Phone safety tips: From emergency services to blocking unknown callers - USA TODAY

When it comes to tech questions, I’ve gotten them all. More than ever, I’m proceeding from radical inundated with requests from older household members to hole their devices.

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Presents are great, but here’s a acquisition that volition past your loved 1 each year: A telephone privateness and information tune-up. Do it this vacation season.

1. Turn connected exigency and wellness settings

A smartphone tin prevention your beingness if it’s acceptable up correctly. It’s captious to acceptable this up.

In the lawsuit of a wellness event, exigency responders tin entree the iPhone Health app – adjacent if the telephone is locked. Add details similar your – oregon your loved one’s – name, age, aesculapian conditions, allergies, and exigency contacts to springiness archetypal responders much information.

How to acceptable up exigency settings connected an iPhone

When archetypal opening the Health app connected an iPhone, you're prompted to participate basal wellness information. You tin ever spell backmost to update Health Details.

After you capable retired the Health Details section, it’s clip to acceptable up the Medical ID.

• Open the iPhone Health app, past pat the profile picture.

• Select Medical ID > Get Started oregon Edit. Enter immoderate wellness information.

• Tap Emergency Contact and adhd a trusted person’s information.

• Tap Done.

One much step: Allow exigency services to entree the Medical ID adjacent erstwhile the phone’s surface is locked. Here’s what to do:

• Open the Health app and pat the profile picture.

• Tap Medical ID > Edit.

• In the Emergency Access section, descent the toggles adjacent to Show When Locked and Share During Emergency Call to the close to enable.

Now, archetypal responders volition beryllium capable to spot important aesculapian information.

How to acceptable up exigency settings connected an Android

If you oregon your loved 1 has an Android phone, travel these steps. Note that steps alteration depending connected what telephone you’re using.

• Go to Settings > Safety & emergency.

• Select Medical Information to participate details similar name, humor type, allergies, and medications.

• At the bottommost of the screen, toggle this mounting on: To assistance successful an emergency, radical tin presumption this info without unlocking your device.

Finally, acceptable up Emergency Contacts. Just spell to Safety & Emergency settings > Emergency Contacts > Add Contact.

Here are a fewer much ways to stock aesculapian accusation connected your Android successful an emergency.

2. Make definite there’s ever a backup successful place

A stolen oregon breached telephone means you oregon your loved 1 could suffer everything successful an instant. That’s wherefore automated backups are truthful important.

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To crook connected iCloud information backup connected an iPhone:

• Go to Settings > (name) iCloud > iCloud Drive.

• Toggle connected Sync this iPhone.

You get 5GB of escaped retention with iCloud. If you request much space, you’ll person to wage 99 cents for 50GB, $2.99 for 200GB, and $9.99 for 2TB.

To acceptable an Android to automatically backmost up, travel these steps:

• Open the Google One app.

• Tap Storage and scroll down to Backup.

• Tap View > Set up information backup > Manage backup.

You get 15GB of escaped unreality retention with your Google account. If you request much storage, a Basic Google One program costs $1.99 monthly and comes with 100GB of storage. A Standard program costs $2.99 monthly for 200GB, and a Premium program costs $9.99 and comes with 2TB of storage.

From there, you tin take your backup settings.

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3. Silence chartless callers

I perceive from folks who privation to assistance retired their parents oregon grandparents who person fallen for telephone scams. Crooks are smarter than ever before, and erstwhile they get idiosyncratic connected the phone, it's easier than you'd expect to get that idiosyncratic to manus implicit idiosyncratic details oregon money.

This extremity volition prevention your comparative the headache of dealing with spam. Note: Silence chartless callers means they mightiness miss a morganatic call. In my experience, a existent idiosyncratic who needs to scope you volition permission a voicemail.

To soundlessness chartless callers connected an iPhone:

• Go to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers.

• Slide the toggle adjacent to Silence Unknown Callers.

Now, the telephone won’t ringing erstwhile an chartless fig calls. It volition beryllium silenced, sent to voicemail, oregon displayed connected the Recents list. Incoming calls from acquainted numbers volition inactive ringing arsenic usual.

You tin besides fell texts from chartless reminders. Here’s how:

• Go to Settings > Messages.

• Slide the toggle adjacent to Filter Unknown Senders.

Here’s however to artifact calls from chartless callers connected an Android phone:

• First, pat the Phone icon astatine the bottommost of the screen.

• In the top-right corner, pat the three-dot menu.

• Select Settings > Blocked Numbers.

• Slide the toggle adjacent to Block Calls From Unidentified Callers.

Arm the susceptible radical successful your beingness with knowledge. Tap oregon click present to debar scammers' astir fashionable tactics to fool older people.

Keep your tech-know going

My fashionable podcast is called “Kim Komando Today.” It’s a coagulated 30 minutes of tech news, tips, and callers with tech questions similar you from each implicit the country. Search for it wherever you get your podcasts. For your convenience, deed the nexus beneath for a caller episode.

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In 30 minutes, you'll larn 1: What apps to download earlier vacation travel, 2: How to adhd your driver's licence to your phone’s wallet, and 3: How to triumph a $100 Amazon acquisition card.

Check retired my podcast “Kim Komando Today” connected Apple, Google Podcasts, Spotify, oregon your favourite podcast player. Just hunt for my past name, “Komando.”

Learn astir each the latest exertion connected the Kim Komando Show, the nation's largest play vigor speech show. Kim takes calls and dispenses proposal connected today's integer lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privateness and information hacks. For her regular tips, escaped newsletters and more, sojourn her website at Komando.com.

The views and opinions expressed successful this file are the author’s and bash not needfully bespeak those of USA TODAY.