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7 Tips to Increase Your Privacy on iPhone and iPad

7 Tips to Increase Your Privacy on iPhone and iPad

privacy-1Photo credit: Josh Valcarcel/WIRED

Your mobile device reveals a lot of things about you, and it can make you vulnerable to hackers and other predators lurking everywhere on the web. To keep your personal details secure, follow these seven simple tips.

  1. Block cookies and trackers.

Cookies track your every action on the Internet. To block them off, go to Safari’s settings, tap on Block Cookies, and select from three options: Always, From third parties and advertisers, and Never. If you also hate being tracked while browsing the web, go to Settings > Safari > Do Not Track. By doing this, websites won’t be able to record your browsing activities.

  1. Use secure applications that save confidential data.

A reliable app is 1Password which safely stores your passwords. Personal is also a good app to store encrypted photos and files. If you want to find out what people did with your iPhone when you’ve left it unattended, Catchr is a useful app to keep.

  1. Be wary of location-based apps.

As you may be aware by now, your iOS device tracks your location through its built-in GPS. There are various apps that utilize this advantage. According to a 2013 Appthority report, 60 percent of iOS apps collect location data, while McAfee Labs revealed that 80 percent of apps gather location data.

To keep apps from tracking your location, deselect them by going to Settings > Privacy > Location. Tap on any unwanted app, and toggle it to off. You may also choose to deselect location services completely through System Services, which you can find at the bottom of Settings. It allows you to inform Apple that you don’t want location-based ads to acquire data about your “frequent locations.”

  1. Block app access to Bluetooth and social media sites.

Lots of mobile apps today require various permissions before you can download them. For example, these apps want to view your contact list or access your SMS messages. When downloading apps, make sure that you choose to block them from sharing files through Bluetooth or getting your personal information from Twitter and Facebook.

  1. Use two-factor authentication.

This improves security on apps that carry sensitive information. Apps such as Google and Evernote require you sign in with a password and confirm your access by sending a passcode via SMS.

  1. Minimize ad tracking.

Advertisers typically show ads to iPhone and iPad users by tracking their Unique Device Identifiers or by taking advantage of Apple’s Advertising Identifier feature. If you don’t want to share much data to advertisers, go to Settings and turn off Limit Ad Tracking. This way, advertisers won’t have too much access to your data, and you’ll encounter less targeted ads.

  1. Avoid auto-fill.

This feature really saves time when filling out forms on desktop. However, it may compromise your security on mobile devices. To turn it off, tap Settings > Safari > AutoFill > Clear All.

Speak Text — An Interesting iOS Feature That Speaks Text Back to You

Speak Text is a useful feature that allows you to make your iOS device speak back text that appears on the screen. All apps with selectable text support this feature, whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

What Makes Speak Text a Fantastic Feature?

Although it does serve as a wonderful accessibility tool for those with vision problems, text-to-speech also comes in handy for people who use their device for long hours. When your eyes get strained from browsing too many webs or reading a novel on Kindle all day long, you may experience occasional headaches from the screen glare. Speak Text is a great alternative for reading almost anything on your iOS device. You can simply sit back, plug in your headphones, and listen to the text being read to you.

For writers, students, and anyone who needs to proofread articles, Speak Text can also help you catch grammatical errors and awkward phrases. More often than not, it’s easier to proofread when your article is read out loud.

How to Use Speak Text

To use this feature, you have to enable it in Settings. Speak Text is different from VoiceOver, which is a specially designed accessibility feature that audibly describes texts on screen, so you can use your mobile device even if you can’t see the screen. VoiceOver describes every item and option on the screen as you select it.

To use Speak Selection, tap on Settings > General > Accessibility, and then choose Speak Selection. When activated, you’ll see a Speak button whenever you select text. You’ll find more options to personalize the feature. You can change the speed of reading the text, enable highlighting of individual words dynamically as they’re spoken, and choose voices based on your preferred language. You can also enable Enhanced Quality for a better speak selection experience. However, doing so requires extra storage space, because a file download up to 144 mb will be initiated.

After enabling Speak Selection, you’ll see a pop-up each time you select text that displays various options, such as copy, paste, define, and speak. Just tap on the Speak button to listen to the text being read back to you in a melodious voice. If you need Speak Selection to use multiple languages, you can find options for preconfigured languages each time you press Speak.

Speak Selection is certainly an interesting and handy app that you’ll find useful in many situations. Whether you’re simply relaxing while listening to your favorite eBook or taking a break from tiresome reading, this feature is great to use.

Source: Mac Observer

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