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Removing Apps, Trackers, Tags,

and Google Photos New Fees

By Bob DeLaurentis

Q. There is an app on my phone that I do not use. In general, Bluetooth trackers are , young. There
Can I'save space by removing it? was a recent announcement from Amazon and Tile
A. Not only will you save space, removing unneed- about teaming up to expand the Tile tracker network.
ed apps will make the phone much less cumber- And I doubt Samsung will be standing still. Today,
some to use. When I set up my mom's new iPhone, I Apple performs the best so far. I expect the technol-
removed all but the half-dozen apps she used. That ogy will improve in the next few years, but right now,
worked out great for her. they are useful as long as you are aware of their limi-
A word of caution: while you cannot damage a tations.
phone by deleting an unwanted app, you can lose
data. Be sure the app is really never used before Q. I store my entire photo library on Google Pho-
you remove it. If you delete an app by mistake, you tos. What do the recent policy changes mean to me?
should be able to re-install it, but data associated A. Google Photos is no longer free starting some-
with the app will be lost. time in June. If your current photo library is large
To remove an app from Android, go to Settings, enough, you should have received an email about
then select "Apps. The exact steps vary depending the upcoming changes.
on the phone, but eventually you should be able to However, it "is good practice to check for yourself. If
tap a disable button. your library requires more than 15 GB, you will need
To remove an app from an iPhone, press the icon to create a Google One account and begin paying a
of the app until a menu appears. Select Remove monthly fee. The good news is that the fee for the
App from the menu. I suggest choosing the option first tier (100GB) is $1.99 a month.
"Remove App From LaunchScreen." That way, it is 100GB should be enough to cover the storage needs
less likely to lead to data loss. of all but the very largest of libraries.
While saving space is always useful, having a sim- The 15GB free tier still exists, but it is like a free
ple menu of apps makes the phone much friendlier sample: enough to give you a taste, and perhaps
to use. hook you, but you have to pay to get the full value
available. As I have written many times, I think that
Q. Are Apple's new AirTags and Samsung Smart- both Google Photos and iCloud Photo Library for
Tags ready for everyday use? Apple are inexpensive bargains.
A. It is still early days for the technology. In demos They provide another backup to protect your photos,
they ,1ook great. They make it look easy to find your safe from fires, floods, and hurricanes.
keys in a flash or see if. you left your purse in a
friend's car. Q. I am excited about Windows 11, but I do not want
But there are also drawbacks that demos do not to wait until December to try it. Is there a way to get
show. These kinds of devices use short distance an advance copy?
Bluetooth radios, not GPS. A. It has been six long years since Microsoft
That means that in order to locate a tracker, anoth- launched Windows 10, and from what I have seen so
er device with a stronger radio and GPS has to be in far of Windows 11, it was time well spent.
close range. The more devices in use that are com- Windows 11 is available now through the Windows
patible with the tracker, the better the odds the track- Insider program (insider.windows.com). Once you
er will be located. enroll, navigate to Settings -> Update & Security ->
Apple has the biggest tracker network, with a bil- Windows Insider Program on a Windows 10 device
lion devices circulating throughout the world. and enable the Dev Channel. From there, you can
But Apple has its drawbacks also, most noticeable download the latest Windows 11 preview release.
at close range. If the tracker is somewhere in your My advice is to hold off a while unless you have a
house, the tracker will report that it is home, but not PC dedicated to testing. The usual caveats apply to
necessarily' in the laundry basket downstairs. You pre-release versions of software. Expect bugs, po-
can ask the tracker to emit a beep. And there is also tential data loss, and no real support.
a homing function that will help you point the phone Note also that the current preview release is miss-
towards the tracker (think of the kid's game Hot and ing one of the Windows 11 marquee features: the
Cold!), but that only works on the very newest iPh- ability to run Android apps.
one models. The system requirements are steep, so unless

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