Categories
Tech

The Steam Guard App Doesn’t Show the 2FA Code: How to Fix the Issue

Photo by Hamed Taha on Unsplash

Who says that the well-known Steam platform is only for those gamers who want to manage their accounts from a laptop or a desktop PC? The famous gaming service has built its own 2FA app for those who want an extra amount of security, and it’s called Steam Guard.

One great aspect of Steam Guard is that the app relies on its own two-factor authentication system instead of using the Google Authenticator so tware. Surely, a lot of people out there are reticent when it comes to installing an app that they can also very well do without.

But what can you do when the Steam Guard app doesn’t dis lay the 2FA code? Surely this is a very frustrating situation, and a lot of people ar  dealing with it. If they don’t get to solve the issue, they won’t be able to log in the r Steam accounts. Such a scenario will automatically result in specific games not starting anymore, and the notorious Counter-Strike: Global Offensi e is one of them. Not being able to hop into an online Counter-Strike match just because your Steam account has gone berserk is indeed something that no gamer wants. owever, we’re here to save the day, so keep on reading to find out how to solve this little technical issue!

Check the ‘spam’ folder on your email

If the 2FA code hasn’t arrived in your inbox, it could just be in the spam folder. A lot of emails end up there, although they don’t necessarily qualify as spam. Believe it or not, but the code that the Steam Gua d app sends you could arrive in that place as well, so be sure to check it out

Generate a backup code

Did you know that there is possible to generate a backup code from the Steam Guard app itself? If you have the app installed on a phone, whether it’s Android or iOS, there are some simple steps you need to take:

  1. Select the l bab menu, meaning the three bar icon from the upper right corner and hit the Account Details from the menu.
  2. Scroll down until you find the Account Security section. Select the Manage Steam Guard option and the Get Backup Codes options.
  3. Wait a few seconds for the SMS containing an OTP to arrive to you from Steam Guard. This will be the verification code. Once you enter it, a set of backup codes will appear. You can use those codes to sign in to y ur account at Steam.

Delete cache on PC and phone

Clearing cache from the devices where you have Steam or the Steam Guard app installed could also solve your problem with the 2FA code. Therefore, feel free to do so and check if everything will be ok afterward.

Update your device’s date and time

If the date and time on your compiter and phone are not correct, don’t be surprised if the Steam Guard app doesn’t send you the verification code anymore. If that’s the case, you need to set the date and time the right way and in accordance to your current location.

Steam’s servers  might be down for the count

If Steam’s servers are down, there’s pretty much nothing you can do except for embracing one of the biggest virtues of all: have some patience. Just go ahead to the Steam Status region and check the server status.

If all the methods fail, feel free to relaunch the Steam app  n your computer. A lot of errors can be solved by simply restarting apps, and this could also be the case here. Also, you can restart the Steam Guard app that you’re using from your phone or grab the latest update, if there is any available.

Categories
Tech

“Notifications Silenced” on iOS 15 and iOS 16: What Does the Message Mean?

Photo by Tron Le on Unsplash

Learning how to handle an iPhone isn’t exactly like a walk in the park if you’ve been using only Android devices until that point. However, grabbing and using a smartphone created by Apple can be one of the most pleasing experiences as soon as you understand how it works. But things can surely become confusing if you open a person’s iMessage chat thread and the ‘Contact has notifications silenced’ text label appears.

Contrary to what you may be tempted to believe in such a situation, the person in question didn’t either block or mute you. The Focus status feature, which has recently been implemented by Apple, is to blame for the message. But let’s get into more depth, shall we?

What does “Notifications silenced” mean?

Focus modes are among the newly introduced features, and they comprise various profiles of customized notification settings that allow the user to disable notifications on the iPhone based on specific criteria. In other words, Focus profiles are to blame for the appearance of the ‘Contact has notifications silenced’ prompt.

Within the Focus modes, there is the Share Focus Status feature, which has the role of informing others that one of the Focus modes is activated on your iPhone. Therefore, the ‘has notifications silenced’ message shall appear in iMessage.

The message will appear to your contacts on the iMessage app with whom, you have had a conversation. But supposing you want to get rid of the message, you need to know that this can be done a lot easier than you might think!

How to remove the ‘has notifications silenced’ message

First of all, you need to know that it’s not possible to get rid of the message if you’re seeing it for a contact. Only if the contact turns off the Focus mode the message won’t appear anymore.

How to turn off the Share Focus Status

It’s time to learn how to turn off the Share Focus Status, so feel free to pay a little attention to the steps below! In case you use iOS 16, here are the steps:

  1. Open the Settings menu from your iPhone device.
  2. Head over to Focus, and then hit the Focus status option.
  3. Next to the Focus profile that interests you, you have to turn off the toggle. Or, you can disable the Share Focus status that appears at the top so that the Focus status for all profiles will be disabled.

If you’re using an iPhone that runs on iOS 15, on the other hand, here’s what you need to do to disable the Share Focus Status:

  1. Open the Settings menu.
  2. Select the Focus option.
  3. Select the focus mode where you need to turn off the Focus status.
  4. Select the Focus Status and deactivate the toggle that appears on the next screen.

That’s all, congrats! But there’s more information you need to know!

How to deactivate the Focus Status for iMessage

Disabling the Focus status for each Focus at a time could be a bit frustrating. Therefore, try to disable it for iMessage directly! To do so, all you need to do is open the Settings menu from your iPhone, select Messages, and deactivate the toggle that appears next to Focus.

How to deactivate the Focus Mode

Learning how to disable the Focus Mode will automatically turn off the Focus status and make you get rid of the ‘Has notifications silenced’ message.

For iOS 16 users, they need to open the Control Center, select the currently active Focus icon, and turn it off. If you’re using iOS 15, on the other hand, open the Settings menu, select Focus, select the needed Focus mode, and deactivate it from the next screen that will appear.

That’s pretty much all you need to know about the ‘notifications silenced’ message that has made a lot of iPhone users become frustrated!

Categories
Tech

iPhones Displaying SOS Texts: What Do They Mean and How to Remove Them

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash

Let’s say that after reading tons of articles online about the old “Android vs. iPhone” subject, you’ve finally decided to buy yourself your first iPhone. Whether it’s the latest and the greatest iPhone 15, last year’s iPhone 14, or some older model, you might find yourself a bit frightened by the SOS text that appears in the top-right corner of the device. You’ve never dealt with such a situation before, which means that you clearly need some guidance.

We’re here to tell you what the SOS text displaying on an iPhone means and how you can get rid of it. Luckily, there’s more than one single way to remove the SOS text, so keep reading to find out!

What does “SOS Only” mean on an iPhone

If your iPhone displays the SOS icon or the SOS-only text, it means that your cellular network is going through some issues. Therefore, it’s impossible to make or receive usual phone calls, send messages, or even use cellular data. Instead, the iPhone can be used in case you need to make an emergency call (calling your girlfriend to find out where she’s been all night doesn’t count as an emergency in this case). Instead, it’s possible to call emergency numbers such as 911, 112, or similar ones.

Although iPhones usually display the SOS message because there’s no proper cellular network available, it could also mean that your SIM doesn’t have roaming privileges or the SIM card might not have been inserted in the correct way. If you haven’t paid your bills, on the other hand, you also shouldn’t be surprised if the SOS message appears, as it indicates that the SIM card doesn’t work anymore. The message could also indicate that the network has been changed to a different one in the settings menu.

How to remove the “SOS Only” message on your iPhone

Considering that there could be several causes for the emergence of the “SOS Only” message on your iPhone, it automatically means that there is more than just one possible fix. In other words, feel free to try out each of the methods at the time and see if the problem has gone away or not:

Re-insert the SIM card

Simply removing the SIM card from your iPhone, cleaning it, and then inserting it back into the device could solve your problem and get you rid of the “SOS Only” message. Before thinking that it sounds too good to be true, feel free to give it a try!

Check the network

If the network is poor, don’t be surprised if the SOS icon shows up on your iPhone’s display. Therefore, changing your location in the room or going to another area where you can get a good network signal might also save the day for you.

Restart your iPhone

Believe it or not, a lot of errors and problems can be solved by just restarting your device, and iPhones are no exception. A temporary bug might be what’s causing the SOS icon to show up on the display, which means that restarting the device can help a lot. You can do that by simply pressing and holding the power button until the Power slider shows up. From that point, you will have to drag the slider towards the right side. Wait a few seconds after your iPhone has turned off and press the Power button for the device to start again. Check if the pesky message has disappeared or not. If the issue still hasn’t gone away, it’s time to move on to the next possible fix!

Activate Data Roaming

In case you’re traveling to a different country than the original area where you received your SIM, it’s time to make sure that the data roaming on your phone is enabled. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Head over to the Settings menu.
  2. Select Cellular data (Mobile data).
  3. Select Cellular data (Mobile data) options
  4. Activate the toggle that’s positioned next to Data Roaming.

Restart the cellular data

Consider restarting the cellular data or even turning it off completely to move on to a WiFi connection, if there is any. Pretty much anyone has a WiFi router at home nowadays or a good friend who has one and is willing to share the password.

But if you’re willing to keep clinging to the cellular data, you can just restart it and see if the problem with the SOS text message goes away or not. For that, head over to the Settings menu and then to Cellular Data. Be patient for a few seconds and turn it back on.

Reset the network settings

As one of the last resorts, resetting the network settings could also help you get rid of the SOS text appearing on your iPhone’s display. However, you need to keep in mind that this measure will erase all the network settings, such as WiFi and Bluetooth, and make them go back to their default statuses.

To reset the network settings, head over to the Settings menu, then go to General, hit the Transfer or reset iPhone, and ultimately hit Reset and Reset network settings.

Surely, it’s a bit difficult for anyone to figure out how to handle an iPhone after using only Android phones until that moment, but let’s not forget that it’s in the best interest of any tech company out there to make things as easy as possible for their customers. Apple is no exception, and it’s known for making a great combination of both the hardware and software parts for iPhones, making those two realms collaborate with one another in a very efficient way.

Categories
Tech

Midjourney: How to Write the Best Prompts

Image by Fetako from Pixabay

AI tools are everywhere nowadays, and the technology has slowly but surely become a lot more sophisticated than just being able to control a few NPCs in video games. With the help of AI, many of our jobs can be replaced in the near future, and we’re not even thinking only about the highly controversial ChatGPT, the software created by OpenAI and launched back in November 2022.

Midjourney is another powerful AI tool to consider, as a lot of website owners and content creators are using it already. The software is different from AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google’s Bard, as its focus is on generating AI images based on the prompts the user throws at it. In other words, Midjourney can put your thoughts ‘on paper,’ but only if you use prompts in an efficient way.

Let’s put it this way: AI tools aren’t advanced enough to know exactly what we want them to do unless we are as specific as possible. They can’t read minds as far as we know, and they certainly aren’t as ‘intelligent’ as we like to believe. They don’t have desires or feelings but will only react to what the user wants and how he formulates it. It’s the same with both AI chatbots and AI image generators.

Therefore, let’s learn how to use prompts as efficiently as possible to get Midjourney to help us the best we can, shall we?

What prompts are the best to use for Midjourney

Feel free to play around with the following prompts and observe the results. They may leave you speechless!

  • A as B: You can create new creatures and objects if you use this simple prompt.
  • Paper art: It is also possible to get artistic paper art from simple but unique creativity if you take advantage of this prompt.
  • (Subject) out of (material): Did you know that Midjourney is capable of producing unique and new characters, objects, architectures, and more? You can imagine a unique landscape, such as a fountain that comes from the sky. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make any sense. Who cares?
  • Surrealism: The depths of the human mind, no matter how weird they might be, are described through surrealism. We’re talking about an art that was popular back in the 20th century. Midjourney won’t say no to such kind of prompts. For instance, try to image the Eiffel Tower flying across the sky like a rocket, and don’t hesitate to tell Midjourney to generate it.
  • Be specific: Just in the same way your potential life partner won’t know your exact intentions unless you speak them, the same is available in the case of AI tools, and Midjourney is no exception. Therefore, you need to be as specific as possible in your prompts so that the AI image-generating tool will “know” what you want from it.

When Miidjourney launched last year, it was free to use for anyone who wanted to generate up to 25 images. That’s not the case anymore, as the devs will charge you if you use their AI tool. There are four monthly plans that Midjourney offers. The most expensive is $120, while the cheapest one is $10. There are also other middle subscription options that cost 30 and 60 bucks per month. Surely, it’s worth spending some money in case you have a website, for instance, and you want to frequently customize it with AI-generated images.

Midjourney Inc. is the independent research lab responsible for creating the Midjournney program, and the company has its HQ in San Francisco. The software started its open beta in July 2022, which means that we can still expect a lot of improvements to be on their way.

Categories
Tech

How to Change and Remove Hotspot Passwords on Android Phones

Photo by The Average Tech Guy on Unsplash

Using the internet of another smartphone surely gets you rid of that huge burden of mobile data, but what if some people choose to do so without the consent of the person sharing its connectivity? Nobody likes to share his mobile data without the person benefiting to at least ask.

Therefore, it can surely become necessary to change the hotspot password from time to time. On the other hand, you might be the kind of fellow who doesn’t mind if someone else secretly clings to his internet connectivity. You may have unlimited internet traffic on your phone, or selflessness is just your number one quality. In those later cases, you might need to know how to remove the hotspot password.

A lot of people have trouble finding the hotspot password on an Android phone, which is why we’re here to help in order to solve the conundrum. Let’s cut to the chase:

How to find the hotspot password

Grab the Android phone that interests you and carefully follow these steps to locate the hotspot password:

  1. Open the Settings menu.
  2. Select Network & internet.
  3. Tap on Hotspot & tethering.
  4. Select Wi-Fi hotspot.
  5. From the menu that appears, hit the Hotspot password option. That will let you see the password.

If you have a Samsung phone, the method of finding the hotspot password changes a bit, but not too much:

  1. Open the Settings menu and hit the Connections option.
  2. Select the Mobile Hotspot and Tethering option.
  3. Select the Mobile Hotspot, and the Wi-Fi hotspot password should appear in the following menu. Congrats!

How to change the hotspot password

Changing the hotspot password isn’t difficult at all, as these are the steps you need to take if you don’t use a Samsung phone:

  1. Launch the Settings menu.
  2. Head over to Network & internet.
  3. Select Hotspot & tethering
  4. Tap on Wi-Fi hotspot
  5. Hit the Hotspot password from the menu that appears
  6. Type in the new password you want and select OK.
  7. Be sure to remember the new password or write it down somewhere, preferably on a physical paper!

If you’re using a Samsung phone, on the other hand, here are the steps you need to take to change the hotspot password:

  1. Open the Settings menu.
  2. Head over to Connections, then type on Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
  3. Select Mobile Hotspot and then the Configure option.
  4. Choose a new password and enter it in the Password field. Be sure to remember it.
  5. Select the Save option.

How to remove the hotspot password

If you find it useless to protect your hotspot by using a password, it’s also possible to get rid of that combination of letters, numbers, and, eventually symbols. Let’s see how that can be done, as it’s far from being any rocket science:

  1. Start the Settings app and head over to the Network & internet area.
  2. Select Hotspot & tethering.
  3. Select the Wi-Fi hotspot option.
  4. Tap on Security and hit the None option.
  5. Congrats! You’ve successfully gotten rid of the hotspot password!

In case you’re using a Samsung phone, the process of removing the hotspot password changes a bit. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Start the Settings app.
  2. Select Connections.
  3. Hit the Mobile Hotspot and Tethering.
  4. Select Mobile Hotspot and then hit Configure.
  5. Hit the Security option and then Open. Ultimately, hit the Save option.

One interesting and annoying fact is that if someone has linked to your hotspot connectivity, you can’t just remove that device if you’re using Android. However, it is possible to get rid of the connection by changing the hotspot password.

Feel free to share your own experiences with the hotspot feature in the comment section of this article! We’d love to read them!

Exit mobile version