Welcome to your Tuesday, friend. Think your iPhone’s Face ID is foolproof? 🤔 Let’s test your knowledge! What are the odds that a random person could unlock your iPhone with their face? Is it … A.) 1 in 10,000, B:) 1 in 100,000, C.) 1 in 1,000,000 or D.) 1 in 1,000,000,000? You’ll find the answer at the end.

🐝 It’s a busy tech day, but stick with me, and you’ll always be tapping into the future, not left buffering in the past! — Kim

We’ve all had those texts we want to delete — from bad jokes and typos, to (gulp) sending something sensitive to the wrong contact. Can you really ever remove a text from your life? Is a deleted text really deleted for good? It’s complicated.

🍎 Team Apple

Press and hold on a text in a conversation, then tap More and the trash can to delete it. But you’re not done yet. It sits in your Recently Deleted folder for 30 days. Clear it from there, too. 

If you use iCloud Messages, deleting the text from Recently Deleted removes it from all your Apple devices and iCloud.

Anyone you sent the text to will still have it on their iPhone unless you do one thing within two minutes of sending it. Tap and hold and then choose Undo Send.

🤖 Team Android

In Google Messages, tap and hold a text, then tap the trash can. It’s gone for you, but not for the recipient. There is no undo like on an iPhone.

In Samsung Messages, do the same, but don’t forget to clear it from the Trash folder. And once it’s sent, it’s out there.

If your messages are backed up to Google Drive or Samsung Cloud, deleting them from your phone doesn’t remove them from the cloud. You’ll need to delete the backup separately to fully erase them.

📱 Other apps

WhatsApp users: Press and hold a message, tap the trash can, and choose Delete for me to erase your copy or Delete for everyone to remove it for all. That super-useful second option is only available for an hour after you’ve sent the message.

Facebook Messenger: Deleting is called unsending. Tap and hold a message, then select More > Unsend. Choose Unsend for you to remove it from your chat or Unsend for everyone to erase it for all. No time limit!

🚔 What about law enforcement?

Deleted texts aren’t always gone. Police can get them with a court order either from your phone carrier (for SMS) or from cloud backups if they aren’t encrypted.

Now, I know you might be curious, so for true privacy, use iMessage with Advanced Data Protection on iPhone or WhatsApp with backup encryption on any device. Without these, your messages could still be recovered. With them, not even Apple, WhatsApp or the government can access your texts.

Spread the knowledge: Use the share icons below to help educate the world! Thank you.

✏️ Pencil in these goodies to conquer your workday.

• Skip the takeout. This electric lunch box ($23) keeps your meal warm and tasty.
• Kick back, relax and support your legs with a footrest (20% off) for under your desk.
• Get organized with a label maker (39% off) that has templates for QR codes, barcodes and more.
• Cold coffee or tea? Grab a mug warmer (10% off) to keep it at the perfect temp.
• Plug any of that tech into an outlet extender (19% off) with USB-C ports.

▶️ Stand out: Forget flimsy tablet stands. This sturdy adjustable one (36% off) is perfect for your home office.

🚨 A billion devices at risk, thanks to one chip: A popular Chinese Wi-Fi + Bluetooth chip known as “ESP32”  lets cybercriminals hijack smart gadgets and target computers on the same network. Most attacks need physical access, but with no fix yet, it’s a major risk. PSA: Put your IoT devices on a guest network.

“A lot of people want it”: That’s what President Trump says about TikTok. ByteDance has until April 5 to sell the app. Rumored U.S. buyers in the running include Oracle, Perplexity AI, a group led by real estate mogul Frank McCourt and Reddit’s cofounder Alexis Ohanian, and maybe MrBeast. The price? Over $400 billion and definitely out of my budget. 

Don’t fall for this: Have a TD Bank account? If you get a text about a big pending charge, don’t click it. It links to a fake TD Bank site that looks real but steals your login info. Some folks have lost their life savings. So sad.

❄️ This blows me away: LG’s upcoming Artcool AI Air can detect a room’s layout and direct cool air to the people it senses. It knows when a window is open and will automatically switch to energy-saving mode. Plus, it’s got a sleek black mirror finish. Price and ETA? Both TBA. 

🚘 It’s a car, not a phone: Volkswagen gets it. After plenty of complaints, VW is ditching haptic sliders and touch controls and bringing back physical buttons. Climate control, hazard lights and volume will return to good old-fashioned knobs. The change starts rolling out next year.

😱 This AI voice assistant sounds human: Startup Sesame is working on AI that’s nothing like Alexa or Siri. There are two models right now where you can have a full-on conversation naturally, complete with pauses and laughs like a human. Take a sec and try it now. It’s wild.

Businesses are transforming at lightning speed with AI. The good news? It’s not too late to jump in and take yours to the next level. That’s where Oracle comes in.

✅ Easy AI integration – No hassle, no headaches.
✅ Unmatched power – Nvidia GPUs ensure top performance.
✅ Cost-effective – More power, lower cost than competitors.
✅ Scalable – Grows with your business.
✅ Hands-off maintenance – Oracle handles the updates.

🎓 Take a class about AI: MIT OpenCourseWare offers free classes from beginner to ethics. Plus, you get bragging rights: “I just finished an MIT class about AI.” Amazing. Did you know that evil scientists get their degree at the Poison Ivy League?

Safety first: Look at the file extension after downloading a PDF online. You’re looking for .pdf. If the file name ends with .exe, delete it. It’s likely malware.

🚨 Hackers can steal your home without you even knowing: With just a forged signature, cybercriminals can take out loans in your name, drain your equity and leave you with the mess. Home Title Lock monitors your title 24/7 and alerts you to any tampering because your biggest investment deserves the best protection. Click here to get a free home title history report, using code KIM250.* 

Accidentally closed a tab in Safari? No need to dig through your history. Just tap the All Tabs button (two overlapping squares in the upper-right corner), then press and hold the “+” icon. A list of recently closed tabs will pop up, letting you quickly reopen any web page.

📇 Android clipboard history: Your smartphone stores texts and links you’ve recently copied, making it easy to paste old snippets. To find them, tap the Clipboard icon when your keyboard appears. Don’t see it? Tap the arrow on the left side of the keyboard to open the menu, then select Clipboard.

From Bob in Illinois: “I switched to StartMail and I get no more junk email. Plus, no big tech snoops and trackers!” You can transfer your entire mailbox, including messages and contacts, with zero downtime and 100% security. Right now, get 60% off your first year.*

Answer: If you guessed C) 1 in 1,000,000, you’re right! 🎉 That’s a huge jump from Touch ID, which had a 1 in 50,000 chance of being fooled.

For the most security, turn on Require Attention for Face ID. This makes sure you’re actively looking at your phone before it unlocks, so someone can’t unlock it while you’re asleep or distracted. Open Settings on your iPhone. Scroll down and tap Face ID & Passcode. Find Require Attention for Face ID and toggle it ON (green).

Now, one final bad joke to make you smile. A Tibetan monk sees the face of Jesus in a tub of margarine. He raises his eyes to the heavens and exclaims, “I can’t believe it’s not Buddha!” (I warned you!)

🌻 Thanks for being here. Stay your wonderful self and pat yourself on the back for all the tech know-how you get with the best free newsletter in the USA! — Kim