Gadget Hacks

Apple's current support page lists up to 25W MagSafe charging for iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max, while iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are rated for up to 22.5W. An independent Techtest report also found faster charging with a third-party Qi2.2 pad after updating an iPhone 16 Pro Max to iOS 26.

iOS 27 introduces a change to how iPhone handles sound: alarms, ringtones, and notification alerts no longer have to share one volume slider. Owners can now turn down a ringtone or text alert without quietly lowering the alarm that's supposed to wake them up. That's the practical answer to a question a lot of iPhone owners have been asking for years: how to set separate alarm and ringer volumes on iPhone without one setting dragging down the other.

Samsung Community goes offline on October 30 for about 72 hours, and the platform migration behind the shutdown won't carry over direct messages, drafts, bookmarks, or subscriptions that users haven't backed up, according to Samsung's notice as reported by AndroidPure. The outage runs from 5 a.m. ET October 30 to 5 a.m. ET November 2, and Samsung frames the suspension as a scheduled system upgrade rather than a shutdown of Members as a whole (AndroidPure).

The iPhone Duo can finally double as a digital notepad, but owning an Apple Pencil doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to start writing. Apple's foldable iPhone now supports stylus input through iOS 27.2, released October 26, 2026, but only the Apple Pencil (USB-C) works. Even the more expensive Apple Pencil Pro is incompatible.

Samsung has started pushing a second Galaxy S26 October 2026 update, and for now only phones in South Korea are getting it, according to Android Headlines and SamMobile, both reporting this week. The update covers the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, weighs about 580.37MB, and arrives without a public changelog explaining what it does.

A developer named Ismail Shah announced on LinkedIn three weeks ago that he built the Knit Easy Android app to fix a problem he says plagues knitters and crocheters working from printed or PDF patterns: losing track of the row mid-stitch. The post describes a row highlighter, linked counters, and fully offline operation, and includes a Google Play link. However, the app's current listing details, including its price, permissions, and user ratings, have not been independently verified.

A Rust-based open-source project called OpenLogi is drawing attention as a telemetry-free alternative to Logitech Options+, the configuration app most Logitech mouse owners already have installed. OpenLogi runs on macOS 13 or later, Windows, and Linux, and the project's own documentation confirms support for button remapping, DPI adjustment, and SmartShift configuration, all without requiring a Logitech account.

Samsung's latest Galaxy Watch 7 update isn't packed with new features, but it targets parts of the smartwatch experience that owners use throughout the day. Watch faces, the always-on display, and Quick Settings are among the areas receiving attention in the fifth One UI 9 Watch beta.

Samsung has started distributing the Galaxy M54 One UI 9.0 update, built on Android 17, to devices worldwide, according to SamMobile and Zoomit, both published today. The two reports describe the same global rollout rather than independent confirmations of separate events, and neither one includes a Samsung-published changelog that names the M54 specifically. That leaves the broad strokes settled, a global One UI 9.0 rollout has reached this phone, while several features Samsung has marketed...

Samsung's One UI 9 update is bringing an unwelcome surprise for some Galaxy S24 and S25 owners: battery life that suddenly falls short of what they're used to. Complaints range from faster overnight drain to phones needing several charges throughout the day.

A Samsung Galaxy phone can meet every obvious requirement, Bluetooth enabled, signed into the same Google Account, and fully updated, and still refuse to show up as an option under ChromeOS's Connected devices setup.

If the Up Next section vanished from Apple Podcasts after updating to iOS 27.2, it may be because Apple split it into two sections rather than removing the functionality. The update shipped yesterday and reorganizes the Podcasts Home tab into New Episodes and Continue Playing.

Google Photos now packs a Redact tool into its Markup editor, letting Android users blur license plates, account numbers, and other sensitive details before sharing a photo or screenshot. The Google Photos Redact tool started rolling out globally on Android last month, with no beta sign-up required.

Apple released iOS 18.7.11 and iPadOS 18.7.11 earlier this week, delivering a fix for a CoreGraphics flaw the company says "may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals" on iOS versions before iOS 27, according to Apple's security advisory. This is the iPhone XR and iPhone XS security update that matters most right now, since it's the only version that brings the fix to iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, hardware that can't run iOS 26,...

Disney's October 2025 price increase reshaped the math on its streaming bundles. The Disney+ Hulu bundle price hike raised the ad-supported bundle to $12.99 a month while leaving the $19.99 ad-free Premium bundle unchanged.

Spotify Family plan address verification can block people who genuinely live with the plan manager, and missing a follow-up verification request can cost them their spot on the plan entirely.

Full Android Auto work profile support doesn't exist yet, and this new discovery doesn't change that. It does suggest Google is quietly building toward it.

Nothing's $399 Headphone (1) Pro launched Sept. 29, immediately setting up a direct comparison with Sony's WH-1000XM6, which carries a $449.99 list price.

Foldable phones survive drops and folds better than many people expect. In lab testing last year, Which? tested 59 foldable phones through 30,000 open-close cycles on a folding machine, and 58 came through without a fault.

ITavisen reports that Google's own support documentation confirms phone number verification is enabled by default on Android, automatically verifying a number and adding it to every Google account signed in on that device. That covers current and future accounts and phone numbers, not just the one account used to set up the phone in the first place.