Gadget Hacks

Affinity for iPad launched today as a free download, finally giving Mac-based Affinity users a matching iPad app built around the same unified sketch, vector, photo, and layout toolset (Thurrott; 9to5Mac, today).

Google has confirmed to Android Authority that a fix for Android Auto not connecting after the One UI 9 update is already rolling out. The company frames it as a broader "Android 17 / One UI 9" issue rather than a bug tied to one specific phone.

Google Photos has replaced its old shortcut grid with a layout users can actually control, giving people a real way to rearrange the Collections tab instead of relying on shortcuts the app picked for them, according to Android Authority and Android Police.

YouTube is testing a new channel cleanup policy that lets creators facing termination for certain spam violations wipe their entire video library instead of losing the channel outright. A channel that takes this route can retain its subscribers, handle, and monetization status while showing zero videos, so an account sitting in your subscriptions feed could go completely blank without actually being banned (Android Authority; Dexerto).

Google's program is scheduled to become available on December 1, 2026, on devices running Android 17 QPR2 or later in the countries listed in Google's official eligibility FAQ, provided a third-party store has completed registration and received approval.

Google quietly confirmed that receipt scanning is coming to Google Wallet in the changelog for Google Play Services v26.40, dated Oct. 12, 2026. The entry says users can now scan to add receipts, a change that could make it easier to save purchase records without entering their details manually.

Ask Play, Google Play's AI-powered search feature, can now generate side-by-side comparisons between apps alongside its existing conversational recommendations.

A claim of a Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold $250 off Amazon discount is not verifiable from the reporting reviewed for this article. No live listing, seller name, SKU, or timestamp backing that price cut turned up anywhere in that reporting. That gap doesn't prove the deal is fake, it just means there's nothing yet to check the claim against.

A leaker claims OPPO is testing its unannounced Find X10 Ultra with MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro, then says a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 version is now more likely (Android Central, today). The OPPO Find X10 Ultra MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro rumor is still just that: a leak, not a product announcement. OPPO hasn't confirmed the phone exists at all, so there's no official chipset, camera hardware, price, or release date to weigh against anything.

At $899, Apple's M6 Mac mini looks like a bargain beside the new $1,499 iMac. That's $600 saved before you've even turned either computer on. But there's a catch: the Mac mini doesn't come with a screen, keyboard, or mouse, and buying those separately can eat into the savings.

The Pixel 11 Pro HiLight notification feature just picked up its most requested upgrade: message alerts. Owners running Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1 on the Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, or Pro Fold can now flip on a toggle that makes the camera-ring LED blink for texts from favorite contacts, confirmed working with Google Messages according to 9to5Google. That's a real expansion for a feature Android Police called a "dud" at launch over its narrow scope, per Android Police.

A Gartic Phone Halloween party game only works if the host plans around one detail: most guests will be drawing monsters with their thumbs on a six-inch screen, not a tablet or laptop. Gartic Phone works in iOS Safari and Android Chrome with touchscreen drawing built in, but a guide covering the game's mechanics says detailed drawing is harder on a phone than on a larger screen.

The Delta 2.0 update launched Oct. 22, giving the retro-game emulator a dual-screen layout built specifically for Nintendo DS games on Apple's new iPhone Duo and adding Sega Genesis and Mega Drive emulation for every user. It's the first new system Delta has supported since its 2024 App Store debut, according to iThinkDiff. The release went live on the App Store and AltStore PAL in time for the Duo's Oct. 23 retail launch.

The new Shortcuts features in iOS 27.2 arrived this week, covering automation triggers, actions, and editor tools documented in Apple's release notes. Several of these Shortcuts improvements also extend to iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS, which received their matching 27.2 updates on October 26.

There's still no confirmed Samsung Galaxy T1 earbuds release date, price, or official product name. But the unannounced SM-R545 has now cleared wireless certification in two countries within about a month, evidence that the product is moving through Samsung's regulatory pipeline rather than sitting idle, according to SammyGuru.

The Samsung Galaxy A37 has worn three different price tags in about six months, and that's the central question of this Galaxy A37 review. The hardware hasn't changed.

Motorola has started rolling out stable Android 17 to the Razr Ultra 2025, but only a narrow group of owners has confirmed receiving it so far. The update has been reported on an unlocked unit in the United States, according to Android Authority and TuttoAndroid.

Google wants Android users in parts of Canada to check their phones before Nov. 1, the day several provinces and territories stop turning clocks back.

Yes, a laser pointer can damage a phone camera sensor, but the outcome isn't a single fixed result. Research on camera sensors shows effects ranging from temporary overexposure that clears on its own to permanent dead pixels or a sensor that stops producing usable images altogether. None of the studies cited here support the blanket claim that any laser pointer aimed at any phone will wreck the camera. The risk depends on the laser's power, wavelength, exposure duration, and how much energy...

OpenAI is testing a ChatGPT Google Messages integration that lets its autonomous Dots agents text users directly, instead of keeping conversations locked inside the ChatGPT app, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. ChatGPT said on Wednesday that the feature is "rolling out now as a preview for Pro users in the US." Android users reach a Dot through RCS in Google Messages, while iPhone users reach it through iMessage.

Google has confirmed that Find Hub will add Left Behind notifications, alerting users when a tracked device separates from their phone, but the only hardware with a committed launch date so far is Pixel Tag, Google's own tracker arriving November 11 for $29 solo or $99 for a four-pack.

Choosing a VPN in 2026 is not as simple as finding the provider with the largest server network or the fastest advertised speeds.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate got cheaper this year, but figuring out how to get the most out of your subscription takes more than glancing at the new price. Starting April 21, 2026, Ultimate dropped from $29.99 to $22.99 a month, with PC Game Pass falling from $16.49 to $13.99, according to Microsoft. Prices vary by region, so those US figures might not match what appears on your bill.

If Microsoft Teams won't open on Windows 11, first check whether your PC is managed by an organization or fully yours. That determines which fixes you can safely try. Most of the troubleshooting also applies to Windows 10, although some Settings menus differ.

Samsung has started rolling out the Galaxy M54 One UI 9.0 update, based on Android 17, according to SamMobile and Zoomit, which reported the release on Oct. 27. Zoomit cites SamMobile for the global rollout, rather than independently confirming a separate release. Samsung's model-specific update documentation has not yet established which Galaxy AI features are included.

Samsung has started rolling out One UI 9.0 based on Android 17 to the Galaxy A16 5G on Verizon.

Creating a password-protected ZIP on Android starts with choosing a file manager that supports encrypted archives. Files by Google can create ordinary ZIP files, but its documented compression workflow doesn't include a password option. That's a limitation of Files by Google, not Android as a whole.

So, how much are old Samsung phones worth? In an Oct. 23 snapshot, a like-new 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra could bring a top cash buyback offer of $291, compared with a reported average completed sale price of $404 on Swappa, before fees. That's a $113 difference for handling the sale yourself instead of accepting a buyback offer, according to Engadget.

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.

A working fork of the open-source Aves gallery app, posted to GitHub about a month ago, demonstrates something readers trying to search Android photos without cloud upload have been asking for: typed description search and visual similarity matching that run entirely on the phone, with photo indexing and search described by the developer as running locally, without uploading photos, videos, or search queries.

Samsung has started pushing a second Galaxy S26 October 2026 update, and so far only phones in South Korea have been reported receiving it, according to Android Headlines and SamMobile. 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 Galaxy tablet owner asked Samsung Community how to reorder "the first 6 buttons" on their Quick Panel, and the reply pointed to a setting called Edit top quick settings. Samsung now documents that option in its official support materials for newer Galaxy devices, although the exact menu layout can vary by software version and model. For One UI 7 users, the key distinction is between editing the full Quick Panel and customizing the shortcuts shown in the combined notifications view.

Google revised its privacy policy on Oct. 16 to say that data shared between Gmail, Google Photos, or Drive and certain other Google services may now be used to personalize content, including ads. The update adds an exception to language that previously ruled out using content from those apps for ad personalization, according to The Verge and Ars Technica.

WhatsApp scheduled messages on iPhone are now in testing, but access right now is limited to select iOS beta users, not the general public. The tool has surfaced in WhatsApp's iOS beta version 26.42.10.19, distributed through Apple's TestFlight program, according to Digital Trends. If you're hoping to schedule a WhatsApp message on your iPhone today just by updating the app, that won't work unless you're already enrolled in that specific beta.

Passports, birth certificates, and Social Security cards don't fit inside a Bluetooth tracker, but Google's Find Hub now gives them a place anyway. Its new Remembered tab lets you tell Gemini where you stored a document, then ask for that location later, whether you're digging through a closet or preparing for a trip.

A fork of an open-source project called nxnative has reportedly got Mario Kart World, a Switch 2 exclusive, running on a Mac, with developer Will Faust posting video footage of the game on Oct. 27.

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.

Google Meet's real-time voice translation jumped from six languages to 63 this week, powered by a new Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model that automatically detects which language someone is speaking instead of locking a call into one fixed pair. This expansion brings Google's Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model to Meet's web and mobile apps, and it removes the old meeting-wide language-pair limit so each participant can pick their own translation language. Most people will still need an eligible paid...

OnePlus has already started rolling out Android 17-based ColorOS 17 ahead of its original Oct. 29, 2026, schedule.

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. 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, along with the seventh-generation iPad.