Q&A: Sorting Out the New Yahoo Mail

A. The recent overhaul of Yahoo Mail has frustrated many users, who have complained about the new look, revamped features and assorted bugs in the service. The Yahoo Contacts list, however, should still let you set your preferences to sort the list by first names. As the Yahoo Contacts guide explains, go to the Actions menu on the Contacts screen and choose “Sort by First Name” from the list.

If you find this does not work, click the Send Feedback link at the bottom of the left column and describe the problem to Yahoo. Several people have complained of issues with the sorting feature on Yahoo’s error- and bug-reporting page, so there may be a problem in the software. Many of Yahoo Mail’s rollout woes will perhaps be resolved with time and user feedback.

You should also check your Web browser to make sure it meets the requirements for Yahoo Mail. For full functionality on a Windows 7 machine, you need at least Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 19, Safari 4 or Google Chrome 25 with JavaScript enabled.

Turning Off iPhone Tracking in iOS 7

Q. Where in iOS 7 does iPhone keep the list of places you’ve been?

A. When the tool is enabled, the Location Services settings in iOS 7 keep a log of places you visit (and how often you go back). This feature is called Frequent Locations, and as an Apple support page states, “Your iPhone will keep track of places you have recently been, as well as how often and when you visited them, in order to learn places that are significant to you.”

If this sort of thing feels more invasive than helpful, you can turn off the Frequent Locations feature. From the iPhone’s Home screen, tap the Settings icon, then tap Privacy and then select Location Services.

If Location Services is on, flick down to the bottom of the screen and tap System Services. On the System Services screen, tap Frequent Locations. On the next screen, the History area displays locations you have visited; tap one to see a map and more information, like the date and time you were there. The Frequent Locations screen has a button to turn off the feature, as well as a Clear History button to wipe out the saved location information.

As for the confidentiality of the personal data, Apple’s Location Services support page states: “This data is kept solely on your device and won’t be sent to Apple without your consent. It will be used to provide you with personalized services, such as predictive traffic routing.” The company does say information it collects from its users will be treated in accordance with the company’s privacy policy.

TIP OF THE WEEK Some sites offer previews of new designs, and Google’s Gmail is known for its Labs — experimental features you can try out — if you want to tinker. Likewise, Google’s YouTube site has TestTube, its own “ideas incubator” page. Some projects are experimental, like the MoodWall, where a batch of videos can be selected on a theme, like “Touching,” “Fail” or “Inspiring.” Other works in progress include the company’s HTML 5 video player and a feature that lets video creators add on-screen questions for their audiences.