The upcoming iOS 16 will help battle the growing problem of spam text messages. The latest beta includes the ability to report SMS messages as “junk” to the user’s wireless carrier.
iPhone users already can report spam messages that come through Apple’s own iMessage service.
Your iPhone’s Mail app is pretty good. It does most of what you need, and you can be sure that it doesn’t steal your email password, or send details from your incoming mail to Apple. There are even a bunch of very powerful smart folders and features hidden in its sidebar. But getting basic stuff done is sometimes awkward, thanks to Apple’s insistence on hiding everything in the name of minimalism.
That includes marking an email as spam. It’s actually easy, but you might not know how to do it. Today we’ll look at three ways to mark email as junk mail.
The trouble with modern technology is that anyone can try to reach you, at any time. Your boss can leave a passive aggressive email at the top of your inbox overnight, so you see it when you want to check personal mail. Anyone can send you an SMS or iMessage. And anyone with your phone number can spam you, any time.
Currently in iOS, you can block iMessage senders. But in iOS 13, you gain two new ways to keep stalkers, weird friends and over-sharing co-workers out of your digital life. Now you can block unknown phone callers and email senders.
On a podcast this week, I heard the hosts complaining that they get all kinds of spam notifications from Apple. Their iPhones pop up promotional alerts about Apple Pay, apps, Apple Music, Apple Pay, podcasts and more.
“WTF?” I thought, because I don’t get anything like that. I checked through my notification preferences, sure that I’d find something in there, but no. So why wasn’t I getting all this Apple spam?
Because Apple hid the setting. You can turn off all those junky Apple spam notifications. You just have to know where to look.
AT&T and T-Mobile today confirmed an unlikely partnership for a wonderful cause. The rival carriers are joining forces to fight robocalls and scammers.
Both will deliver the FCC-recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards to digitally validate calls across their networks. It will make it easier for customers to filter out unwanted calls.
Twitter has reduced its limit on the number of people you can follow in one day in an effort to crack down on spammers.
The new limit, which is 400, is designed to prevent new accounts from following a large number of people and then removing them in a “bulk aggressive or indiscriminate manner.”
Apple has started removing duplicate VoIP apps from the App Store.
The purge comes after a report highlighted a shady practice some developers have been using to game App Store search results. Plenty of clones still remain in other categories, however.
iPhone users in China are reportedly being bombarded with iMessage spam, many of them promoting illegal gambling.
Much of the iMessage spam in question links to WeChat account or gambling websites. Gambling is illegal in China, with the exception of two state-sanctioned lotteries.
WhatsApp has begun testing a new feature that warns users when they receive a suspected hoax message. It should help users avoid common spam that may seem genuine at first glance.
As the weather warms up, we’re still rounding up the hottest new deals at the Cult of Mac Store. This go-round, we’ve got a set of future-ready wireless earbuds, a swiss army knife for iOS data, a full terabyte of super secure cloud storage, and a tool that’ll help you finally reach the bottom of your inbox. Best of all, everything is discounted by more than 60 percent. Read on for more details:
