Stop losing your car at the mall: Open the Google Maps app, tap the blue dot that shows your location, then select Save parking.
Tech how-to: Relive 2024 in a picture-perfect recap
Whoa, 2024 was a big year. I went to Japan for the first time and Hawaii for the 70th time, really. I used to live there part-time. I became obsessed with a new hobby (sailboat racing in my Harbor 20 that I named “Goddess”), started doing Pilates three times a week to get stronger, took my business to the next level and set the foundation to launch another business with my son, Ian.
Look through your pictures, and I bet you’ll be reminded of a lot of fun moments from your year, too. Amateurs scroll aimlessly to relive 2024. That’s not you, dear one. Here’s how to put together a digital memory book, and then, because I want you to always take your tech to the next level, how to show it on your TV.
🤖 Google Photos
Google jumped on the yearly recap bandwagon with a “highlight reel.” In Google Photos, swipe through your featured memories carousel at the top of the Photos view. Each reel has a colorful 2024 background.
It grabs your best shots and spices them up with fun graphics and cinematic effects. You’ll see your …
- Longest photo streak: Get competitive with your friends.
- Year in smiles: All the grins you captured.
- Top faces: Your all-star cast right here.
- Year in color: What was your palette?
- Vibe: Find out your top three personas.
Pro tip: Make sure you have Face Groups turned on so Google recognizes your people (and animals).
🍎 Apple Memories
Apple doesn’t have a year-in-review feature, but iOS 18 introduced the Memory Movie, a personalized film from your photo library. All you need is an iPhone 15 Pro or later. Got an older iPhone? You can still make a memory slideshow but without the AI magic.
- iPhones with Apple Intelligence: Scroll to the Memories section in Photos and tap Create Memory Movie. Add a prompt like “summer vacation 2024,” and AI will pull together photos based on what you wrote. Tweak the photos, add some filters and your masterpiece is done.
- Older iPhones: Create a new album in Photos and add at least five. Then, go back to the Albums page, press the three-dot icon next to your new album and pick Play Memory Video. Easy-peasy.
Instagram’s 2024 recap is a simple but cute collage of your favorite photos. You can share it as a story or Reel, like a digital scrapbook.
Life after death: AI chatbots bringing lost loved ones back
For me, the holidays are when I miss my parents, grandparents and loved ones who’ve passed away the most. But maybe we can still keep our lost family and friends with us in a different way.
You see, there’s been an upsurge in people tapping into AI to create virtual versions of their loved ones. I wanted to get a deeper look, and now you can, too.
Your inner child just fist-pumped: A new Kickstarter lets you scan any object with its forthcoming Brick My World app, and its AI-powered tech will show you what to buy on the Lego marketplace. Don’t waste your money; Brickplicator does the same thing if you upload a 3D model. While Brickplicator isn’t as snazzy as the Brick My World app’s Kickstarter promises, you can use it now.
Tech tip: Share your ETA on the go
I hate being late. No one wants to leave friends hangry at a restaurant. Here’s a trick I use: Share your ETA right from your map app. It keeps everyone in the loop.
It’s way better than sharing your location 24/7. Imagine if we’d had this tech back in our 20s. Total concert and party game‑changer!
Use Excel a lot? Set up a macro to automate anything you do often, like formatting a monthly report the same way. Full guide here. So worth the time it takes to set up.
👻 Now you see it, now you don’t: “Vanish mode” turns Instagram into a Snapchat copycat, where messages disappear after you’ve viewed them. To try it, open a direct message in IG and swipe up from the bottom of your screen. That’s it. Swipe up again to turn it off.
🥳 I’m gonna live to 94: That’s according to the viral Death Clock app that’s all over social media, with people sharing eerie “save the date” results. Drawing from over 1,200 life expectancy studies with 53 million participants, the app analyzes your diet, cholesterol, blood pressure, exercise, stress and sleep to calculate your expiration date. PSA: After you answer the questions, the app tries to sell you a membership. Just click the faint gray “X” in the top left corner to see your results for free.
🖥️ A solid CCleaner alternative: Microsoft released a new version of its free PC Manager app for Windows 10 and 11, and it’s way better. You can view your internet speed in real time from the taskbar and delete temp and unnecessary files even faster. Bonus: On Windows 11, you can integrate it directly into your widgets. Go get it, my Windows friends.
Nice try, Microsoft: The new Bing Wallpaper refreshes your desktop daily, but it’s also pulling some shady, malware-like moves. Hidden tricks include auto-installing Bing Visual Search, pushing Edge as your default browser, and decrypting cookies from Chrome and Firefox. Don’t use it.
➡️ Lightning fast: In Microsoft Word, use Ctrl + the arrow keys to quickly move through words or paragraphs. Combine with Shift to select text as you go.
Welcome to the 21st century: You can finally save WhatsApp messages as drafts. Your unfinished messages will appear at the top of your chat list. Look for Draft in green under your contact’s name to the left of your saved message.
The free video editor does it all: VLC is a free, open-source media player that plays almost every audio and video file format in existence. It runs quickly, and there are no ads. Love that. It’s also simple to use.
📅 Outlook hack: Drag and drop emails to create appointments or tasks. Open Outlook, grab the email you want and drag it onto the Calendar or Tasks icon in the bottom-left panel. A new window will pop up. Now, just edit the details like the subject line or time and hit Save & Close.
🧼 Give your feed a refresh: Instagram is testing a feature that lets you reset your algorithmic suggestions for your Feed, Reels and Explore sections. Head to Settings > Content Preferences > Reset Suggested Content. Note: This reset doesn’t delete anything and won’t change the ads you see.
📝 Spellcheck your ALL CAPS: By default, Microsoft Office programs and Outlook don’t spellcheck words written in all caps, so your BIG TITLES might be full of typos. To fix this in Office apps, go to File > Options > Proofing and uncheck Ignore words in UPPERCASE. For Outlook, go to File > Options > Mail > Editor Options > Proofing and uncheck Ignore words in UPPERCASE.
Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: Real-time AI-powered translation to communicate in other languages. It even simulates your voice. Expect the initial version with support for up to nine languages early next year. Bonus: Soon, Teams will recap visual content (like PowerPoint slides) shared on-screen during a meeting. Thank goodness … I hate presentations.
🔢 Undo it: You’re doing math on your calculator app and one wrong tap ruins everything. Not anymore. On a touchscreen device, swipe right or left to delete the last character. How do you make a seven even? Subtract the ‑s.
Drowning in emails? Stay afloat with custom email filters in Outlook. Open Outlook on the web and click the Settings (gear icon) in the top right corner. Choose Email > Rules > Add new rule, then click Name to name your rule > Add a condition > Add an action. For example, Newsletters > The Current > Mark as important. Aren’t you smart?!
Next time you need a meeting or reminder on the cal: Tell Siri or Google Assistant what your plan is, along with a date and time. For example, say, “Hey, Siri, set up a lunch meeting with Bob tomorrow at 1 p.m.” or “OK, Google, remind me to thaw the steaks tomorrow at 8 a.m.” Nice.