Hello, Friyay!

First, an administrative ask: The best way to let me know you’re reading my newsletter and not be taken off the list is to hit Reply. And when you do, let me know how I can help your tech life or just say hello. I read every single note. Now, on with increasing your tech knowledge.

⌛ Quick clean-up tip: Your desktop is a mess, and you don’t have time to sort everything and delete the junk. I get it. Create a new folder with a name like “Clean up” or even the date. Drop everything in there. Your final task, when you have 5 minutes to spare, is to go through that folder … kinda like that junk drawer in your kitchen. — Kim

Remember when the Chinese spy balloon floated across our country? That was just insane. With apps on our phones, the Chinese government doesn't need to be so blatant about stealing our secrets. 

If you've been around me at all for the last year, you already know that I am no great fan of the data tracking done by TikTok and Temu. Guess what? They're not the only apps. 

Now, I'm adding even more Communist China apps to the list. No one else is putting this info out there, so I hope you share this with your family and friends. Use the links at the end of this story.

This super popular app used to be safe

If CamScanner is on your phone, get rid of it. The scanner app is wildly popular despite ending up on a list of apps banned over concerns that the Chinese government was using them to spy on American citizens. 

Pro tip: No app needed. You can scan on iPhone with the Notes app and Android with Google Drive. Steps here if you need ’em.

We lose fortunes every day

Some apps, like Pinduoduo, contain malware. Temu is owned by the same Chinese company as Pinduoduo. Shein is another you've asked me about. A Chinese billionaire founded it and is known for shoddy merchandise and poor service. Oh, and their labor practices are awful.

Turbo VPN has been downloaded over 100 million times and has had multiple Chinese nationals as directors.

TikTok, Lemon8 and CapCut are all owned by ByteDance. It's based in Beijing and is required by Chinese law to give the government access to collected data.

Apps on my “no download” list:

Here's a — certainly not exhaustive — rundown of apps with ties to the Chinese government and their parent companies.

• TikTok - ByteDance
• Lemon8 - ByteDance
• CapCut - ByteDance
• Pinduoduo - PDD Holdings
• Temu - PDD Holdings
• CamScanner - Intsig Information
• Shein - Roadget Business 
• TurboVPN - Innovative Connecting
• WeChat - Tencent
• UC Browser - Alibaba Group
• SHAREit - SHAREit Technologies

Of course, most say the government doesn't have access to customer data. Do you trust that? I don't. Remember, in Communist China, you can't use iMessage. You use WeChat.

But Kim, I must scroll TikTok

There is a safe-ish way to do it, at least where all the data from your real phone isn't going who-knows-where. Install TikTok on an old device that's no longer connected to your email, banking info or anything else.

If you can, keep it off your home's Wi-Fi network and buy a cheap data plan. Otherwise, be sure to use the guest network. Hope the vids are worth it!

Update Chrome: A patch for Mac and Windows fixes a major security flaw. It’s rolling out now, so don’t panic if you don’t see it yet. Restart your browser to update or click the three dots > Settings > About Chrome. You should be on version 116.0.5845.140/.141. 

Android 14 might be here this month: Pixel phones get it first, then other brands, like Samsung. Cool new features include AI message suggestions and a privacy dashboard. In the market for a new device? Hold off. Look for Google to announce new Pixels, cameras and more on Oct. 4. 

New YouTube trick: There might be a good reason you need a solid screenshot of a single frame of a YouTube video. Now, it’s easy to do. Pause the video, right-click and select Copy video frame. Sweet! Just paste it into a chat, image editor or document.

💡 Get a free smart lightbulb: I spotted a fab deal on Amazon. Buy an Echo Pop (a cute little speaker, by all accounts) for $25 and get a free Sengled Matter smart bulb. Matter devices are universal and integrate into just about any existing setup. Regular price for all this is $60, btw.

Smarter email: Yahoo Mail’s new Shopping Saver tool finds gift cards, store credits and discount codes you forgot about in your inbox. Pretty sweet. The AI writing assistant is getting an upgrade, too, so it can write emails in different tones. One for your boss and one for the company that keeps screwing up your order.

Got a few spare minutes during your drive? Or maybe you're chilling at home? Sounds like the perfect time to tune in to The Kim Komando Show podcast!

I keep it real, breaking down the latest tech trends, cybersecurity tips and gadget reviews into snack-sized, easy-to-understand episodes.

👉 Download an episode today!

Alerts that matter: You don‘t want Gmail informing you of every single email, only the ones you care about. Set it up that way. Open the Gmail app. Tap Menu > Settings > select your account. Tap Email notifications > High priority only. To set an email (and sender) as high priority, star a message or hit Mark as important.

Germ buster: Since I know it’s been too long, grab a sanitizing wipe and give your computer mouse, remote control and car keyfob a clean-up. Bonus points to do the front door knob. Yeah, mine was gross, too!

Stop squinting: Just make your text bigger! On an iPhone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size. Next, tap Larger Text and enable Larger Accessibility Sizes. A slider at the bottom of the screen lets you increase or decrease text size. On Android, open your device’s Settings app and select Accessibility > Text and display > Select Font size. Adjust the slider to pick your perfect font size.

👍 No internet, no problem: Before a flight or when worried your connection will be spotty, enable offline mode in Google Drive. You have to do this individually for each document, spreadsheet or presentation. Click File > Make available offline. Now you can access it with no connection and changes will sync when you have internet again.

Whiteout: Those white Apple charging cords get so dirty. Here’s a secret to get rid of the black streaks. Use a pencil eraser. Yep, it’ll buff them right off. Oh, I finally hung up all my pencil drawings — but I'm afraid it makes my house look kinda sketchy.

Every day, my team and I work hard for you. We scour the internet, talk to smart folks all around the world, and find those hidden tips and tricks to make your digital life better.

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The fine folks over at Penny Hoarder put together a sweet list of budgeting spreadsheets for lots of different scenarios. There are options for weekly, monthly and yearly budgets, plus a 50/20/30 budget (based on wants/needs/savings) and zero-based budgeting. I’m a zero-based kinda gal!

Check them out here →

Notes for annual review: Great at receiving packages, but customer chat skills could use work. Looks like he’s feline fine! 

Have a wonderful weekend, friend. I’ll see you back here Sunday with our Tech News. Do me a favor and follow me on social. I’m on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else, too! — Kim