Skip to main content

Broken heart? These apps will help you erase and block your ex from your digital life

Be Yours: A gentleman’s guide to flying solo on Valentine’s Day
JaroPienza/Shutterstock
Valentine’s Day is that time of year when couples commemorate their love and spend more than $140 each to do so. But, if you find yourself on the lonelier side of the spectrum, and wish to not be reminded that your ex even exists, Digital Trends has compiled a list of tech tips to help you remove that person from your (digital) life.

Change all shared passwords

According to a 2014 survey conducted by Pew Research, 67 percent of couples share passwords. Imagine getting ready to drown your sorrows of another failed relationship in the warm comfort of a Friends binge marathon on Netflix, only to find a full season of FX’s The League was recently watched. You don’t watch The League, but the ex you have been trying to purge from your life does, and in that moment you realize you and your ex are still connected through shared accounts.

29194 (1)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Luckily there is a Firefox extension, Mass Password Reset which allows users to change the password for numerous accounts at once. Users can change passwords based on Domain, Username, or Password. So, if you shared your Netflix, Hulu, and Gmail passwords with your ex, you can input the old password and change it to a new one for all the connected accounts.

Avoid all emails from your ex

On Gmail users can have messages from specific email addresses sent directly to the Trash once they are received. Click on the settings button on the upper righthand corner of your inbox. Once in Settings, click on the Filters tab, and then click on the Create a new filter button at the bottom:

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 6.35.13 PM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To block all messages from your ex’s email address, simply input the address into the From section of the filter, select Create filter with this search, and then click on Delete It. After this, you will not have to worry about being emotionally coerced into rekindling your fizzled romance through an extensive email from your ex.

Screen Shot 2015-02-09 at 6.38.45 PM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Block your ex on social media

Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 10.08.06 AM
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Most social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram allow users to block others simply by clicking the settings options on the user’s account and selecting Block. It’s pretty much just as easy to remove your ex on Facebook.

Facebook allows you to click on the 851548_427268774075825_1014901409_n button in the upper righthand corner and select, How Do I Stop Someone From Bothering Me. Next, you simply input either your ex’s name or the email address associated with their Facebook account, and that account will never be able to contact you or view your profile again.

Block your ex from calling or texting you

Any iPhone or iPad running iOS 7 or above can block phone numbers from messaging, calling, or entering into FaceTime. Simply scroll down your recent calls, find your ex’s number, click the “i” symbol, select Block This Caller, and they are automatically added to your block list. For most Android phones, the process is just as simple.

On Android phones running KitKat 4.4 or higher, simply go through your call log, find your ex’s number, hold down the selection for a few seconds, click Reject Call, and the number will be added to you Call Reject List.

For Android users looking to avoid unwanted text messages, there are numerous SMS blocking apps, but the easiest way is to make Google Hangouts your default SMS app, and you can then block the phone number. Either go to a recent text message from your ex or scroll down your contact list in Hangouts and click on the desired phone number. Once you do so, you will be taken to a text conversation window, wherein you will need to click on the three dot Settings button in the upper righthand corner. Click on People & Options, and you will be taken to Hangouts options, which include archiving all SMS and MMS from a specific contact.

Block them from the Web

block-your-ex-625x1000
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For those that want a one-stop shop for removing an unwanted ex from your view online, Block Your Ex is gold. Block Your Ex is a Chrome and Firefox-based plugin that allows you to remove an ex’s Twitter, Facebook, and blog from your view by simply inputing the corresponding information into Block Your Ex, and then adding that ex to your list. If you’re a serial dater with a sizable list of exes you wish to banish from your online life, be aware that Block Your Ex only allows up to five exes to be blocked.

Keith Nelson Jr.
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…
Why you need to be excited about the Google Pixel 8a
A person holding the Google Pixel 8, showing the screen.

This is going to be a busy year for Google Pixel devices. In less than a month, Google is expected to launch its first new Pixel of the year with the Google Pixel 8a. Following that, we're expecting a Google Pixel Fold 2, possibly another Pixel Tablet, the Pixel 9 series, and a Pixel Watch 3 later in the fall.

There's plenty to look forward to with all of those Pixels, but if you ask me, I think the Pixel 8a is the most promising of the bunch. In a year when Google has exciting upgrades planned for its flagship and foldable phones, Google's budget-focused omodel is what's really on my mind.
Google is at its best with cheaper phones
The Google ixel 3a XL (left) and Pixel 3 XL Julian Chokkattu / Digital Trends

Read more
Amazon Fire HD 10 and Fire Max 11 prices slashed… for now
Someone holding the Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet.

If you're looking for affordable tablet deals, it's highly recommended that you check out Amazon's Fire tablets. The latest releases of the brand's largest models are still relatively cheap, and limited-time discounts have further lowered their prices on Amazon right now. The 32GB version of the Amazon Fire HD 10 is down to $95 from $140 for savings of $45, and the 64GB version of the Amazon Fire Max 11 is down to $180 from $230 for savings of $50. You're going to have to be fast with your purchase once you've chosen which one to buy though, because these tablets may be back to their regular prices as soon as tomorrow.
Amazon Fire HD 10 (32GB, with lockscreen ads) -- $95, was $140

The 2023 release of the Amazon Fire HD 10 retains the tablet's budget-friendly price  despite several improvements compared to its predecessor, including 25% faster performance, slightly less weight by 30 grams, and an upgraded front-facing camera from 2MP to 5MP for clearer selfies and video calls. The Amazon Fire HD 10 features a 10.1-inch Full HD touchscreen that's durable enough to withstand daily wear and tear, compatibility with Amazon's Alexa for voice commands, and decent performance for your daily tasks with its octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM. The tablet comes with 32GB of internal storage, but if you need additional space for your apps and files, you can get up to 1TB more through its microSD card slot.

Read more
The camera on this Android phone is confusing, but I love it
The back of the Tecno Camon 30 Premier.

I’m all for a lot of detail, and love to hear about the new technology that’s inside a smartphone I’m about to test, but when I have to search for an explanation of what something means, it’s not a good start. The Tecno Camon 30 Premier suffers from this problem, as it has a lot of cool camera tech that is explained in a mystifying way.

So, I thought the best thing to do was to just ignore the tech speak and find out if it takes great photos the old-fashioned way.
What's the problem?

Read more