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Issue #5: Tech tips for smarter travel

Plus: Gmail privacy fears, Android texting from your PC, and Prime Day preview deals

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Having recently returned from a vacation, I've got travel tips on the brain. Although you certainly don't need technology to make the most of your travels, the right apps and gadgets can help everything go smoothly. Here are some of my favorites:

Bring a battery pack with you: An extra source of power can be indispensable on long flights or road trips, and these days you can get large battery packs for little cash. I've been using this battery pack from Charmast, which can charge a phone upwards of five times and has ports for USB-A, USB-C, MicroUSB, and Apple Lightning. It also came with a mesh case and a few power adapters. It's normally $50, but I grabbed it around Black Friday last year for $35. Amazon's upcoming Prime Day on July 16 might be a good time to get similar battery pack deals.

Use Tripit, Google Calendar, or Google Assistant to keep your plans handy: How much time have you wasted digging through email just to remind yourself when your flight's taking off? Tripit and Google Calendar can make that information more easily accessible. Sign up for the former, and it can pull out flight times from your email and add them to your calendar. (You can also add plans manually by forwarding confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com.) If you use Google Calendar, it can also grab flight details and other event plans from Gmail. This may be enabled automatically, but you can find the option under "Events from Gmail" in your calendar settings.

Gmail users can also ask Google Assistant for details about flights, hotels, and other travel bookings. Just use the Google Assistant app or a Google Home speaker and say "When's my next flight?" or "What are my hotel details?"

Plot your rest stop strategy: Pop quiz: You're coming up on an exit that advertises a Wendy's, a Taco Bell, and a Dunkin Donuts. But you're also approaching In-N-Out Burger territory, and if you press on a little further, maybe you'll strike gold. What do you do? The correct answer is to download iExit, which lists all the upcoming restaurants, hotels, lodging options, and gas stations (with prices) along U.S. interstates. No more rest station roulette for you.

If you're feeling more adventurous, check out TVFoodMaps, which lists all the restaurants that have appeared on shows like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. (It's not a bad idea to cross-reference with Yelp or TripAdvisor, just to make sure TV fame hasn't let the food go downhill.)

Prepare to be offline: Whether your traveling domestically or abroad, you should be ready for a lack of internet access.

With Google Maps, you can download area maps ahead of time and get turn-by-turn directions when you're offline. (Instructions here.) Google Translate can store languages for offline use as well. (Instructions here.)

Don't neglect entertainment, either. For video, both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video allow you to store videos for offline playback through their mobile apps. Just look for the download button next to the video you want to save. (One word of caution: These downloads have time limits, so if you've downloaded videos for a previous trip, you'll need to do it again before your next one.)

You can also download music for offline use if you subscribe to Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music, Pandora, Amazon Prime, or Amazon Music Unlimited. For games on your smartphone or tablet, I'd suggest launching them in Airplane Mode before you leave to make sure they don't require an internet connection.

Take some TV and tunes: Speaking of entertainment, a Bluetooth speaker and small streaming TV device can help you relax during downtime. Wirecutter has some great speaker recommendations across a wide range of prices.

For streaming video on a television, Chromecast will be the simplest option since you control it with your phone instead of a separate remote, but it doesn't support logging into hotel Wi-Fi or other networks that use a "captive portal." If you don't mind packing a remote, Amazon's Fire TV Stick or Roku's Streaming Stick are better options.

Use your phone as a hotspot: Depending on your data plan, you may be able to turn your phone into a mobile hotspot and supply Wi-Fi to other nearby devices. This can save you lots of money on hotel Wi-Fi charges, and chances are you'll have a faster connection to boot. On iPhone, you'll find Personal Hotspot under Settings > Cellular. On Android, you'll find Hotspot and Tethering in the Networking and Internet section.

Split the bill: To take the hassle out of paying for group vacations, check out Splitwise. The free app lets multiple people enter their expenses, then figures out the best way for everyone to settle up.

Did I miss anything? Got questions? I'd love to hear your suggestions and feedback.


Tip of the moment

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If you have an Android phone, Google has added a way to read and reply to text messages from your computer or tablet. Just open Google's Android Messages app on your phone and tap the "..." button in the top-right corner, then select "Messages for web." (Some Android phones, such as those made by Samsung, use a different messaging app by default; make sure you're using Google's version.) On your computer, head to messages.android.com and use your phone's camera to scan the QR code. Toggle "Remember this computer" first if you don't want to repeat the process later.

This isn't the only way to get Android messages on your computer. MightyText has offered this capability for years, and Pulse offers offers a slick subscription-based service for syncing messages. If you have a Windows PC, you can also use the Cortana app to read and respond to text messages from the Windows 10 notification center.

Still, Google's version doesn't involve paying extra or entrusting your messaging data with a third party, and it's worked pretty well in my experience so far.


Need to know

Who's got your Gmail data? One of the best ways to get more out of Gmail is to connect it with third-party apps and services. Tripit (which I mentioned above) can scan your inbox for upcoming travel information, Shoeboxed can automatically gather up email receipts, and third-party email clients such as Newton and Spark often add new email features long before Google gets around to doing so.

But using those apps can come at a cost. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an eye-opening piece about data collection by apps that work with Gmail and other popular email services. In one notable example, a receipt tracking and reimbursement app called Earny was sharing its data with a company called Return Path, which in turn sells that data to other companies for marketing purposes. Return Path was also letting its employees read users' emails to help train the software's automated features. An email sorting app called Edison was doing something similar.

It's no secret that when you allow apps to work with Gmail, you're giving them access to your emails. That's how those apps work in the first place, and Google requires explicit permission from users every time they hook up a new app. But Google has no clear policies against passing that data to other companies for marketing purposes--a surprising revelation, given that Google itself stopped mining data for ad purposes last year--and has no protections against having humans read your private messages. While Google says it reviews all apps to make sure they're not misrepresenting themselves, ultimately it's passing the buck to other company's privacy policies, which no one reads.

I don't think this story merits swearing off third-party Gmail apps entirely, but I hope Google is considering stronger protections and clearer disclosures so users know what they're getting into. In the meantime, we should be skeptical about apps that don't have clearly-disclosed business models, such as display advertisements or paid subscription plans. And if you haven't recently checked which apps have access to your Gmail data, now's a good time to do so.

Turn a Fire tablet into an Alexa screen: Amazon is now selling charging docks for Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets that almost turns them into Echo Show devices. While docked, the tablets will switch to a "Show Mode" that displays information in response to Alexa voice commands. That way, you can see the forecast, sports scores, cover art, and more alongside Alexa's spoken responses.

We have an Echo Show in our kitchen and enjoy it, so this seems like a neat idea, but I think Amazon erred in omitting far-field microphones and a speaker from the dock itself. I could imagine getting annoyed if I wanted to ask Alexa something but had left the tablet in another room. If that possibility doesn't bother you, Amazon is selling Fire HD 8 dock for $40 and the Fire HD 10 dock for $55. (They're both currently on sale for $5 off.)

Around the web


Spend wisely

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Amazon's Prime Day sales event is coming up on July 16, and you can expect some big discounts on Fire TV players and Echo speakers then. In the meantime, a few early deals are already worth highlighting:

A new perk (and an apology)

After sending out the previous newsletter, a couple problems came to my attention: First, the headline incorrectly read "Issue #3" instead of "Issue #4," as described in the subject. Those who subscribed after the newsletter went out received an updated version, but at least one of those readers was unable to open any links. If you've experienced either error, and would like a corrected version of last week's newsletter, just shoot me an email and I'll send it your way.

Now for some more exciting news: My vision for Advisorator is to make your subscription even more valuable over time. To that end, I'd like to start testing a biweekly chat session, where you can drop in and ask me questions in real-time. Think of it as office hours (Advisorate-hours, perhaps?) for troubleshooting, product recommendations, cord-cutting advice, or any other tech topics you're curious about. While I'm always happy to answer your questions by email, a chat room will allow us to have a back-and-forth conversation if needed.

I'm considering this an experiment for now, but let's schedule the first session of Advisorate-hours (I'm going with that name unless someone stops me) for next Monday, July 16, from 1 p.m. to 2. p.m. Eastern time. Add it to your calendar, then use this link to join the chatroom when the time comes. If you can't make it, you can still drop in your questions ahead of time and revisit the room later for answers. Hope to see you there!

And as always, thank you for reading and subscribing.

-Jared


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