When watching a video news clip on an iPhone news app like ABC News, you have to endure a 30-second annoying ad before you get to the actual clip? If you notice down at the bottom of your screen, there might be a tracking bar that you can use to pause and fast-forward. If so, keep pressing the right arrow and bypass the video ad.

If you select a photo in the Photo app and click on the Heart icon, it creates and places that special photo in a Favorite Album.

Want to hide your important stuff? In my Notes App, I keep a copy of my passwords, credit card info, bank accounts and photos of my insurance and driver’s license. You can password protect this note so nobody can see it by clicking on the upper box with an arrow in it and then choosing Lock Note. Another way is to download Cardmate Pro and Keepers, which are two of the best apps for keeping passwords and accounts private.

In Messages, you can create an unreadable message that no one can see except the person on the other end, who has to erase over it with a finger to display the message. To do this, open up Messages, type in your secret message and press and hold on the send microphone button until a menu appears. Tap on Invisible Ink and then click on the up arrow key to send it.

Instead of receiving the latest security updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, customers saw an error message instead that said: “Unsupported Hardware. Your PC uses a processor that isn’t supported on this version of Windows, and you won’t receive any more updates.” Time to buy an Apple, folks.

And Microsoft has gradually been infesting Windows 10 with annoying ads. The first emerged on the lock screen as “tips” and now with Explorer.

Apple has released iTunes 12.6 with a new feature for movie rental playback. Described as “rent once, watch anywhere,” Apple says you can now rent a movie on one device, then finish watching it on another device.

The Senate recently voted to make it easier for ISPs like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T to track and share sensitive information about their customers without your permission. This puts people at risk of increased identity theft, data breach and financial fraud. In other words, they can look where you’ve been on the Internet. So, to get around this, open up Safari; at the top menu, choose History, scroll down, and click on Clear History. If you do this every time right after using Safari, if makes it harder to track you.

Deal of the week! I just rebuilt a Macbook Pro laptop with brand new insides and a new battery. Good price to Lahaina News readers…

Send your computer-related questions to mauimist8669@yahoo.com.