Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

How to Hide Text Messages on the iPhone (Turn Off Preview)

Posted: 04 Sep 2015 12:58 PM PDT

By default, the iPhone will show the world your SMS texts and iMessages on your lock screen whether you have Touch ID or a passcode setup on your device. For most people, this isn’t a big deal and therefore they don’t change the setting.

However, it can actually be a big privacy or security issue. For one thing, you never know what kind of text you’ll receive and who might happen to see it. With default settings, anyone who is within eyesight of your phone can read messages when they arrive because your phone will light up.

If they can physically touch the phone, they can not only read messages, but actually reply to them from the lock screen. This is true even if you have Touch ID or a passcode enabled.

From a security perspective, it can be dangerous for someone who has two-factor authentication enabled on websites. Many websites simply send you a code via text message, which can then easily be viewed by anyone in close proximity to you.

Thankfully, Apple has included a bunch of different options in the settings to control your privacy. In this article, I’ll show you how you can secure your text message so that only you see them.

Note that none of these settings below will help if you do not enable Touch ID or enable a passcode. Even if you configure your phone to show nothing on the lock screen, someone could easily just swipe to unlock your phone and read anything they want.

Show Previews

The first setting you can change is Show Previews, which will probably be enough for most people. Go to Settings, then Notifications, and tap on Messages.

Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see an option called Show Previews. Tap the little toggle button so that it is no longer green.

Now when you get a text or iMessage from someone, you will only see the name of the person and not the message. Instead of the message, you will just see default text like iMessage.

Note that when you hide previews, you can no longer reply to the message from the lock screen, even if that option is enabled. This makes sense because how can you reply to a message you can’t see?

Show on Lock Screen

For those who want more privacy and security, you can also go to Notifications – Messages again and turn off a couple of more items.

The next step would be to disable the Show on Lock Screen option. When you receive a message now, not even a notification will show up on the lock screen. Instead, the phone will either make the text message sound or vibrate if you have it on silent.

When you unlock your phone, a banner will show up across the top showing you the new messages. You’ll also still be able to see how many new messages have arrived because of the badge app icon.

The maximum level of security is to disable Badge App Icon, disable the notification sound and disable messages in the notification center. If you do that, you won’t even know when you have received a new message. You’ll have to manually open the Messages app to see any new messages. That’s probably a bit much, even if you want more privacy and security.

A good balance is to turn off Show Previews and to enable a passcode. That way you will still know when new messages arrive, but can only see them after you unlock your phone.

Text Message Forwarding

You should also be careful about how you use another “useful” feature on iOS called text message forwarding that can expose your messages to unwanted viewers.

If you go to Settings, then Messages, you will see this option listed below iMessage. If you enable it, you can allow other devices to send and receive text messages as long as those devices are signed into the same iMessage account. Here I have one device enabled, namely my Macbook Pro computer.

I’m only mentioning this because most people who have an iPhone also have Mac computers, iPad, iPod Touches, iMacs, etc. If you are logged into iMessage on everything and have text message forwarding enabled, then you also need to ensure that all of those other devices are secured too with a password at least.

The post How to Hide Text Messages on the iPhone (Turn Off Preview) appeared first on Online Tech Tips.

Update Facebook Status From a Dumbphone using Facebook Texts

Posted: 04 Sep 2015 09:06 AM PDT

Over the years, Facebook has constantly changed the way you can update your profile from your phone. Back in the days, you could connect your mobile phone to your account and upload pictures by sending an email to mobile@facebook.com.

At some point, this changed and they created a post-by email address, which was unique for each account. Using this email, you could update your status, post pictures from your phone, etc. However, as more and more users moved to the Facebook app on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc, the need to have this alternate mode of posting slowly waned.

Now Facebook has something called Facebook Texts, which lets you update your status and do a couple of other things over text message. They have completely removed the post-by email address, which means you can’t send photos from your mobile phone anymore via email or text.

In my opinion, this was not a necessary move. In the U.S., most people might be using smartphones with data plans, but there are millions of people in other countries that still use dumbphones. As of now, other than updating your status via SMS, you can add a friend, poke someone, like a page, get a text when a friend posts something, and get a one-time password. Here is the full list below.

How to Setup Facebook Texts

To setup Facebook Texts, log into your Facebook account, click on the little down arrow at the top right and then click on Settings.

On the left hand side, click on Mobile and you should see your current phone number listed if you have added one.

If you don’t have text messaging enabled, you should see a big Activate Text Messaging button below your number. Click on that and a window will popup where you have to first select your country and mobile carrier.

Note that Facebook Texts will only work in certain countries and regions on supported carriers. However, they support most places in the world, so unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to use Facebook Texts. Click Next and you’ll be asked to send the letter F to a specific number. You will then enter the confirmation code sent to your phone via SMS.

You’ll also have the option to share your phone number with friends and allow friends to text you from Facebook. At this point, you should be good to go.

Now you’ll see Text Activated next to your number and you’ll see a couple of new options down at the bottom like Facebook Messages, Daily Text Limit and Time of Day.

By default, you’ll get a text whenever someone send you a message on Facebook. You’ll only get texts from 8 AM to 11 PM, but you can edit any of the settings to your desire.

To post a status update via text message, just type your message normally and send it to the same number given by Facebook when you activated Facebook Texts above.

You won’t get any kind of confirmation message back, so you’ll simply have to check your Facebook profile to see if your status got updated.

Nice, it worked! You may read some other posts online about being able to post pictures via text by enabling the subject line, putting the word photos as the subject and adding the picture in the body, but this doesn’t work anymore. I tried it myself with no luck.

The one reason why I like Facebook Texts over actually using the app on my iPhone is having the ability to add a friend quickly by number. Usually when I meet someone new, the first thing I get is his or her phone number. All you have to do is send a text with the word ADD in front of their number to add them as a friend.

ADD 123-456-7890

That’s super easy and actually a lot faster than going to the app and searching for the person. Since there are so many people on Facebook, the search will normally return hundreds of results, which is annoying. When you have a phone number, you know you are adding the right person no matter what.

Also, if you are a Facebook stalker, then Facebook Texts will let you stalk someone in real-time. You can subscribe via text by sending SUB followed by the phone number, email, or name of the person. Whenever that person updates their status, you will get an instant text notification.

Even though Facebook has removed the ability to post photos via text and email, they may add it back at a later point if enough people complain. If they do, I’ll make sure to update this post and tell you how to do it. If you have any other questions, feel free to post a comment. Enjoy!

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