Can you let me know how fall detection works so I can figure out whether this would be helpful for me and my family?

A. Absolutely. In the past week, I’ve had three Wonder of Tech readers ask me about fall detection on the Apple Watch. So it’s definitely time for a Wonder of Tech article on the topic!

About Apple Watch Fall Detection

Apple introduced fall detection in 2018, beginning with the Apple Watch Series 4. With Fall Detection enabled, your Apple Watch can detect when you’ve had a fall. If you’re unresponsive, your Watch can then contact emergency services and your emergency contacts.

Setting up Fall Detection on your Apple Watch takes just a short time and may help save you in an emergency.

How Apple Watch Fall Detection Works

If your Apple Watch detects that you have had a hard fall (while you’re wearing it), it taps you on the wrist to ask if you have fallen, while playing an alarm and displaying a notification. The alarm gets increasingly louder over a 30-second period to alert others nearby that you have fallen.

If you haven’t actually fallen or you’ve fallen but aren’t hurt, tap the I’m OK btton on the notification or tap the Digital Crown (the round button on the side of the Watch). That will turn off the alarm sound and prevent Emergency Services from being called.

See, 9-to-5 Mac Police officer shares firsthand experience with ‘cool’ Apple Watch fall detection feature

Calling Emergency Services

If you’ve fallen and need help, your Apple Watch can contact emergency services for you or you can make an emergency call from your Watch. To make the emergency call yourself, slide your finger from left to right over the SOS Emergency Call banner on the notification.

Your Apple Watch can also call emergency services for you, if you’re unable to make the call. With Fall Detection turned on, your Apple Watch will call emergency services if you aren’t moving and you haven’t responded to the notification after one minute.

According to Apple, this is what happens when your Watch calls emergency services: “When the call connects, your Apple Watch plays an audio message that informs emergency services that your Apple Watch detected a hard fall and then it shares your current location as latitude and longitude coordinates. If you previously turned on the Share During Emergency Call setting under your Medical ID, your Medical ID is also automatically shared with emergency services. The first time the message plays, the audio is at full volume, but then the volume is reduced so that you, or someone nearby, can talk to the responder. The message continues to play until you tap Stop Recorded Message or the call ends.”

After its call to emergency services has ended, the Watch will call your emergency contacts to let them know you have fallen.

Find out how to set up your emergency contacts => ICE: How the Apple Health App May Save Your Life

Seeing a Record of Falls

You can check the Health app on your iPhone to see a record of the falls detected by your Apple Watch. Open the Health app on your phone and tap the Browse tab in the bottom menu bar. Tap Other Data => Number of Times Fallen.

How to Set Up Fall Detection on Your Apple Watch

Your Apple Watch may already have Fall Detection enabled or you may need to turn on Fall Detection. Either way, you should check to make sure to see whether it’s turned on.

Your Apple Watch will enable Fall Detection automatically if you’re 55 or over. The Watch will know your age if you’ve entered your birthdate, either in the Health app on your iPhone or on your Apple Watch when you set it up.

If you’re younger than 55 and/or you want to check whether you have Fall Detection enabled on your Watch, follow these steps:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone
2. Tap the My Watch tab in the bottom menu bar
3. Tap Emergency SOS
4. Swipe Fall Detection to On.

You can have Fall Detection turned on Always or Only on during workouts.

Next, look below the Fall Detection settings to check your Emergency Contacts and make sure they’re up-to-date.

Your Thoughts

Do you like the idea of Fall Detection on your Apple Watch? Do you have Fall Detection set up on your Apple Watch? Does having Fall Detection on your Watch give you peace of mind?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

*Apple Watch image (edited) from Shutterstock via PicMonkey Pro

The post How to Set Up Fall Detection on Your Apple Watch appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

What differentiates Threads from Facebook and Instagram is Threads’ focus on people connecting using text, similar to Twitter. In its first few days, Threads signed up over 70 million users, which resulted in Twitter threatening legal action against Meta Threads.

About Meta Threads

In its announcement of Threads, Meta explained: “Our vision with Threads is to take what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas. Just like on Instagram, with Threads you can follow and connect with friends and creators who share your interests – including the people you follow on Instagram and beyond. And you can use our existing suite of safety and user controls.”

At launch, Threads became available in over 100 countries via apps for Android and iOS (iPhone and iPad), though is currently unavailable in the European Union. Threads doesn’t have a website available yet, but you can go to threads.net for a QR code to download the Threads app.

Meta envisions Threads to be a “nice” social media platform filled with positive posts.

Meta said in its announcement, “We built Threads with tools to enable positive, productive conversations. You can control who can mention you or reply to you within Threads. Like on Instagram, you can add hidden words to filter out replies to your threads that contain specific words. You can unfollow, block, restrict or report a profile on Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will automatically be blocked on Threads.”

As Threads is in its infancy, it doesn’t yet have features such as direct messages, bookmarks, trending topics, or polls. Threads does have a search feature that you can use to find people, topics, and keywords of interest to you.

You can reply to posts, like them with a heart, repost them, and share them with others.

If you’re looking for an alternative to Twitter or simply want to check out Threads, you can easily sign up for a Threads account, especially if you already have an Instagram account.

Note that there are reports of people being unable to delete their Threads accounts without deleting their Instagram accounts too:

See Wired, How Threads’ Privacy Policy Compares to Twitter’s (and Its Rivals’)

How to Begin Using Meta Threads

If you want to give Threads a try, download the Threads app from Google Play or Apple’s App Store. The app will guide you through the initial setup process. You can sign up using your Instagram account if you have one.

After logging in, you can customize your Threads profile. Add a profile picture, write a bio, and provide any other details you wish to share with the Threads community. This is your chance to personalize your profile and make a memorable first impression.

When you’ve finished setting up your Threads profile, you can begin connecting with others and exploring the platform’s features. Use the search functionality to find friends, creators, and communities of interest. Follow users, join groups, and engage in conversations to expand your network within the Threads community.

You can post messages on Threads up to 500 characters long, and add links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length. Your Threads feed includes content posted by accounts you follow and recommended content from new creators you haven’t discovered yet. 

Your Thoughts

Have you signed up for Threads yet? Do you like Threads as an alternative to Twitter? What features would you like Threads to add?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

If you’ve joined Threads and want to share your username, add it to your comment along with what topics you plan to be posting about on Threads. My Threads username is @wonderoftech and I will be posting about tech!

The post How to Get Started with Threads, Meta’s New Rival to Twitter appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

About Apple Shutting Down My Photo Stream

Apple announced last month that it will end My Photo Steam photo storage service as of July 26, 2023. After that time, any photos stored on My Photo Stream will be deleted and you will not be able to access them.

On June 26, Apple stopped backing up photos from Apple devices to My Photo Stream, which was its first step in shuttering the service. Since then, Apple is no longer backing up photos from any iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, or Mac computers to My Photo Stream.

Before July 26, you should check to see if you have any photos on Apple’s My Photo Stream and transfer them to an Apple device, if they aren’t on your device already.

How to Check Whether You Have Photos on My Photo Stream

Apple’s decision to shut down My Photo Stream doesn’t affect you if you have never owned an Apple device or have never taken photos using an Apple device. The announcement also doesn’t affect you if you use iCloud to back up your photos.

You can easily check to see whether you use My Photo Stream and whether you have any photos stored there that you need to transfer to an Apple device.

To see whether you have any photos in My Photo Stream using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch:

• Open the Photos app
• Look in Albums for the My Photo Stream album
• In the album, you’ll see the photos saved to the service

To see photos you have in My Photo Stream using your Mac computer, open the Photos app, then look for My Photo Stream in the albums section. The photos stored in My Photo Stream will appear in that album.

How to Save Photos from My Photo Stream

If you have photos in My Photo Stream you want to keep, you can download them to your Apple device.

To save photos from My Photo Stream to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, tap the photo you want to save, tap Select, then tap the Share button (the square icon with an arrow pointing up) => Save image.

To save photos from My Photo Stream to your Mac computer, select the photos you want to keep in the My Photos Stream album. Then drag them into your Library.

Backing Up Your Photos

Regardless of whether you’ve been using My Photo Stream, you should back up your photos that are on your devices. By backing up your photos, you can be sure that if something happens to your device, you’ll still have access to your photos.

In the olden days of tech, services such as Flickr and Google Photos offered free unlimited photo storage. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. To be fair, server space isn’t free so companies aren’t being unfair by charging for photo storage.

If you’re an Amazon Prime customer, then your best option for backing up your photos could be Amazon Photos. With a Prime membership, you get unlimited photo storage.

You can use iCloud to back up your photos. Apple provides 5 GB of free storage, which isn’t a lot of storage. If you subscribe to Apple One, you get 2 TB of iCloud storage you can use to store photos. Or you can purchase iCloud storage at $0.99/month for 50 GB of storage, $2.99 for 200 GB, and $9.99 for 2 TB.

If you use Google Photos, you can purchase additional storage space on Google One if you exceed the free 15 GB limit. Pricing for Google One storage currently is:

• 100 GB for $1.99/month or $19.99/year
• 200 GB for $2.99/month or $29.99/year
• 2 TB for $9.99/month or $99.99/year
• 5 TB for $24.99/month or $249.99/year
• 10 TB for $49.99/month or $499.99/year

Flickr offers unlimited photo storage for $72/year.

Your Thoughts

Do you have photos stored in My Photo Stream that you need to save before July 26? Do you back up photos to the Cloud? Which photo storage service do you use?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

*iPhone taking picture image (edited) from Josh Power on Unsplash via Creative Commons

**iPhone apps photo (edited) from William Hook on Unsplash via Creative Commons

The post Apple Is Shutting Down My Photo Stream — How to Save Your Photos appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

Whether you’re planning a road trip or want a better daily commute, you should check out Customize Your Drive with Waze.

About Waze’s Customize Your Drive

Waze is a free crowd-sourced navigation app that can help direct you and alert you about reported hazards in the area.

Last year, Waze introduced a Retro theme for its app and now it’s expanding the possibilities with new themes, car icons, and voices. You can customize your Waze experience depending on your interests, moods, and even Zodiac sign.

Don’t miss => Make Driving Fun with Waze’s New Retro Mode!

Want a calming ride? Check out the Headspace theme to quiet your nerves during a stressful commute.

Have children in the car? Switch your Waze theme to Paw Patrol or Fraggle Rock!

Want Waze to be more fun and personal? Use the theme from your Zodiac sign.

Celebrating Pride Month? Check out themes from Karamo, Kehlani, and Boy George.

Want to be silly? Check out themes for Dad Jokes, Cats or Dogs, or Zombies.

Want to be entertained? Check out themes from the Jonas Brothers or Noir Detective.

Choosing a new theme is so fun and easy, you may want to do it every time you head out in your car!

How to Customize Your Drive in Waze

Using Waze’s Customize Your Drive is simple and only takes a few seconds to set up. But you might want to take more time than that to explore all of the different possibilities.

Here’s how to Customize Your Drive in the Waze app.

1. Open the Waze app and tap My Waze at the bottom of the screen.
2. A menu bar will appear on the left side of the screen.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and tap Customize your drive.
4. Peruse the different themes and voices.
5. Select the theme you want to use.
6. Turn on the features you want to update.
7. Tap “Save”.

Also see => Waze Is Testing a New Feature to Help Make Your Journey Safer

With each theme, you can preview the options for voice directions, car icon, and mood. You can play a sample of the voice directions so you know whether the theme’s voice will be a good fit for your drive.

You can turn the car icon on or off as you’d like. The car icon you select is only visible to you so make sure it’s one you are happy with.

You can also switch your mood on or off. This mood option is visible to other drivers so choose wisely.

Some themes have additional options. For example, the Zombies theme lets you choose Zombie or Survivalist. The Headspace theme lets you choose your mood from different positive options.

After you’ve made your selections for all of the options for the theme, be sure to tap Save so you can begin using your new theme for your next drive.

Your Thoughts

Do you like the idea of having more fun in getting to a destination? Will you enjoy customizing your Waze themes? Which Waze theme is your favorite (so far)?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

*Dog in car image (edited) from Shutterstock via PicMonkey Pro

The post Customize Your Drive with Waze to Make Your Trip More Fun! appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

Whether you’re already a fan of classical music, or want to become a fan, this new app has plenty for you to enjoy. The app is filled not only with millions of classical music pieces, but also ways to discover and learn about classical music.

About Apple Music Classical

Apple Music Classical is a standalone app that Apple Music subscribers can use to access a vast catalog of classical music. According to Apple, this app contains the world’s largest library of classical music, with over 20,000 composers, 100,000 works, 300,000 movements, and 5 million tracks.

While this vast library may seem overwhelming to some listeners, the app helps you discover classical music pieces you may enjoy. Apple Music Classical includes playlists, Editor’s Choice selections, related works, and popular pieces. In the Browse section, you can view catalogs of composers, periods, conductors, orchestras, choirs, and more.

This app offers not only quantity but equality as well. According to Apple, the app lets you “listen in the highest audio quality (up to 192 kHz/24 bit Hi-Res Lossless) and enjoy thousands of recordings in immersive spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.”

Searching for Classical Music

A key feature of this app is its search capabilities. Unlike other music apps, you can search for recordings by composer, work, conductor, and more with Apple Music Classical. You can even search by catalog number to find a specific recording.

If you’ve ever tried to search for classical music recordings on other music apps, you know how frustrating the results can be. Most music streaming apps let you search for song titles, artists, genres, or albums. But with classical music, you may want to search for the composer, conductor, orchestra, or a specific recording. Apple Music Classical lets you do all of that.

Search results in other streaming apps may not have all of the information you need to decide which recording is the one you’re looking for.

With Apple Classical Music, you can see important information at a glance in the search results, helping you choose the recording that best suits you.

You can also browse for or search by instrument or type of vocal performance to find favorite pieces.

Learning about Classical Music

The Apple Music Classical app can help you learn more about classical music with curated playlists and composer biographies. The app also offers deep-dive guides for many works, classical music performers, and musical instruments.

Availability

The Apple Music Classical app is available on iPhone and iPad in the App Store and Android in the Google Play Store.

The app is free to download, but to listen you must have an Apple Music subscription (Individual, Student, Family, or Apple One). Apple Music Classical is not included with the Apple Music Voice Plan.

The app is not available in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, or Turkey.

As of this writing, you must be connected to the Internet to listen to Apple Music Classical. The app does not let you download music for listening when you’re offline.

Your Thoughts

Do you enjoy listening to classical music? Have you ever been frustrated when searching for classical music on a streaming music app? Have you tried Apple Music Classical?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

The post Apple Music Classical — An App for Fans of Classical Music appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

Weather apps sent air quality alerts and warned people to stay indoors last week. Schools canceled outdoor activities, baseball games were postponed, and airports issued ground-stop orders.

Eventually, the skies started to clear and the air quality alerts ended. But for those who need to know the air quality due to respiratory or other health conditions, looking at the sky may not be sufficient.

Instead, there are quick and easy ways to measure the air quality with tech you already have. No need to download a new app or register on a website. You can easily check the air quality in your area with tech you’re already using.

About Air Quality Levels

The Air Quality Index (AQI) measures the quality of the air using a scale of 0-500. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “AQI values below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory. When AQI values are above 100, air quality is considered to be unhealthy-at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher.”

The EPA AQI levels are:

• Good: 0 to 50 Green
• Moderate: 51 to 100 Yellow
• Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups: 101 to 150 Orange
• Unhealthy: 151 to 200 Red
• Very Unhealthy: 201 to 300 Purple
• Hazardous: 301 and higher Maroon

The EPA explains these levels on its Air Quality page:

• “Good” AQI is 0 – 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
• “Moderate” AQI is 51 – 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
• “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” AQI is 101 – 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.
• “Unhealthy” AQI is 151 – 200. Everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects, and members of the sensitive groups may experience more serious effects.
• “Very Unhealthy” AQI is 201 – 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects.
• “Hazardous” AQI greater than 300. This would trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

How to Check Air Quality

If you want to check air quality, you may or may not be able to see the air quality with your eyes. If the skies are bright orange from the smoke, you probably know that it’s not a good idea to go outside for a run. But if the skies are hazy, how can you know whether it’s an air quality issue or just some fog rolling in?

The good news is that you don’t have to search for an air quality website or wait for news updates. You can easily check air quality with these tech tools:

Apple Maps

Apple Maps has a simple way to check air quality where you are: just open the app. The Maps app (which is the name of the Apple Maps app) comes pre-loaded on iPhones so if you have an iPhone, you have Maps already (unless you deleted the app from your iPhone).

Open the app to see the map of where you are currently. In the bottom right corner of the map, you’ll see the AQI reading for your area along with a dot color-coded for the air quality level (green, yellow, etc.).

That’s it. All you have to do is open the Maps app and look at it to see the air quality level. You can also search to see the air quality in other areas.

Note that the AQI information isn’t available in all countries or regions covered by Apple Maps. If you don’t see the AQI reading in Apple Maps, go to Settings => Maps and make sure Air Quality Index is turned on.

Google Maps

Last year, Google Maps added Air Quality as a layer to its maps app. By tapping the layers icon. in the upper right corner of the screen, you can enable the Air Quality layer.

Don’t miss => The Google Maps App Now Shows Air Quality

With the Air Quality layer turned on, you can see a layer of air quality on Google Maps, along with numerical air quality readings in the area.

The Air Quality layer is available for the Google Maps app for Android and iPhone, as well as on the Google Maps website.

Air Quality Widget for iPhone Lock Screen

If you need to know the AQI instantly, you can set a widget on your iPhone lock screen so you see the reading every time you turn on your phone.

This Wonder of Tech article explains how to add widgets to your iPhone lock screen => How to Add Widgets to Your iPhone Lock Screen.

To add the current AQI reading to your iPhone lock screen, choose the Weather widget, then swipe to the last option to choose Air Quality. Tap it to add the Air Quality widget to your lock screen.

Air Quality as an Apple Watch Complication

You can also check AQI at a glance by adding it as a complication to your Apple Watch. (Complications are like widgets for your Apple Watch face.) By adding Air Quality as a complication, you can see the AQI level every time you look at your Watch.

Want to learn how to add a complication to your Apple Watch? Check out => How to Choose and Set Up the Best Apple Watch Face for You

To add the AQI reading for your current area as a complication for your Apple Watch, go to the list of complications, scroll down to Weather, and choose AQI.

Your Thoughts

Have you been affected by poor air quality in your area? Did you know you can easily check the air quality with tech you already have? Do you find it helpful to know the air quality before heading outside?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

*New York City Wildfire Smoke Image (edited) courtesy of Anthony Quintano via Flickr and Creative Commons

The post How to Easily Check Air Quality Levels with Tech You Already Have appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

Instead of wading through Settings in Chrome, you can now change your Chrome theme with just a few clicks. In fact, changing your Chrome theme is so easy now, you may want to do it every day!

The New Way to Change Your Chrome Theme

With the latest update to Chrome, Google launched a new way for you to update your theme. You can quickly and easily give Chrome a brand-new look with very little effort.

How to Change Your Chrome Theme Easily

To change your Chrome theme, open a new tab in your Chrome browser on your computer by clicking the plus + sign on the right side of your tab bar. In the bottom right corner of the new tab page should be either a pencil icon or a Customize Chrome button with a pencil icon.

Click the pencil icon or the Customize Chrome button. A sidebar will appear with options for you to customize your Chrome experience.

If you don’t see this sidebar, you may need to update your Chrome browser. Here’s how to do that easily: How to Update the Chrome Browser on Your Computer

Choosing Chrome Colors

You can choose either color schemes or creative themes for your Chrome appearance. If you like a simple, uncluttered Chrome background, you can choose a color scheme with your favorite hues. By choosing a color scheme you can have an uncluttered Chrome appearance in your favorite color.

Chrome offers numerous color options or you can select a custom color. Click on a color circle to see how it looks on your screen.

You can customize your Chrome color scheme by clicking the pencil icon circle in the lower right corner of the sidebar. A color selection window will appear. Slide your cursor around to pick a custom color or use the eye dropper icon to match the color to a color you see on your computer screen.

When you’re done, click the X in the upper left corner of the sidebar to close the sidebar window. Your Chrome appearance will now be in the color you chose.

Choosing a New Chrome Theme

You may not want to keep your Chrome appearance simple. You may instead want to explore the Chrome themes for fun and inspiration.

On the Customize Chrome sidebar, click the Change theme button. You’ll see a list of categories for Chrome themes. You can choose from artistic themes, nature themes, geographic themes, photographic themes, and more.

As of this writing, the categories of Chrome themes offered include:

• Asuab & Pacific Islander Artists
• Native American Artists
• LGBTQ Artists
• Latin American Artists Collection
• Black Artists Collection
• Landscapes
• Textures
• Life
• Earth
• Art
• Cityscapes
• Geometric shapes
• Seascapes

Click on a theme to see how it looks on your computer. Keep clicking until you find a theme you want to use.

Then click the X at the top right corner of the sidebar to close the sidebar and begin enjoying your new theme.

Changing Your Chrome Theme Daily

Want a new Chrome appearance every day? You can automatically change your Chrome theme daily.

When you choose a new Chrome theme in the sidebar, look for the Refresh daily option at the top of the theme choices. Slide the toggle switch to On. Close the sidebar.

You’ll be greeted with a new Chrome theme every day!

Your Thoughts

Do you like the new easy way to change your Chrome theme? Which Chrome theme are you using? Are you changing your Chrome theme daily?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

The post Google Adds a Quick New Way to Change Your Chrome Theme appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

After all, shows such as Stranger Things and The Diplomat don’t create themselves…

How Netflix’s New Policy Works

Under the new policy, Netflix subscribers will be prevented from sharing their accounts with users outside their households unless they pay an extra fee. And even that comes with certain restrictions.

Netflix currently has four plans:

• Standard with Ads ($6.99 per month)
• Basic ($9.99 per month)
• Standard without Ads ($15.99 per month)
• Premium ($19.99 per month)

Subscribers who have Standard with Ads or Basic plans cannot add users outside their households. For $7.99 per month, subscribers who have the Standard without Ads plan can add one user outside the household. And subscribers who have the Premium Netflix plan can add up to two users outside their households for $7.99 per month per user.

Unfortunately for fans of Netflix, the company has not made an exception for people living away from home temporarily, such as college students, military personnel, and employees on extended work assignments away from home. Under Netflix’s new policy, people in those circumstances would have to play the extra fee or wait until they return home to watch Netflix.

Blockbuster couldn’t resist poking fun at Netflix:

Adding A User Outside Your Household

If you currently share your Netflix password with someone outside of your household and have a subscription plan that allows password sharing for a fee, you’ll need to buy an extra member slot if you want them to continue using your account. You can do this by visiting the Netflix website and going to your Account Settings.

Under the Extra Members section, click Buy an Extra Member Slot. If you have a plan that doesn’t allow an extra member outside your household, Netflix will offer to upgrade your plan for an additional fee.

Transferring Netflix Profiles

If you have people outside your household who had been using your Netflix account but won’t be doing so under the new rules, they can set up a new Netflix account while keeping their profiles. By keeping their profiles, Netflix users can retain their Watch Lists and viewing history, pick up watching shows where they left off, and get Netflix recommendations according to their viewing preferences.

But to transfer their Netflix profiles, the subscriber to the original Netflix account must first allow the transfer of profiles. To allow the transfer of profiles from your Netflix account, go into Account Settings => Settings => Turn on Profile Transfers => Allow.

You’ll see a confirmation of profile transfers becoming available from your account.

You can confirm allowing the transfer of profiles from your account immediately by clicking on a link in your email. Or the transfer of profiles from your account will be available in two days if you don’t click the link in the email.

Your Thoughts

Have you been affected by Netflix ending password sharing? Will you be adding people outside your household to your Netflix account? Do you think this is a good or bad move for Netflix?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

The post What the End of Netflix Password Sharing Means for You appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

About Amazon Clinic

Amazon Clinic is a new service that links patients with virtual healthcare providers to treat common medical conditions. With Amazon Clinic, patients don’t have to wait for a doctor’s appointment or visit an urgent care center. They can now have their medical needs addressed any time, day or night.

Amazon doesn’t provide healthcare. Instead, it uses Amazon Clinic to connect patients with licensed healthcare professionals virtually. Currently, Amazon Clinic is available in 32 states in the U.S. and the company has plans to expand to other states “in the coming months.”

Amazon describes Amazon Clinic:

Amazon Clinic operates as a virtual health storefront, bringing together clinical offerings from national, award-winning telehealth providers. Customers can select the third-party telehealth provider that best meets their timeline and budget, then connect directly with a licensed clinician who can provide a message-based consultation and prescribe treatment.”

To use Amazon Clinic, go to clinic.amazon.com, sign into your Amazon account, choose a four-digit PIN, then select one of the medical conditions, Amazon Clinic will suggest telehealth providers who will be able to help you, along with the prices they charge.

At launch, Amazon Clinic doesn’t accept health insurance. Amazon says, “These prices are set by the providers, not Amazon Clinic. Consultations include ongoing follow-up messages for customers with their clinician for up to two weeks after the initial consultation. In many cases, the cost of care is equivalent or less than the average copay.”

The Amazon Clinic telehealth provider may prescribe medicine for the condition, which the patient can get filled at any pharmacy, including Amazon Pharmacy. The cost of medicine prescribed via Amazon Clinic may be covered by the patient’s insurance.

Conditions Covered by Amazon Clinic

According to Amazon, these common medical conditions are covered by Amazon Clinic:

Amazon Clinic will focus on common conditions that are effectively treated using virtual care, including: acne, asthma refills, birth control, cold sores, conjunctivitis, dandruff, eczema, erectile dysfunction, eyelash growth, genital herpes, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hyperlipidemia refills, hypertension refills, hypothyroidism refills, men’s hair loss, migraines, motion sickness, rosacea, seasonal allergies, sinusitis, smoking cessation, urinary tract infections (UTIs), and yeast infections. Over time, we’ll continue working to offer Amazon Clinic support for other conditions.“

Also see => Amazon Launches RxPass: a $5 Generic Prescription Drug Subscription Program for Prime Members

Privacy

Personal health data can be extremely sensitive, so you may be interested in how Amazon Clinic handles patient privacy.

Amazon addresses the data privacy issue with this statement: “We care deeply about customer privacy and data security. We have extensive experience protecting data of all kinds appropriately across a variety of businesses and remain focused on the important mission of protecting customers’ health information. We have stringent customer privacy policies and comply with HIPAA and all other applicable laws and regulations”

While there are currently no reports of Amazon Clinic data privacy issues, some are concerned that Amazon does not go far enough to protect patient data privacy. See, The Washington Post, To become an Amazon Clinic patient, first you sign away some privacy

Your Thoughts

Do you like the idea of having 24/7 access to virtual healthcare via Amazon Clinic? Would you use Amazon Clinic for some of your healthcare needs?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

The post Amazon Clinic Now Offers Virtual Healthcare for Common Medical Conditions appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.

Google introduced new powerful AI tools that may become extremely useful in your daily life. The most interesting tool from Google introduced at last week’s I/O conference may be Bard, AI that could change the way you use the Internet.

What Bard Is

Bard is an AI chatbot tool from Google that’s available to everyone in 180 countries and territories around the world. Bard is free to use.

Learn more about chatbots at => More Penguins Than Europeans Can Use Google Bard

This video from Google’s I/O conference introduces Bard:

How Bard Can Be Useful in Your Daily Life

You can ask Bard for information, to search images, to write code, for travel advice, to compose music with lyrics, and more. So much more…

For now, Bard is in its experimental phase so you may not want to completely rely on it for accuracy. But you may want to test it out to see what it can do for you.

Testing Bard

To test Bard, I asked it to write a blog post about how Bard can be useful in my daily life.

Here’s Bard’s response:

Sure, here is a blog post about how Bard can be useful in your daily life:

How Bard Can Be Useful in Your Daily Life

Bard is a large language model from Google AI, trained on a massive dataset of text and code. It can generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. Bard is still under development, but it has learned to perform many kinds of tasks, including:

• Following instructions and completing requests thoughtfully
• Answering questions in a comprehensive and informative way, even if they are open ended, challenging, or strange
• Generating different creative text formats of text content, like poems, code, scripts, musical pieces, email, letters, etc.

Bard can be a useful tool in your daily life in many ways. Here are a few examples:

• Bard can help you with your work. Bard can be used to generate text for a variety of tasks, including writing emails, reports, and presentations. It can also be used to translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. This can save you time and help you to produce high-quality work.
• Bard can help you with your studies. Bard can be used to help you with your studies in a variety of ways. It can be used to generate text for essays, research papers, and presentations. It can also be used to translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. This can help you to learn new information and to improve your writing skills.
• Bard can help you with your personal life. Bard can be used to help you with a variety of tasks in your personal life, such as planning events, writing letters, and creating content for social media. It can also be used to translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. This can help you to stay organized and to connect with others.

Overall, Bard is a powerful tool that can be used in a variety of ways to improve your life. It is still under development, but it has learned to perform many kinds of tasks that can be useful in your daily life. If you are looking for a way to save time, learn new information, or connect with others, Bard is a great option to consider.

Here are some additional ways that Bard can be useful in your daily life:

• Bard can help you to be more creative. Bard can be used to generate text for a variety of creative projects, such as poems, stories, and scripts. It can also be used to help you to brainstorm new ideas.
• Bard can help you to be more organized. Bard can be used to help you to keep track of your appointments, to-do lists, and finances. It can also be used to help you to plan events.
• Bard can help you to be more productive. Bard can be used to help you to automate tasks, to find information quickly, and to communicate more effectively. It can also be used to help you to learn new skills.

If you are looking for a way to improve your life, Bard is a great option to consider. It is a powerful tool that can be used in a variety of ways to save time, learn new information, be more creative, and be more productive, learn new things, stay entertained, or connect with others, Bard can help.

Bard provided me with three drafts of a blog post. The above was the first one of the three drafts. Bard generated the drafts in under a minute.

Bard is experimental and still being developed by Google. For now, Bard’s responses are in text and do not contain images. According to Google, “Coming soon, Bard will become more visual both in its responses and your prompts. You’ll be able to ask it things like, ‘What are some must-see sights in New Orleans?” — and in addition to text, you’ll get a helpful response along with rich visuals to give you a much better sense of what you’re exploring.’ “

When I asked Bard for an image for this blog post, Bard did not provide me with one. Or two, or three.

Bard’s reply said that it provided me with three drafts of an image, but none of the drafts actually contained an image. I would have expected Bard to explain that it could not yet provide images. But perhaps it’s preparing for the day when it will show images in response to a request.

If you begin to use Bard, you may find helpful ways to use this AI tool. And/or you may discover some of its limitations.

Google will continue to develop and bring new features to Bard such as images, which should make Bard even more useful.

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Getting Started with Bard

Ready to give Bard a try? Head to bard.google.com and sign into your Google account, then type or speak your request. Bard will work its magic.

When you use Bard for the first time, you must agree to Google’s terms and conditions. Google will inform you of the following:

Things to know

• Bard uses your past conversations and the general area that you’re in to provide you with its best answer.
• Bard is an experimental technology and may sometimes give inaccurate or inappropriate information that doesn’t represent Google’s views.
• Don’t rely on Bard’s responses as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice.
• Don’t include confidential or sensitive information in your Bard conversations.
• Your feedback will help make Bard better.

Bard is an experiment

As you try Bard, please remember:

Bard will not always get it right
Bard may give inaccurate or inappropriate responses. When in doubt, use the “Google it” button to check Bard’s responses.

Bard will get better with your feedback
Please rate responses and flag anything that may be offensive or unsafe.

Your Thoughts

Have you tried Bard? What would you use Bard for? Do you think Bard will be helpful in your daily life? Would you like Bard to continue writing blog posts for The Wonder of Tech?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

The post Google Goes Big on AI with Its Bard Chatbot appeared first on The Wonder of Tech.