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Smartphones Medical Information, Battery Hogs, And Cookies
apps can also consume power when the phone is
in your pocket. Basically you want to see numbers
Q . How do I show my medical information on my that reflect how your phone is used. You should
smartphone's lock screen? also keep an eye out for infrequently used apps
that consume a lot of power.
A . Both Android and iPhone support storage of One last tip: smartphones have a bat-tery saving
personal medical information and emergency con- mode that kicks in auto-matically when the battery
tacts, accessible even when phones are locked. In is almost empty. Try manually turning on low bat-
an emergency, your phone can communicate vital tery mode and test if the phone still meets your
information to a first responder if you prepare it be- needs. Depending on your habits, you may never
forehand. Here is how:
notice any dif-ference except that the battery lasts
* On Android, the feature is called Emergency Infor- a few more hours each day.
mation and it can be set up. under About Phone >
Emergency Information. Older ver-sions of Android Q . Why do all the sites I visit force me to
may be different, see https://support.google.com/ acknowledge that it uses cookies? What are cook-
android/ answer/9319337 for more.
ies?
* For iPhone, the feature is called Medical ID. It is
configured in the Health app by tapping on your pho- A . Cookies are small bits of data on your com-
to and then . tapping on Medical Details. From there puter that can identify who you are to a website.
you can access several different screens to add ap- Billons of advertising dollars depend on cookies
propriate info. Also be sure to tum on the switch la- and the modem web depends on them for every-
beled Show on Lock Screen. See http s ://support. thing from shopping carts to user preferences.
apple.com/enus/HT207021 for more.
However, cookies are also a key part of controver-
These settings vary depending on the model. Most sial and troublesome online activities. This makes
phones made in the last several years have some them a focus for lawmakers who regulate the Inter-
type of medical information functionality, but owners net. Messages asking for permission to use cook-
are often unaware of what is possible. Use this arti- ies are mostly the result of regulations that require
cle as a starting point to configure your cell phone companies to explain how user information is man-
properly for an emergency. aged.
The rules and regulations that balance privacy with
Q . My smartphone battery no longer lasts all day. convenience are a battleground. There is little
How can I tell which apps use the most power? agreement on what works and what does not. I ex-
pect debates about how to best regulate the Inter-
A . Both Android and Apple phones track how net will continue for decades. Ideas like user-
much power each app con-sumes. To view the re- consent, the right to forget, and user tracking via
port on most Android 9 and 10 phones, tap Settings cookies will be tested, refined, and per-haps dis-
Battery More Battery Usage to see a list of all carded.
the apps on the phone and the power they used. The bottom line is that everyone is a test subject.
To view the report on an iPhone, tap Settings Bat- And unfortunately we are probably stuck with con-
tery. fusing permission requests for a very long time.
The goal is to empower you to choose which apps
are worth the power they require. Power consump-
tion is related to how frequently an app is used, but
apps can also consume power when the phone is in
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