NPD Breach Reveals Data on Hundreds of Millions, Here’s How to Respond

A few months ago, news broke about the latest massive data breach, this time from a company called National Public Data, a company that collects vast amounts of personal data about individuals from public data sources, including addresses, employment history, criminal records, and Social Security numbers. NPD then sells access to that data to employers conducting background checks, landlords screening potential tenants, banks verifying loan information, and more.

Unfortunately, NPD’s data security was lax, with the company publishing its own passwords in a file that was freely available from its homepage. How many people are affected remains unclear, though it seems likely to be hundreds of millions, if not the three billion reported by some outlets. Precisely what is included in the breach varies by person, but it includes names, physical addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers for many. Email addresses may be included as well.

Put bluntly, this is terrible. It’s bad enough when a firm to which you’ve entrusted your data suffers a breach, but no one affected by the NPD breach had a relationship with the company. NPD was just hoovering up everything it could find and reselling it. NPD is far from alone in this field—numerous other companies do the same thing, and some of them have also suffered data breaches.

What can you do? Honestly, not much. Your data appeared in the breach through no fault of your own, so apart from generally trying to keep the amount of your personal data available online to a minimum (watch social media in particular), nothing you do will make a big difference.

You might be tempted by services that promise to “scrub the Internet!” of your data at people-search sites, but a Consumer Reports study found that they were largely ineffective, working for only about a third of the profiles tested. (The study was admittedly fairly small.) The best of the services was effective less than 70% of the time, and manually opting out at each site was slightly more effective. Plus, the study only looked at sites that offer opt-out options—with companies like NPD, there’s no way to know if they have your data or will remove it if asked.

However, several sites will now tell you if your data was included in the NPD breach, including npdbreach.com and npd.pentester.com. Keep in mind that both come from companies that also offer data removal services, although neither were included in the Consumer Reports study.

Breached companies will often offer free credit monitoring services to affected customers. That’s highly unlikely to happen with NPD because it has no business relationship with the people whose data it lost. But there’s a better approach anyway: placing a freeze on your credit reports. Doing so is free and prevents an identity thief from opening new financial accounts in your name by blocking access to your credit file from prospective creditors. Freezing your credit report has no impact on your credit score.

However, before you freeze your credit reports, check them to ensure they’re accurate. You can get free weekly credit reports from all three credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com, authorized by the federal government, which also offers other useful information about protecting yourself from identity theft. If you discover any mistakes, work with the credit bureau to resolve them.

Once you’ve checked your credit reports, you can freeze them, which you need to do with each of the three credit bureaus:

• Experian: Freeze your Experian credit report online, call 1-888-397-3742, or submit a paper form.

• Equifax: Freeze your Equifax credit report online, call 1-888-378-4329, or submit a paper form.

• Transunion: Freeze your Transunion credit report online, call 1-800-916-8800, or submit a written request.

Security freezes remain in place indefinitely, and many people can leave them that way. However, you’ll need to remove the freeze temporarily if you plan to rent a new apartment or house, take out a loan, apply for a credit card, set up a new mobile phone plan or utility account, apply for a new job, or undergo a background check. All three services provide such a capability online, or you can contact them via phone or postal mail, as mentioned above. It can be hard to think about removing a freeze proactively, so if something that might involve checking your credit score fails unexpectedly, remember the freezes. You might even make an annual reminder in your calendar so you don’t go too long without remembering.

It’s a shame that data breaches have become a fact of life, but that’s unavoidable without significantly stronger privacy regulations that prevent large companies from unnecessarily storing personal data and punishing them when they don’t protect it effectively.

(Featured image by iStock.com/BackyardProduction)

What You Need to Know Before Switching to a New iPhone

Are you planning to upgrade to a new iPhone 16? It’s exciting, we know, but it’s best to proceed deliberately when setting up your new iPhone to avoid causing yourself headaches. Follow these instructions when you’re ready to transfer your data—and, for many people, much of your digital life—to the new iPhone. Apple also has a series of videos you can watch.

1. Update your old iPhone to the latest version of iOS. If you have an Apple Watch, update it to the latest version of watchOS. This process can take some time, so it may be best done overnight before you move data to your new iPhone.

2. Make sure you know your Apple ID and password, and if you have an Apple Watch, its passcode. You will likely have to enter them at least once during this process.

3. Back up your old iPhone to iCloud or your Mac. (If you back up to a Mac, be sure to encrypt the backup, or else it won’t include saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, browsing history, Health data, and call history.) Or back up to both, for safety’s sake. We prefer iCloud backups because they’re easier and don’t introduce additional variables, like flaky USB cables. If you don’t usually back up to iCloud, Apple will give you temporary iCloud storage to make a backup when moving to a new iPhone. To initiate an iCloud backup, go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now.

4. If you have an Apple Watch, you don’t need to unpair it from your old iPhone at this point in the process. (Later, if the automatic transfer has not worked, you can unpair it manually and pair it again later. If you end up taking the manual route and have a cellular Apple Watch, you’ll be asked if you want to keep or remove your plan. If you’re keeping your Apple Watch to re-pair with your new iPhone, keep the plan.)

5. You shouldn’t need to worry about transferring a SIM card. If you ordered your new iPhone through Apple and connected to your cellular carrier account during purchase, activating the new iPhone should cause it to take over your phone number. The same should be true if you’ve purchased directly through your carrier. Besides, it’s likely that iPhone 16 models sold in the US will rely on eSIM and lack SIM trays like the iPhone 15, so only non-US users might need to transfer the SIM card from the old iPhone to the new one. Even then, it’s better to contact your carrier and get them to activate the new SIM in the new iPhone because old SIMs don’t always support all current cellular features, such as full 5G support.

6. Transfer your data, settings, apps, and purchased content in one of these three ways. None of them will be quick, despite the first one’s name, so initiate the transfer only when you have plenty of time:

•  Quick Start: With the Quick Start feature, content from your old iPhone copies directly from your old iPhone to your new one. We recommend this technique because it’s more likely to preserve app logins, something that’s less true when restoring from an iCloud backup. Put your iPhones next to each other (plugged into power), use the old iPhone to scan the animation on the new one, and then follow the rest of the steps.

•  iCloud: With this technique, the new iPhone will download your content from your old iPhone’s iCloud backup. Once you’ve joined a Wi-Fi network on the new iPhone and tapped the Restore from iCloud Backup button, you’ll have to select the correct backup—likely the most recent one you just made. Keep your new iPhone plugged into power the entire time to ensure that all your content syncs during this step.

•  Finder or iTunes: With this approach, you’ll restore your old iPhone’s content from a backup made to your Mac. Connect your new iPhone to your Mac using an appropriate cable, open a Finder window (or iTunes on an old Mac), select your device in the left-hand sidebar, click Restore Backup, and choose the appropriate backup—likely the most recent one.

7. Perform post-transfer tasks. Ensure that you can make and receive a phone call. If necessary, pair your Apple Watch with the new iPhone. You’ll also need to pair your Bluetooth accessories—including AirPods—with your new iPhone. Plus, some app data needs to sync to your new iPhone, so open the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps and check if they have your data. It could take a few minutes for them to fill up. Apps may request notification permissions again, and you may need to download content and in-app purchases.

8. If you use two-factor authentication with an app like 1Password, Authy, or Google Authenticator, ensure you can get your 2FA codes using your new iPhone. 1Password and Authy are good about providing access to 2FA codes from multiple devices—just log in to your account from each device—but Google Authenticator may require some additional setup since it didn’t initially offer any way to transfer codes to a new phone.

9. Finally, if necessary, set up single sign-on for work or school. If your workplace or school uses a security system like Duo, you’ll likely want to activate your new iPhone and deactivate the old one. Using any device, navigate to a standard single sign-in login screen from your organization, look for a link for managing your logins, click that link, and follow the prompts.

Although Apple works hard to make the process of transferring from an old iPhone to a new one as painless as possible, some things may fail to transfer seamlessly. For that reason, we strongly recommend holding onto your old iPhone for a week or so to ensure the new one can do everything the old one could. During that time, put the new iPhone through its paces with an eye toward checking every app you need.

(Featured image by iStock.com/valiantsin suprunovich)

Use High-Quality Cables for Optimal Performance and Safety

Apple’s prices for Thunderbolt, USB-C, and Lightning cables often seem unnecessarily high. $69 for a Thunderbolt 4 cable or $19 for a simple USB-C to Lightning cable? Unfortunately, when it comes to cables, you often get what you pay for. Happily, other reputable hardware manufacturers like Anker, Belkin, and OWC sell quality cables for less than Apple. When possible, get cables with braided covers, which tend to last longer because the braided design makes them less prone to kinks, less likely to tangle, and more resistant to abrasion.

Stay away from bargain-priced cables from no-name Chinese manufacturers, and if you see a supposedly genuine Apple cable selling for a too-good-to-be-true price, consider the possibility that it’s counterfeit. Apple created a detailed page that ex-plains how to identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning accessories.

Why spend more on cables? Inexpensive cables are likely to wear out sooner, but the main concern is that many modern cables carry power along with data. A short circuit could result in hardware damage and, in extreme cases, could generate sparks, smoke, or even fire. While fires are extremely unusual, it’s easy to find reports online.

When it comes to damaging hardware, USB-C is much less of a problem than a decade ago, thanks to Google engineer Benson Leung. After a bad USB-C cable fried his Chromebook, he embarked on a one-man crusade to identify good and bad USB-C cables. Due in part to his efforts, Amazon started prohibiting listings of USB-C cables and adapters that weren’t compliant with the USB-C specs. You may still encounter bad cables Amazon hasn’t identified or dodgy cables sold through other retailers, but the danger is lower than it used to be, particularly with cables from name brands.

Although Apple has now standardized on USB-C cables for charging, Lightning cables remain common for older iPhones and iPads. Both are readily available in gas stations and drugstores, but you’ll do best if you stick with cables from brand-name companies. They cost more, but do you trust a cable sold next to tabloids and Twinkies? It will probably work in a pinch if you need to fill in for a lost or forgotten cable on a trip, but don’t rely on it afterward.

Even the best cables will fail if you mistreat them. Follow this advice to ensure a long life for heavily used cables:

• Don’t create sharp bends in the cable, especially near the connector. Sharp bends can eventually break the insulation and reveal the wires inside. Even before that, if the wires get too close, they can heat up and melt the insulation.

• When unplugging your device, pull from the plug instead of farther down on the cord to avoid stress on the connection point.

• When coiling your cables, avoid wrapping them tightly around something that’s not round. A tight wrap can cause kinks that degrade the wires inside.

• Don’t put heavy objects on cables or sandwich them between a desk and the wall. Anything that compresses the cable can cause damage.

• iPhones are fairly water resistant, but try to keep the charging port and cable plug clean and away from liquids. Pocket crud or a droplet in the wrong place could cause a short circuit. Because of their metal jackets, USB-C cables are less susceptible than Lightning to such problems, but it’s still worth being careful.

• If a cable’s insulation ever breaks so you can see the wires inside, discard it immediately. It’s always worth maintaining a collection of a few cables of every type you use so you can replace damaged cables right away.

In the end, the advice is simple. Spend a little more on quality products from reputable manufacturers so you don’t have to worry about a $3 non-compliant USB-C cable damaging your pricey iPhone or worse. What’s worse? Your house burning down.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Understanding the Key Differences Between Personal and Managed Apple IDs

In the Apple world, the account that controls access to all your Apple-related online services is the Apple ID. Buying apps from the App Store, putting photos in iCloud Photos, and sharing data between iCloud-enabled apps—all these actions rely on your Apple ID. If you’re a regular Apple user, you have an Apple ID associated with your email address.

Most Apple users set up an Apple ID when they configure their first Apple device, and if you don’t have an email address that you want to use, you can create a free @icloud.com address during the process. (If you need to create a new Apple ID, you can do that at appleid.apple.com.)

There are actually two types of Apple IDs: personal Apple IDs used by individual users and managed Apple IDs given to employees by businesses and other organizations. Managed Apple IDs are popular with companies that give devices to staff members and need to ensure compliance with various usage and security policies. Let’s look at how they differ:

• Creation, ownership, and control: Individuals set up personal Apple IDs on their own and maintain full ownership over the account and control over the device. Managed Apple IDs are set up by the organization, typically through Apple Business Manager, and the organization retains ownership and control for centralized management. That control is essential when an employee leaves. Otherwise, a company may be unable to reset a returned device and give it to another employee.

• Access to Apple services: Personal Apple IDs have full access to all Apple services and features. Managed Apple IDs have much more limited access to protect the organization from unauthorized purchases and insecure behavior. Users with managed Apple IDs can’t purchase anything from the App Store, iTunes Store, or Apple Books. Nor can they access Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple Music radio, Apple News+, or Apple TV+. The Find My, Health, Home, Journal, and Wallet apps aren’t available or fully functional. Plus, Apple Pay, iCloud Family Sharing, iCloud Mail, and iCloud+ services like Private Relay, Hide My Email, and custom email domains are unavailable.

• Security and management: When a device relies on a personal Apple ID, that user is responsible for maintaining security and managing apps (which will belong to the user). That’s appropriate for individuals, but for companies that need to protect corporate information, managed Apple IDs allow the IT department to enhance security by requiring passcodes, enforcing password policies, setting role-based permissions, and separating work and personal data. On the management side, managed Apple IDs make it easier to reset devices, revoke access, comply with legal and privacy regulations, integrate with corporate identity systems, and centralize app licensing.

Though some organizations may prevent it, it is technically possible to use both types of Apple IDs on the same device. For instance, you could use a managed Apple ID on an employer-provided device along with a personal ID to access the App Store, Apple Music, Apple News+, and other Apple services. To do that on an iPhone, you’d go to Settings > Your Name > Media & Purchases and either sign in with your personal Apple ID or, if necessary, tap Sign Out and sign back in.

What’s the takeaway? There are three possibilities, depending on who owns the device and the employer’s security and management policies:

• Personal device not used for work: If you’re a regular user who has purchased your own device and you either don’t use it for work or your employer doesn’t care what you do, all you need is a single personal Apple ID. Although it’s possible to create multiple Apple IDs and use them for different purposes, it’s a recipe for confusion down the road.

• Personal device used for work: If your employer has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program that lets you use your own device with corporate resources, they will likely ask to use Apple’s User Enrollment to create a profile on the device that separates personal and work data and allows the use of both personal and managed Apple IDs. Although the IT department cannot access your personal data (emails, messages, photos, location, etc.), it can enforce security policies, install and configure work-related apps, and control corporate data on the device. Some people find the privacy implications of this approach troubling and opt for separate work and personal devices.

• Employer-provided device: If your employer provides a device for your use, they will likely require you to use a managed Apple ID on it. That prevents you from having to worry about security or management, but comes with some restrictions on what you can do. Talk to your IT department if you also want to use your personal Apple ID on the device.

Hopefully, we’ve clarified the situation surrounding personal and managed Apple IDs. Which makes the most sense in any given situation depends on a wide range of variables, so contact us if you need to talk through the possibilities as either an employee or employer.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/dolgachov)

Make the Most of the Mac’s Videoconferencing Capabilities

A side effect of the pandemic is that online videoconferencing improved drastically. Video calls happened before 2020, but videoconferencing wasn’t an everyday activity for most people. Now, with many people working remotely or in a hybrid model, it’s a fact of business life. To support videoconferencing tools, Apple has extended macOS’s basic webcam and microphone capabilities to allow Mac-powered video calls to go beyond the basics. Apple’s enhancements fall into four categories: camera modes and controls, mic modes, reactions, and Presenter Overlay.

Camera Modes and Controls

Apple’s most important additions rely on machine learning to enhance your image or the background. Because of the significant camera and CPU requirements for these features, they require specific setups. All work with any Mac using a sufficiently recent iPhone (excluding the iPhone SE) with Continuity Camera, but several also work with a Mac’s camera.

Here’s what you can do in macOS 14 Sonoma (these features are also available in macOS 13 Ventura’s Control Center, under Video Effects). To access the controls for these features, click the Video menu in the menu bar—it appears whenever the camera is active, but not before. Click each feature to turn it on (green) or off (gray), and each has additional settings you can reveal by clicking the > to the right.

• Center Stage: Use Center Stage to stay centered in the frame as you move around during the call—it’s great for those who work at standing desks and dislike standing still, but be careful if you leave room clutter near the edge of your camera’s view, because it may be revealed as you move. You can choose between the iPhone’s Main and Ultra Wide cameras; experiment to see which you prefer. It requires an iPhone 11 or later over Continuity Camera or a Mac with Apple silicon using an Apple Studio Display.

• Portrait: Rather than replace the background like many apps allow, Portrait blurs the background to keep the focus on you. Its slider lets you control the blur level. It works with an iPhone XR or later via Continuity Camera and on Macs with Apple silicon using a built-in webcam or Apple Studio Display. (Zoom and other apps add a Background item to the Video menu as well; Portrait blurs virtual backgrounds, too.)

• Studio Light: If your room has poor lighting, Studio Light can improve your appearance by dimming the background and illuminating your face. Move the slider to adjust the lighting to your liking. Its Continuity Camera requirements specify an iPhone 12 or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon using its built-in webcam or an Apple Studio Display.

• Desk View: This mode leverages the Ultra Wide camera of the iPhone 12 or later via Continuity Camera to display both your desk and your face simultaneously, which could help show off physical sketches or other objects. It launches a separate Desk View app and requires additional setup beyond what we can document here. Set aside some time to become familiar with it before attempting to use it in a call.

• Manual controls: If you’re not using Center Stage, you can zoom, pan, and re-center your face in the frame. Move your pointer over the video preview, after which you can drag the zoom control left or right, drag your image within the frame to pan, and click Recenter to reset any zooming and panning changes you’ve made. These controls require an iPhone XR or later via Continuity Camera, or any Mac connected to an Apple Studio Display.

Mic Modes

Apple also uses machine learning to enhance your audio, providing spatial audio and two special modes: voice isolation and wide spectrum. To switch between these modes, click Mic Mode in the Video menu or the Audio menu in the menu bar—the latter appears if a running app only does audio and the microphone is active. (Again, these are available for Ventura users under Mic Mode in Control Center.) Here’s what they offer:

• Voice isolation: Use this option to focus on your voice and reduce background sounds in your environment. It’s a good choice for standard video calls.

• Wide spectrum: This option captures your voice and the sounds in the environment around you. Choose it if you want the other parties to hear music being played or other ambient sounds.

• Spatial audio: For multi-person calls, spatial audio makes the voices you hear sound like they’re coming from where each person is positioned on the screen. It doesn’t appear alongside the others; we assume it’s included in Standard mode. It requires wired headphones, a Mac laptop using its internal speakers, or an Apple silicon Mac using AirPods.

Reactions

While Apple’s camera and mic modes are generally useful, many people have issues with the Reactions feature, which fills your frame with a 3D effect when you make the associated hand gesture. The problem is that you can inadvertently make such a gesture when it would be highly inappropriate. Imagine filling the screen with balloons while you’re on an important call with a client’s CEO or, if you’re a therapist, accidentally shooting off fireworks while talking through sensitive issues with a patient. Reactions include hearts, balloons, thumbs up, thumbs down, rain, confetti, fireworks, and lasers.

You can turn off the Reactions feature entirely in the Video menu, and we recommend doing so unless all your video calls are informal and light-hearted. When it’s off, you can manually trigger a reaction by clicking its icon in the Video menu.

As with other video-related features, the Reactions feature requires a Mac with Apple silicon or a Mac using Continuity Camera with an iPhone 12 or later.

Presenter Overlay

One problem with sharing your screen while videoconferencing is that the audience no longer sees you. That’s appropriate when everyone should focus on the shared screen, but in other situations, the audience may tune out if they can’t see you. Apple designed Presenter Overlay to combat that problem—it merges your image with the screen you’re sharing. The Large option puts your shared screen behind you, like a news presenter, whereas the Small option shows your face in a movable bubble, so you stay on screen without obscuring much content.

To start using Presenter Overlay, start sharing your screen using the screen-sharing feature of the videoconferencing app you’re using. Then click the Screen Sharing menu in the menu bar, expand the Presenter Overlay section if necessary, and select Large or Small. The video preview shows what your audience sees. (Presenter Over-lay has been somewhat flaky in our testing for reasons we don’t understand. If the controls don’t show up, try switching cameras or restarting screen sharing.)

In Large mode, you can move the shared screen to your other side by moving your pointer over the video preview and clicking the button with opposing arrows. In Small mode, you can move your bubble (it’s on your main screen, not the preview window) by dragging it to the desired position.

If you fell into specific videoconferencing habits in the early days of the pandemic, take a few minutes to explore the options that Apple now makes available for improving your video, audio, and presentations. And turn off the Reactions feature if you don’t want to be surprised by an accidental gesture triggering an effect at a potentially awkward time.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

When Should You “Ignore Ownership” on an External Drive?

Under the hood, macOS relies on Unix, which is a multi-user operating system. That’s why a Mac can host multiple users who, as long as they don’t know each other’s passwords, cannot see each other’s files. To maintain each user’s privacy, macOS relies on permissions that specify who can do what with any given file or folder. For the most part, permissions work how they’re supposed to, letting you work with all your files and keep any other users on the Mac out of your stuff.

Where things can get tricky is with external drives. In some situations, permissions can prevent you from accessing files written to an external drive on one Mac from another Mac. That happens because the first admin user account created on a Mac is given the UniqueID of 501, regardless of its name. (Because, Unix.) If you create additional accounts, they get UniqueIDs of 502, 503, and so on. Again, the names are irrelevant; all that matters is the UniqueID.

If you write files to an external drive while logged into the 501 admin account on one Mac but then try to access those files from an account with any other UniqueID on that Mac or any other, macOS won’t let you. No 503 account, for instance, can access a 501 account’s files.

There are tweaky Unix solutions to this problem, but Apple realized this would be an issue from the early days of Mac OS X and provided a single-click solution: the “Ignore ownership on this volume” checkbox. When selected, it tells macOS to pay no attention to permissions for all the files and folders on a drive, regardless of what that might mean.

To access this setting, select the drive in the Finder, choose File > Get Info, and expand the Sharing & Permissions section at the bottom. Before you can select the checkbox, click the lock icon and enter your admin password when prompted.

There are three scenarios where enabling “Ignore ownership on this volume” is helpful:

• Multi-user access: Imagine that you share a Mac with family members or colleagues. You want to keep your email and text message conversations private but need to share numerous other large files stored on an external drive. (For just a few files, use the Shared folder alongside your user folders.) By enabling “Ignore ownership,” you can be certain that all users of the Mac can do whatever they need to with those files.

• Access from multiple Macs: Suppose you have a portable SSD containing video files you want to display from any Mac. Perhaps they’re canned business presentations or home videos. Since you cannot know what the UniqueID of the current account on any given Mac will be, selecting “Ignore ownership” will ensure that you can open your videos regardless.

• Juggling user accounts: Although it’s a bad idea to do this willy-nilly, some people regularly create and delete accounts for their own use. Since all the accounts are used by a single person, they don’t think about permissions as an issue, but macOS does unless they select “Ignore ownership.”

In general, when using an external drive to move files between accounts, people, or Macs, select “Ignore ownership” to prevent pesky permissions problems.

But that doesn’t mean you should turn on “Ignore ownership” in every situation. There are some situations where enabling the setting would be inappropriate because it’s essential to preserve permissions:

• Boot drives: macOS itself relies on specific permissions and won’t even show the checkbox for boot drives. If you’re planning to install macOS on an external drive and use it to boot a Mac (Apple provides instructions), make sure not to select “Ignore ownership” before starting.

• Time Machine drives: Time Machine cares deeply about maintaining correct permissions, so you should not enable “Ignore ownership” on a drive that you plan to use with Time Machine. After Time Machine starts backing up to a drive, the “Ignore ownership” checkbox disappears.

• Bootable duplicates and other backups: Similarly, if you’re using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable duplicate of your boot drive, “Ignore ownership” must be unchecked. Retrospect also warns users to turn off “Ignore ownership” on backup and restore drives to ensure that permis-sions are preserved. Other backup apps likely have similar requirements.

One last thought. If you run into permissions-related problems reading files from an external drive, it’s worth enabling “Ignore ownership” to see if that resolves your issues. If it doesn’t, or if the problems keep cropping up in different contexts, contact us.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Rawpixel)

Prep Your Tech for Travel

Long ago, to get ready for a trip, we’d mostly make sure we had our plane tickets, books and magazines to read, and a snack. Prepping for travel in today’s tech-heavy world comes with a new set of tasks, most of which shouldn’t be left to the last minute.

Identify Devices, Chargers, and Cables to Bring

Resist the temptation to bring every piece of tech you have. Do you really need your iPad and MacBook Air if you’re not planning to work on vacation? Is a point-and-shoot camera worthwhile if you take most of your photos with your iPhone?

Once you’ve selected your preferred devices, think about charging. At a minimum, you’ll need chargers for all your devices every night. You may not find many power outlets or be able to access them easily, so a compact power strip is often helpful, especially if it comes with USB Type-A and USB-C ports. Multi-device wireless chargers can also reduce the number of wall chargers and cables. If you’re traveling abroad, a power adapter is essential—you can find units that support multiple devices.

Make sure to pack the right charging cables for your devices. Increasingly, that means USB-C cables, but remember that most public charging ports in airplanes and hotels will still be USB Type A, so bring an appropriate cable or adapter for such situations.

Portable battery packs can be a lifesaver, such as for late-night transit navigation after you’ve run down your iPhone’s battery taking photos and videos during the day. Unless the battery pack has integrated cables, ensure that you carry the right cables with you every day.

Prep Updates, Backups, Apps, and Entertainment

We always encourage staying up to date on operating system updates for security reasons. It’s especially important to update before leaving on a trip where you may be in less secure situations. Don’t leave those updates for the night before you leave! The device you’re updating won’t be usable while the update installs, which may be stressful, and in the rare case where something goes wrong, you’ll need extra time to recover. Always update your devices and apps at least a few days before leaving.

It’s also important to make backups before you leave. It’s easy for a device to be damaged, lost, or stolen while you’re traveling, and a backup is essential for recovery. For Macs, make sure your Time Machine and other local backups are current. For iPhones and iPads, iCloud backups are best while traveling because you can continue to back up while away, and if you have to replace a lost iPhone on the road, you can restore from your iCloud backup wherever you are.

You may find a new set of apps helpful on your trip, and some may be essential for checking in for flights, going through customs, and more. If you’re flying, configure your airline’s app to know about your flight and add your boarding passes to Apple’s Wallet app. Paper copies of travel documents are worthwhile in the event of your iPhone being damaged, lost, or stolen. Travel guides for specific locations and itinerary planners like TripIt may also be helpful, though you can also track your travel and itinerary in Notes, which you can share with fellow travelers. An app like Flighty can help you track your flights and better react to delays.

Even if you prefer Apple Maps or Google Maps, having the other available when you travel is worth it. One or the other may work better in certain places or with certain types of navigation, like city transit. Connectivity isn’t always guaranteed while traveling, so download maps ahead of time in both Apple Maps and Google Maps.

If you’re heading to a country where you don’t speak the language, make sure you can quickly access Apple’s Translate app. Also get Google Translate so you can find out which you prefer. Both translate text you enter, text you focus on with the camera, and the contents of conversations.

It’s always best to load enough ebooks, podcasts, and videos on your iPhone or iPad so you don’t run out of something to do during downtime when there’s no connectivity. With ebooks, if you’re not already using Libby to access your public library, give it a try. It’s easy to download episodes in most podcast apps. And nearly all streaming apps like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix allow downloading. That said, leave plenty of free space for taking photos and videos on your travels.

Investigate Cellular Connectivity Options

Cellular Internet access isn’t usually an issue when you travel within your home country as long as you don’t have a data cap. But when traveling internationally, you need to plan for how you’ll get cell service. Your carrier may have an international roaming plan, but those are often massively overpriced. Instead, look to an international roaming provider such as Airalo, Airhub, and Nomad.

Factors to consider when choosing an international roaming provider include the provider’s network coverage at your destination, how much data you’ll need, whether you’ll also need voice and SMS support, the duration of your trip, and whether your iPhone supports eSIM technology.

Protect Tech You Leave Home

Don’t forget the tech you’re leaving behind. Shut down your Macs and unplug anything not protected by an uninterruptible power supply. That way, a power surge or lightning strike won’t hurt anything.

Unplug your Time Machine and other local backup drives and hide them in a secure location—you don’t want to lose both your Mac and your backups in the event of a burglary.

If you use HomeKit, set up automations to turn lights on and off to make it seem like you’re home. Make sure you can remotely access home monitoring systems like security cameras. Consider a motion sensor like the Kini to report on doors or items that shouldn’t move (unauthorized access) or should move regularly (a scheduled pet sitter).

We know that can sound like a lot, but you want to avoid the aggravation of arriving at your destination only to discover that you forgot a necessary cable or can’t get Internet access. An excellent way to remember everything is to use an app like Packing Pro, which lets you develop (and reuse) lists of items and tasks.

Have a great trip!

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Diamond Dogs)

It’s Usually OK to Share Full-Size Images in Email and Messages

In the early days of the Internet, when most people connected via slow modems, saving bandwidth was a big deal. You could watch images load on Web pages, and you’d have to wait to download a large email attachment before the rest of your email would appear. For most people, in most situations, bandwidth isn’t nearly as big of a deal anymore. The average Internet download speed in the US is nearly 250 megabits per second, such that most Web pages load instantly, email just appears, and we think nothing of having multiple video streams playing at once.

All that’s by way of saying that you don’t have to shrink images that you share in email or Messages in most cases, and doing so can cause problems for recipients. The most common issues people run into are images being too small or fuzzy to see, not matching the dimensions needed for a website, or being too low quality to save for posterity.

There are exceptions. Smaller or lower quality images may make sense when sending or receiving in rural areas with slow Internet connections, places with no Wi-Fi and tenuous cell service, and remote locations with only satellite Internet. In those cases, you’ll either realize that messages are taking a long time to send or hear from the other party that it’s a problem. But, most of the time, it’s best to send actual size images, so let’s look at how you ensure that.

Sending Actual Size Images in Email

How do you ensure you’re not sending downsized images in email? In Mail on Apple’s devices, the details vary slightly depending on which device you are using, but in each case, you want to use the Actual Size option. Neither Gmail nor Outlook suffers from this problem. Here’s what you need to know for each of these email clients:

• Mail on the Mac: When you drop an image into a Mail message, an Image Size menu specifies the size at which it will be sent. Small resizes the longest side to 320 pixels, Medium to 640, and Large to 1280. Actual Size sends the original image, which is what you want. The Image Size menu remembers its setting, so if you send one image in a smaller size, you probably want to reset it to Actual Size for the next one. If you attach multiple images in a single message, they’ll all be resized similarly.

• Mail on the iPad: On the iPad, when you add an image to a message, you’ll see a note in the header information that says something like “Images: 2.9 MB.” Tap anywhere in the header to reveal extra header fields, including an Image Size line with options for the different sizes. Small and Medium work as on the Mac, resizing the longest side to 320 and 640 pixels, and Actual Size sends the original, which is generally what you want. However, Large resizes the image to half the size of the original if appropriate or leaves it alone if not. Multiple images will be resized to the selected size.

• Mail on the iPhone: Because of the iPhone’s smaller screen size, Mail on the iPhone asks how to resize the image(s) after you tap the send button. The results are the same as on the iPad, described above.

• Gmail on the Web: You don’t need to do anything when sending images in Gmail to prevent them from being resized. Although Gmail lets you visibly resize an image with handles and offers Small, Best Fit, and Original options when you click, none of them change the file size or resolution of the image being sent. Only some receiving email apps (including Gmail and Outlook, but not Mail) will display the sent size. Regardless of the visible size, opening an attached image reveals that it’s the original. Note that Gmail has a 25 MB limit on attachments and may refuse to send a message with more than that or may resize images to make them fit. If you need to send an image at a particular size using Gmail, resize it before attaching—see below for a tip on how to do that.

• Outlook on the Mac: You can visibly resize images sent in Outlook on the Mac, but doing so affects only the displayed size, not the file size or resolution of the attached image. Email clients receiving an Outlook-resized image may do so at the sent size, but opening it reveals that it’s the original image. If you need to send an image at a smaller size, resize it before sending—read below for help.

Avoiding Lower-Quality Images in Messages

Although it may seem confusing, keeping images from being resized in email is pretty straightforward. Ensuring that you send full-quality images in Messages is trickier because there are multiple variables in play:

• Turn off Low Quality Image Mode: Make sure you turn off Settings > Messages > Low Quality Image Mode on the iPhone and iPad. (The Mac has no comparable setting.) This mode downsizes images sent via iMessage (blue bubble conversations), making them smaller and lower quality. Only turn it on if it’s paramount that you save bandwidth due to a slow connection or data cap.

• Avoid sending via SMS/MMS: There’s no need for Low Quality Image Mode for messages sent via SMS (green bubble conversations) because the MMS technology used to send images for SMS conversations has size limits that vary by carrier, usually between 500 KB and 3.5 MB. Messages automatically resizes and compresses images to fit within carrier limits. You have no control over this process, which is likely to be unpredictable. If you need to send someone a full-quality image, use email instead of SMS. Happily, in iOS 18, Messages will support the RCS standard that allows full-quality images.

• Prefer high-speed connections: Although Apple doesn’t document anything along these lines, some suggest that Messages may reduce image size or quality when using slow networks. If you (or your recipient) experience issues while using weak cellular connectivity, try again when connected to the Internet via high-speed Wi-Fi.

Bonus Tip: How to Resize an Image Manually

Let’s flip the problem around. Say you use Gmail or Outlook and need to send an image with specific dimensions or a smaller file size than the original. How do you do that easily? Preview! That’s right, Apple’s Preview works well for resizing images and shrinking file sizes.

To resize an image you have open in Preview, choose Tools > Adjust Size and enter the desired width or height into the appropriate field. As long as Scale Proportionally is selected, Preview will automatically set the other dimension to resize the image proportionally. You can choose other units, but pixels is generally best. Preview even reports on the resulting size at the bottom. After you click OK, save the image.

What if you want to reduce an image’s file size without changing its dimensions? With the image open in Preview, choose File > Export, choose JPEG from the Format menu, and move the Quality slider to the left to increase the JPEG compression. Preview reports on the new file size each time you move the slider. You’ll want to export a few tests to determine the best combination of file size and quality.

Generally speaking, changing an image’s dimensions is a better way to reduce file size than increasing compression.

But really, in most cases, just send the original image.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)