As I stood outside a California restaurant waving goodbye to a friend, my phone stopped working. Had I been hacked? 

Even before it stopped working, it had slowed to a crawl. Then, just as suddenly, it sprang back to life. That’s how I was able to order a Lyft to get back to my sister’s house.

Before I could enter my destination, however, the app thanked me for scheduling a ride with my pet. It also assumed I was going to a Monarch Beach resort. Weird. I don’t have a pet and I wasn’t headed for the resort.

I hopped into the Lyft anyway, explaining to the driver, who spoke limited English, that I was going to a different address. When the ride was over, I wiped my phone, restoring it to its original factory condition, just to be on the safe side.

But the problems continued. In setup mode, Google asked me to verify my identity with the wiped phone, which was impossible. Alternatively, I could have used another phone or tablet, if I’d had one. So I tried to verify myself with my Chromebook, but that didn’t work. 

Just as I was wishing I had an iPhone so I could call Apple, I rebooted and got an option to sign into my Samsung account. This gave me access to my Google account too. Thank heavens for Samsung. 

Still, when I first started having problems, I would have liked to have known whether I was encountering a hardware issue or had actually been hacked. In a ZDNet article titled “Warning signs that your phone has been hacked,” I read that the number one sign is: “Your battery drains more quickly than usual.” The number two sign is: “Your phone is running more slowly.” The article suggests codes you can type into your phone to tell you what kind of hack you’re experiencing. For example, you might learn that all of your calls are being automatically forwarded to the hacker. Another code disables that forwarding. There’s also a code– for Androids only– that automatically reverts your phone to its original factory condition. But you can always just look up “factory data reset” under “Settings.”

In any event, my phone now works beautifully. I didn’t even lose my beach photos, though I didn’t see them at Google Photos online at first because they hadn’t been automatically uploaded yet. Instead, they were automatically backed up to a memory card, which holds around 69,000 images in the jpeg format. If your phone doesn’t have a slot for a memory card, you can get a plug-in card reader for around $25.

Android Auto

Android Auto allows a friend of mine to see Google Maps on a big screen as he’s driving along. But many car models, including his Nissan Versa, require a cable to connect apps to your car.

Without the cable, the flow of data is neither stable nor reliable. Car makers suggest using a USB 3.1 cable or higher to avoid a lag between the time you call up a Google Map or some other app, and the time it takes to appear on the screen. Wireless adapters tend to get bad reviews. For example, even the $51 Motorola MA1’s reviews are 17 percent one star.

Recovering Texts

If you accidentally delete text messages from your iPhone, they aren’t lost forever. Just open the Messages app and tap the “Edit” option at the top left. Then tap “Show Recently Deleted.”

Unfortunately, however, you’ll only be able to recover messages deleted in the last 30 days. Even then, you won’t see the actual messages, just the contact name or phone number. Once they’re recovered, however, you’ll be able to read the texts.

Virtual Reality Music

I gave up on virtual reality headsets when I read that they make many people nauseous. But I have since met those who love them. For them, there’s “Realize Music: Sing” for the Meta Quest VR.

The app, which costs $10 a month, brings over one million songs in many different genres. As you sing along, it paints an illustration in the air before you. You can even cast what you’re looking at onto a TV set, turning your living room into a karaoke party. 

Got VPN?

“Does everyone need a VPN?” a reader asked. The answer is no.

You don’t need a virtual private network if you don’t use Wi-Fi to do banking or other sensitive activities in airports, cafes, hotels and other public places. Nor do you need it if you have either a generous data plan or an unlimited one, since then you could use your cellular connection without extra fees.

But there are at least three reasons you might still want one. First, a VPN prevents advertisers from monitoring your internet activity. Second, it lets you hide your country of origin from Netflix, subverting the company’s rule about watching only from the US. Third, your employer might require one.

Of all the VPNs, NordVPN gets the best reviews. It’s $3.09 a month if you go for two years,  $4.99 a month if you go for one year.

Internut

“Contact lenses let you see in the dark even with your eyes closed.” Search on that phrase to read about soft lenses that let you perceive infrared light, even with your eyes closed. The lenses don’t need a power source.

Filed under: Android, Internuts, security, text messaging, Virtual Reality, virus