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Got an iPhone? Expert shows you how to stop paying Apple for services you don't want.

A few steps could save you a lot of money.

via Yeray Hdez Guerra/Flickr

A man is shocked after seeing his iPhone charges.

Americans everywhere are dealing with subscription fatigue. A report by the financial experts at the Motley Fool found that 57% of respondents to their survey believe they are overpaying for subscriptions and 40% say they have too many.

The worst part is checking your bank account and find you’re being charged for a subscription or service that you don’t even use.

A fast way to cut back on your subscription payments is to unsubscribe to services on your phone. Content strategist Marvelle Reed, aka the “Marketing Misfit,” recently shared a video on TikTok explaining how to see what you’ve subscribed to on your iPhone and cancel the services you don’t need.

"If you've got a bunch of charges coming from Apple that you don't know where they came from or you don't know why they still trying to charge you and you want to cancel all them checks, this is what you do," Reed opens the video.

#greenscreenvideo #greenscreen

@marketingmarvy

#greenscreenvideo #greenscreen

1. Go to "Settings” on your device

2. Click on your profile

3. Go to "Media and Purchases"

4. Click on "View Account"

5. Scroll down to "Purchase History"

6. Review all of your charges and turn off subscriptions you no longer want

The video was a big help to those who discovered they were being charged for services they didn’t need. "You are sent from heaven!!! The way I was just talking about all the random charges on my credit card that I can’t keep up with. Thank you, my friend!!" Summertime wrote. "Thanks for this. There were two charges for an app that I canceled," Aailyahalexis added.

Reed’s post is also a great reminder for everyone, even if they don’t have an iPhone, to check their bank account once a month for unnecessary services or subscriptions and those that may have raised their prices. In a world where an increasing number of services are on a subscription model, staying one step ahead of unnecessary charges is a big part of staying financially fit.

1. Go to "Settings” on your device

2. Click on your profile

3. Go to "Media and Purchases"

4. Click on "View Account"

5. Scroll down to "Purchase History"

6. Review all of your charges and turn off subscriptions you no longer want

The video was a big help to those who were being charged for services they don’t need. "You are sent from heaven!!! The way I was just talking about all the random charges on my credit card that I can’t keep up with. Thank you, my friend!!" Summertime wrote. Thanks for this. There were two charges for an app that I canceled," Aailyahalexis added.

Reed’s post is also a great reminder for everyone, even if they don’t have an iPhone, to check their bank account once a month for services they didn’t know they were paying for or subscriptions that may have raised their prices. In a world where an increasing number of services are on a subscription model, staying one step ahead of unnecessary charges is a big aprt of financial fitness.

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Pop Culture

A heartfelt plea to put down the phone and remember what makes moviegoing so special

A lack of phone etiquette runs amok in many places, but in a theater…it hits different.

Canva

Let's make some movie magic.

When streaming entered the picture, movie theaters began making their slow death march into obscurity. Then, when COVID hit and being entertained from the comfort of your own couch became more mainstream than ever, it seemed as though the lights of the marquee might dim for good, casting moviegoing into a bygone era.

But now, in an epic plot twist, seats are being filled once again. Perhaps the box office hasn’t fully bounced back, but there is a marked surge in interest. With a huge uptick in tickets being purchased not just for franchise blockbusters but original stories in a variety of genres, cinema very well may be approaching its second Golden Age. Director Francis Ford Coppola seems to think so, and he knows his stuff, I reckon.

It’s clear that many of us are longing for the opportunity to be part of an audience again. After all, coming together as a community to witness storytelling is an ancient, integral part of the human experience. There are just too many alchemical moments that happen in an auditorium—a collective gasp, uproarious laughter that permeates throughout the crowd, shared sobs, a long, luxurious standing ovation—that remind us we’re not alone in the way we feel, and they simply can’t be replicated at home.

Plus, as with the Barbenheimer phenomenon—the countless memes, themed outfits, and double feature screenings—we are reminded that the moviegoing experience can become so much bigger than the actual movie itself. And that’s all part of the fun.
@mollyshen Which is the correct way to do barbenheimer? 😂 #barbie #oppenheimer #movie #movietheater #barbenheimer #barbiegirl #relatable ♬ Barbie World (with Aqua) [From Barbie The Album] - Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice & Aqua

After many opportunities to celebrate, explore and simply bask in our own humanity with others (in the flesh, in real time) have been stripped away for so long, we long for a space that provides those things. Moviegoing provides that. It’s like Nicole Kidman says, “We come to this place for magic…because we need that, all of us.”

However, if we really want to achieve “that indescribable feeling when the lights begin to dim,” we might need to set aside some of our modern-day habits.

We now live in a world where every moment of our lives can be recorded on our phones. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this—the fact that it’s easier than ever to capture sweet memories and share things online is lovely in many ways. But, just because we can record anywhere and everywhere doesn’t mean we should.

via GIPHY

For one thing, it doesn't necessarily benefit the person doing it. Odds are you’re going to a movie in part to escape from reality for a bit, right? Even if you are simply snapping a selfie or creating a quick Instagram story, the device that constantly barrages you with the various updates, messages, news, notifications yadda yadda yadda…that you are trying to escape from is sitting right there in your hand. So mentally, are you ever really freed from its grasp?

Not to mention there are multiple studies that suggest relying on phones to collect our memories really does make us miss the moment entirely, especially the important ones. So why not allow yourself to leave the phone behind for your own sense of peace? It’s not like you’re going totally screen-less…there’s a giant one right in front of you.

Homer At The Movies GIFfrom Movie GIFs

Second: it’s a real bummer for those in the theater sharing the moment with you. And sharing is part of experience, remember?

It can be easy, especially in a time where it’s more than acceptable to treat ourselves as “the main character” of our story and the entire world as our living room, to forget that other people, well, exist, and that anywhere outside the home is a shared space. But if part of what makes going to the movies so enjoyable is, in fact, the shared interaction (and rest assured, it’s a big part) then it stands to reason that in those 90+ minutes, the adage of “treat others as you’d like to be treated” is all the more paramount to actually getting what you came for in the first place. Just think—for many, stealing away to the movie theater might have been the one fleeting moment in a week of stresses and responsibilities to sit back and simply engage in a story, away from the static of the modern world. The opportunity for you to do the same and escape with them is right there. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Perhaps you already practice good public phone etiquette (sincerely, thank you for your service). But many theater attendees do not practice this. It has become rather normal theater behavior to scroll, take selfies, film certain scenes with the flash on…so much so that there have already been multiple think pieces noting how “distracting,” “selfish” and “disrespectful” a trend it is. But rather than focusing on how much of a nuisance it is, perhaps we need to be reminded of what purpose moviegoing serves. Is it really just another social media op? Or is it this wonderful, transient, visceral event that actually makes you feel more connected? I know which one I would rather have.

amelie

Sit back and enjoy.

media.giphy.com

Bottom line: Watching a movie at the theater is different from watching a movie at home. And it should be. We do go to the theater for magic, but it’s up to us to make room for magic too.

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Family

Jennifer Garner explains the simple, empowering way she keeps her teens off social media

Her 17-year-old is “grateful” for it, she says.

RedCarpetReport/Flickr

Jennifer Garner has managed to keep her teens and tweens off of social media..

A huge part of parenting in the 21st century is figuring out how to navigate our kids' relationship with the internet. On one hand, we are deep into the technological age, where screens and the internet are an integral part of learning and staying connected with others. On the other hand, the online world comes with countless alluring and addictive pitfalls, which conscientious parents hope to help their kids avoid as long as possible.

Of all the elements of the internet that concern parents, social media sits near the top. The worst parts of kid and teen culture—comparison and competition, bullying, self-esteem issues, toxic body image messaging, etc.—are all amplified on social media. Saying no may sound simple enough, but anyone with kids knows they can be master negotiators and it's hard to tell your kids they can't be where all their friends are.

Actor and mom Jennifer Garner has managed to do just that, however, with a simple but effective approach that goes a step beyond just saying no.

Garner has three kids, ages 17, 13 and 11, whom she co-parents with ex-husband Ben Affleck. She has been outspoken about not letting her kids on social media, saying she doesn't "see anything positive" in it for them. But she doesn't just tell them they can't and leave it at that.

In an interview with the "Today" show, Hoda Kotb asked Garner how she manages to keep her teens off of social media without them hating her.

"I just said to my kids, ‘Show me the articles that prove that social media is good for teenagers, and then we’ll have the conversation,'" Garner said. "Find scientific evidence that matches what I have that says that it’s not good for teenagers, then we’ll chat.'"

Brilliant. Not only does that approach put the onus on the kids to make a solid argument backed up by solid evidence, but it removes the parental power struggle altogether. It's not "No, because I said so," but "No, because I love you and want you to be healthy, and the research shows this isn't healthy. But if you can find research to the contrary, I'm willing to reconsider." It's empowering because it invites kids to make the case for themselves.

Of course, kids are going to be hard-pressed to find scientific research to match the evidence that social media does more harm than good, especially for young people. So either they'll understand their parents' position by diving into the research or they won't bother trying because it's not important enough to them to put in the effort. Either way, the responsibility falls on their shoulders to make an argument beyond "but everybody else has it."

Singer Pink has a similar rule for her daughter Willow when it comes to getting a phone.

"I told her, point blank, 'If you can produce literature from a reputable source that tells me that social media is good for you, then you can be on it. Otherwise, good luck''" Pink shared on KTU 103.5.

The "show me the research" approach seems to be working for Garner. Kotb asked how her kids feel about it, and Garner said her 17-year-old is "grateful." She admitted that parenting is "a long haul" and that she still has two more kids to go, so "knock on wood," but so far so good.

Even adults can struggle to keep a healthy balance when it comes to social media and smartphone use, so sharing the research with kids and teens early on isn't a bad idea. There's no harm in delaying the struggles that inevitably come with social media, and the more parents push back against the "norm" of early exposure in smart and effective ways, the better off our kids will be in the long run.

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Pop Culture

These incredible acoustic cameras can actually see sound

Here's how they work.

via Steve Mould/YouTube

YouTube creator Steve Mould shows us what echo looks like through an acoustic camera.

It’s bizarre to think about seeing sound, but nowadays we can do just that. If you haven’t seen an acoustic camera before, that’s because they’re mainly used for industrial purposes, but they’ve been available commercially from gfai tech since 2001.

YouTuber Steve Mould, who has a science channel with over 2.1 million subscribers, took the complicated concept of the acoustic camera and made it easy to understand in his latest video, “Acoustic cameras can SEE sound.”

In the video, Mould explains how an acoustic camera is much like your smartphone's video recorder. But it also creates visual representations of sound emanating from where it’s generated within the video.

“They can show you where, in a scene, sound is coming from,” Mould says. The videos also allow you to isolate images within the recording and listen to any sound they produce.

The video shows how acoustic cameras are used in industrial settings for noise reduction and machine maintenance. For example, if a train is flying by at top speed, the acoustic camera can separate the sounds from each wheel as it passes. This allows engineers to analyze the sounds produced by each wheel to determine if they need to be fixed or replaced before there’s trouble.

To record the sound and visuals simultaneously, each camera has an array of strategically placed microphones to reproduce spatial information about sound. They even work in slow motion, and the echoes look amazing.

It’s not hard to imagine a world where, in addition to the video we take on our smartphones, we’ll be able to get a three-dimensional look at the soundscape as well.

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