Life Style

Smart home platforms have plenty of powerful features for automating every device in your home, but you have to do some upfront work to make it happen. You also have to know what you're looking for. Here are the hidden tips and tricks to maximize everything connected via Apple Home. Enable Critical Alerts to break through your Do Not Disturb modesApple's critical alerts feature allows a limited number of emergency notifications to break through Silent and Do Not Disturb modes so you know immediately if there's a safety or security risk threatening life or property. Specific sensors can trigger these alerts, such as smoke, carbon monoxide, and leak detectors and security system devices that have a "panic" mode. When enabled, these alerts will appear on your lock screen and play a sound even...

Mac users can now call on Google's agentic AI, Gemini Spark, to automate tasks on their desktop and bridge the gap between Google Workspace and their local apps and files. But you should still be cautious when granting Gemini access to your data and workflows, as AI agents can introduce security risks. Google first announced Spark at I/O 2026 back in May, promising a rollout to the Gemini macOS app at some point this summer. That time has come—the AI agent is now available in beta for Google AI Ultra subscribers on macOS in the U.S. Google has said users will also be able to run Gemini Spark tasks on desktop remotely from their phones, though that functionality is not live yet. Gemini Spark can automate workflows on macOSSpark turns Gemini into a personal AI agent that can complete multi-s...

Discord is one of those apps that has helped kill off good ol' internet forums. If you look hard enough, you can find a Discord server for most any niche hobby, online course, or fandom of choice. I'd been aware of the app for a while, but I didn't join Discord myself until I found a server for my favorite iPhone game (Imbroglio, by Michael Brough), which is about as niche as it gets. Thanks to the tips I got from the kind people on this server, I was able to finish the incredibly difficult roguelike with all 16 characters.Since then, I've used Discord regularly to follow more than a few of my hobbies and interests, including, but not limited to, motorsports, gaming, fountain pens, and studying Japanese. In this time, I've discovered a few tips and tricks to make the experience better, and...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Woot has the Beats Studio Buds for $78.82, a sizable drop from their original $149.95 price and the lowest price tracked so far, according to price tracking tools. For comparison, Amazon is selling the same earbuds for $94.95 right now. Prime members also get free shipping, while non-Prime shoppers pay $6, though Woot notes that these earbuds cannot be shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, or P.O. box addresses. One of the Studio Buds' biggest strengths is that these earbuds don't really force you to pick a side—iPhone owners get conveniences like one-tap pairing and Find My support, while Android users still get fast pairing and a companion ap...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While the tech world's collective attention is currently fixed on iOS 27, Apple is still churning out updates to iOS 26. While we're not likely to get another feature-filled release in the "26" era, there will always be bugs and security flaws to squash whenever Apple or third-party researchers discover them. Case in point: On Monday, Apple dropped iOS 26.5.2, which comes with fixes for 29 security vulnerabilities. First, the good news: None of these vulnerabilities appears to be a "zero-day." A zero-day is a security flaw that is publicly disclosed or actively exploited before the software developer has a chance to issue a patch. They're especially dangerous, since it gives hackers the advantage: They can attempt to f...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Prime Day is June 23 to 26, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Whoop is offering Prime Day deals on two of its subscription tiers, and one of these in particular is an excellent deal: $189 for a band bundled with a Whoop Peak subscription. That gets you a year of what I feel is the best subscription tier. It's not only cheaper than the usual $239/year price, it's also even cheaper than the lowest tier subscription, which is still at its regular price of $199. Whoop is the screenless wearable that set the standard for screenless wearables; all the ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Prime Day is June 23 to 26, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Garmin's Forerunner 55 is not the fanciest of its watches. At its original price, I would have recommended passing it by. But for Prime day, you can get it brand-new for $129, or refurbished for $99.99. And that's a deal worth grabbing if you want a reliable, basic running watch. The Forerunner 55 is as basic as they come, with a MIP screen rather than a modern AMOLED, single-band GPS, and limited functionality compared to more expensive Garmins. It came out in 2021, and was the bottom...

Android users who have TSA PreCheck can now go through airport security without needing to scan a boarding pass or show a physical ID. Touchless ID, which previously was available to travelers on only a handful of airlines, now works in Google Wallet, and all you need is a passport and a TSA PreCheck membership. How Touchless ID works at TSA PreCheckTouchless ID is an expedited screening process for travelers who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck. If you have Touchless ID on your boarding pass, you can go through a dedicated lane at security—separate from the regular TSA PreCheck line—and authenticate using facial recognition without needing to pull out and scan your driver's license, passport, or other eligible REAL ID. Thus far, Touchless ID participation has been limited to travelers on Amer...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Prime Day is June 23 to 26, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Prime Day is a great opportunity to upgrade your work-from-home setup, refresh your laptop, find a new monitor, or just get those accessories that will make your life and work a little easier. Here are the best deals I've found on laptops, monitors, and PC accessories, many of them down to their lowest prices ever. The best Prime Day laptop dealsFor PC users, the best deal for a premium laptop right now is the Dell XPS 14, which comes with Intel Core i7-255H, 32GB Memory, and 1TB SSD f...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Our Prime Day coverage is officially underway, and we're all over it. Major retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Target have their own competition sales live as well, so make sure to check them out when you get a chance. Remember to check price tracking tools, so you can trust that the sales we're talking about are actually good deals, and not just hype designed to fool you.Remember, you need to be a Prime Member to have access to all of Amazon's Prime Day deals and to get free shipping. Prime membership starts at $14.99 per month ($139 per year) and comes with more benefits than people think. It's easy to figure out if a yearly Pri...