If you’re using your smart TV to view media, whether it’s watching videos on YouTube, or listening to music on Spotify, try to make it a point to sign into these apps on your smartphone. They’ll often allow you to register your smart TV by following the link on the screen in your smartphone’s browser. […]

If you’re planning on having a movie night, consider signing into your smart TV ahead of time. If you have to do it with others around, make sure they’re people you can trust with your credentials. Otherwise, have everyone leave the room so your credentials remain private. Your sign-in information can be a direct line […]

Most smart televisions will allow you to cast media apps, such as Netflix or YouTube, directly from your phone or laptop if connected to the same Wi-Fi signal. This is a safer, and in a lot of cases, more efficient way to view your favorite media without having to compromise your login credentials.

Many devices in your smart home, from your Wi-Fi router to a new baby monitor, may ship with a default username and password, such as “admin” for both credentials. You should change them as soon as possible to avert exposure to botnets designed to take over devices with easily guessed login credentials.

Before selling a smart device, consider factory resetting after backing up any media you’d like to keep. A factory reset can usually be performed through the settings menu of any smart device. This assures that all of your personal data and accounts are deleted and can’t be accessed. Be sure to boot up the device […]

If you don’t want your smart speaker hearing your conversations, but you don’t want the hassle of consistently muting and unmuting it or using a voice remote, you can try Paranoid. Paranoid is a device that sits on the mute button of the smart speaker and only turns it off when it hears the wake […]