2/13/2024: Out of iCloud storage? Try this.
How to handle iCloud storage
Plus: The Fadblock fiasco, easier Windows app updates, and a sub-$200 desktop
A couple weeks ago, my wife received the same distressing message that a lot of iPhone users eventually get: “Your iCloud storage is full.“
The message went on to describe all the bad things that would now begin to happen: No more iCloud backups for contacts, documents, and messages. No more photos and videos saved to iCloud. No more syncing for iCloud-enabled apps. The only recourse, Apple said, was to either pay for an iCloud+ plan or free up some storage space. Apple’s email provided an upgrade link for the former, but no instructions for the latter.
For the sake of research—and marital harmony—I started looking into the iCloud storage situation, and discovered just how tricky it is to escape the subscription treadmill. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Need to know
The Fadblock fiasco: A few months ago, I recommended a browser extension called Fadblock, which automatically skipped through ads on YouTube while evading Google’s crackdown on ad blockers. Now, Fadblock’s been flagged for malware and removed from the Chrome Web Store.
The original developer claims to have quietly sold the extension at the end of last year, and it eventually wound up with a malicious party that may have used it to access Facebook accounts through active session cookies. (Fadblock’s Firefox version was never sold and therefore unaffected.)
The extension wasn’t allowed to operate this way for long, and if you installed it more than a few weeks ago, it would have been disabled by default due to the extra permission required to access data outside of YouTube. Either way, I’d suggest checking Facebook’s login activity page for any devices you don’t recognize, logging out of both Facebook and Instagram, then logging back in again.
The original, ostensibly malware-free extension is now back in the Chrome Web Store under the name Fadblock Origin, though I can understand wanting to steer clear at this point.
Google’s new AI: Google has renamed its Bard AI assistant to “Gemini,” matching the name of its underlying language model. It’s also launched a $20 per month Google One plan that enables a more advanced version and let you use the AI inside Gmail and Google Docs. (The plan is otherwise the same as Google One’s $10 per month tier, with 2 TB of cloud storage.)
It’s not entirely clear what the more advanced model offers beyond some vague sense of being better than the free version, but you can get a two-month trial if you want to see for yourself. (Just be sure to immediately cancel from Google’s subscription page to avoid auto-billing after the trial period.)
Skiff’s shutting down: Skiff, a startup that offered more privacy-focused alternatives to Google Docs and Gmail, has been acquired by Notion and will shut down in six months.
Having used Skiff for all my reader mail since last summer, I’m bummed but not entirely surprised. This is always a risk with venture-backed startups, and it’s why I only jumped in with Skiff after it added custom domain support. I managed to set up Proton Mail over the weekend with the same @jarednewman.com email addresses I used with Skiff, and was back up and running after getting my email archives imported. I’ll have plenty to say about Proton itself in a future newsletter.
Tip of the moment
Keep your Windows apps updated: A couple years ago, I wrote about how to automatically keep all your Mac apps up to date using a program called MacUpdater. At the time, I lamented how nothing comparable was available on the Windows side.
Thankfully, that’s changed. With a free program called WingetUI, you can see all the outdated apps on your PC and get the latest versions with one click. After installing the app, just click on the “Software Updates” tab at the top, then click the “Update Selected Packages” button. (The app is based on Microsoft’s own winget package manager, but doesn’t require any command line know-how.)
You can also easily uninstall programs in bulk through WingetUI’s “Installed Packages” tab, but note that some items in this menu are part of the operating system. Be careful about uninstalling things you don’t recognize.
And yes, MacUpdater remains an excellent option, worth the $11. I revisited the free alternative Latest, and it’s still not as thorough.
Now try this
Apple’s new Windows apps: Apple has officially launched its Music, TV, and Devices apps for Windows, ending a “preview” period that began more than a year ago. All three are meant to replace iTunes, which remains available for now even though Apple discontinued the Mac version in 2019.
The new apps are pretty straightforward unless you’re trying to load your own music or video files onto an iPhone or iPad. In that case, you’ll need to use the Import function in the Music and Video apps (buried behind a tiny “…” menu at the top), then jump over to the Devices app to sync them.
Send secret info: Retriever is a neat little tool for requesting a password or other sensitive info from another person: The site generates a link that you can send along with your request (like, “Hey, what’s your Peacock password again?”), and the other person can type their answer and send a link back. The answer will only appear in the original browser you sent the request from, so no one else can see it even if they manage to get the link. (Via the Tech Productivity newsletter.)
Further reading
- By me: I switched to a foldable phone and now it’s hard going back.
- Ring hikes prices for single-camera subscriptions to $5 per month, up a buck.
- Echo Connect, which added Alexa voice control to landline phones, will soon stop working.
- The Twitter alternative Bluesky is now open to anyone. Here’s a primer.
- Directions in Google Maps get a little facelift.
Spend wisely
Looking for a cheap desktop PC? Dell has refurbished options for 50% off plus free shipping with the promo code YEAREND3070. The cheapest model includes an 8th-gen Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage plus a DVD drive for $160 with coupon. Yes, it’s a six-year-old computer, but it should be more than sufficient for basic computing or building a Plex, Channels DVR, and/or PlayOn media server.
Thanks for reading!
Regretfully, I used the phrase “sewing confusion” instead of “sowing confusion” in last week’s item about Comcast’s “10G” internet service, an error that sowed no shortage of discontent in at least a few of you. On the upside, at least you know this newsletter isn’t being written by AI, and that my their-they’re-there track record remains immaculate (I think).
Got more questions, comments, or grammatical corrections for me? Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared