Q. I recently noticed that the Twitter app on my phone is playing videos in my feed, even when I’m away from my home network and using my mobile data plan. Can I stop this?

A. In June, Twitter began to introduce video clips posted by users and advertisers that automatically play in the timeline. And yes, you can turn them off.

On the Twitter app for iOS, tap the Me icon at the bottom of the screen and then tap the gear icon next to your profile picture. Select Settings from the menu, and in the General area tap Video Autoplay. On the next screen, choose “Use Wi-Fi only” or “Never play videos automatically.”

The Android Twitter app takes a similar approach. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner, choose Settings and then General on the next screen. On the General screen, choose Video Autoplay and then pick your preferred playback option.

If you use Twitter through your desktop web browser, you can disable the autoplay function by logging into your account’s settings page at https://twitter.com/settings/account. Select Account from the list on the left, and in the Content area next to Video Tweets turn off the checkbox for Video Autoplay.

Looking for Acrobat Alternatives

Q. Is there a cheaper alternative to the big Adobe Acrobat program for Windows? I don’t need a zillion features, but I would like to add text fields to a form so I can fill it out on screen and save it. I can use the Preview app on my Mac for this, but what about my PC?

A. When you encounter PDF forms that were not created to be “fillable” (that is, able to accept and store new text that you enter), you do have cheaper options than the Adobe Acrobat program. While the Adobe Acrobat DC(Document Cloud) software has just about every feature and tool you would want to use on a PDF file, it does cost at least $14 a month for an annual subscription, or $300 for the full desktop version. The Adobe Acrobat Reader DCprogram, however, is free and allows you to fill in, sign and save PDF forms when you click Tools and choose Fill & Sign.

If you find Adobe Acrobat Reader DC does not have other features you want or need, several companies make alternatives. PDF-XChange Editor is $44, CutePDF Professional is $50 andNitro Pro Plusstarts at $8 a month. You can also find no-cost alternatives online, but be careful when installing freeware, as it can be bundled with invasive browser toolbars and other programs you do not want.

TIP OF THE WEEK If you find that your web-based inbox is a bit of a jumble, check if your service offers ready-made filters for sorting mail. For example, in Microsoft’s Outlook.com, select the View menu and choose Social Updates to see dispatches from your social media sites — or one of the other filters like Contacts to just see mail from your people in your address book.

Unless you have turned them off in your account settings, Google’s Gmail inbox includes a set of tabs like Social and Promotions that automatically sort incoming mail by type. Click the plus (+) button on the last visible tab to add other categories.

If you do not want to use the predefined filters, Outlook.com and Gmail also let you set up your own mail rules and filters for incoming mail; click the cog-shaped Settings icon in the window to get to the appropriate controls. Yahoo Mail and Apple’s iCloud mail also filter messages when you set up and apply your own rules in the settings area.