Life Style

In 2023, Apple introduced the Double Tap feature for Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. This allows a user to perform common actions, like answering or starting a song, simply by quickly tapping their thumb and index finger together twice. It was an intuitive way to confirm when you wanted to do something on your watch without tapping a tiny touchscreen button, but what if you wanted to dismiss something? Now, with the release of watchOS 26, Wrist Flick is here to solve that problem.Also available on Apple Watch Series 9 (and higher) as well as Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and higher), Wrist Flick is kind of like Double Tap’s evil twin. If you get a notification you don’t like, or a call you want to mute, now you can quickly twist your wrist to dismiss it, like you’re tossing it into a garbage bin....

Back in your day, slang made sense, trends were harmless, and young people didn’t go around painting their faces green and peeing on stuff. But those days are dead (and they never existed in the first place). Today’s kids and teens have a language, a culture, and a set of rituals that makes no sense, but only to you and I, because we’re old and washed-up. This column won’t bring back your youth, but it might help you be less offended if someone tells you to “start digging in your butt, twin.” What do “sendy” and “let’s get sendy" mean?The hottest piece of generation alpha slang this week is “sendy.” It’s an adjective that describes a person who does bold and/or exciting things. The phrase "let’s get sendy” means something like “let’s do something big/crazy.” Or it doesn’t mean anything. Ge...

With hackers looking for any way they can to gain access to your personal information via every form of phishing scheme, it's critical to take every precaution to protect your data. Multi-factor (MFA) authentication is one way to boost account security, but it has to be employed correctly, and even then, you should be on the lookout for malicious prompts that give bad actors the codes they need to log in easily. Two-factor authentication can be compromisedFirst, a reminder that two-factor and multi-factor authentication are not necessarily made equal. 2FA uses exactly two factors to verify a user's login, and both can be something the user knows, such as their password plus a PIN or SMS code. MFA, meanwhile, requires at least two independent factors, like a password (a knowledge factor) p...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.For the first time since the Focus Friend app overtook ChatGPT on the App Store, there’s a major addition that lets you unlock a new set of rewards. Previously, setting your phone down gave your bean time to knit socks, and you could trade those socks for decorations for the bean’s room. Now, there’s a whole new room to unlock. Focus Friend is a focus timer app in the same tradition as Forest and Flora. When you start a timer in Focus Friend, the little bean guy begins knitting, and the idea is that you put your phone down and don't use any other apps unti...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Late last month, Google launched the Pixel 10 and the Pixel 10 Pro. They’re the latest big releases in the Android world, which might carry more weight given the muted response to the iPhone 17 from some corners of the internet. But even if you are thinking of making the move to a new operating system, I wouldn’t recommend either flavor of Pixel 10 as your first port of call.Instead, I think the Pixel 9a is easily Google’s best phone for almost everyone. It’s technically got the Pixel 9 name, but it’s also Google’s most recent budget variant, so it’s as current-generation as anything else. And while it does make some concessions to bring the price down, they're fairly minor—and the device actually offers a few unique b...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.The rumor mill is working overtime about news that might drop at next week's Meta Connect 2025. Two new pieces of gossip: Meta may announce that its rumored AR smart glasses are powered by a smart watch, and the company may reveal Meta-powered Prada frames during the event. Both a potential Prada Meta release and a Meta watch-controller for its expected AR glasses require a little "internet rumor math" and conclusion-jumping, so take it with a grain a salt, but here's the breakdown: The "Meta smart watch" speculation comes from a late July post on Digitime...

Use the three-dot menu to branch a conversation. Credit: Lifehacker Over the past few years, we haven't had to wait long for the launch of new ChatGPT features, and the latest upgrade pushed out by OpenAI is the ability to branch conversation. This means you can steer your chats with the language bot in a different direction, and then return to where you started to continue the main thread of the conversation.According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the feature had been introduced by popular request, and it's not difficult to imagine ways in which it could be useful. Think if it like being able to create threads on Slack or Discord—you can follow tangents and related ideas without cluttering up the...

It's not just you: Google Maps is down. According to 9to5Google, the outage started sometime around 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. PT), and seems to be isolated to the Google Maps mobile app. If you try to load Google Maps' web app, it should work. That's the case on my end: I can use Google Maps in a web browser without any issue, but when I open the app on my phone, I run into problems. It seems Google is working on the issue, because the map will load when I open the app on my iPhone. However, if I try to search for a location, the results won't load. If I tap on a location, I get an "unable to resolve details" error. And if I try to pull up directions to a location, I get a "Can't reach the internet" error, as it the problem is with my wifi or cellular connection. ...

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.The iPhone 17 series has left the realm of mere rumor. Apple announced its four new iPhones at yesterday's "Awe Dropping" event—the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. All four use the company's new A19 chip, though different models come equipped with different versions of it: The iPhone 17 uses the base model A19, while the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max use the A19 Pro. The iPhone Air has an A19 Pro, but it's a "binned" chip. There's a lengthy explanation of what that means, but in short, the Air uses a weaker version of the A19 Pro, so it isn't quite as powerful as the version you'll find on the Pro...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.Apple recently announced the features coming to the new Series 11 and Ultra 3 Apple Watches. We have highlights here of what was in that announcement, and everything we know about the Apple Watch Ultra 3, if you're still catching up. But if you’re ready to dive into the details and are wondering how those specs stack up with Pixel watches, including the Pixel Watch 3 and the upcoming Pixel Watch 4, here’s a comparison. Display type and brightnessThe new Apple Watch Ultra 3 has the most impressive display of all the watches I’ll discuss here today. Wide-ang...