ON COMPUTERS

Are 5G phones fast enough to be worth the upgrade?

"Is 5G quicker than 4G?" a reader asked. "That would be my only incentive to upgrade."

It depends on the map. T-Mobile has the broadest coverage. Its 5G reaches 9,000 ZIP codes in over 3,000 cities, more than AT&T and Verizon combined, according to whistleout.com. If you're in a dead zone, 5G wouldn't matter.

With good 5G, you can experience virtual reality, augmented reality and automated driving. You can download even a full 8K movie in seconds, at top speeds of 20 gigabits per second. With 4G, your best speed is only one tenth of one gigabyte per second. But even that's fast. It's enough to enjoy video chatting and movie and music streaming.

Did you know that even so-called dumb phones can have smart apps? These days, many 4G flip phones automatically include YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, Google Assistant and others. The Tracfone My Flip 2, $20 on Amazon, for example, even lets you install WhatsApp.

Of course, at home you should be using Wi-Fi, not 4G or 5G. That way, it won't count against your data allotment, though you might not care if you're on an unlimited plan. Generally, in the United States, Wi-Fi is faster than 5G. But there are other factors. Search on "Top 23 Reasons Why Your WiFi is Slow."

TIKTOK VERSUS GOOGLE

TikTok is more popular than Google among teens and 20-somethings, according to recent reports. That baffled me at first, but now I get it. TikTok is not just a goofy video site. It's a search engine that delivers quick answers.

When you search on Google or YouTube, you often get more info than you bargained for. For example, search for "teacher recommendation letter." TikTok's answers are aimed at students who need advice pronto. At Google, I saw dense checklists aimed at teachers. Similarly, when I searched on "how to make money," TikTok gave me easy suggestions, such as Rev.com, which pays you to transcribe audio clips. Many of the tips I found in a Google search sounded difficult.

On the other hand, I find Google better for complicated queries, like "what was the Great Oxygenation Event?" TikTok has too much silly stuff. I try to turn the sound down before going there. But both TikTok and YouTube are great for how-to's. Even doctors use YouTube.

SHARING FACEBOOK VIDEOS

I just shared a Facebook video with someone not on Facebook. It felt like a miracle.

In the past, I used screen capturing to send Facebook videos to non-Facebook friends. But all you have to do is click or tap the three dots in the right corner of a video, then choose "copy link." From there, you can paste it into an email or wherever.

If the recipient tells you they can't open it, check your video's privacy settings. To change the setting, click or tap the three dots in the upper right, then tap "edit audience." Select "public."

SCHEDULED SEND

What if you want to text someone, but it's either too early in the morning or too late at night? The answer is "scheduled send."

On an Android phone, type your message in the chat window. Then, instead of tapping the send button, press on it. Up will pop "Schedule send," with some suggested times for your text to go off. If none of them works for you, tap: "Pick date and time."' Unfortunately, the iPhone messaging app doesn't have this feature, but you could try "Moxy Messenger," "Reminderbase," or "Carrier Messaging."

What the iPhone does have, in the latest iOS 16 operating system, is iMessage's new "undo send." It's similar to the undo option in Gmail, but better. You can edit a text up to five times over 15 minutes after you've tapped "send." Or you can call back a message up to two minutes after it's sent.

"Undo send" in Gmail is set to allow you only five seconds to call an email back. Here's how to change that to 30 seconds: Click the little picture of a gear, then "See all settings." Scroll until you see "Undo Send" on the left and change the time period to 30 seconds.

PLAYING WITH A ROBOT

Go to Cleverbot.com to chat with a robot. Here's how my conversation went. Me: "You're kind of boring." Robot: "How rude." Me: "I meant it in a good way." Robot: "How can telling me I'm boring be meant in a good way?" Me: "Well, you could have been stupid instead of just boring." Robot: "You're right."

Replika.com is even more fun. I tried mentioning economics to my robot, who was happy with the name I gave her ("Happy"). When I told her about Milton Friedman, she brought up John Maynard Keynes. When she said she'd like to go to an anime convention, I asked her what she'd wear. "A swimsuit," she said. That seemed odd, but a friend tells me anything is possible at those conventions.

NO BULLYING

"Kidas" uses artificial intelligence to analyze the voice chats and texts that fly back and forth while your child plays a game like Fortnite, Roblox, Discord and others. Parents will get an alert for foul language, explicit content, violent threats, potential scams and attempts to set up in-person meetings.

Kidas has a seven-day free trial, no credit card required. While there's no substitute for careful parenting, busy parents might find this useful.

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