How to Block Unknown Numbers on Android Phones From Google, Samsung, Xiaomi

On Android, “unknown” numbers are specifically the ones that are private and do not appear on caller ID.

Looking for information on how to block unknown numbers on an Android phone? Google by default provides the option to block unknown numbers on Android. However, since the Android world is of a heterogeneous nature, there's no one way of blocking unknown numbers on phones from different manufacturers. Different skins and interfaces have distinct ways through which you can block unknown numbers on your phone. Having said that, this guide will help you get rid of unwanted callers to some extent.

In this article, we detail the steps you can take to block an unknown number on your Android phone. We are beginning with the steps you can take if you have a Google Pixel phone or a handset with the Google Phone app installed. It comes pre-installed on phones including the OnePlus Nord 2 5G and various Nokia smartphones. You can also download the Google Phone app on your Android device from Google Play.

You have also been provided with ways to block unknown numbers on a Samsung phone and a Xiaomi model later in this article.

How to block unknown numbers on an Android phone with Google Phone app?

Here are the steps that you can take to block unknown numbers on an Android phone that has the Google Phone app installed. Scroll down to the next section to look at the steps you can take if you have a Samsung phone.

• Open the Phone app.
• Tap the three-dot button from the top-right side of the dialler search bar.
• Now, tap Settings and then Blocked numbers.

Turn on the Unknown option.

It is important to note that the term “unknown” on Android is not meant for the numbers that are not saved in your contacts. This is in contrast with that of the iPhone, and is meant specifically for calls that surface on you caller ID as ‘private' or ‘unknown'.

How to block unknown numbers on Android phone from Samsung?

Below are the steps you can take to block unknown numbers on a Samsung Android phone.

• Open the Phone app.
• Tap the three-dot menu and then select Settings.
• Now, tap Block numbers.

Hit Block unknown/ hidden numbers to block private and unknown numbers on your phone.

How to block unknown numbers on Android phone from Xiaomi?

Follow the steps available below to block unknown numbers on an Android phone from Xiaomi. We considered a phone based on MIUI 12.5 to detail the steps. However, there might be some changes if you have a different MIUI version on your device.

• Open Phone.
• Tap the three-dot button from the search bar.
• Select Settings from the menu.
• Now, tap Unknown to block all calls from unidentified callers.

In addition to the default ways, there are different third-party apps including Truecaller that help you block unknown numbers on your Android phone.

How to Hide Your Photos in iPhone Without Using Third-Party App?

 Make sure that your iPhone runs on iOS 14 before proceeding with the steps.

Your iPhone may have photos that you do not want to delete right away, but for some (privacy) reason, you also do not want them to be shown in your Photo Library. You can hide any of those photos in your iPhone without requiring any third-party apps. Apple has natively provided the option to let you hide your photos in your iPhone. You can use that option to make sure your photos won't be visible to your loved ones looking at your Photo Library.

For quite some time, Apple allowed users to hide photos from their Photo Library. But the hidden photos were a part of a ‘Hidden' album that was still visible in the Albums section of the Photos app. That experience was updated with the release of iOS 14 last year.

The iOS 14 release allows you to completely hide photos in your iPhone, without using a third-party app. Here's how you can do this.

How to hide photos in iPhone without using a third-party app

Before getting started with the steps on how you can hide photos in your iPhone without using a third-party app, make sure that your iPhone is running on at least iOS 14. It is also important to point out that the hidden album on iOS is enabled by default. But you can turn it off by taking the following steps. Also, you can follow the same steps to hide photos to hide your videos as well.

1. Open Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Select the photo or video you want to hide. You can also pick multiple photos or videos by tapping the Select button from the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Tap the Share button and then select Hide from the menu.
4. Confirm that you want to hide the selected photo(s) or video(s).
5. Now, go to Settings and tap Photos.
6. Scroll down and turn off the Hidden Album option.

You can follows steps 5 and 6 and turn on the Hidden Album option again to see the folder in the Photos app. It should be noted that any photos or videos you hide may appear on third-party apps. The given steps can also be followed on iPadOS to hide or unhide photos on an iPad.

How to Turn Off Read Receipts in Facebook Messenger, Apple iMessage, WhatsApp

 WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple's iMessage — all three apps have the read receipt function that notifies the sender when the receiver has read their message. Read receipts are an important part of communication through messaging apps. It allows users to understand whether their message has been seen by the recipient or not. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage support the read receipt function by has different ways of notifying the sender that their message has been read. But if you like to keep things more private and not allow the sender the freedom to know when you have read their message, you can turn these read receipts off at any time. For instance, if you keep your read receipts on WhatsApp a blue tick appears next to the message when the recipient has read it.

We've compiled a step by step guide on how to turn off read receipts on apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple's iMessage.

How to turn off read receipts in WhatsApp

In order to close read receipts on your WhatsApp, follow these steps.

Open the WhatsApp app. Click on the three dots icon on the top-right corner of the screen. Click on Settings.

Once in Settings, click on Account > Privacy.

An option called Read Receipt can be found here. Toggle it off to disable it in individual chats. You cannot disable read receipts for group chats.

How to turn off read receipts in iMessage

Turning off read receipts on iMessage requires a few more steps than WhatsApp.

1. Head to the iMessage app on your iOS device.
2. Go to Settings and tap on Messages.
3. An option called Send Read Receipts can be found here. Toggle it off to disable the ability completely.
4. If you want to disable read receipts for specific chats, head to that user's chat and click on the user's profile pic.
5. Select Info icon and toggle off Send Read Receipt option.

How to turn off read receipts on Facebook Messenger

In Facebook Messenger, unfortunately, there is no option to disable read receipts. There is an option in settings called Active On, which helps in disabling the Active Now banner attached to your name every time you come online. It also shows the last time you were online, and toggling this off will not let your friends see that information. This can be found by going in the Messenger app > clicking on the profile icon > From Active 'On' > Toggle it 'Off'. However, there is also a workaround for reading a message without letting the sender know.

1. After you receive a new message on Facebook Messenger, just turn on Airplane Mode from your phone's Settings, which will disable Internet and network connections on the device.
2. You can then open Messenger and view the message without an Internet connection.
3. After you finish reading, close the app, and swipe it out of your app drawer.
4. You can now turn off Airplane mode. This way the sender will not be notified that you have read their message till you open the app again.

How to Turn Zoom Audio Notifications On/ Off

 Zoom has a popular audio notification feature that tells you when a participant joins or leaves a meeting. This is particularly useful when you're waiting for someone, but it can be irritating when you're part of a large conference meeting or event and you constantly hear notifications as people come and go. The audio notification has a doorbell-like sound to give you the feeling of a real person ringing the bell behind a real door. And just like your house doorbell, there is way to turn the audio notifications off for your virtual Zoom meeting rooms.

The audio notification option on Zoom also comes with several customizations like choosing to play the sound for everyone or restrict it to hosts and co-hosts. There is also an option to ask to record a user's voice to use as notification when someone joins by phone.

How to turn Zoom audio notifications on/off

Users on a Zoom call can easily toggle audio notifications based on what they prefer. This can be done before a call commences, or even during the meeting. If you turn the audio notifications off, you will not get an audio prompt every time a user leaves or enters a Zoom meeting. This feature is important for users who are waiting on someone and are doing other chores in the meantime. The audio tune serves as an alert that someone has entered the Zoom call, especially useful when you're not looking at the screen. Follow the steps below to turn off /on the audio notifications on Zoom.

1. If you're logged into your Zoom account from the Web browser, click on Settings option placed in the left-hand column. If you're on the Zoom app, click on your profile icon > select Settings > View More Settings.
2. In Settings, click on In Meeting (Basic) in the left column and scroll down. Search for an option called ‘Sound Notification When Someone Joins or Leaves'. Toggle this feature on or off as per your preference.
3. If you toggle it on, you can choose from three options. The first one lets you play the sound for everyone, the second only for hosts and co-hosts, and the last one lets you record a user's voice as a notification, which is only for users who join by the phone.

How to Change Name, Delete Account, Remove Tags, and Create Business Account in TrueCaller

Truecaller app allows users to find out who is calling or messaging them. This is ideal when you don't have the number saved in your contacts as you can know before picking up the call if you should answer or reject. The app crowdsources contact details from all its users' address books which means your contact could be on Truecaller's database. While this may be a drawback of the app, it does have many benefits as well such as blocking numbers, marking numbers as spam so you can avoid those calls, and more.

So, to help you out, we have put together a step-by-step guide on how you can change your name on Truecaller, delete your account, edit or remove tags, and more.

Truecaller: How to change name

1. Open the Truecaller app on Android or iOS.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left (bottom right on iOS).
3. Tap on the edit icon next to your name and phone number (Edit Profile on iOS).
4. Change your name by editing the first and last name fields.

Truecaller: How to delete/ deactivate your account in Truecaller

1. Open the Truecaller app on Android or iOS.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left (bottom right on iOS).
3. Tap on Settings.
4. Tap on Privacy Center.
5. Scroll down and you should see a Deactivate option here, tap on it.
6. On iOS, you will see Keep My Data and Delete My Data options. Keep My Data will allow you to be searchable but you will not be able to edit how you are displayed on Truecaller. With Delete My Data option, you will not be searchable and your data will be deleted.

Your Truecaller profile should now be deactivated.

Truecaller: How to edit or remove tags in Truecaller

1. Open the Truecaller app on Android or iOS.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left (bottom right on iOS).
3. Tap on the edit icon next to your name and phone number (Edit Profile on iOS).
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap on the Add tag field. You can select whichever tag you want to add from here or deselect all tags.

Truecaller: How to create a Truecaller Business profile

A business profile allows you to let people know important information about your business. Things like address, website, email, opening hours, closing hours, and more can be added to a business profile in Truecaller.

1. If you are just signing up with Truecaller for the first time, the create your profile section has the Create A Business Profile option at the bottom.
2. If you are already a Truecaller user, tap on the hamburger menu icon on the top left (bottom right on iOS).
3. Tap the edit icon next to your name and phone number (Edit Profile on iOS).
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap on the Create A Business Profile option.
5. You will be asked to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy. Tap on Continue.
6. Enter the details and tap Finish.

Your business profile should now be created on Truecaller.

How to Check Your iPhone Battery Health

Checking iPhone battery health is vital as it allows you to understand whether the inbuilt battery needs to be replaced. Poor battery health means that you would get fewer hours of usage between charges on your iPhone. Apple introduced the native tool to check battery health of your iPhone with the release of iOS 11.3 back in 2018. It is accessible across all iPhone models starting from iPhone 6. You can also find the same battery health tool on your iPad.

In this article, we are detailing the steps you need to follow to check your iPhone battery health.

How to check your iPhone battery health?

Before beginning with the steps you need to follow to check your iPhone battery health, it is important to note that the battery health tool available from Apple normally provides information on two distinct areas — maximum battery capacity available on your device and its peak performance capability. While the maximum battery capacity gives a measurement of the battery capacity in relation to when it was new, peak performance capability is measured to highlight whether the battery of your iPhone is currently supporting normal peak performance, or the performance management features are in place to restrict peak power.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap the Battery option. You can also search for the battery settings directly through the search bar in the settings menu by swiping up.
3. Tap Battery Health.

You'll then see the maximum capacity and peak performance capability of your iPhone battery. Apple will also show important battery notifications if the iPhone battery health is significantly degraded or if a new replacement battery is not verified by the system.

How to Maintain 100 Percent iPhone Battery Health, According to Apple

 Apple typically offers good battery life with its devices be it iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch models, or others. However, in the past, Apple has been accused of intentionally slowing down iPhone models with ageing batteries, and it recently paid $113 million (roughly Rs. 819 crores) to settle the BatteryGate case. While Apple believes this was to preserve battery health over long term use, it has since then introduced battery and performance management features to users, apart from sharing tips and recommendations to maintain battery health. Some of the general practices that Apple recommends include updating to the latest software, avoiding high ambient temperatures, removing certain cases while charging, and storing devices in a half-charged state when storing them over long periods of time.

Apple on its website has a page detailing how to maximize battery life and lifespan of your iPhone. The first thing, is to keep it updated to the latest software.

Update your iPhone

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap on Software Update.
4. You should see the available update here. If you do see an update, tap on it and your iPhone will start updating. Make sure you have sufficient battery left.
5. Alternatively, you can plug your iPhone into your computer and update it with the latest version of iTunes.

You can also preserve your battery life by adjusting your screen brightness and using a Wi-Fi connection wherever possible. You can either dim your iPhone's screen brightness or turn on auto brightness.

Dim display brightness, turn on auto brightness

1. Open Control Centre.
2. Drag brightness slider to the bottom.
3. To activate auto brightness, head to Settings.
4. Tap on General.
5. Tap on Accessibility.
6. Tap on Display Accommodations.
7. Set Auto-Brightness to On.

Enable Low Power Mode

iPhone users can also enable low power mode when it starts to get low. If the battery drops to 20 percent, you will get a notification and Low Power Mode can be turned on with one tap. To manually turn on Low Power Mode:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap on Battery.
3. Toggle the Low Power Mode to On.

Users can view their iPhone battery usage information by going to battery settings (Settings > Battery). To conserve battery, iPhone users can also turn off settings like Background App Refresh and location services. Here's how:

Prevent apps from refreshing in the background.

Twitter: How to Clean, Customise Your Feed

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap on Background App Refresh.
4. Select Off to turn off Background App Refresh entirely.

Turn off location services for apps

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Privacy.
3. Tap on Location Services.
4. Here you will see a list of apps using location services with an off toggle.

Twitter: How to Clean, Customise Your Feed

 Twitter is one of the most microblogging and social networking platform globally. It not only allow people to voice their opinions online but creates an space for people to reach out to others or for organizations to reach out to their customers. Twitter has a massive userbase and every user has a feed where they can see what their followers or accounts that they follow have posted. The feed also includes suggested tweets so in case you want to clean up your Twitter feed and stop seeing tweets that you don't like, here's what you can do.

There are a few methods by which you can clean up and customise your Twitter feed. You can mute an account, a tweet, words, or hashtags. Muting will remove the tweets from your notifications tab, push notifications, SMS, email notifications, Home timeline, and from replies to tweets. You can customise your interests or topics that you are interested in. You can also block an account that will restrict that specific account from contacting you. You won't see their tweets and you won't be able to follow them.

How to mute a tweet or an account on Twitter

1. Muting a tweet or an account is pretty much the same on the app or on desktop. Navigate to a tweet and tap the three-dot menu icon.
2. You should see both muting options here — mute the conversation or mute the account.
3. Tap on either option to mute the tweet or the account.

Muting an account will not cause you to unfollow said account. They can still send you direct messages, but you will not receive push or SMS notifications from those muted accounts.

How to stop websites from asking to send notifications

How to mute a word/ hashtag on Twitter

1. On the Twitter app, tap on your profile icon. On desktop, select More from the options on the left on your Twitter homescreen.
2. Select Settings and Privacy.
3. Select Privacy and safety.
4. On desktop, select Mute and block. On the app, you should see the Muted accounts and Muted words options here.
5. Select Muted words.
6. Select the ‘+' icon to add words (one word, phrase, @username, or hashtag at a time) that you want to mute.  
7. Once done, select Save on the bottom (desktop) or at the top right (app).

You can then select where you want to mute these words or phrases from by checking the Home timeline and Notifications options. By default, these will be muted forever. This will keep you away from any tweet that carries the muted words or phrases by not showing you the tweet that carries the word/ phrase and you will not receive notifications for these tweets either.

How to customize in-app notifications in WhatsApp for iPhone

How to customize the content you see on Twitter ?

1. This can be done only through the browser. Select More from the left panel on you Twitter homescreen.
2. Select Settings and Privacy.
3. Select Privacy and safety.
4. Select Content you see.
5. Here you will see Topics and Interests. Select Topics.
6. You can select whatever topics you are interested in and Twitter will show content related to these topics on your feed.
7. From the previous screen, select Interests.
8. You will see a list of interests that Twitter has picked for your based on your profile, activity, and the topics you follow.
9. Unselect any interest that would not like to see on your feed.

How to block a tweet or an account on Twitter ?

1. Blocking a tweet or account is pretty much the same on the app or on desktop. Navigate to a tweet and tap the three-dot menu icon.
2. You should see a Block @accountname option here.  
3. Select it and the account will be blocked.

The blocked account will not receive a notification of being blocked. You will be unfollowed from that account and vice versa. You will not receive notifications from accounts you block.

Google Photos Unlimited Free Storage Benefit Ends June 1: Next Steps for Android, iPhone Users

Google Photos unlimited storage benefit is coming to an end on June 1. Google had announced in November last year that it was ending the unlimited storage benefit. The change means that users who want more storage than the 15GB limit cap for Google accounts — split between Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail — will have to buy additional storage. Google Photos users earlier had the option to store unlimited ‘High' quality photos (compressed to below 16MB) on the cloud for free, which will cease to exist from June 1.

If you're still far away from the 15GB storage limit, then this change won't affect you immediately. Google account users will start getting notifications once their storage begins nearing 15GB. It's important to note that ‘High' quality and ‘Express' quality photos (further compressed) and videos backed up before June 1 won't count towards your Google Account storage limit. However, photos backed up in ‘Original' quality before June 1 will count toward your Google Account storage.

Backup to High or Express quality before June 1

To check your backup quality, head to Google Photos app > click on the profile icon > Photos Settings > Backup and Sync > Upload size. Select High Quality or Express Quality, depending on the storage you have left from the 15GB free allowed. Express quality reduces the resolution a little more than High quality and ‘Original' quality, as the name suggests, retains the resolution as is. Remember, all photos backed up in ‘High' or ‘Express' quality won't count towards the Google Account storage before June 1, so it's best to make this change.

Free up storage using Google One

The other thing to do before the June 1 deadline is free up some storage in Google Photos, and stay within the 15GB limit for your Google account. To delete unwanted photos and videos from Google Photos, download the Google One app, sign in using the same Google account as Google Photos, and head to the Storage tab. Click on Free up Account Storage. The Storage Manager will offer different solutions to free up storage space that can help you stay within the 15GB cap limit.

Google also says that it will also roll out a new free tool that will let users find blurry, dark, and other low-quality photos, to help users delete them and stay within the 15GB free storage limit. This tool will be rolled out in June. Ensure that you use this tool and get rid of unwanted photos.

Buy storage via Google One or Apple One subscription

Once you reach your storage limit, you can either subscribe to Google One or Apple One, depending on the handset you use. iPhone users can subscribe to Google One, but to subscribe to Apple One, you need an Apple device.

Google One starts from Rs. 120 per month that offers 100GB storage. If users want 200GB of storage, the Google One membership costs Rs. 210 per month and the 2TB storage plan costs Rs. 650 per month. Annual plans are priced at Rs. 1,300, Rs. 2,100, and Rs. 6,500, respectively. Other apps like Dropbox, OneDrive also offer cloud storage subscriptions, but if you're a frequent Google products user, then subscribing to Google One makes the most sense.

Apart from additional storage, Google One also offers the ability to automatically back up your phone for ease in switching handsets and helps you get in touch with experts for better complaint redressal. It also offers access to Google Store rewards and Google Play credits. Users can share their Google One plan with up to five family members and get extended free trials on services like YouTube Premium.

Apple users can also subscribe to Google One on their iPhones or iPads, or opt for Apple One or iCloud storage subscription. There are two Apple One membership plans available in India – Individual and Family plan. The Individual plan is priced at Rs. 195 per month and offers 50GB iCloud storage, in addition to subscription to Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade. The Family Plan is priced at Rs. 365 per month and offers 200GB iCloud storage, five members usage, and subscription to Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade.

The base iCloud storage plan starts at Rs. 75 per month for 50GB data. The Rs. 219 per month gets you 200GB data, and the Rs. 749 plan offers 2TB data.

EPF: How to Withdraw Money From Your Account Online

 EPF withdrawal online is possible through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) website. Employees' Provident Fund — commonly known as EPF — is a compulsory contribution provident fund that offers the workforce in India with saving, pension, and insurance benefits. All regularized workers in the country need to contribute to the fund with 12 percent of their basic pay (and dearness allowance, where applicable) every month, as per the norm. The contribution is saved in an EPF account of the workers, and the entire money contributed — along with a similar contribution from the employer and interest — can be withdrawn at the time of retirement. However, there are ways for premature withdrawals as well.

In this article, we are providing steps through which you can withdraw money from your EPF online.

How to withdraw money from EPF online

Before beginning with the steps of EPF withdrawal online, it is important to note that complete withdrawal from an EPF account is only possible if an individual retires or remains unemployed for more than two months. The EPFO has, however, made provisions for partial withdrawal in some cases, such as medical illness, marriage, calamity, and house renovation. You can look at the criteria for premature withdrawal on the FAQ document available on the EPFO site.

1. Visit the UAN Member e-Sewa portal.
2. Enter your Universal Account Number (UAN) and password as well as enter CAPTCHA. And then, click on the Sign in button.
3. Now, click on Online Services from the top menu and then click on CLAIM (FORM-31,19,10C&10D) option.
4. Verify the details appearing on the Online Claim form.
5. Once verified, enter your bank account number.
6. Click on the Verify button and then click on the Yes button available on the certificate of undertaking.
7. You will now be asked to proceed with the claim by clicking on the Proceed for Online claim.
8. The claim form will now require you to enter whether you are applying for the advanced PF withdrawal. It will show a drop-down menu titled 'Purpose for which advance is required' to select from the available purposes for your withdrawal requirement.
9. Enter the amount required in the following text box and then enter your mailing address in the Employee Address section.
10. Click on the certificate and submit your request.

Once submitted, the EPFO site may ask you to submit scanned documents for the purpose for which you have filled the claim form. The request will need to be approved by your employer to proceed with the withdrawal. Moreover, it may take 15–20 days to receive the money in the bank account you've linked with your EPF account.

How to Reset or Change Explore Page on Instagram

Instagram allows you to clear your search history which is what contributes to the type of posts you see in your Explore section.

Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps and it allows users to share photos and videos with their friends, contacts, and followers. You can follow other Instagram users or creators and over the years, Instagram has become a popular advertising platform as well. It shows each user a feed that is based on the accounts that they follow and there is a Explore page as well where a user can see posts related to recent searches, people you follow, and posts that you like.

If you want to reset or change your Explore page on Instagram, we have put together a step-by-step guide on how you can do so.

How to reset Explore page on Instagram:

1. Head to the Instagram app on Android or iOS.
2. Tap on your profile icon on the bottom right.
3. Tap on the burger menu icon on the top right.
4. At the bottom, you will see a Settings option, tap on it.
5. Next, tap on Security.
6. Under Data and History, you should see a Search History option, tap on it.
7. Here, you should see your recent searches and a Clear All option next to it (Clear Search History on iOS). Tap on Clear All.
8. You will get a prompt asking if you want to clear your search history, tap on Clear All.
9. Your search history should be cleared and the explore page will be reset.

The prompt states that this cannot be undone and that you may still see accounts that you have previously searched for as suggestions.

How to change your Explore page on Instagram:

You can also manually tweak your explore page by individually selecting posts that you are not interested in.

1. Head to the Instagram app on Android or iOS.
2. Tap on the magnifying glass search icon in the bottom row.
3. Select a post that you do not like.
4. Tap the three-dot menu icon of said post.
5. Tap on Not Interested and the post will be removed from the feed.