Technologies

Why You Should Clear Your iPhone Cache

Why you should clear your iPhone cache and exactly how to do it in Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

Your iPhone is a handheld powerhouse, but it’s not immune to getting a little overwhelmed. After all, how many web pages do you browse through every day? Even behemoths like the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max can get bogged down if you’re not keeping them optimized. One of the simplest pieces of upkeep is clearing your iPhone cache every month.

Believe me, I get it. We all have a laundry list of things to remember to do each month. Pay your rent or mortgage. Give your home a deeper clean than the weekly sweep. Talk to that person you meant to talk to last month. Those little tasks add up, which makes them easy to forget. But this is such a small task, you can do it in seconds after reading this guide.

Whether you’re browsing in Chrome, Safari or elsewhere on your iPhone, your cache builds up digital clutter over time. Clearing your cache gives your browser a new start, which can speed up your browsing whether you’re using iOS 15 or iOS 16. (And if you’re trying to get your phone to run faster, try managing your iPhone’s storage.)

Think of your browser cache like a digital storage closet. Over time, an iPhone stores website data like photos and banners in that closet so it can retrieve them when you visit a site. Most of the time, this speeds up your browsing. Before too long, though, that closet starts to get cluttered, and the contents may no longer match what you need.

Eventually, your browser’s cache becomes outdated and the data being retrieved no longer matches the data actually being used on the website. The result? Slower load speeds and wonky formatting.

That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage. Note that clearing your cache will sign you out of sites you’re currently logged into. Still, it’s generally worth that mild inconvenience every month or so to keep things moving quickly.

Here are step-by-step guides on how to clear your cache on your iPhone based on the browser you use.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari

Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your Safari cache in a few short steps. Starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed in to your iCloud account. As a result all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign in to everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Select Safari from the list of apps.

3. Go to Advanced > Website Data.

4. Scroll down and select Remove All Website Data.

5. Choose Remove Now in the pop-up box.

Then you’re set!

Read more: Best iPhone for 2022

How to clear your iPhone cache in Chrome

Chrome is another popular browser for iPhone users. The overall process for clearing your Chrome cache requires a few more steps, and you’ll need to do things through the Chrome browser itself. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome app.

2. Select the three dots in the bottom right to open more options.

3. Scroll across the top and select Settings.

4. Select Privacy and Security in the next menu.

5. Then select Clear Browsing Data to open up one last menu.

6. Select the intended time range at the top of the menu (anywhere from Last Hour to All Time).

7. Make sure that Cookies, Site Data is selected, along with Cached Images and Files. Finally, hit Clear Browsing Data at the bottom of the screen.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Firefox

If you’re a Firefox devotee, don’t worry. Clearing the cache on your iPhone is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps.

1. Click the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner to open up options.

2. Choose Settings at the bottom of the menu.

3. Select Data Management in the Privacy section.

4. You can select Website Data to clear data for individual sites, or select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen to clear data from all selected fields.

What happens when you clear the cache?

Clearing your cache removes the website data your phone stored locally to prevent having to download that data upon each new visit. The data in your cache builds over time and can end up slowing things down if it becomes too bulky or out of date. (My phone had about 150MB of data stored in Chrome when I checked.) Clearing that data gives sites a fresh start, which may fix some loading errors and speed up your browser. However, clearing your cache also signs you out of pages, so be prepared to sign in to everything again.

How often do I need to clear my cache?

Most people only need to clear their caches once every month or two. That’s generally the point when your browser will build up a cache large enough to start slowing things down. If you frequent a large number of sites, you should err on the side of clearing your cache more often.

For more, check out how to download iOS 16 today, the best new iOS 16 features and some hidden iOS 16 features. You can also take a look at how each new iPhone 14 model compares to the others.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 13 #740

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 13, No. 740.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be easy for fans of a certain musical genre. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Mountain band.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Traditional tunes.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BLUE, GAME, CHAR, CHARM, SARGE, SEEN, BRAT, BRIT, RILE, NOSE, DARN

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

BANJO, FIDDLE, GUITAR, MANDOLIN, HARMONICA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is BLUEGRASSMUSIC. To find it, start with the B that’s three letters to the right on the bottom row, and wind up and around.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 13, #1006

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 13, No. 1,006.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. That purple one is a real head-scratcher, once again. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: I don’t want that.

Green group hint: Time to count.

Blue group hint: Not floors or ceilings.

Purple group hint: Sounds like…

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: «No thanks.»

Green group: Kinds of numbers.

Blue group: Kinds of walls.

Purple group: Homophones of non-numeric amounts.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is «No thanks.» The four answers are later, nah, next time and pass.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of numbers. The four answers are even, irrational, perfect and prime.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of walls. The four answers are Berlin, brick, fourth and Great.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is homophones of non-numeric amounts. The four answers are awl (all), nun (none), phew (few) and sum (some).

Quick tips for Connections

#1: Say the clue words out loud, pausing before and after each. That helps you hear the words in the context of a phrase. The Connections editors love to group words together that are used in similar phrasing, like ____ Up.

#2: Don’t go for the obvious grouping. These editors are smart. Once, they offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle. None of those words were in the same category. If you like, hit the «shuffle» button to give yourself a different perspective on the words.

#3: Break down any compound words and look for similarities. «Rushmore» was once in a puzzle where the connection was that each word started with the name of a rock band.

Technologies

iPhone Lost and Battery Drained? Here’s How You Can Still Find It

Even a dead battery can’t keep you and your misplaced iPhone apart. This is the ultimate guide to using Find My to locate a dead iPhone.

You’d think it’s impossible to lose track of an iPhone you carry everywhere, but we do it all the time — too often before we have a chance to charge it. Apple’s Find My feature, with its crowdsourced Find My Network, will usually pinpoint the phone’s location. But what about when the battery is totally drained?

Turns out Find My works even then. It sends your phone’s location to iCloud, even when the device is off. For added defense, Stolen Device Protection secures sensitive data, such as credit cards and passwords.

If you have an iPhone 11 or newer model (excluding the 2020 and 2022 iPhone SE, the iPhone 16E and iPhone 17E), you have the ultra-wideband chip for offline finding. As long as Find My is enabled and you’re signed in to your Apple ID, you can locate your iPhone even if the battery is dead. Before panicking, follow these steps to recover your phone.

Apple Find My and Find My Network aren’t the same

Apple Find My and Find My Network are different, which can be confusing. While Find My is the name of an app, the Find My Network is what allows you to locate your device when it’s offline, turned off or low on power. It’s also how AirTags update their locations automatically, even when buried at the bottom of luggage on a plane.

You can use the Find My Network feature within Apple’s Find My app or sign into your Apple ID at iCloud.com to locate your misplaced iPhone. Plus, the app also allows you to add other Apple products and items that you want to track to your Find My Network.

How to turn on Find My and Find My Network

You need to make sure Find My and Find My Network are set up to allow you to locate your switched-off iPhone. Open Settings and follow these steps:

Tap on your name in the Settings menu.
Go to Find My > Find My iPhone and make sure the switch is toggled on.
Below Find My iPhone, you’ll see Find My Network and Send Last Location toggles. Turn them on, too.

You can check if your iPhone is discoverable even when it’s switched off by going to the power menu: Swipe down from the top-right corner to view Control Center and press and hold the power button in that corner, or hold the side and volume down button. Under the «slide to power off» slider, look for «iPhone Findable After Power Off.» Your iPhone is now all set to be found, even if a thief turns it off.

However, there are a few exceptions. If your iPhone hasn’t sent its location to Apple through Find My in the last seven days, you’ll see «No location found» next to your device. It can happen if there’s an issue with your device’s location services.

How to find a lost iPhone with the Find My app on another Apple device

Now comes the hard part: What happens after you lose your iPhone? Assuming you’ve completed the steps above, you can keep calm. If you have another Apple device, such as an Apple Watch, iPad or MacBook, follow the steps below to locate your misplaced or stolen iPhone. This will also work on a friend’s or family member’s device that you’ve shared your location with.

Open the Find My app and locate your iPhone in the list under the Devices tab. You should see it in this list (even if it’s powered off) as long as you have previously enabled the Find My iPhone, Find My Network and Send Last Location options.
Tap or click the name of your iPhone. This should take you to a menu with several options for finding your phone or marking it as lost.
If you misplaced your iPhone and you’re sure that it’s nearby, tap or click Play Sound or Directions to make the device play a sound or get directions to the device’s last recorded location, respectively.
If you’re sure your iPhone is stolen, tap Activate under the Mark As Lost option. This immediately locks the device with your passcode, suspends Apple Pay and displays a custom message with your contact information for anyone who finds it. You can also use Send Last Location to locate the last known location of your device.

How to find a lost iPhone if you don’t have another Apple device

In case you don’t have another Apple device, you can sign into your iCloud account in a web browser to find your lost iPhone (though this option can be troublesome if you don’t have another Apple device because of two-factor authentication). Follow these steps to use a web browser to see your lost iPhone’s location:

Go to icloud.com/find and sign in with your Apple ID.
Go to the Devices list.
From here, use the same options for playing a sound, marking your device as lost or erasing the device as you would in the app.

You can also disable Control Center access on the lock screen while traveling abroad to prevent a thief from turning off data or enabling Airplane mode. To do this, do the following:

Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode) and enter your passcode.
Under the Allow Access When Locked section, toggle off the Control Center option.

This option can add some inconvenience to day-to-day use, but I recommend turning off Control Center while traveling.

These settings give you the best chance of finding your iPhone if it’s been stolen and turned off. For more iPhone tips and advice, check out our guide to the Camera Control and how to block distracting websites.