How to block ad tracking on your iPhone

A recent article in The Washington Post by Geoffrey Fowler described the author’s shock when he discovered just how many of his iPhone apps were collecting and uploading information about his usage while he slept.

As we all know by now, data is a huge commodity these days. If you use a phone, laptop, or any type of computing device (unless you’re a security expert or a high-end hacker with access to sophisticated blocking tools), you’re paying for your apps by contributing marketing and other info to the companies that supply them.

As Fowler’s article demonstrates, iPhone users are not immune to this, no matter how much Apple assures its customers that it’s looking out for their privacy. But there are some simple ways to minimize the…

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Google Lens will show reviews if you point it at a restaurant’s menu starting this week

Google is launching a pair of interrelated features that are designed to make it easier to pick what to eat at restaurants. The first was originally announced by the company back at Google I/O, and it allows you to point your phone’s camera at a restaurant’s menu to see user reviews and photographs of the dishes. The feature is available through Google Lens, a piece of software that’s available as an app and is also built into the camera on Google Pixel devices. Google has confirmed that the feature is launching by the end of this week with support for menus in English, and it will expand to more languages in the future.

In order to provide user reviews through Google Lens, you’ll need reviews of individual meals to start. Google is…

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