by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If anything looks fishy or you see apps that don’t need to be storing so much data, you can simply tap on them and then tap on Offload App.

If you’re still having trouble with space after dealing with these common culprits, Apple often has helpful recommendations for things that can be deleted. As usual, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and these recommendations should appear near the top. If this still doesn’t, you may want to consider paying up for a higher tier of storage next time you upgrade your phone.

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Should I use Apple Pay/Google Pay?

Apple Pay and Google Pay are super convenient ways to both pay at the register in real life and order things online. The difference between paying with your phone or smartwatch and paying with a credit card might not seem like a big deal, but it’s convenient to be able to pay physically with a quick tap or digitally without typing out your credit card info every time you order something online.

Setting up both Apple and Google Pay is basically the same simple process. On an iPhone open the Wallet app and on an Android phone open (or download from the Play Store) the Google Pay app. Simply add a credit or debit card in your respective app. And that’s about it. Next time you’re at a register that supports wireless payments, simply open the app, your device will verify your identity, and then just hold it near the card reader. Most devices even have a shortcut for doing this. The iPhone for example lets you quickly access Apple Pay by double tapping the power button.

For many people, the more compelling part of Apple and Google Pay is the ability to have quick access to your payment info within other apps or when ordering something online. I used to hate digging through my wallet for my card and typing out all the numbers just to order a pair of sneakers. With Apple and Google Pay, all of that happens in a second automatically just by verifying with your device’s fingerprint or face scanner.

Is it secure? One of the common misconceptions with these payment options is that they’re not secure. People tend to think someone could hack your phone or simply steal it and have access to your credit card information. In fact, Apple and Google Pay are MORE secure in most circumstances. First of all, when you pay with your device instead of your card, the merchant never even sees your credit card number, so people can’t steal that info. Second, these options always verify your identity before using them, either by scanning your fingerprint or your face. So as long as you keep your phone locked, everyday thieves won’t be able to access that info either.

The bottom line is yes, you should use Apple Pay if you have an iPhone or Google Pay if you have an Android phone. It’s convenient, secure, and there really isn’t much of a downside.

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Should I Buy AirPods?

Yes. If you’re already at the point of considering AirPods, you really can’t go wrong. Even if you use an Android phone, I recommend AirPods as some of the best truly wireless earphones, though you do miss out on some of the convenient features. Obviously not everyone can stomach the price, but if they’re within your budget, I can’t recommend them enough. If you’re used to traditional wired earphones, you won’t miss the cord at all. In fact, you’ll find it hard to go back.

The biggest downside of wireless headphones and earphones in the past has been how finicky the Bluetooth connection can be. You would have to go into the settings on your phone, find Bluetooth settings, connect to your headphones, and then pray to the technology gods that the connection sticks. With AirPods, you simply open the case near your iPhone or iPad and within a second or two a popup on your device will ask if you want to connect. That’s it. After the first time, you won’t even have to interact with the popup. They’ll just connect to your device automatically. The one minor complaint I have is that it’s not quite so seamless if you want to use AirPods with multiple devices. Although even in this case, it’s simpler than traditional Bluetooth because you can open Control Center (swipe down from the top right of your device) and connect by tapping the AirPlay icon in the media control section.

You probably won’t lose them like you think. A major complaint people often have before using AirPods is that they’ll easily fall out of your ears. Yes, they are very small and light, but this really isn’t as big of a deal as you might expect. In my experience, they stuck in my ears much better than I thought they would. I think it’s actually more likely that you lose them by misplacing them as a result of being so small than them actually falling out of your ears. Even if you’re someone that has wired earphones yanked out very easily, you’ll be surprised by the difference losing the wires has on keeping the buds stable in your ear.

The battery life is great, even in such a beautiful little package. If it’s something you’re worried about, AirPods are definitely not another device you have to charge everyday. You’ll get at least a few hours out of the buds themselves and then the case acts as a charger that’ll give you a handful of recharges. Even if you do run out of battery in the buds before putting them away, just 15 minutes in the case will get you another few hours of listening time.

The audio quality is fine enough for most people. I consider myself to be an audiophile (I’m a nerd who appreciates the sound quality of expensive headphones) and to be honest, I was disappointed with AirPods at first. They just didn’t sound good to me. I missed the detail and clarity in my music that was provided by my normal over-ear headphones. But that’s just it–don’t expect AirPods to sound as good as just about any over-ear headphones over $75 or so. However, if you’re used to Apple’s prepackaged earbuds or other affordable buds, you’ll be happy with how AirPods sound and you might even thing they sound better.

Should you spend extra for the wireless charging case? That one is really a personal decision about how much you value that specific feature. Personally, I love just throwing my devices on a wireless charging mat so it was worth the extra cash for me. I think there’s a good chance the decision will come down to how you charge your phone. If you’re someone who plugs in a cord, you probably won’t spend up, but if you’re someone used to the convenience of charging your phone wirelessly, you’ll probably spring for that feature with AirPods.

The bottom line is AirPods are great, and if you’re an iPhone user, chances are you’ll love them. The convenience alone is worth the price of admission. They’re sort of a throwback product for Apple. For years, Macs and iPhones worked in a way that made other devices feel far less polished. It’s no secret Apple hasn’t been able to wow people for at least a few years, but AirPods just work in a way we came to expect of new Apple products in years past.

Caveats:

Some people may find AirPods uncomfortable. Unlike some earbuds that come with differently sized tips to fit a wide range of ears, AirPods can’t be adjusted. A good rule of thumb is if regular Apple earbuds are comfortable for you, AirPods will be too. They’re pretty much the same shape.

While Apple very recently released the second iteration of AirPods, there are rumors of a third iteration being released toward the end of 2019. Whether or not that’s true is up in the air, but you may want to hold off if the rumored health tracking features sound appealing to you.

Apple is also rumored to be releasing wireless over-ear headphones. If you’re considering AirPods purely for the convenience but prefer the over-ear form factor, you might want to wait to see if more information comes out on these. However, the existing rumors are shakier than the third AirPods iteration rumors.

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How to Buy a Phone Charger

As great as technology is these days, it's amazing how complicated it is to keep all your devices charged. In general, the best we can hope for is to charge our devices overnight and hope batteries last from the time we take them off the charger in the morning to the time we get back home in the evening. That's not as easy as it sounds if you're the kind of person who looks at their phone all day.

It might seem like all you need to know is what cable your phone requires to charge, but there are actually a few quirks that most people don't know that would help them charge their phone faster or keep it charged longer. For example, did you know that the charging brick that Apple packages with their phones by default is actually charging your phone much more slowly than it could?

The purpose of this guide is to help with all your charging needs by explaining what you need to know about charging your phone fast and keeping it charged throughout the day.

1. How can you charge your phone as fast as possible?

Samsung and some other Android phone makers generally include fast chargers in the box with their phones. However, most iPhone users don't realize that they can actually charge their phones faster if they don't use the charger that Apple includes in the box. To save on costs, Apple typically packages a 5W (watt) power adapter in the box. If you have an iPad, you might have noticed that your phone actually charges faster with the 12W adapter included in that box.

Your phone will also charge slower when plugged into a computer than when plugged into an actual power outlet. This is as a result of the limited current a computer can pass through a standard USB port. If you're in a pinch and need juice quickly, I highly recommend plugging into a wall outlet instead of your computer or other USB port.

2. Should you buy a wireless charger?

Wireless charging is definitely convenient. It sounds like such a small thing, but it's a great feeling to just dropping your phone on a pad and not have to worry about plugging it in. The important thing to remember though is that wireless charging simply won't charge as fast as plugging your phone in. Some Android phones, including most current Samsung phones, have fast wireless charging. This is great, but even these phones will charge faster while plugged in. For that reason, I recommend wireless chargers if you want it for your nightstand to charge your phone overnight or for your desk if you're going to have your phone sitting in front of you all day.

I also recommend that if you do get a wireless charger, one that stands your phone up is best for most people. Sometimes wireless charges can be finicky and don't charge unless your phone is placed just right. With one that stands up, your phone will be forced into the correct position every time. Additionally, it has the added benefit of letting you see the screen more easily if you use your phone as an alarm clock or want to easily see notifications while it's on your desk.

3. Is it worth it to buy a battery case?

I personally don't like the added bulk of phone cases, but battery cases can be a great option for extending your phone's battery life. They also provide the added benefit of protecting your phone from accidental damage. These cases are pretty straightforward. You'll simply want to weigh the battery capacity (more on that below) with how much added bulk you're willing to deal with and the price you're willing to pay.

It's difficult to recommend one or two because all phones will need different cases. Mophie was one of pioneers of this category and still one of the most trusted brands for these types of cases and other charging accessories. In addition, Apple makes their own battery case for iPhones. Just make sure the case you buy will actually fit your phone.

4. What portable charger is the best for a little extra juice when you need it?

Portable chargers or battery banks are becoming increasingly popular. They're simply extra batteries that you carry with you that you can plug your phone into if you're not close to an outlet. So they give you a little extra juice when you need it, and you simply charge the battery bank itself when it runs out of juice. The two most important aspects of a portable charger are it's charging capacity (i.e. how much juice it can hold) and how fast it can charge your devices.

Charging capacity is usually expressed in mAh (milliampere hours). The higher the mAh the more juice it can hold, and therefore the more times it can charge your phone before having to charge it. Most phone batteries are somewhere around 3,000 mAh, so simple math will tell you how many phone charges you'll get from a single portable charge. For example, if you have a 10,000 mAh portable charger, that'll charge most phones from zero to full capacity around 3 times. Generally, the larger the capacity for the price the better, but you also have to consider that larger capacity also means physically larger. So if you're planning to carry a portable charger in your pocket, you probably don't want one that's 20,000 mAh because it'll look like you're carrying a brick in your pocket.

Just like a regular charger, you'll want to consider how fast a portable charger can juice up your phone. Most cheap ones will charge your phone pretty slowly, so you want to make sure you pick one with a high output current, usually that means at least 2.4A (2.4 Amps).

I hope this clears up any of your battery charging confusion. Leave a comment if this helped you!

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How to Buy a TV

It's stupid how difficult it is to buy a TV these days. It should be easy enough to walk into a Best Buy, look at the wall of TVs, and pick the one you think looks the best. Unfortunately, most people can't really see a difference between brands. To make things worse, most TV manufacturers use a special in-store display mode that basically turns the brightness way up to make the screen stand out among the others. Then a lot of people are disappointed when they take a TV home and it doesn't look like the display unit at the store.

Things can be even worse when you shop online. Most online retailers simply spew a bunch of numbers at you to make it seem like a particular brand has super advanced technology. The reality is that most people don't understand what 1080p resolution or 60Hz refresh rate means. Depending on your needs, higher numbers aren't always better or worth the markup.

The purpose of this guide is to help you get past the marketing jargon to help you not get scammed. Here are the 6 steps you should follow to pick out your next TV:

1. Decide what screen size best fits your needs. Note that TVs are measured diagonally, from either the top left corner to the bottom right or the top right to the bottom left. That means a 55 inch TV has a screen that's 47.8 inches wide and 26.9 inches tall. Keep that in mind when you're measuring or planning out how big of a TV will fit in a particular space. Obviously bigger means more expensive, so keep in mind that a living room centerpiece is going to cost much more than a small screen in your bedroom.

2. Choose the resolution of the screen. These days, you'll generally see either 4K Ultra HD (aka 1440p) TVs or 1080p TVs with the occasional lower-end 720p sprinkled in. To explain what those numbers mean, every screen is made up of a grid of thousands or millions of little dots called pixels. Each pixel emits different colored light such that all of those pixels lit up together produce the image on your screen. The resolution of a screen tells you how many pixels it has. The more pixels you have, the better the screen can reproduce an image of real life. If you think back to an old video game, those were produced with tens or hundreds of pixels, so the image looks blurry or blocky. Whereas games nowadays are produced with millions of pixels, so they look almost identical to real life.

Resolution is a little tricky for the average person, because it can be difficult to see a difference between say 1080p and 4K Ultra HD. For most people who are used to a 1080p TV at home, 4K appears to be only a very slight improvement. However, if you're used to looking at a 4K screen, going back down to 1080p (or even lower like 720p) generally appears to be a much bigger difference.

These days, I would definitely recommend 4K. We're at the point where there's plenty of 4K video content (like on Netflix) and game consoles (like the Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro) can even play games at the higher resolution. A 1080p TV at this point will become outdated very quickly in the next few years.

3. Decide if you want to pay more for HDR. If you do, look for a TV that specifies either HDR 10 or Dolby Vision (many TVs support both). Many manufacturers will try to fool you by saying a TV has HDR without specifying one or both of those technical standards.

HDR or high-dynamic-range refers to a wider range of brightness the pixels on your screen can produce. In real life, light and dark are very apparent, so there's a stark contrast between looking up into the sun versus looking at a shadow. Most screens have a hard time reproducing that contrast. You might notice a lot of times when you're looking at a sunset on your TV for example, the image looks kind of flat and not totally real. A TV with HDR will be better at producing that shift in brightness, so that the image looks more realistic.

Unless you have a limited budget, I would recommend buying a TV with HDR. If you watch a 4K HDR movie on Netflix for example, you might be amazed at how much more real the image looks than it might on a more muted screen. Buying an HDR TV now is also probably a good investment for the future, as more and more video content will support it.

4. Decide on the refresh rate you're looking for. Higher refresh rates can get expensive very quickly, but they can also make a huge difference depending on what you use your TV for. The standard numbers you'll see are 60Hz, 120Hz, and 240Hz.

A TV is sort of like a super advanced flip book. It displays motion by flipping through tons of still images. The faster you flip through, the more fluid the motion looks. The slower you flip through, the more unnatural or blurry it looks. 60Hz (pronounced like the word "hurts") means it shows you 60 images per second. The difference in refresh rate becomes apparent when there's a lot of motion on screen. So for example, a football game will look much better on a 120Hz screen because it refreshes fast enough to keep up with the players on screen, whereas a 60Hz screen might look a little blurry as players dart across the field.

If you're buying a new TV to watch sports or to play video games, I recommend spending up for a TV with 120Hz. If you're mostly planning to watch TV or movies, it might be hard to justify spending up for anything over 60Hz. Unless you're simply looking for the top of the line TV, 240Hz is usually not worth the price. While some people can see a difference, the human eye can hardly distinguish between 120 and 240Hz.

5. Figure out how many and what kind of inputs and outputs you need. Basically this means you need to ask yourself what all you're going to be plugging into the TV. If you have 3 game consoles and a Blu-ray player, you probably shouldn't get a TV with only two HDMI ports, or you'll be sorry to find out you'll need to buy additional hardware like an HDMI switcher. Additionally, if you want to connect a sound system, make sure the TV can support the type of cable your system uses (usually 3.5mm, analog optical audio, or HDMI).

There are different types of HDMI ports that you might want to be aware of, but I won't get into those because it's not relevant for most average people.

6. Decide if you care about "smart" features. This essentially boils down to whether you want apps built into the TV or if you already have a box like a Roku/Apple TV/Xbox/etc. that you're going to plug into the TV anyway. Most TVs these days have smart features by default, so it's actually kind of hard to get a TV without smart features these days. The important thing to know is that you shouldn't pay more for these features if you're already planning to plug in another box to play Netflix, Hulu, or whatever else.

7. (Bonus Step if you want to get a little nerdier) Choose the display technology. The display technology is basically how the pixels are lit up. The standard options nowadays are LED LCD and OLED. If the manufacturer doesn't specify OLED, then it likely falls under the LED LCD category. Samsung and other brands tend to be extremely confusing about this type of thing. They'll use terms like QLED or SUHD, but at the end of the day, they're really just LED LCD displays.

OLEDs are generally much more expensive, but the benefit is that they tend to have better contrast between light and dark areas of the screen. Because LED LCD panels generally use backlighting, it's hard to make one part of the screen bright and a different part of the screen dark. With OLED however, the screen can light up pixels individually, which makes for a more realistic looking image.

To wrap up, my philosophy for TV shopping is actually a little different than shopping for other products. When shopping for a TV, I would recommend setting your budget after deciding what features you must have. For most things, it makes sense to set your limit and then pick the best option within that restriction. However, a TV is a long-term purchase and a product that typically sits prominently in your living room. In my mind, it makes sense to decide what you want and then save up and only buy when you have enough money to get the product you want. Most people buy a TV every 5-10 years. However, most people buy a smartphone for example every 1-3 years. It makes more sense to splurge on the less frequent purchase rather than the purchase you know you're going to replace in a relatively short period of time.

I hope this clears up some of the marketing jargon for you. Let me know down below if this cleared things up for you!