Simple ways to fix 8 common tech issues

Technology isnt always easy to deal with. Even the best of us can get stuck with what seems like a simple roadblock.

Karan Bajaj and Hitesh Raj Bhagat offer some solutions for eight of these common problems

Clean up your WhatsApp install

Raise your hand if youre on WhatsApp and constantly get added to groups. Yup, thats the most common complaint. Multiple groups can choke your device with incessant sharing of photos and videos - especially if youve set media to auto download.

No wonder phones storage keeps getting consumed. What many users dont realize is that WhatsApp will indefinitely store all media this includes photos, videos, audio messages, documents and even chat backups.

With a few months usage, the app will occupy a few gigabytes of precious internal storage. You can choose to delete shared data from each chat and group individually to clean your storage but its faster using cleaner apps.

Cheetah Mobiles Clean Master can scan through your WhatsApp folder and clean it with one tap. You can also try Magic Cleaner for WhatsApp -- it analyses your photos, sorts them in various categories and helps you quickly get rid of the ones you dont want.

A simple VPN to browse what you want, anonymously

Dont you hate it when youre just casually browsing on your phone, only to find a big message that says Sorry, the content provider has not made this available in your country. Websites can also be blocked by the government and local web filtering services.

However, if you really want to access these sites and services you can do so using a VPN.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates an anonymous private network allowing a user to access the internet without geographical restrictions. For websites, Opera has launched a developer edition of their browser that comes with a built-in VPN services.

You just need to open a private window and you will see a VPN logo next to the address bar on top. Opera also has a free VPN app for iOS users that lets you access blocked sites on your smartphone.

If you want a service that works on the Chrome browser, Android and iOS, then check out TunnelBear (http:www.tunnelbear .com) -note that the free version limits you to 500MB data per month.

Manage passwords better

Its not uncommon for a single person to have multiple email IDs, social media accounts, net banking accounts and online subscription services. However, its not prudent to keep the same passwords for different services and remembering passwords for so many different services is tedious.

You can solve this issue by using a password manager like LastPass. You only have to connect your websites to LastPass and then remember one master password -all the remaining passwords will be taken care of by LastPass itself.

All your data is encrypted, you can enable two-factor authentication for extra security and it even works with authentication via fingerprint (if available on your Android smartphone). What we like most about LastPass is that even the free version lets you save an unlimited number of passwords.

Transfer files between iOS and Android without wires

Android is an open platform and it is very easy to transfer data between two Android devices.The same is not true for iOS because there are restrictions in place. However, what if you want to transfer files from an iOS device to Android or vice versa?

You can choose to transfer data from one phone to a computer and then from the computer to the other device -a long process. A simpler way is to use free sharing apps like ShareIT.

ShareIT enables direct, one-to-one wireless data transfers between two smartphones, even if they are running different operating systems. Just install ShareIT on both and follow the onscreen process to setup a WiFi hotspot -once this is done, you can select files from your device and to send them to the connected device.

Backup your apps so that you dont have to re-download

When changing phones, the biggest task is to transfer your apps to the new phone. You could have apps and games worth several gigabytes in size and re-downloading them on to a new phone will take up considerable time and data.

With a free app called Helium, Android users can take a backup of all their installed apps (as well as app data) on a microSD card or cloud storage. The only catch is that if you dont have a rooted phone, you will need to use a computer to be able to use Helium for backup and restore.Apart from app data, Helium can also backup and restore contacts and SMS.

Too many TV shows?

If youre a fan of TV shows, its easy to get lost in the multiple episodes. There are a bunch of apps that can help with this and a couple of our favourites are Series Guide (by Uwe Trottman) and TVShow Time (by Toze Labs).

Apart from finding out more details about the TV shows you know and love, you can also use these apps for discovery of new ones. One of the things that doesnt make much sense is the ability to track next airing (unless youre keeping pace with US airing times by streaming/downloading your shows).

The idea behind both is the same: you add the shows you watch (or plan to watch) and the app will keep you updated on plots, airing time and trivia. Dont worry if youre watching 15 shows simultaneously - the amazing interface will easily let you search, favourite and filter.

Backup tests from phone, view on a PC

A free app called SMS Backup and Restore (by Carbonite) is the gold standard when it comes to backing up your messages. You might want to do this for several reasons: maybe youve got thousands of messages and just want to clean up your phone (but still want a backup for later reference).

Or maybe youre switching phones and want to transfer over all your old messages to the new phone. Or there could be a lot of useful information in your SMS inbox and you need a way to quickly and easily search through them on a PC. For all these reasons, this is the right app.

It quickly takes a backup and you can then store that backup file to the micro SD card (if available) or just email it to yourself. The backup file can be opened in Excel or a spreadsheet viewer. Super Backup (by Mobileidea Studio) is similar and it also backs up contacts.

Block annoying ads, keep yourself protected

You may not be aware, but apps and websites are constantly trying to track what youre doing. This is mostly so that they can serve up targeted advertising.

First, you can tackle the root cause - search! Youve probably noticed that if you search for something - lets say a rocking chair - the ads in different websites will begin to show you more of furniture and rocking chairs. To prevent your searches from being tracked, use an alternative search engine like DuckDuckGo (they also have an app).

Other things you can do include using an incognito or private browser window. As for the annoying ads, you should get the AdBlock browser (by the same guys who made AdBlock Plus -the popular web browser extension). Use this instead of Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Finally, if you want complete privacy , consider TOR browser (many apps based on TOR are free).

source: techgig.com