New to the Apple App Store: Google Gemini for iPhone. The AI chatbot has a leg up on ChatGPT in one big way: It links to Google apps like Mail, Maps, Calendar and YouTube. Open the Gemini for iPhone app, tap your profile icon at the top right corner and select Extensions. Toggle on any apps you want to link all in one place.
Make this change if your browser is slowing down to a crawl
Quick! What’s the one app you use more than just about any other? I bet it’s your browser. It takes you everywhere online. But with countless extensions and tools, not to mention the complexity of today’s websites, we’re working them to death.
That consistently high demand on your computer’s resources can exhaust the machine, especially laptops. Say hello to shorter battery life, slower performance times, cybersecurity risks and system crashes.
Fortunately, you can do things online faster with a few pro tweaks to your browser’s settings.
Chrome needs a refresh – Here’s how
Chrome is a notorious resource hog. Yes, Google has made changes to fix that, but popping into the settings will further reduce the load on your system and keep your computer happy.
- Manage extensions: Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, then Extensions > Manage Extensions. Remove or disable any unnecessary extensions.
- Disable hardware acceleration: Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, then Settings > System. Toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Content settings: Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, then Privacy and security > Site settings. Review and customize permissions for Third-party cookies, JavaScript, Images, and Pop-ups and redirects.
Fix Safari if you use a Mac
On a Mac, you probably use the Safari browser. You can make a couple of quick changes here, too.
- Manage extensions: Click Safari in the menu bar > Settings. Open the Extensions tab, then remove or disable anything you don’t use.
- Site settings: From Settings, click the Websites tab. Customize settings for individual websites; you can block plugins, auto-playing media and location access.
- Disable auto-playing media: In Settings, go to the Websites tab > Auto-Play. Choose Stop Media with Sound or Never Autoplay to conserve resources.
Congrats! Just a few minutes and you added time to your computer’s life. Don’t stop yet.
Dive deeper: Check your battery’s lifespan
Laptop batteries are only equipped to handle a limited number of complete cycles or, in layman’s terms, the charging process in which your battery goes from 0% to 100%. If you consistently put your laptop battery through complete charge cycles, it will lose efficiency — and so will batteries as they age.
Necessary 60-second security checks: 4 quick cybersecurity steps to take NOW
I have to tell you this story. When my college-bound son moved to Los Angeles, he asked me for the house number of a place nearby that I rented 28 years ago for two months. I laughed because I couldn’t remember it. Then, I was shocked!
280 million
Chrome users who have installed shady extensions in the past three years. These extensions included malware and often asked for advanced permissions during installation. On average, dangerous extensions stayed in the Chrome store for over a year before getting the boot. Good job there, Google.
Huge time-saver: Go straight to the recipe and skip the long story
All the buzzes, beeps, pop-ups, rings, dings and notifications built into our tech make it hard to focus. They’re built that way because it’s good for business when we’re addicted. Use these steps to quiet your notifications — and your mind.
Chrome, Edge and Safari browser settings for better security and performance
Quick — what’s the one app you use more often than just about any other? (If your answer is TikTok, we must have a serious chat about productivity.)
Your browser is likely one of your most used apps. Whether working, playing, planning or researching the latest Apple Gadgets, we rely on our browsers to get the job done.
Sluggish browser? 5 ways to speed it up
Is your browser running slowly? We will use the four major market contenders for this quick optimization guide: Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. Tap or click here for details on browsers focused on privacy.
Read on for five ways to optimize your browser and prevent sluggish performance.
Speed up your computer with this simple Google Chrome extension
Nobody likes to work on a slow computer, but finding the cause (or a fix) can be tricky. If Google’s Chrome browser is your preferred way of getting around the internet, there is a good chance that it could be to blame.
Need to create a presentation? Try this new AI tool with Google Slides
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot that can write anything from a speech to a fictional TV episode from your favorite series. Heck, there are even ways you can use the tool to make money. Tap or click here to learn how.
Use Google Chrome? This might be the best update of the year
A computer running slowly can be super frustrating. It can also make you late on turning in important work projects or school work. Fortunately, there are ways to speed things up. Tap or click here for a Google Chrome extension that can help.
Adobe Flash is dead — Forget that and you could end up with malware
As time passes, support for older programs and apps slows down or stops completely. If you’re still running Windows 7, you really need to upgrade to get the latest security patches from Microsoft. Here are three great new features from Windows 11.
10 tips to keep Google's Chrome browser secure
Google Chrome is the world’s most popular browser, with billions of users. Even though Google is known to play fast and loose with privacy, this is true.
Google most likely knows more about you than you could imagine. It knows every website you visit, the comments you make, your online purchases, and much more. Tap or click here for eight ways Google constantly invades your privacy.
Firefox just made a huge security change to protect your privacy
Mozilla’s Firefox browser recently hit a significant milestone by releasing version 100. Tap or click here to find out if the update is worth checking out.
Mozilla constantly releases security updates, and the latest version adds to that commitment.
Emergency update for Chrome - Patch now to fix zero-day flaw
Operating systems and browsers are constantly receiving updates. Some are needed for cool new features, but others fix newly discovered flaws. Tap or click here for a Windows update that fixes 55 bugs and significant vulnerabilities.
Ever wonder how many brands sold on Amazon are owned by Amazon? This tool can help
Amazon itself sells more than 12 million products but factor in Marketplace sellers, and that number jumps to more than 350 million. And this is the site’s busiest time of year.
If you’ve bought a few gifts on Amazon, be sure your purchase history doesn’t spoil the surprise. Tap or click here for the best ways to hide what you buy on Amazon.
Mozilla just blocked dangerous extensions used by 450K Firefox users
It is hard to imagine a time before internet browsers had extensions. Tap or click here for the 10 best Chrome extensions to use with Google Drive. These powerful add-ons are downloaded and used within the browser and can help with translations, conversions or many other tasks.
Easy way to see everything you've ever ordered on Amazon
With free and super-fast shipping on millions of products, Amazon has become a convenient place to get, well, everything.
However, if you are ordering from Amazon constantly, it’s easy to forget about a package or two. You might not notice when one package goes missing if it’s an insignificant item. So how do you keep track?
Update Chrome now! New version protects you from zero-day exploit
If you use Google’s Chrome internet browser, it’s a really good idea to keep it updated to the latest version. Over the last few months, the company has released several updates to protect users from unwanted intruders.
Avoid these imposter VPN extensions that hijack your browser search results
VPNs are designed to protect your privacy when you browse the web, so they’re the last thing you’d expect to put your data at risk.
That’s why scammers will sometimes disguise their malware as VPN extensions. It’s an easy way for them to slip malware and spam by you without you noticing. Tap or click here to see how three iPhone VPNs secretly installed fleeceware on victim’s phones.
Google Drive tricks: 15 smart ways to get more out of this free office software
Almost all of us utilize cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox in some capacity. Cloud-based storage services are just a normal part of using technology at this point.
While there are lots of cloud storage services to choose from, Google Drive has tons of advantages over the competition. Not only does it offer free file storage, but it also lets you create documents that can be accessed from anywhere. That’s a huge benefit now that it’s common to work remotely. Tap or click here to see what Google did to help at-home workers over the past few months.