Just like with every modern smartphone release, the most significant question surrounding Apple’s new iPhone 12 Pro is if it’s worth the upgrade, especially on the heels of last year’s impressive iPhone 11 series update.
First, it’s important to note that the iPhone 12 series is the most significant refresh to the iPhone’s design since the release of the iPhone X, though it’s not an entirely new look. So, if you care about your smartphone’s aesthetic, the iPhone 12 could offer a worthwhile update depending on how you feel about the device’s more squared-off design.
The other major change relates to improved low-light photography performance primarily powered by the iPhone 12 Pro’s new Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor and slightly redesigned camera array. While most of Apple’s claims regarding the iPhone 12 Pro’s camera improvements are accurate, they’re incremental. Still, if you’re a budding smartphone photography enthusiast, these updates could be substantial enough to warrant a purchase.
Then there’s the question of whether you prefer the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max over the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, or if the impossibly cute 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini is more up your alley. If that’s the case, you’ll need to wait until the Max and mini release in early November. While Apple hasn’t come out and explicitly stated this, it likely was forced to drop its two highest selling smartphone models first due to COVID-19 manufacturing restraints.
In fact, there’s also the question of whether the ‘Pro’ series of iPhone 12 devices offer enough advantages at this point to even make them worthwhile for the average iPhone user.
There’s a lot to unpack with this year’s iPhones, so let’s get into it.
Note: I don’t have an iPhone 11 Pro, and, as a result, the image comparisons in this review are between the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the iPhone 12 Pro. Photo samples are also compressed, though generally still represent the image quality the iPhone 12 PRo is capable of.
Specs
Don’t call it a throwback
Despite the subheading above, the iPhone 12 Pro is an obvious throwback to the iPhone 4-era of squared-off edges. However, it also clearly takes inspiration from Apple’s more recent iPad Pro design and the iPad Air (2020).
At first, the iPhone 12 Pro’s squared-off look is jarring and feels equally strange when you’re holding the smartphone in your hand, but it’s grown on me over the last couple of days.
It gives the smartphone line a clear new design; place the iPhone X, iPhone XS or iPhone 11 Pro beside the new iPhone 12, and you’ll instantly recognize Apple’s new smartphones.
The squarer sides also make the device feel more substantial and easier to grip in your hand, which is great in this ongoing era of slippery smartphones. The power button remains on the device’s right side, with the volume buttons on the left. The buttons themselves have a fair amount of bounce to them, though they are flatter than those on the iPhone 11 series.
While the excellent, grease-resistant matte rear featured on the iPhone 11 Pro is back, complete with a new ‘Ceramic Shield’ construction the tech giant claims features four times better drop resistance, the stainless steel band running around the edge of the smartphone is an unfortunate callback to the iPhone X’s shiny border.
This means it attracts smudges and grease. Most people might not care about this, but it’s a strange blemish in an otherwise solid refresh of the high-end iPhone’s design. Strangely, the iPhone 12 doesn’t suffer from this same issue despite its lower-end aluminum sides.
It isn’t easy to verify Apple’s statements regarding the iPhone 12 Pro’s improved durability regarding the new Ceramic Shield build.
“Overall, I like the new look of the iPhone 12 Pro and view it as a positive step forward”
I’ll leave that up to wealthy YouTubers brave enough to test these claims out. However, what I can say is the iPhone 11 Pro Max I’ve been using for the last year is one of the most durable smartphones I’ve ever encountered, and, if Apple says it’s improved on that design, that is definitely a good thing.
With all that said, I’ve continually contended that everyone should at least be putting their smartphone in a case, with a high-end glass screen protector, also being a good idea. Smartphones are pricey, and accidents happen. Most tech YouTubers, bloggers, and journalists who claim they don’t use cases get sent so many smartphones that a broken device isn’t a big deal. This isn’t the reality for the average iPhone owner.
A LiDAR sensor now flanks the triple rear-camera setup with the same substantial camera bump as the iPhone 11 Pro. The display notch, which still isn’t as noticeable as some people make it out to be, returns with Face ID functionality that feels just as reliable as it was with the iPhone 11 Pro — this means it works roughly 95 percent of the time.
Regarding colours, the iPhone 12 Pro is available in ‘Graphite,’ ‘Silver,’ ‘Gold,’ and ‘Pacific Blue.’ As you can see from the photos in this review, I have the blue iPhone 12 Pro, which actually seems deeper than last year’s now-dead ‘Midnight Green.’ Though I like the new Pacific Blue colour, Midnight Green will likely forever go down as my favourite smartphone hue.
Overall, I like the new look of the iPhone 12 Pro and view it as a positive step forward.
Processor Power
Apple’s new A14 Bionic processor is an absolute powerhouse. The A13 was a leap above anything Qualcomm has produced and the A14 pushes that power even further.
For those who care about benchmarks, the iPhone 12 Pro comes in at 1,597 for single-core performance and 4,232 for multi-core. On the other hand, the iPhone 11 Pro hits 1,328 for single-core and 3,397 for multi-core.
My experience with the phone, whether I’m playing games like REKT, doing quick photo edits with Lightroom, browsing the internet or watching content on Netflix, has been extremely smooth.
I haven’t encountered a single instance of lag during my time with the iPhone 12 Pro.
There’s also the new LiDAR sensor that improves the iPhone 12 Pro’s augmented reality functionality, just like the iPad Pro (2020), while adding faster autofocus in low-light and other camera improvements (more on this later).
“Everything from watching Netflix, to gaming, to just browsing the internet looks stellar on the screen”
I’ve always preferred Apple’s ‘Max’ model of iPhones. I appreciate the additional real estate the devices offer, so moving to a 6.1-inch smartphone has been a somewhat strange experience for me. I don’t necessarily find the iPhone 12 Pro too small, especially since it’s an increase over the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro, but I miss how easy it is to type on the larger display with two hands. Along with the increase in size, the iPhone 12 Pro’s screen measures in at a slightly higher 2,523 x 1,770 pixels compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s 2,436 x 1,125 pixels.
The display itself matches Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in terms of vibrancy and colour, thanks to its P3 wide colour gamut with a 2,000,0000:1 contrast ratio and 1200 nits max brightness with HDR10 support. Everything from watching Netflix, to gaming, to just browsing the internet looks stellar on the screen.
Unfortunately, rumours surrounding the iPhone 12 Pro’s display featuring a 120Hz refresh rate proved inaccurate. Whether there were concerns that 120Hz coupled with 5G would result in poor battery life or COVID-19 related manufacturing issues, the iPhone 12 Pro’s screen comes in at just 60Hz.
In some ways, this is totally unacceptable. Most high-end — and, in some cases, even mid-range Android devices — have moved on to smoother 90Hz and 120Hz displays. Even the iPad Pro features Apple’s great-looking ProMotion 120Hz technology. In 2020, it seems strange for the tech giant’s flagship not to include a higher refresh rate display.
On the other side of this argument, while 120Hz is great, it’s not a feature most people will miss given the difference isn’t drastic and really depends on the type of content you’re consuming. Still, it would have been great to see Apple bring 120Hz refresh rate technology to the iPhone this year.
Storage size starts at 128GB compared to last year’s 64GB, which is a good move on Apple’s part considering the tech giant’s smartphone line lags behind most of its Android competitors in the storage department.
Another spec worth noting includes that the iPhone 12 Pro is still IP68 rated, though this time to a maximum of 6 metres for up to 30 minutes instead of 4 metres for 30 minutes like last year.
And, of course, the iPhone 12 Pro still features a Lightning port and not USB-C. At this point, it’s more likely Apple will ditch a connector port and go entirely wireless rather than switch to USB-C. I’ve tested out Apple’s MagSafe charger briefly and can confirm that it attaches to the iPhone 12 Pro’s rear extremely easily. The charger, unfortunately, doesn’t come with a USB-C charging brick. I haven’t tested out other MagSafe accessories yet, including Apple’s new cases. I can, however, confirm that MagSafe does work through third-party cases. I’ll have more on Apple’s new MagSafe accessories in the coming weeks.
Regarding battery life, I found that the phone comes in at roughly a day with moderate use, which matches my experience with last year’s iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Incremental but still worthwhile camera upgrades
Camera-wise, there are several minor improvements to the iPhone 12 Pro’s array of shooters. First, the main wide 12-megapixel camera now features a wider f/1.6 aperture and a seven-element lens compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s six-element f/1.8 lens. Apple says this improves the lens’ ability to gather more light by 27 percent.
In my experience, I didn’t notice a significant difference in performance, but this lens does seem to shoot slightly less noisy photos.
The left image is shot with the iPhone 12 Pro, and the image on the right is shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The iPhone 12 Pro photo features far more accurate colour tones than its iPhone 11 Pro Max counterpart.
On the other hand, the 12-megapixel f/2.4 ultrawide angle and the f/2.0 with 2x optical zoom lenses still measure in with the same technical specs as last year.
The real camera improvements come from the smartphone’s Smart HDR 3, the latest version of Apple’s behind-the-scenes image processing technology. Photos taken with the iPhone 12 Pro feature more detail, slightly greater contrast, more accuracy, greater colour vibrancy and, in general, look better than those shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but only by a small margin.
The images, just like last year, also look more true-to-life than the over-saturated photos snapped by smartphones like Samsung’s Note 20 Ultra.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s standard wide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s shooter is on the right. The photo shot with the iPhone 12 Pro features more vibrant, accurate colour and more detail in the foliage.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s regular wide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s shooter is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro photo features more accurate white balance and tones. It’s also slightly sharper than the photo shot with the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The other major upgrade this year thanks to the new LiDAR sensor is that it’s now possible to snap night mode photos with the ultrawide and 12-megapixel selfie shooter. Night mode with the ultrawide is a welcome addition and can result in truly stunning vistas. It does occasionally blow out highlights, however.
On the other hand, I don’t personally find taking night mode selfies useful, but this feature could come in handy for some people and produces decent shots as long as you’re able to keep still. The difference in quality is really drastic despite it giving skin a plastic look to it.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s selfie shooter in night mode is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s selfie shooter is on the right. Though night mode selfie shots give skin a plastic-like tone, they’re still usable, unlike the dark images the iPhone 11 Pro Max takes.
The most significant upgrade is the speed at which the iPhone 12 Pro autofocuses when under low-light. This is something even the best smartphone cameras often struggle with. Regardless of what I was shooting, I was easily and surprisingly quickly able to focus in on the area of the subject I wanted to shoot.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s ultrawide camera is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s ultrawide shooter is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro’s ultrawide camera overall lightens the image and, in most cases, doesn’t feature blown-out highlights.
The iPhone 12 Pro can also shoot 4K/60fps 10-bit Dolby Vision footage in real-time, a first for any smartphone camera. Dolby Vision utilizes dynamic metadata to map accurate colour and brightness of a scene, which typically requires extensive editing and grading.
“It’s great to see Apple taking RAW photography more seriously, though it’s strange the tech giant still doesn’t offer manual controls in its own camera app”
While the results look impressive and somewhat comparable to my experience watching content on Netflix that supports Dolby Vision, you’ll only be able to actually experience the benefits the high-end HDR format provides on supported monitors and televisions. Even then, YouTube doesn’t support Dolby Vision content.
It’s important to note that the new Apple ProRaw filetype announced during the tech giant’s keynote won’t be available at launch, and it’s unclear when it’s releasing. Similar to ‘Deep Fusion,’ it’s likely going to appear at some point in November.
That said, it’s great to see Apple taking RAW photography more seriously, though it’s strange the tech giant still doesn’t offer manual controls in its own camera app. What will likely end up being more interesting is how third-party developers take advantage of the ProRaw SDK with their own camera apps.
The iPhone 12 Pro’s 12-megapixel selfie shooter is on the left, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s selfie camera is on the right. The iPhone 12 Pro more accurately matches my real skin tone and the sky is slightly less overexposed.
Finally, I haven’t tested out the iPhone 12 Pro Max yet. This is notable because the smartphone features a larger primary sensor that’s 47 percent bigger than its predecessor, amounting to 1.7-micron pixels. Other changes include sensor-shift image stabilization, a technology commonly found in DLSRs, and 2.5x zoom with its telephoto lens.
All this means is that if you’re interested in camera performance, the iPhone 12 Pro Max might be worth the extra cost.
Don’t upgrade just for 5G
You may have wondered why I didn’t mention 5G as a pivotal new feature at the top of this review. It’s because as much as the Big Three Canadian carriers want you to believe 5G in Canada is a massive jump forward in network speed, the reality is that it isn’t — at least not yet.
I live in Burlington, Ontario, a city that Rogers says it expanded its 5G network to back in late September. I ran several speed tests from my home office, and in nearly every instance, my iPhone 11 Pro Max hit 24.3Mbps download and 10.4Mbps for upload on Rogers’ 5G network, compared to Telus/Koodo’s LTE network hit 61.7Mbps for download and 3.72Mbps for upload.
The 5G Rogers test with the iPhone 12 Pro Max is on the left, and the LTE iPhone 11 Pro Max test with Telus’ LTE network is on the right. This test was performed in Burlington, Ontario.
That said, I ran several tests in different areas of Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton and across the board, Rogers’ 5G network was typically 10 to 15 percent faster. Still, in the ongoing era when many of us are working from home, the actual speeds you get from your smartphone in your house are important.
Of course, the speeds you receive will shift depending on where you live and whether Rogers’, Bell’s, or Telus’ 5G network is active in your area.
Further, Apple removed the mmWave antenna featured on the side of the U.S. version of iPhone 12 Pro from the iteration of the smartphone sold in Canada. Canadian iPhone 12 smartphones are capable of the n78 5G band (TD 3500), which will likely launch across the country at some point in the next few years.
Canadians won’t see the blazing-fast speeds that 5G promises until the 3.5GHz spectrum is auctioned off and deployed in the next few years. The carriers are currently offering 5G by adding 5G channels on top of their existing LTE core. It’ll be some time before Canadians will be able to see the full potential of the technology.
The iPhone 12 Pro won’t always be connected to a given carriers’ 5G network, either. Apple’s Smart Data Mode automatically saves power when 5G speeds aren’t needed to improve the smartphone’s battery life. Apple says the device switches between LTE and 5G depending on what you’re doing with your phone. For example, Smart Data Mode could switch to LTE when your screen is off, but if you’re watching Netflix, it might jump back to 5G. That said, you can turn this feature off and lock the iPhone 12 Pro to solely 5G if you want.
Should you just buy the iPhone 12 instead?
Though Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro is impressive, does it offer enough advantages over the iPhone 12 now that both smartphones feature nearly identical Super Retina XDR OLED displays? Unless you absolutely need the best of what Apple has to offer and value 2x optical zoom — and in that case, you might be better waiting for the iPhone 12 Pro Max — the answer is probably not.
There are also several things still up in the air about the iPhone 12 series this year, including whether Apple’s new ProRaw format is worthwhile, and if the company’s cool-looking MagSafe accessories solve Qi wireless charging’s most significant pain points.
Still, the iPhone 12 Pro offers an impressive smartphone package thanks to its worthwhile but incremental camera upgrades, coupled with its excellent design revamp.
“The iPhone 12 Pro offers an impressive smartphone package thanks to its worthwhile but incremental camera upgrades, coupled with its excellent design revamp”
NEW YORK (AP) — As the International Rescue Committee copes with dramatic increases in displaced people in recent years, the refugee aid organization has looked for efficiencies wherever it can — including using artificial intelligence.
Since 2015, the IRC has invested in Signpost — a portfolio of mobile apps and social media channels that answer questions in different languages for people in dangerous situations. The Signpost project, which includes many other organizations, has reached 18 million people so far, but IRC wants to significantly increase its reach by using AI tools — if they can do so safely.
Conflict, climate emergencies and economic hardship have driven up demand for humanitarian assistance, with more than 117 million people forcibly displaced in 2024, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The turn to artificial intelligence technologies is in part driven by the massive gap between needs and resources.
To meet its goal of reaching half of displaced people within three years, the IRC is testing a network of AI chatbots to see if they can increase the capacity of their humanitarian officers and the local organizations that directly serve people through Signpost. For now, the pilot project operates in El Salvador, Kenya, Greece and Italy and responds in 11 languages. It draws on a combination of large language models from some of the biggest technology companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
The chatbot response system also uses customer service software from Zendesk and receives other support from Google and Cisco Systems.
If they decide the tools work, the IRC wants to extend the technical infrastructure to other nonprofit humanitarian organizations at no cost. They hope to create shared technology resources that less technically focused organizations could use without having to negotiate directly with tech companies or manage the risks of deployment.
“We’re trying to really be clear about where the legitimate concerns are but lean into the optimism of the opportunities and not also allow the populations we serve to be left behind in solutions that have the potential to scale in a way that human to human or other technology can’t,” said Jeannie Annan, International Rescue Committee’s Chief Research and Innovation Officer.
The responses and information that Signpost chatbots deliver are vetted by local organizations to be up to date and sensitive to the precarious circumstances people could be in. An example query that IRC shared is of a woman from El Salvador traveling through Mexico to the United States with her son who is looking for shelter and for services for her child. The bot provides a list of providers in the area where she is.
More complex or sensitive queries are escalated for humans to respond.
The most important potential downside of these tools would be that they don’t work. For example, what if the situation on the ground changes and the chatbot doesn’t know? It could provide information that’s not just wrong, but dangerous.
A second issue is that these tools can amass a valuable honeypot of data about vulnerable people that hostile actors could target. What if a hacker succeeds in accessing data with personal information or if that data is accidentally shared with an oppressive government?
IRC said it’s agreed with the tech providers that none of their AI models will be trained on the data that the IRC, the local organizations or the people they are serving are generating. They’ve also worked to anonymize the data, including removing personal information and location.
As part of the Signpost.AI project, IRC is also testing tools like a digital automated tutor and maps that can integrate many different types of data to help prepare for and respond to crises.
Cathy Petrozzino, who works for the not-for-profit research and development company MITRE, said AI tools do have high potential, but also high risks. To use these tools responsibly, she said, organizations should ask themselves, does the technology work? Is it fair? Are data and privacy protected?
She also emphasized that organizations need to convene a range of people to help govern and design the initiative — not just technical experts, but people with deep knowledge of the context, legal experts, and representatives from the groups that will use the tools.
“There are many good models sitting in the AI graveyard,” she said, “because they weren’t worked out in conjunction and collaboration with the user community.”
For any system that has potentially life-changing impacts, Petrozzino said, groups should bring in outside experts to independently assess their methodologies. Designers of AI tools need to consider the other systems it will interact with, she said, and they need to plan to monitor the model over time.
Consulting with displaced people or others that humanitarian organizations serve may increase the time and effort needed to design these tools, but not having their input raises many safety and ethical problems, said Helen McElhinney, executive director of CDAC Network. It can also unlock local knowledge.
People receiving services from humanitarian organizations should be told if an AI model will analyze any information they hand over, she said, even if the intention is to help the organization respond better. That requires meaningful and informed consent, she said. They should also know if an AI model is making life-changing decisions about resource allocation and where accountability for those decisions lies, she said.
Degan Ali, CEO of Adeso, a nonprofit in Somalia and Kenya, has long been an advocate for changing the power dynamics in international development to give more money and control to local organizations. She asked how IRC and others pursuing these technologies would overcome access issues, pointing to the week-long power outages caused by Hurricane Helene in the U.S. Chatbots won’t help when there’s no device, internet or electricity, she said.
Ali also warned that few local organizations have the capacity to attend big humanitarian conferences where the ethics of AI are debated. Few have staff both senior enough and knowledgeable enough to really engage with these discussions, she said, though they understand the potential power and impact these technologies may have.
“We must be extraordinarily careful not to replicate power imbalances and biases through technology,” Ali said. “The most complex questions are always going to require local, contextual and lived experience to answer in a meaningful way.”
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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