Technologies
Emergency Alert Test: Heads Up for Today’s Warning Message on Your Phone
Don’t panic when your phones, TVs and radios are hit with an emergency message from FEMA and the FCC today.

Prepare yourself: Your phone, TV and radio will receive emergency messages when the nationwide alert system is tested today. The US Federal Communications Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency are trialing their US-wide emergency alert systems on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
The Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEA, system for phones is being tested at the same time as the Emergency Alert System, or EAS, for TVs and radios. It’s the seventh nationwide EAS test and the second test to all cellular devices in the US.
Here’s everything you need to know about the test today.
What to know about the emergency alert test
At around 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT on Wednesday, Oct. 4, cell towers will begin broadcasting an emergency alert for 30 minutes. If your phone is in range of a cell tower, you’ll get a message that says: «THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.»
The emergency alerts will be in English or Spanish, depending on your phone’s set language. The phone alerts will be «accompanied by a unique tone and vibration» to make them as accessible as possible.
The alert sent on TVs and radios will last for 1 minute and will state: «This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.»
If a severe weather or other event occurs on Oct. 4, the test will be postponed until Oct. 11.
What kind of events trigger emergency alerts?
These are the types of WEA and EAS alerts that could be sent to you in nontest situations:
- Public safety alerts.
- AMBER alerts during child-abduction crises.
- Presidential alerts in case of national emergencies.
There are also alerts sent for imminent threats such as:
- Extreme weather and natural disaster alerts from the National Weather Service, like flash floods, tornados, tsunamis, severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, typhoons, storm surges, extreme wind, dust storms and snow squalls.
- Active shooters.
- Human-made disasters.
- Blue Alerts for when law enforcement officers are attacked.
- Other threatening emergencies.
WEA messages are unaffected by network congestion.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 28, #687
Hints and answers for Connections for April 28, #687.

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.
As an ’80s girl, I immediately spotted the four words in the yellow category of today’s Connections puzzle. I definitely had at least three of those products in my college apartment, so that was an easy solve. And since I read a lot of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, the blue category came along pretty easily, too. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now 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 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: Bought at Ulta, maybe.
Green group hint: Not fancy.
Blue group hint: Nancy Drew would spot these.
Purple group hint: Yawn.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Hair products.
Green group: Austere.
Blue group: Clues at a crime scene.
Purple group: Weary.
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 hair products. The four answers are gel, mousse, spray and wax.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is austere. The four answers are bare, plain, simple and spare.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is clues at a crime scene. The four answers are fiber, fingerprint, hair and tire mark.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is weary. The four answers are bore, drain, exhaust and tire.
Technologies
Step Out of the Shadows. How to Turn Off Your iPhone’s Incognito Mode
The iPhone’s incognito mode is ideal for sensitive searches and avoiding targeted ads. But there are time when you may want to turn it off.

At a time when privacy and security have become hot topics, it’s smart to look at how you’re using protections built-in your phone. The iPhone’s private browsing, also known as incognito mode, serves as a digital cloak — allowing you to surf the web without leaving traces. Private browsing works on Apple’s Safari browser and some third-party browsers like Chrome.
There are a whole range of reasons to take advantage of incognito mode. You might be using a shared device, researching sensitive topics (maybe a surprise gift idea?) or dialing your privacy precautions up a notch by working to circumvent targeted ads or third-party cookies. This is when incognito mode becomes something of a confidante, and it gives you an added layer of privacy protection.
But once you’ve finished, you might want to step out of incognito mode on your iPhone and allow your browser to remember your steps. For example, maybe you’re logged into your account on a retailer’s website and don’t want to have to log back in every time you visit the page. Let’s proceed with a step-by-step guide on how to exit incognito mode on an iPhone, using Safari and Chrome.
How to exit incognito mode on Safari
1. Open Safari: Launch the Safari browser on your iPhone. You’ll find its icon on the home screen.
2. Look for the Tabs button: At the bottom right corner of the screen, you’ll see a square icon overlapping another square. Tap on it. This button represents your open tabs.
3. View all tabs: Once you tap the Tabs button, you’ll see a screen displaying all your open tabs. These tabs might include regular browsing tabs, any Tab Groups you’ve made and any incognito tabs you’ve opened called Private Browsing.
4. Close incognito tabs: Swipe left on any private or incognito tabs you want to close. After closing all incognito tabs, you’re officially out of incognito mode! You’ll now be browsing in regular mode, and your browsing history will be saved. If you have too many tabs open and prefer not to close every single one, you can simply swipe left in the view all tabs screen from Private/incognito tabs to get back on regular mode.
How to exit Incognito mode on Chrome on your iPhone
If you use Google’s Chrome browser, you’ll follow a familiar process to leave incognito mode.
1. Open Google Chrome: Launch the Chrome browser on your iPhone.
2. Look for the Tabs Button: At the bottom right corner of the screen, you’ll see a square icon with a number on it (if you have open tabs). Tap on it. This button represents your open tabs and the number corresponds with how many tabs you have open.
3. Leave Incognito mode: After tapping on the tabs button, you’ll be able to switch between incognito browsing or regular browsing by tapping the Incognito icon or the regular browsing icon. The Incognito icon is a pair of glasses and a fedora to resemble a secret disguise. To go back to browsing on regular mode, simply tap the square button with the number on it.
How to permanently turn off private browsing on an iPhone
You can also remove the private browsing tab on Safari. In Settings under Screen Time, when you switch Web Content from «Unrestricted» to «Limit Adult Websites,» the iPhone reboots Safari and removes Private Browsing from the Tabs view. To get to the setting you open Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, tap Store, Web, Siri & Game Center Content, select Web Content and tap Limit Adult Websites.
Remember, using incognito mode isn’t foolproof — it won’t hide your activity from your internet service provider or certain extensions. But it’s supposed to offer that extra layer of privacy when needed.
Technologies
Apple Has a Surprising FaceTime Feature for PC and Android Phone Owners
No special software needed. Whether you have an Android phone or a Windows PC, Apple made it so you can join FaceTime calls with iPhone owners.

FaceTime is one of the most popular features on the iPhone and lets users make video and audio calls across Apple devices. But for years if you had a friend or family member on an Android phone or PC you weren’t able to have them join. All that changed in 2021, when the iPhone-maker made it possible for Android and Windows users to join FaceTime calls. This was one of the initial steps Apple took to make its ecosystem more accessible, though these changes are still quite limited.
For example, while iMessage remains exclusive to iOS, Apple announced RCS support as part of iOS 18 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Rich Communication Services is used widely on Android phones for texting and Apple’s adoption should improve the messaging experience between iPhone users and those on Android devices. This doesn’t mean the end of blue and green bubbles, though. The announcement is another sign that Apple sees value in giving Android users access to some of its most well-known features, albeit on its own terms.
When Apple announced it was expanding FaceTime access, many were under the impression that Apple had made FaceTime for Android, when in reality the company had made it possible for people to join a FaceTime call from a web browser. This means Android and PC users can participate in FaceTime conversations, but there’s a catch: they can’t initiate calls directly, they can only join when invited. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to initiate FaceTime calls to Android users if you’re an iPhone user, and how to receive FaceTime calls if you use an Android phone.
FaceTime: How to video chat on Android or a PC
Like with any call, someone has to initiate it. And if you’re on an Android phone or using a PC, that person is going to have to be someone with an iPhone, iPad or Mac.
Here’s how to initiate a FaceTime call as an iOS user:
- Open the FaceTime app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap Create Link.
- A screen will slide up from the bottom that says FaceTime Link.
- Click Add Name to enter a name for your chat.
- On the same screen, you’ll see options to share the FaceTime link via Messages, Mail, Calendar or other apps on your iPhone or iPad. You can also choose to copy and paste the link yourself.
The process is nearly identical to generating a FaceTime video call link from a Mac.
If you’re an Android user, here’s how to join a FaceTime call:
- Click the FaceTime call link sent by an iOS user.
- The link will open in your browser (you’ll need the latest version of Chrome or Edge).
- Enter your name, and tap Continue.
- Wait for the iOS host to let you in.
- Enjoy your cross-platform FaceTime conversation.
If you’re on a PC, this process works as well.
Remember, Android alternatives including Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams allow Android users to initiate video calls, and remain great options for video calls between Android and iOS devices.
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