If you're like me, you're probably juggling multiple audio apps throughout the day. I listen to audiobooks on Audible, switch over to music on Spotify, check out podcasts on Pocketcasts, and there's always something on YouTube in the background. Usually, switching between audio sources means opening the app, finding the playback function (or the media itself), and pressing play, every time you want to listen to something new. With Android 17 (currently in beta), Google is giving us a more advanced version that lets you easily switch between playback sources right from the Notifications panel. The new Now Playing media switcher is rolling out to Android 17 QPR Beta 3 users across the globe, and should be a part of the stable release in a couple of months.

Media switching on Android works better as tiles

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Now, technically speaking, this isn't a whole new feature: It's an update to one that no one really used. In Android 16, you can swipe on the Now Playing panel in the Notifications shade to access previously used apps and media. But this gesture is often buggy, and you'll often end up swiping on the media scrubber itself. There's also no clear indication that you can switch between playback sources in the panel.

The new design in Android 17 fixes all of this, and makes it a feature I can actually see myself using every day. When you've used multiple media apps recently, you'll now see two tiles next to the Now Playing bar in the Notification shade. Tap on a tile, and it shows the source, with the title, background image, and your last listening position. From here, you can tap the big Play button to switch to the source. Swiping between the tiles works as well. And this also works on the lock screen, so you can switch between audio sources without even unlocking your smartphone.

You'll only see up to two other tiles at the same time, but the feature works with up to four recent audio sources. You'll just have to swipe across to see the fourth in the Now Playing bar. There is a downside, though. When you have two other sources, the playback tile itself shrinks down, and you lose out on the horizontal space. YouTube titles, especially, are brutally cut off. But in my time using the switcher, I didn't find that particularly annoying. The extra functionality outweighs the reduced readability. Plus, this feature is still in beta testing, so things could change before the official release.

The redesigned Now Playing bar is one of the many new features coming to Android 17. For example, Google recently announced "Continue On", which brings Apple's Handoff feature to the Android universe.

At Google I/O 2026, Google announced that they're going all in on AI Search. According to Google, AI Mode now has more than a billion monthly users. To tackle all those questions, Google is plugging their best new Gemini 3.5 model directly into AI Mode, and, of course, they're integrating agents directly into Google Search so they can accomplish things on your behalf.

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Google Search gets Gemini 3.5 Flash

Starting today, Google is integrating its latest Flash model, the Gemini 3.5 Flash, directly into AI Mode—and it's going to be available to everyone, globally. Google also sees the AI Mode search queries as the beginning of a longer conversation, so they're making the input more dynamic. According to Google, the text box in Google Search will dynamically expand when you're asking a longer question. And now you can search across different modalities, using text, images, videos, files, and even Chrome tabs as input.

Users will also be able to ask a question from AI Overviews, leading to a conversation view in AI Mode. As you provide more context, the results will get more relevant. This experience is also rolling out for desktop and mobile users worldwide today.

Google is also integrating Personal Intelligence directly into AI Mode. That means your AI Search queries can return personalized information based on your Google account. Google is launching this feature in more than 200 countries and across 98 languages, and it will be available for free. The feature remains opt-in.

Agentic AI comes to Google Search

Surprising absolutely no one, Google is starting to roll out agents directly in Google Search. You will be able to create and manage multiple AI agents in the search interface itself. Google is starting off with information agents that work in the background 24/7, getting you updated information that you need.

A Search agent can search across different sources on the web, like articles, social media posts, and Google's real-time information on shopping, sports, and finance. Search can then send you timely updates, and because this is an agent, it can also take action on your behalf. According to an example from Google, Search agents can monitor sneaker collabs between your favorite sneaker brands and your favorite athletes, and it can notify you about new drops (providing a way to place an order as well). Agents will also be integrated into Google Shopping directly.

Google is also expanding its agentic booking experience to local experiences and services. Search can help you book an experience, with details about time slots and pricing ready to go. Don't worry, though; you'll be the one placing the final order with the provided link. Information agents are coming first to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers this summer.

AI Mode can make custom UI using Google Antigravity

Google is also integrating coding elements from Google Antigravity directly in Gemini 3.5 Flash, so you can now ask Google Search to help you explain complex topics by creating interactive models. You can also use it to generate personalized dashboards to visualize data, generating what Google calls "mini-apps." For example, it can help you build a custom fitness tracker with real-time data sources like live weather data, maps data, and more. This feature will first roll out to U.S. users in the coming months, and it's limited to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

It wouldn't be a Google I/O keynote without a new frontier AI model. At I/O 2026, Google finally revealed the Gemini 3.5 family to the world, starting with Gemini 3.5 Flash. As you'd expect, it's the latest and greatest model from Google, designed to work across a slew of Google products like the Gemini app, Android, and Google's Antigravity coding platform. Google says that the latest frontier model is designed especially for complex agentic workflows.

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Google isn't the only company we're thinking about today, either. Lifehacker is launching a Big Guessing Game, featuring questions about what Apple might announce at its various events this year. The entire CNET Group is participating (CNET, Mashable, PCMag, ZDNET, and Lifehacker), and you can participate in as many of the games as you want.

Gemini 3.5 Flash rolls out across the globe

You won't need to wait for Gemini 3.5—at least not for Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google's frontier free model. It's rolling out today in the Gemini app, as well as Google Search's AI Mode. Developers can also access the 3.5 Flash model via Antigravity and Gemini API in Google AI Studio.

Google I/O's keynote and all the new AI features announced today are based on the 3.5 Flash model. Google was surprisingly quiet about the Gemini Pro model, but the company said it is testing it internally, and it will be rolled out next month.

According to Google, Gemini 3.5 Flash outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro on coding and agentic benchmarks like Terminal-Bench 2.1 (76.2%), GDPval-AA (1656 Elo), and MCP Atlas (83.6%), and leads in multimodal understanding (84.2% on CharXiv Reasoning). When it comes to output tokens per second, the new model is four times faster than other frontier models.

Gemini 3.5 Flash is all about agentic AI and coding

Gemini 3.5 Flash's biggest enhancement comes in long-running and complex agentic workflows. Google has worked with partners and enterprise customers across fintech and data science teams to hone the agentic AI capabilities of the 3.5 Flash model. When it comes to agentic AI for regular consumers, Gemini 3.5 Flash will enable agentic browsing in Google Search's AI Mode and Gemini Spark, Google's new personal AI agent.

In AI Mode, Google is starting off with information agents. These agents work in the background, 24/7, collecting information for you. The agents can scour the web for news articles, social media posts, and tap into Google's real-time data for finance, sports, and shopping. For example, you can use search agents to notify you when your favorite athlete collaborates with your favorite sneaker brand for an exclusive drop. These features will be available for free across the globe.

Google is also testing Gemini Spark with select users, with a beta coming to Google AI Ultra subscribers next week (limited to the U.S.). Gemini Spark is a personal intelligence agent that works 24/7 in the background. It can even take actions on your behalf while under your direction. AI Mode will also include coding agents that can generate mini-apps and interactive dashboards for you on the fly, right in the Search interface.

Gemini Omni lets you generate videos using text and multimedia inputs

Google had a bit of a moment with Nano Banana 2.0: Image generation improved significantly, especially with text. Now, Gemini Omni can create media based on different kinds of input modalities. Google is starting off with video generation. In one prompt, you can combine images, audio, video, and text sources and use it to generate high-quality videos. Google will also let you edit videos in the same conversation.

Google will start rolling out Gemini Omni Flash to the Gemini app, YouTube Shorts, and Google Flow. Right now, it can only generate videos, but Google will add support for image and audio outputs down the line.

After some harsh feedback about the quality of Windows 11, Microsoft is on a sort of apology tour. The company is promising to improve the operating system, addressing critical issues and features that annoy longtime Windows users. It started off with a way to delay Windows updates for longer than a week. Now, Microsoft is testing new settings that let users customize the placement and size of the taskbar alongside the start menu.

The fact that you couldn't move the taskbar to the top or side of the screen has bothered Windows 11 users ever since launch. As with many frustrating aspects of Windows, there are multiple workarounds to customize the taskbar and its placement using third-party apps and registry hacks. But now, Windows users will finally have a native, reliable option for customizing the taskbar. These changes are currently rolling out over the next couple of weeks to Windows Insider members in the Experimental channel. Hopefully, they make it to a public build in the near future.

Move the taskbar anywhere you want

Credit: Microsoft

The biggest news, of course, is that the taskbar is finally detached from the bottom of the screen—at least, if you want it to be. You can now move it to the top, or to the left or right edge of the screen. When you do, the taskbar content will adapt automatically. You can also choose where you'd like to align the icons. You can place them on top or in the center when the taskbar is on the sides, or on the left or center when it is on the top or the bottom.

If you dock the taskbar to the side, there's a new option to “Never combine” taskbar buttons and to show full labels for all windows separately. This will basically show you a vertical list of all open windows, even if they're from the same app. Windows Insiders who already have this feature can go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors to customize the taskbar position and icon alignment.

Credit: Microsoft

If you're using a Windows tablet, or a laptop with a small screen, there's now an option to make the Windows taskbar smaller (icons will also scale down automatically). Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Show smaller taskbar buttons and set it to Always.

Debloating the Start menu gets easier

Credit: Microsoft

The Start menu in Windows 11 has expanded to include not just apps, but also recommendations, shortcuts, and even updates from your connected smartphone. If all you really want is a quick way to launch apps, this can seem like too much. Microsoft is now consolidating settings for customizing the Start menu, making it easier to get to the minimal Start menu experience.

Credit: Microsoft

There are many other changes planned for the taskbar in the near future. Over the next couple of weeks, Microsoft will start adding Start menu customization features to independently show or hide sections like Pinned, Recommended, and All. There will be a separate toggle to disable the Recommended section only in the Start menu (decoupling it from the Recent Files section in the File Explorer), as well as a new size setting for the Start menu, letting you choose between a Small or Large size. Currently, the Start menu automatically adapts to your display, which can be inconsistent if you use multiple displays along with your laptop. Lastly, Microsoft is adding an option to hide your name and profile picture from the Start menu for added privacy. With all these features combined, you can create a Start menu that's smaller, devoid of profile pictures, and only showing apps that you have pinned yourself.

Because the Mail app is built into all Macs, iPhones, and iPads, it becomes the default choice for many Apple users. For some, the simple interface is the biggest attraction, but that doesn't mean the Mail app is a simple piece of software. After decades of active development, Mail is full of powerful hidden features that are lurking just below the surface. These Apple Mail hacks can help you manage and organize your email—and hopefully reduce the stress that comes along with it.

Disable "categories" to restore Mail's original design

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Apple Mail automatically categorizes emails into categories like Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. Most of the time, Apple does a good job at this. But if you're used to the old Mail interface, shifting to these new categories can be jarring. Luckily, you can bring back the simplified interface at any time: Swipe to the end of the Category tabs to view the All Mail tab, which shows all your emails on one page. You can also disable the Categories view entirely. Tap the three dots at the top and switch to List View. On the Mac, click the three-dotted Menu button from the top toolbar and unselect Show Mail Categories.

Use custom swipe gestures to build routines for clearing your inbox

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Swipe gestures are a lifesaver in the Mail app. You can swipe left or right on any email to reveal quick actions like setting a reminder, marking the email as read, or archiving the email. You can swipe once to reveal all options, and follow through on that swipe to trigger the main action. Best of all, you can customize this main action, so your full swipe doesn't have to trigger Apple's default action. Go to Settings > Mail > Swipe Options. Here, you'll see Swipe Left and Swipe Right options. For each, you can choose between "Mark as Read," "Flag," "Move Message," and "Archive." If you heavily rely on a Flag and Archive method, use the left swipe gesture to Flag an email, and the right swipe gesture to Archive it. But you can configure these however you'd like.

Use "Remind Me" and "Mute" to deprioritize threads that you can't respond to yet

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Not all email is important—at least, not right this moment. If you want some peace while you deal with the important stuff, use the "Remind Me" feature to push off some emails into the future. When you're viewing an email, tap the Reply button, and choose the Remind Me option. Then choose the reminder time from the following: "one hour", "in the evening," "the next day," or a custom time. You can also swipe right when in the Inbox to access the Remind Me feature.

Similarly, a long email thread that doesn't really concern you can get annoying. You can use the Mute feature to mute alerts from overactive threads. Press and hold an email thread from the inbox and choose the Mute option. (In the email view, you can find it under the Reply feature.) On the Mac, right-click on any email, and choose the Remind Me option.

Use Filters and Flags to prioritize your important conversations

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

When it comes to focusing on the important emails, combining Flags with Filters can really help. The Mail app lets you flag emails based on importance, including with custom colors. Each day, you can flag important emails in the morning and then filter out the rest to focus on the crucial tasks. You'll find the Flag option under the Reply menu in any email. Then, when you're in the inbox, tap the Filter icon in the bottom-left, choose the Filtered By: button, and switch to "Flagged." Now, the only emails you'll see in your inbox will be your flagged emails. On your Mac, you'll find the Flag icon in the top toolbar. To only see emails flagged with a particular color, go to the Flagged section in the sidebar, and choose the flag you wish to filter.

Use "Hide My Email" to protect your address

Credit: Apple

If you pay for iCloud+, you can use Hide My Email to create as many unique email aliases as you want. These aliases all forward back to your actual email address. That way, you can share the unique address with a new company, without having to expose your actual address. You can manage and create all your email addresses from Settings on your iPhone and System Settings on your Mac. Click on your name up top and go to iCloud > iCloud+ Features > Hide My Email. The easiest way to use this, though, is in the email compose window. When you're drafting an email from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, choose the "From" button and select Hide My Email, which will quickly generate a new address to send the message from.

Set up Undo Send to buy yourself time to catch mistakes

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Typos in emails are an inevitability. Instead of panicking or sending a follow-up email, plan ahead using Undo Send. Go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Undo Send Delay and adjust the option to as high as 30 seconds. Now, every email you send will be delayed by 30 seconds, which gives you plenty of time to stop it from flying off. On your Mac, you'll find this option in Mail Settings > Composing > Undo Send Delay.

Use these keyboard shortcuts to move faster across the Mail app

On your Mac (or iPad with a keyboard), you can move through your inbox and pending emails much faster if you embrace keyboard shortcuts. Here are a few beginner-friendly keyboard shortcuts to start with:

• Create a new email message: Command + N

• Reply to selected email: Command + R

• Forward selected email: Shift + Command + F

• Mark email as read or unread: Shift + Command + U

• Move selected emails to the Junk mailbox: Shift + Command + J

• Archive the email: Control + Command + A

Use smart mailboxes to automatically sort specific types of messages into one inbox (Mac only)

Credit: Apple

If you use the Mail app as your default email client, you should try setting up some smart mailboxes. A smart mailbox helps you automatically sort incoming emails based on pre-configured parameters. You can set up a mailbox to receive all emails from a particular client or about a project across different mail servers.

To start, go to Mail's sidebar, then click the folder icon next to "Smart Mailboxes" to create one. Give it a name, then set up conditions for filtering. For example, the first condition can filter based on email addresses, while the second can filter based on your project's keywords. Click "OK" to save it. You'll now see the new smart mailbox in the sidebar, containing only the emails based on your conditions.

Use "VIPs" to never miss emails from important contacts

If you suffer from email overload, you might have turned off notifications for the Mail app a long time ago. While checking your inbox every now and then keeps you in the loop for the most part, there may be times when you need to get to an email the moment it arrives. That's where Mail's VIP feature comes in handy. When you get an email from a VIP, you'll get a notification, without having to receive alerts for other emails. (Just note: You will need to turn Mail's notifications on, but you can disable alerts for all accounts to limit notifications to VIPs.) To get started, open the Contact Card for the person in question and tap "Add to VIP." Next, go to Settings > Notifications > Mail > Customize Notifications > VIP and make sure that alerts and sounds are enabled. On your Mac, right-click a contact's name and choose Add to VIPs.

Set up rules to ensure spam and unwanted emails never reach you

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you use your iCloud email address, you can set up rules for your mailbox that automatically hide emails that match certain criteria. That could be an email address you know to be a scammer, or spammy keywords that tend to appear in the subject line. For instance, you can set up a rule that automatically removes all incoming emails containing the words "crypto" or "bitcoin." To set this up, go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > iCloud Mail > iCloud Mail Rules, then tap Add Rule and fill in your criteria. You don't have to move the emails to trash, either. You can also use this feature to automatically move emails to a certain mailbox, or to mark them as read.

Windows users contend with a lot of updates. There's a new update every month on the stable channel, and every week on the Windows Insider channel. But not all updates are created equal. Some are mission-critical, with important security patches you won't want to miss. On the other hand, some can create issues themselves, introducing bugs or new features you don't want.

Until now, there wasn't much you could do when an update showed up. You could try to delay, but you'd be forced to install it a week later, sometimes in the middle of important work. With the latest Insider update, however, Microsoft is trying to fix that. Now, the company is testing a roundabout way to delay updates forever (though from a security standpoint, you shouldn't), as well as a process for installing updates that won't disrupt your workflow.

How to delay Windows updates forever

In the Windows Insider update rolling out this week, you can pause updates for up to 35 days at a time. That doesn't mean you have to update your PC once those 35 days are up, however. You can keep doing this manually indefinitely. There are no limits. When you have the option on your end, go to Settings > Windows Update > Pause Updates. You'll see a new date picker here to extend the update. Here, you can choose a date you want Windows to install that update—perhaps after the deadline for an important project, so you can be sure that the update won't interrupt your work.

You'll need to enroll your PC in the Windows Insider program if you want to try this new feature out, however. Microsoft has not officially rolled it out in a public Windows update, so unless you want to join Microsoft's beta program, you'll need to wait and see if the company decides to release this feature in the near future.

Credit: Microsoft

Why you shouldn't delay updates forever

There are some caveats here. First, you'll have to do this manually each time to extend the pause period. Second, there's no option to cherry-pick which updates get delayed. It's just one option to pause updates, which can include multiple pending updates on your PC, even for drivers or security updates. When you pause updates, you lose out on all of it.

The monthly Windows update isn't just about new features you may or may not want: It also includes critical security updates that patch vulnerabilities and help protect your computer from attacks. In addition, it fixes longstanding bugs and issues, and introduces updates at the firmware and driver level that help improve the performance of your GPUs, memory, and peripherals. You can use this new "Pause Updates" feature to decide when exactly to install a monthly update (perhaps after waiting for a week or two), but from a security standpoint, it's not a good idea to delay updates indefinitely, just because you can.

Other changes to updates on Windows 11

You'll also be able to skip new updates when you're first setting up your Windows PC. During setup, you'll see a new Update Later button, which should get you to your desktop faster. When you do eventually install the update, the experience should be better than before. To reduce update fatigue, Microsoft is now trying to coordinate security, driver, and feature updates so they all appear together once a month. You'll also get a detailed view of all available updates in the Windows Update section. In addition, "Shutdown" and "Restart" will soon be available at all times—even when there is a pending update. You won't be forced into the "Update and restart" cycle just because you've delayed updates before.

Credit: Microsoft

The Reminders app on the iPhone is perhaps one of the most underrated apps that Apple makes. On the surface, it's a simple to-do list app: You can use Siri to add reminders, get notifications, and check them off. But hiding under the surface is a complex program, with features that help you get things done with the right context and at the right time. You can organize your list as a Kanban board, set blaring alarms for important reminders, manage tasks from the Calendar app, and generate your own smart lists.

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Here are 10 ways to make the most of your Reminders app:

Use "When Messaging" to get a reminder when texting a specific contact

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you have something to ask your friend or colleague, but you keep forgetting, Reminders has a feature that can help. "When Messaging" links a task to a contact, so the next time you text them, Messages reminds you about it. The feature is a bit hidden, though: When you create a new task, tap the “i” icon to go into the detailed view. Scroll to the bottom and enable the "When Messaging" toggle. Next, select the contact from your contact book. The next time you're talking to them on iMessage, you'll get a notification from the Reminders app.

Use Kanban view for complex lists

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Kanban view converts your list into a column-based interface. Any section that you create becomes a column of its own. This works best on the Mac, but you can scroll through columns easily on the iPhone, as well. I find this view ideal for anyone who uses an assembly-based task management workflow, where you need to track a task between multiple steps. For example, my article management list can have multiple sections: "Pitches," "Approved," "Writing," "Editing," "Published," and so on. This way, I can track the progress of each of my articles with ease. You should experiment with how a column-based interface can help you. Start by creating sections. Tap the Menu button, choose Add Section, and give it a title. Then, tap the View as Columns button from the Menu to switch to the Kanban view. For more information, see my detailed guide on using the Kanban view in Reminders.

Use Calendar's built-in Reminders feature to sync tasks across both apps

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you're a visual planner, you might want to see your tasks along with your events as you plan your day. But not all calendar events can be tasks. You can solve this issue by turning your reminders into calendar events. The feature is enabled by default: All you have to do is set up the Calendar app. All your reminders with a due date and due time will automatically show up in the Calendar app, complete with a checkbox. You can also drag and move a task around in the Calendar, and there's an option to add a task from the Calendar app to Reminders. Just hit the Plus button and then switch to the Reminder tab.

Use an auto-organizing grocery list for your shopping

Credit: Apple

Organizing a shopping list can be a challenge. You have a long list of things to pick up, and you end up running around from one aisle to another. Instead of using a specialized grocery shopping list, use the built-in auto-organizing "Groceries" list in Reminders. If you're using iOS 17 or higher, you'll likely see a suggestion to create a new Groceries list once you start entering items. If not, you can tap the Plus button to create a new list, and choose Groceries in the "List Type." Now, when you enter a new item on the list, it will be categorized automatically. Sourdough will go to the breads section, tomatoes to the produce section, chicken thighs to the meat section, and so on.

Set alarms so you never miss important reminders

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

It's easy to miss reminders if your iPhone is away from you, or if you have Do Not Disturb enabled. That can spell disaster for especially important alerts. Instead of setting a separate alarm from the Clock app, you can now add an alarm to any reminder using the new Urgent setting on iPhones running iOS 26.2 and higher. Go to a task's detailed view, assign a due date and time, and then enable "Urgent." (The first time you do this, you'll get a request to integrate with iOS' Alarms.) Now, when the reminder is due, you'll see a full-screen interface with the reminder up top. Like a traditional alarm, there will be an option to slide to stop, and you'll also see a big blue "Snooze" button.

Create shared lists to assign tasks to family members or teammates

Credit: Apple

Reminders has a built-in collaboration feature that you can use to create shared lists with your family members and your coworkers. It's not as feature-rich as a dedicated tool like Todoist, but for day-to-day task sharing, it's more than enough. Go to a list, tap the Share button, and choose how to share the invitation—either using Messages or Mail. Once they join the list, you can assign a task by simply typing "@ their name" in the task itself.

Use templates to quickly reuse existing lists

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you find yourself using the same lists over and over again, you should turn it into a template. That way, the next time you need it, it will automatically populate with the same sections, tasks, and subtasks, without needing to rebuild those things from scratch. To get started, go to a list, tap Menu at the top, and choose Save as Template. Give the template a name and save it. The next time you want to create a new list based on the template, tap Menu, choose Templates, and choose a template to recreate a list.

Use subtasks to build complex workflows

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Every task in Reminders can include multiple subtasks, and each subtask can have its own due date, notes, tags, assignees, and more. This lets you break down complex tasks into a visual hierarchy without a complex project management app. All of this works with a simple gesture: Write your main task first, press enter, then start typing your subtask, which will initially appear as another task entry. For example, in your newsletter list, you can have a main task called "Interview section update" with subtasks like "Schedule interview with guest" and "Get the questions approved." After writing your subtasks, swipe right on the task and choose Indent to indent it. It will instantly attach as a subtask to the task above it. This is now a subtask. You can now expand or collapse the main task.

Use tags to keep tabs on similar reminders

Credit: Apple

Tags help you stay organized without putting in the work. When you're adding tasks, start by tagging them with a category, using the "#" symbol. Use tags like #work, #shopping, and #home. Then, tap a tag to view all tasks associated with it. At the bottom of the Home page in the Reminders app, you'll see all your tags. Tap a tag to see all the tagged tasks.

Use smart lists to organize reminders

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Once you get the hang of subtasks and tags, start using smart lists. Smart lists in Reminders are customized filters you can stack to create highly specific collections of tasks. For example, you can create a smart list that includes all tasks tagged with "#work," set to your office, due in a week, and assigned to you. 

To create a custom smart list, go to the Reminders home page, tap the Plus at the top to create a new list, and in the List Type, switch to Smart List. Then, from Manage Smart List, enable the filters you need. These can be based on tags, flags, due dates, locations, priorities, and tasks in other lists. A new custom list will appear on your Reminders home screen. You can then pin it to the top section if you intend to use it frequently. 

Every major browser puts a thin strip of tabs at the top of the window. It's great, until you open dozens of tabs, and all you can really see are little website favicons. A better way exists—placing tabs vertically in a sidebar—but browsers have been resisting it for years. Arc was the first mainstream browser that pioneered a sidebar-based navigation system, and since then it has propagated to Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Arc's spiritual successor, Zen browser. If you're using one of these browsers, I highly recommend making the switch.

Why vertical tabs make more sense

So much wasted space on the left and right. Credit: Khamosh Pathak

As The Verge notes, most websites are customized for a vertical reading experience, while laptops and desktops have widescreen displays. When you read articles on a website like Lifehacker, there's quite a lot of white space on the left and the right, while that vertical space is actually at a premium. Depending on your display size, your tabs might end up crunched along the top of the display, space that would otherwise be available for viewing the site in question. Moving the tab bar to a sidebar means you've freed up some useful space up top, with the added advantage of being able to see the names of all your tabs—even if you have 30 tabs open at once.

How to enable vertical tabs in Google Chrome

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Chrome was the last major browser to add support for vertical tabs, introducing the feature in April 2026. To enable vertical tabs in Chrome, update to the latest version, then go to Settings > Appearance > Tab strip position and switch to Side. All of your tabs will be shifted to a new vertical bar on the left. The URL bar with extensions will move to the top, and a lot of Chrome's interface will disappear.

Chrome also offers a compact mode. You can click the Collapse Tabs icon at the top of the vertical sidebar to only show the website favicons as tabs to save even more space (hovering over a tab will show the tab title). You can still create tab groups from the top of the sidebar, and there's also a handy button to search between the tabs. Pinned tabs show up at the top in their own separate section, too.

How to enable vertical tabs in Firefox

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Firefox has a sidebar that lets you add features like an AI chatbot, browser history, and quick access to tabs from other devices. Firefox also lets you move the sidebar to the right-hand side if you wish. To enable vertical tabs here, go to Settings > General > Browser Layout > Vertical Tabs (and make sure that Show sidebar is enabled). When the sidebar is open, click the Customize Sidebar button to customize the shortcuts—including the ability to remove all the Firefox features and AI chatbot shortcuts. There's also a compact mode here that only shows the favicons, but reveals the entire sidebar when you hover on it. Use the Expand sidebar on hover feature to switch to this mode.

How to enable vertical tabs in Edge

To enable vertical tabs in Microsoft Edge, go to Settings > Appearance > Tab Actions > Show vertical tabs. Once set, you'll be able to toggle the sidebar from the toolbar up top. Because Edge is based on Chromium, the vertical sidebar works much like the one in Chrome. Pinned tabs show up top, and you can collapse the sidebar for a compact mode.

Zen Browser has vertical tabs by default

Credit: Justin Pot

If you are in favor of vertical tabs, you really should consider using the Zen browser. Currently in beta, it's a spiritual successor to Arc (RIP) that is based on Firefox instead of Chromium, with a focus on privacy and speed. But what's particularly relevant for this piece is that Zen Browser uses a sidebar interface by default. Zen uses workspaces to divide up your work, personal life, or projects. Each space can have its own pinned tabs and its own workspace. You can add tabs to the "Essentials" space that stay the same no matter what. There's also a compact mode that hides the entire sidebar unless you hover on the edge of the window. To know more, take a look at our detailed guide on the Zen browser.

WhatsApp just announced a slew of updates for iPhone users, playing catch-up with some of the features that have existed on Android for years. With this update, iPhone users can expect multiple accounts, easy cross-platform transfers, an option to only clear the media from chats, and, of course, a couple of Meta AI features to round things off. According to WhatsApp, the update is rolling out now and will be available to everyone soon—though as it's a slow rollout, it might take time before it's live on your iPhone.

iPhone users can finally have two WhatsApp accounts at once

The biggest update here is the addition of multi-account support, something that WhatsApp has been testing on iPhone since last January, and a feature that has been live on Android since 2023. Now, just like Android, you can use two WhatsApp accounts on your iPhone: perhaps one for work, and one for personal use. But because this is WhatsApp, the second account will need a separate phone number (that's when eSIM is going to be helpful). Once they are set up, you will get notifications and messages from both accounts, and you can switch between the active account from the Profile menu in the tab bar.

iPhone to Android chat transfer gets easier

WhatsApp just made transferring your chats between two phones much easier. It all happens over wifi now (previously you needed to connect using a USB-C cable). On your iPhone, go to Settings > Chats > Transfer chat history > Transfer to Android to get started. Make sure that your iPhone is unlocked, and when prompted, scan a QR code, and connect to a stable wifi network.

Free up space without deleting complete chats

Usually, it's the photos and videos that take up the most space on WhatsApp. The app has a dedicated storage management tool that will delete images and videos in bulk, but now, WhatsApp is bringing it directly into your conversations. Following the update, you'll find a Manage Storage option in every thread. You can select all the media to delete with a tap, while keeping all your text messages, links, and documents safe.

WhatsApp has new sticker suggestions

WhatsApp wants you to switch from regular emojis to its animated stickers. When you type commonly used emojis (say, the heart emoji), it will suggest stickers instead (a pulsating, red heart). You can tap on a sticker to swap out the emoji.

WhatsApp has new AI features for you to ignore

It wouldn't be a Meta update without the addition of new Meta AI features. WhatsApp is updating its Writing Help feature, which it introduced last year. Writing Help takes your message and suggests a couple of revised versions to replace it with, each in different tones, and all processed locally using WhatsApp's Private Processing feature. Now, WhatsApp can directly draft a reply to a message based on the conversation. This too happens locally, and the chat remains private. Lastly, you can now use Meta AI to touch up photos before sending them off in WhatsApp. You can remove distracting objects, change the background, or apply a different style to the photo.

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The Echo Dot Max is Amazon's “Pro” tier smart speaker, designed for people who want better sound quality in a relatively small package and at an affordable price. This upgraded smart speaker is powerful, with a spherical body and a concave cutout for volume and mute controls, surrounded by an LED ring (yes, it looks like the Death Star).

Released last October, the Echo Dot Max is currently at its lowest price ever during Amazon's Big Spring Sale. You can get one for $74.99 instead of the usual $99.99.

Amazon Echo Dot Max

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The new Echo Dot Max is a step up from the Echo Dot, and compared to the 2022 model, it features three times louder bass (thanks to a new 0.8-inch tweeter and a 2.5-inch woofer). It's powered by Amazon's custom Za3 chip with a built-in AI Accelerator, meaning it's built for the Alexa+ AI service.

The Max also features a built-in smart home hub with support for Matter, Zigbee, and Thread Border Router; it can also work as an eero extender for your mesh Wi-Fi router. There's also a temperature sensor and ultrasonic presence detector, so you can use it to trigger Alexa routines as soon as someone walks into the room.

Tech wise, the Echo Dot Max supports Wi-Fi 6E for faster speeds, Bluetooth 5.3, lossless high-definition audio, and automatic room adaption. It's also easy to pair two Echo Dot Max speakers for a stereo home theater setup with any compatible Fire TV devices. Echo Dot Max comes in three colors: Graphite, Glacier White, and Amethyst. All three are available on discount right now.

PCMag gave the Echo Dot Max an "Outstanding" 4.5 star rating, along with an Editor's Choice award, noting, "the Amazon Echo Dot Max stands out as a strong successor to the fourth-generation Echo, comfortably occupying the $100 sweet spot for smart speakers." And what's better than a $100 sweet spot? A $75 sweet spot.

Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is one of Amazon's most popular Fire TV Stick options. In fact, it's a renamed version of the 2nd Gen Fire TV Stick 4K launched back in 2023. Still, it's no slouch. It's powerful enough for 4K entertainment, and at $25 for the Amazon Big Spring Sale (down from $49.99), it's a worthwhile deal as well.

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The Fire TV Stick Plus sits above the base Fire TV Stick HD (also discounted right now), and offers a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor coupled with 2GB RAM for fast app launches and smooth navigation. The main draw here, of course, is the 4K Ultra HD streaming support. You can watch 4K content with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and immersive Dolby Atmos audio, meaning you can watch 4K HDR content on most 4K TVs out there.

The Fire TV Stick has Wi-Fi 5 built-in, and Bluetooth 5.2 support for adding game controllers, headphones, and other Bluetooth accessories. The device features the newly redesigned Fire TV interface, with support for the new Alexa+ AI service, which is free for Prime members and costs $19.99/month for non-Prime members. Amazon has partnered with Microsoft, so you can play hundreds of Xbox games using Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming. All you need is a Bluetooth game controller, and a strong internet connection (and, of course, Xbox Game Pass). You can also pair two Echo speakers with a Fire TV Stick to create a wireless home theater setup on a budget.

In PCMag's Expert Review, the Fire TV Stick 4 Plus received an "Outstanding" rating and an Editor's Choice award.

Claude really wants to take over your computer for you. Anthropic has released a new feature called Computer Use, which can now take control of your Mac's keyboard and mouse to perform tasks on your behalf. This is finally rolling this out as a Research Preview for Claude Pro and Max subscribers, after first being teased back in 2024.

The Computer Use feature builds on recent additions like Claude Cowork and Dispatch. Claude Cowork is a tool that lets you accomplish tasks on your Mac (though, in the background, using native features and macOS integrations), and Dispatch is a new Remote Access feature that lets you control Claude Cowork from your iPhone or iPad (Claude's limited version of OpenClaw), as long as your Mac is online.

How Claude's new Computer Use feature works

As the name suggests, when the Computer Use feature is engaged, Claude takes over the screen completely. Computer Use works in both Claude Cowork and Claude Code, but I tested it only in Cowork (as I'm not a vibecoder, at least, not yet). It can move the cursor, use keyboard input, move and delete files, and, well, do anything it pleases. It can open files, read them, and take action based on the contents of the file. This, of course, is a huge security risk, as it creates the possibility for prompt injection, where a well-hidden malicious line of code can hijack the AI action, risking your personal data.

Anthropic says it has created guardrails to prevent prompt injection, but because AI models are so fast-moving and have a tendency to hallucinate, it's difficult to take Anthropic's word for it. Thankfully, Claude will always ask for permission before accessing new apps and before deleting files.

The good news is that Claude treats Computer Use as very much the last option. When you give a task in Claude Cowork or Claude Code, it will first try to tackle it using its MCP connectors. Say you ask Claude Cowork to write an email to your boss. It will first use the Gmail connector to draft the email. But the MCP connectors are limited; they can't do everything. For example, Gmail's integration can't actually send the email for you. You have to click the button.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

This is where Claude's browser integration comes in. Claude will ask you if it can take things over in Chrome. If you have Claude for Chrome installed and enabled, it will automatically create relevant tab groups, open the right website, take over the tabs (you will see a glowing light around the tabs that are controlled by Claude), and it will press that Send button for you. When done, it can close those tabs for you as well.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

I found Claude's Browser Use functionality to be the best use case scenario for me, and it will probably be the best for other heavy computer users, too. In another test, I asked Claude to visit Techmeme, create a summary of the top five news stories, turn it into a Markdown file, and save it locally. It did all this in the background in Chrome while I continued writing in Obsidian. It did a good job of summarizing all posts, and I could read the results and save the file for future reference.

Computer Use can be excruciatingly slow

The Computer Use feature, as I said earlier, is the last straw. Say you ask it to create a calendar appointment using Apple's own Calendar app. There's no MCP server here (though there is for Google Calendar). So instead, Claude will ask you if it can just take over the computer for you.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

But first, you need to grant Claude access for mouse and keyboard control, and Screen Recording access so it can take screenshots of the screen as it progresses (it's the only way Claude really knows what to do). Next, it will ask you for full access for the particular app. A nice thing is that when this is happening, all other apps and windows are hidden, so there are fewer chances of Claude going rogue and messing up your Word documents, for example.

Then Claude will get to work. You'll see the familiar glowing edges and a small window showing all the steps Claude is trying to take.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Given what you're asking Claude to do, this can either be exciting or excruciating to watch. Unlike Claude's browser automation feature, there's nothing for you to do. Claude has taken over the entire screen. This is the biggest limitation of the feature, and perhaps will only get fixed if Claude sets up a virtual environment to perform local tasks.

When Claude takes over the computer, it really takes over. You are locked out, a sitting duck. When I asked it to create a new calendar appointment for me. It was quite exciting to see it happen in real time. It took just 30 seconds or so. Of course, a task as simple as that, I could have done it faster myself. In fact, Claude added the task to a random calendar, while I have a dedicated "F1" calendar right there (any self-respecting fan of the sport would). Once I asked Claude to move the event, it obliged, but it took another 30 seconds. Overall, a nice proof of concept, but it's not something that I'm going to use in my day-to-day life.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

When I tried using Claude Cowork to move some recent screenshots to a different folder, things went into the excruciating territory. Even after giving full access to my Downloads folder and the Finder app, it just wasn't able to figure out how to actually navigate to the Desktop folder to find the latest screenshots. After a minute or two, it opened the Finder's Go to Folder feature to manually enter the Desktop folder path (at least someone is using this underrated yet useful feature). That is when my patience ran out, and I stopped the task.

And this is my core issue with Claude's Use Computer feature. For tasks that I regularly do on my Mac, like moving files, resizing images, converting documents, adding calendar appointments, compiling research, I'm still much faster at it than Claude, which is essentially using an AI model to make decisions by analyzing one screenshot after another. Not only is it resource intensive, it's slow as hell. Now, if I were a corporate employee who needed to analyze data from multiple files throughout the day, things might be different. Still, in that case, I might be using Claude inside Excel or a coding app to interact directly with the data instead of letting Claude play pretend on my Mac.

How to enable Computer Use in Claude

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The feature is only available for Claude on macOS, and it's only for paying members of Claude Pro ($20/month) and Claude Max ($100/month and up). As mentioned above, it's in Research Preview, so it's very much still a beta feature. Which is why it's not enabled for everyone by default.

To enable it, go to Settings > General > Computer Use. To enable the browser-based automation features, enable the Browser Use feature (this will let Claude open and navigate to any website in Chrome without asking you first). While you're here, you can add apps to the Denied Apps list to make sure that Claude can never access them. Apps like 1Password and banking apps, would be a good place to start. You can also grant Accessibility and Screen Recording access from this section.

Computer Use is designed for the Mac mini I don't have

Using this feature a couple of times was enough to realize this feature isn't made for me. At least, not until I buy a Mac mini. The browser feature can still be handy because it can run in the background and perform tasks. But sitting around while Claude tries to figure out where to click in Finder is beyond my patience threshold.

This feature, then, is very much designed for people who are into spinning AI agents on their Mac minis using OpenClaw, ones that are online 24/7, processing files, and automating actions (a bad idea, from a security standpoint).

You can control what Claude is doing from your phone, or better yet, your other Mac, the one that you're using for work. From the security angle, this is better than OpenClaw because you can see exactly what Claude is doing, and you can stop or take over at any point. But boy, is it slow going.

If you're the kind of person who only uses Safari to download Chrome, you need to think again. For a Mac user, Safari might be the best browser there is (yes, even better than Chrome). It's fast, secure, doesn't buckle under most loads, sips RAM instead of munching through it, and it'll help your battery last longer as well. And yes, there are even extensions and ad blockers that work natively in Safari.

It's time to take another look at Safari, and use all its hidden features and smarts to make your browsing better.

Blast away ads and other distracting items

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

When this feature came out, it became a bit of a meme on TikTok. In case you haven't heard, Safari has a new Hide Distracting Items feature that can zap pretty much anything on a webpage out of existence. You'll find in the page options menu (the - icon to the left of the address bar). After activating it, try clicking on a popup menu, autoplaying video, newsletter box or pretty much anything else. It'll be banished from your screen, and there will even be a little animation showing it disappearing like it's just been snapped by Thanos. And Safari will remember your snap, so it won't show up the next time you visit that site on your Mac, or even your iPhone or iPad. And if you're feeling more like Iron Man, yes, you can cancel your snaps.

Give Safari a decent ad blocker

Credit: Justin Pot

For ad blocking, Firefox and Chrome have the uBlock Origin extension. Then there are browsers like Brave and Opera, which come with ad-blocking built-in. Safari has always suffered in this regard. There was never really a true alternative to uBlock available for Safari. There is a version of uBlock Origin for Safari, but it doesn't use Safari's own framework for ad-blocking, so it suffers when it comes to performance and blocking capabilities.

But now it seems like there's finally a decent alternative, called wBlock. I've been using it ever since my colleague, Justin Pot, wrote about it, and I am happy to say that it finally makes Safari's ad-blocking experience on par with some of the bigger browsers. And the best part? wBlock is free and open-source.

Embrace tab groups and the sidebar

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Before development was suspended, I loved the Arc browser. But ever since the company shut it down, I have become jaded, and I haven't really started using alternatives like the Zen Browser. The biggest features I miss from Arc are the workspaces and vertical tabs. But now, Safari has those too. In Safari, you can now create Tab Groups, which can contain as many tabs as you want. I use these as my workspaces. One group for reading long articles, another for travel research, and so on.

And while I'm in a tab group, I also like to do it with the sidebar open (click the Sidebar button next to the Back and Forward buttons), which gives me a vertical-tabs experience similar to Arc's. It isn't exactly like Arc, because the horizontal tab bar up top doesn't disappear. But having a vertical list of tabs still helps. So does the fact that Tab Groups sync with my iPhone and iPad, so I can pick up my research there as well.

To create a new tab group, click the New Tab Group button at the top of the sidebar. Or you can select multiple tabs, right-click, and choose the Move to Tab Group > New Tab Group option. On the iPhone, open the tab switcher, tap the Menu button from the top, and choose New Empty Tab Group to get started.

Master Safari's new design for iPhone

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Safari was one of the few apps that saw a major design update in iOS 26, with a redesigned bottom bar. Lifehacker has a detailed guide on all the new hidden gestures and features in Safari's iOS 26 redesign, but I'll highlight some of my favorites here.

• Swipe to switch tabs: To quickly switch between tabs, just swipe left or right on the address bar.

• Press and hold the address bar: A lot is hidden here. You can copy a link, paste from your clipboard, switch to another tab group, close tabs, or close all tabs.

• Swipe up on the address bar: Swipe up on the address bar to reveal all open tabs. From here, you can swipe left or right to switch between tab groups. From the top menu, you can copy links for all open tabs with ease.

• Pin tabs: Tap and hold a website from the tabs screen, and choose the Pin Tab option to pin the website to the top of your browser.

Bring back the iPhone's old tab bar

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you don't like the iPhone's new compact tab bar or its gestures, you can still go back to the way things used to be. Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Tabs. Switch to the Bottom option to bring back the expanded bottom toolbar, or to go further back in time, go with the Top option.

Lead separate browsing lives using Profiles

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

It's not as obvious as in Chrome, but Safari also has profiles that sync between iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You can use Profiles to keep your work and personal lives separate. This can also be useful if you and your spouse use the same Mac.

Profiles will fully separate your browsing from other users, including logins, cookies, browsing history, tab groups, favorites, and even extensions.

To set one up for Safari on Mac, go to Settings > Profiles. On the iPhone, go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Profiles and tap New Profile. Give it a name, and make sure to pick an icon and color. This will tint the background of the start page, so it'll find it easier to know which profile you're in.

Turn your favorite sites into apps

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

On Mac, you can use Safari to turn any frequently used website into an app of its own. It will show up in the Dock and the app-switcher. It's still the same website, but it will have its own shortcut on your Mac's interface, making it easier to use. If you use your Mac for retail, or any kind of specialized work that happens via a website, this can be really handy.

To do this, visit a website, click the Share button, and click Add to Dock. Your logins will sync automatically, and so will your extensions. The toolbar will be colored based on the website colors as well.

You can also do this on iPhone, by navigating to a site, tapping the Share button, tapping More, and tapping Add to Home Screen. The website's logo will show up as an "app" on your home screen, and it'll act as a shortcut to the site.

Automatically close open tabs

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

I love opening tabs, but I hate closing them. That means it's easy for me to hit the 500 tab limit in Safari. So I enabled the option that automatically closes tabs that are older than 30 days. You can do this by going to Settings > Apps > Safari > Close Tabs. You can choose between one day, one week, or one month.

Listen to a page out loud

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

You might be familiar with Safari's Reader Mode, which is perhaps the best in the business. But there's another feature hidden in the Page Settings option. Tap the Listen to Page button, and Safari will instantly start reading the site you're on out loud. Before doing this, though, I would recommend you switch to Reader Mode first, so the text-to-speech doesn't get caught on ads or other distractions.

Customize or change the Safari start page

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Every time you open Safari, or a new tab, you see the browser's default start page. Let's take some time to customize just how it looks and works. First, open the start page, then click the Edit button in the bottom-right corner to enable or disable which sections you want to see. I suggest adding sections for your Favorites, Reading List, iCloud Tabs, and Recently Closed Tabs. You can also change the background to any color that you like.

If you don't like an overloaded start page, you can also try out the Bonjourr Safari extension. It's a start-page replacement that I've used for months now. It automatically cycles between serene backgrounds while showing the time and weather. You can add quick shortcuts for your frequently visited sites, too. It's also fully customizable, and looks great on iPhone as well as Mac.

The Kindle has become the default e-reader for many bookworms, and I get it. I've used Kindles for well over a decade, and I've enjoyed using my latest Paperwhite quite a bit. It helped me read more than 30 books last year, so I'm not complaining.

The basic Kindle setup is okay, but if you learn your way around the device's gestures, hidden features, and additional services, you can really get a lot out of this unassuming reading device.

Kindle Gestures that you really should know

There’s only one button on the Kindle. Everything else happens using touch. And like every touchscreen device, there are countless gestures you need to know to use the device. The most obvious ones are for the page turns. You can swipe or tap right to go to the next page and swipe or tap left for the previous one. If you have a Paperwhite Signature Edition, you can also double tap on the back or sides of the device to move to the next page.

Tap on the top of the Kindle to bring up the toolbar, where you can go back to the Home screen, change the settings, view the table of contents, and more.

If you tap the bottom left corner, you can cycle between different stats like reading progress, page number, time left in chapter, and more. Oh, and if you want to quickly change the font size, just pinch in or out to zoom in on the text (like you would zoom into images on your phone).

Want to take a screenshot of what’s on your Kindle screen? Tap any two opposite corners of the screen together (top-right and bottom-left or top-left and bottom-right). The screen will flash for a second, and the image will be saved as a PNG in the root directory. Connect your Kindle to your Mac or PC to retrieve the image file.

Easily navigate between chapters

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The Kindle isn’t the easiest device to navigate, especially when you’re reading a book where you need to jump between different chapters. Here, again, a hidden gesture can help. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up a new Page Flip mode. You’ll see a slider at the bottom, which you can use to move forward and back. There are buttons to jump to the next chapter as well (I use this all the time).

Switch to dark mode and schedule warm light

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you love reading in bed, you’ll want to enable dark mode. Pull down from the top edge to bring up the quick settings panel. Here, tap the Dark Mode button to quickly invert the colors. You’ll now read white text on a black background. While you’re here, also check out the Warm Light settings (if you have a Kindle Paperwhite, Oasis, or Scribe). Use the slider to increase the warmth of the screen, making it more amber-toned.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

This is especially useful for reading in the evenings or at night, but I like it so much I keep it enabled at all times. You can also set your color temperature to change on a schedule, so that the display slowly warms up in the evening hours. Do this under Settings > Device Options > Display Settings > Schedule.

Lock your Kindle

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Not everyone needs to know what’s on your Kindle, right? If you read a lot in school, or public areas, you can lock down your Kindle using an optional setting. Go to Settings > Device Options > Security and Privacy > Device PIN. You can then set a numeric unlock code up to 12 digits long, but it might be easier to stick to a four or six-digit code.

Send documents and books to Kindle wirelessly

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Reading on your Kindle doesn’t need to be limited to books you buy from the Kindle store. In fact, you can send any PDF or DRM-free ebook to your Kindle, and wirelessly. I have previously outlined multiple methods for doing this, ranging from using an email address, to using the Kindle app. But the one I keep coming back to is Amazon’s own Send to Kindle website. Open it on any browser, sign in with your account, drag and drop a document in a supported format (.DOC, .DOCX, .HTML, .TXT, .PDF and .EPUB), and send it off. Once you sync your Kindle using Wi-Fi, these documents will be available to read on it, just like that.

Show your book covers as screensavers

Credit: Amazon

Every time I set up a new Kindle, I’m surprised that this is a feature that I still need to enable manually. By default, Kindles shows a couple of images as screensavers when turned off. That's because of the e-ink display, which lets them show a static image without using power. These default screensavers, though, are boring. You can make this feature much more interesting (and useful) by showing the cover of the book you were last reading as the screensaver instead. Go to Settings > Device Options and enable the Display Cover feature.

Read long articles on Kindle

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Kindle’s built-in browser is pretty barebones and laggy, but you can still read long articles on it. For a smoother experience, though, you can wirelessly send articles to your Kindle, where they’ll show up in form of books, devoid of ads, formatting, and images.

The simplest way to do this is by using Amazon’s Send to Kindle Chrome extension. Visit a page, trigger the extension, and send it off to your e-reader.

If you don’t use Chrome, you can also use a dedicated service like Push to Kindle to send articles to your Kindle. You can send up to 10 articles a month for free, and a $2.99/month plan unlocks all limits.

Export your highlights and notes

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you’re using your Kindle to research or read non-fiction books for school or work, you’ll end up with a lot of highlights. Those highlights, just sitting in your Kindle, aren’t that useful. Amazon has a dedicated website that lists all the highlights from all the books you’ve purchased via the Kindle Store, but it's not your only option.

Personally, I prefer Clippings, which also works for content not bought from the Kindle Store. With it, you can import all the highlights and notes from your Kindle books and personal documents using a browser extension. You can view and organize all your notes from your browser, too, but if you want to export them to a document, you’ll need to pay for a $1.99/month Professional plan.

Borrow books to read from your local library, for free

There are many places where you can rent and borrow books to read legally and for free. The most popular option is using the Libby app from Overdrive, which loans you books via your library card or student ID. In the Libby app, go to Shelf > Loans > Read With... > Kindle. Here, sign in with your Amazon account and verify your Kindle device. Then, tap Get Library Book. Voila, an ebook from your local library will instantly show up on your Kindle device.

De-Amazon your Kindle

Lastly, you can take inspiration from my colleague Pranay, who uses his Kindle without any Amazon services. You can set up a Kindle without an Amazon account and use it as a perfectly good e-reader. You can buy DRM-free books online from various sources and transfer them to your Kindle simply by transferring the ebook files to your Kindle storage or using the Send to Kindle feature I talked about above.

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The ANC headphones from Sony and Bose are great, but they look like gadgets, not music gear. Luckily, Marshall is offering these Monitor III ANC earbuds, which offer a cool retro look. And right now, they're available for the lowest price ever, at $279.99 (down from $379.99), beating the heavyweights from Sony and Bose on price.

Marshall Monitor III Headphones

$279.99 at Amazon

$379.99 Save $100.00

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$279.99 at Amazon

$379.99 Save $100.00

These Monitor III headphones feature the iconic Marshall script logo, a retro brass control knob (instead of touch buttons), and a textured black vinyl finish that mimics Marshall guitar amps.

Other than the looks, the most impressive part is the battery life. These will last you for 70 hours of ANC playback (and 100 hours without ANC). That is a staggering number; for comparison, the Sony XM6 gets you 30-40 hours of playback per charge. The headphones are also collapsible, folding into a small ball. They come with a hard-shell travel case and are pretty lightweight, too, at 250 grams. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack here, but the box does include a USB-C to 3.5mm cable for wired listening.

They feature the signature Marshall sound, warm and punchy. They are tuned for listening to rock, heavy metal and guitar-heavy music, and offer a more fun sound profile compared to Sony or Bose, which can sound a bit more flat or balanced.

In its review, PCMag gave the Monitor IIIs a 4.0 star rating, noting that they deliver a "pleasing audio signature, a comfortable fit with intuitive controls, easy portability, and excellent battery life."

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I really adore my Series 10 Apple Watch. But if I hadn't upgraded last year, I would have gone for the Series 11, just for the extra battery life upgrade. I usually like to wait for discounts before upgrading, though, and if you're like me, Amazon has some good news: While the Series 11 only came out four months ago, it's already down to its lowest price ever. You can get the 42mm Series 11 model for $299 (down from $399) and the 46mm Series 11 model for $329 (down from $429). That's a discount of $100 across the board.

Apple Watch Series 11 GPS 42mm Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L

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$299.00 at Walmart

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The Series 10 was the one with the big redesign, but the Series 11 upgrade is about the smaller, quality-of-life upgrades, the chief of which is the battery life. For the first time in 10 years, the Apple Watch's battery life jumped from 18 hours to 24 hours. I already use some tweaks to make my Series 10 last for two days, so the Series 11 model will go even further still.

The screen is brighter at 2,000 nits peak brightness, and Apple now uses a Ion-X glass for better wide-angle viewing. It's also twice as scratch-resistant as before, IP6X dust resistant, and swim-proof (WR50). And if you plan to go for the cellular mode, you also get 5G for the first time in an Apple Watch. There are also new software features like background hypertension notifications, and a new Sleep Score (though they're available on the older models as well).

Overall, the Series 11 makes for a solid upgrade if you're using an Apple Watch Series 7 or 8. PCMag gave the Apple Watch Series 11 a 4.5 star "Outstanding" rating, and an Editor's Choice award. PCMag notes that "while the watch's design and sensors haven’t changed much this generation, they remain at the head of the class. With top-notch lifestyle and health features, excellent performance, and almost two days of power on a charge, the Series 11 earns our Editors’ Choice award, making it the best Apple Watch for most iPhone users."

I'm someone who routinely switches between Mac and Windows. It's a hazard of being a tech writer. But the thing is, I'm so used to the user friendliness in macOS that whenever I shift to Windows mode, there are some hiccups. Windows tends to throw up walls where there really shouldn't be any. I used to just white-knuckle through it, but that was before I fully embraced PowerToys.

PowerToys is a collection of utilities made by Microsoft itself. It's free to download on GitHub, or a myriad of other places, and unlike with Windows 11, Microsoft actually adds useful and interesting features to it every couple of weeks. You can download and install PowerToys from the GitHub page, the Microsoft Store, or using Windows Package Manager.

Here are a few of PowerToys utilities that have become a must for me (after installing the app, you really should browse all that it offers to see what strikes your fancy). If you took them away, I wouldn't be sure how to use my Windows PC anymore—this thing should really come pre-installed.

Command Palette

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

These days, Windows Search can come across a little heavy and bloated, just like the Start menu. While it’s fine for opening apps once in a while, I can’t really use it for anything more than that. Plus, I’m a macOS user, so I’m used to Spotlight Search’s lightning-fast keyboard launcher. While you can use third-party keyboard launchers on Windows now (Raycast being the latest addition), my favorite option is actually Microsoft’s own keyboard launcher, the Command Palette that’s included in PowerToys.

Like Spotlight Search, it’s light and fast, and you can assign any shortcut to it. I use it to quickly launch apps, search for files, and even search for open windows. Command Palette even has a really helpful Bookmarks feature that I use a lot. I’ve created bookmarks for quickly opening frequently used folders like Downloads and Screenshots, and even websites. A Bookmark can be triggered by searching for a keyword, or through its own dedicated keyboard shortcut (I’ve set one up for my Downloads folder, which is really handy). For more, I’ve got a detailed guide on setting up Command Palette that you should check out.

Light Switch

Credit: Microsoft

It's mind-boggling that Windows 11 still does not have an automatic dark mode. Over the years, Windows 11's dark theme has slowly expanded to cover all the apps you care about. But there's no easy way to toggle it on, and there's no way to automatically turn it on in evening, or on a schedule.

So, of course, there's a PowerToys utility for that. The recently added Light Switch utility lets you create a global custom keyboard shortcut for turning on the dark theme. For the Schedule section in the Light Switch utility, you can set up an automated schedule based on fixed hours, or using the local sunset time, which is how I use it.

Peek

Credit: Microsoft

I shuffle between macOS and Windows 11 all the time, and there are some creature comforts in macOS that I now have a hard time living without. One of them is the ability to quickly preview any file in Finder by pressing the Space button. There is no such option in Windows, and until now, you needed a third-party app to enable it, which wasn't always reliable. Now, Microsoft has included a similar feature in PowerToys' Peek utility. Once enabled, you can press the Space bar after selecting any file to preview it. You can then use the arrow keys to navigate to other files in the folder as well. Press Enter to open the file in the default app.

Text Extractor

Windows has a built-in OCR (or text extractor) feature for images that can be accessed via the Snipping Tool. But it's really slow. When I'm in a pinch and I need to copy text from an image, I prefer to use the Text Extractor utility in PowerToys instead. It's much faster. Use the dedicated shortcut Windows + Shift + T to see an overlay on the screen. Use the mouse to highlight the area that you want to transcribe. Once you let go of the cursor, the text will be saved to your clipboard automatically.

Image Resizer

Credit: Microsoft

This is one of those PowerToys utilities that really should be a default Windows 11 feature by now. Resizing an image, or a batch of them, is something that I need to do often, as someone who writes online for a living. But you might need it too, from time to time, to compress or resize images for an online upload, or a presentation. Instead of opening a heavy image editing program and manually resizing images one by one, use this plugin instead.

Once enabled, it will show up in the right-click menu in File Explorer. Select one or multiple images, click Resize with Image Resizer, choose one of the size presets (you can add more presets from the PowerToys app) or create a custom resolution, click the Resize button, and that's it.

Awake

I can't imagine using Windows without PowerToys' Awake utility. It adds a handy little tray icon that I can click to keep my PC awake longer than the default sleep settings would allow for. I have a custom-built PC with a big honking power supply, so I take my auto-sleep settings quite seriously. But there are times when I'm downloading a large file in the background, or I have a long AI task running, when I want the PC to stay on. That's where the Awake utility really helps. You can choose to keep your PC awake indefinitely, or for 30 minutes, 1 hour, or any custom duration.

FancyZones

Credit: Microsoft

The built-in window management in Windows is quite impressive in its own right, but it falls short for my workflow. I usually like working with my text editor, a browser, and Slack open at all times. Because I have a large monitor, I have my writing app and Slack on one side and a browser on another. But it can take me a while to get everything set up. This is where FancyZones really helps. I can create custom zones for each app I use that helps me puts them where I want them, and resizes them, too.

To set this up for yourself, first go to the FancyZones section in PowerToys utilities. Here, open the Zones Editor and create a new custom layout. You can now use the mouse to move the zones around and to add a new zone. Once a layout is enabled, all you have to do is move a window around and hold down the Shift key. Dropping the window in any designated zone to instantly resize it.

Not to be outdone by the likes of Samsung and TLC, Amazon is joining the picture frame TV space. At CES 2026, the company announced a new line of unobtrusive smart TVs, complete with a new brand name and a redesigned FireTV OS, which will also show up on other FireTV devices.

Meet the Ember Artline TV series

Credit: Amazon

Amazon is calling its new line of art TVs "Ember Artline." They will ship in two sizes, 55 inches and 65 inches, with pricing starting at $899 for the base model—some $200 cheaper than the list price of Samsung's Frame TVs (though those models are regularly discounted on Amazon).

The panels will offer 4K QLED screens with 450 nits of brightness. Because it's an art TV, there is a matte screen coating to reduce glare and make it look less like a standard TV. They also feature Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Wi-Fi 6. Design-wise, they're incredibly thin, around 1.5 inches thick.

Amazon's big selling point here is the Ember Artline offers 10 different frame options, all of which snap on the TV with magnets. You can choose between textures and colors like Walnut, Ash, Teak, Black Oak, Matte White, Midnight Blue, Fig, Pale Gold, Graphite, and Silver. In its art mode, the sets will cycle between 2,000 images of artworks, or your personal selection of photos. "Omnisense technology" will allow the display to turn on when anyone walks in the room, and turns off when they walk out, saving energy.

And of course, this wouldn't be a CES 2026 product announcement without a bit of AI. Amazon is integrating Alexa+ into the FireTV OS on these sets, including an AI feature that will show art pieces on TV that match the decor and room that you're in (after you upload four photos taken from different angles). With an Amazon Photos connection, you can also ask Alexa+ to create slideshows from specific vacations, days, or events.

The Ember Artline lineup will start shipping sometime in spring, starting in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the U.K.

There's also a redesigned FireTV interface

Credit: Amazon

Along with the new art TVs, Amazon also showed off a redesigned FireTV interface—and it looks quite a bit like Google TV. That's not a bad thing from my point-of-view; one of my biggest issues with the FireTV OS is its slow and inconsistent home page. A refresh with better organization will certainly help, and visually, it looks a lot cleaner, with rounded corners, consistent typography, and much better spacing between elements.

The home screen now has tabs above to quickly switch to movies, TV show, live games, and more. You can also press and hold the Home button to open a Control Center like menu, again similar to Google TV. You will also be able to pin more apps to the home screen. Previously you were limited to six large apps. The refreshed interface has space for up to 20 apps of your choosing.

The refresh will begin rolling out next month in the U.S. to the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max 2nd Gen, and Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series, and will be followed by more countries down the line. It will be available on the Ember TV series at launch.

The iPhone's Focus modes are perhaps its most underrated feature. Once customized, they can become incredibly powerful tools that put you in control of how your iPhone can grab your attention. They can take some time to set up, but it’s worth it. Once you've got everything squared away, you'll have timed boundaries from certain apps, people, and even your work, for that mythical work-life balance. Forget having a personal phone and a work phone—a couple of well-tuned Focus modes might be enough.

Diving into Focus modes

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

What used to be Do Not Disturb on iPhone is now Focus mode, which comes with many more options. Open the Control Center and tap the Focus button to see a list of all available Focus modes. The familiar Do Not Disturb option will be up top, but you’ll also see helpful Focus modes premade by Apple, Sleep being a prominent example. If you have a device that supports Apple Intelligence, you’ll also see a mode called Reduce Interruptions, which automatically mutes all notifications except the really important ones. Other premade modes include Personal, Work, and Sleep, which you can all customize to your own liking.

How to set up your own Focus mode

To get the most out of Focus Modes, you should set some Focus modes for yourself. One for work and one for personal time would be a great place to start. Go to Settings > Focus and tap the Plus button at the top. Here, choose the Custom mode option to get the most flexibility. Give it a name, icon, and tap Next. Then, tap Customize Focus.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

This is where you'll do most of your work. First, tap Choose People and select if you want to allow notifications from only a couple of people, or if you want to silence notifications from particular folks. If you’re setting up a Focus mode for personal time, you might want to stop notifications only from your boss and colleagues. Choose the people to allow, and tap Next. Then, choose who is allowed to call you. You can limit it to just your Favorites, or only a handful of people.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Then, tap Choose Apps and follow the same process for apps as well, either allowing notifications from some apps, or only silencing notifications from particular apps. For example, if you’re setting up a Focus mode for personal time, you might want to disable notifications from work apps like Slack, Teams, Gmail, and more. Tap into the Options menu, and you can also choose to show silenced notifications on the Lock Screen, or to dim the lock screen every time that Focus mode is enabled.

Next, take some time to customize what you see when a Focus mode is enabled. Apple will let you choose a distinct Lock screen, Home screen and even an Apple Watch watch face per Focus mode. For example, your work Focus can feature just your calendar and to do list. This will go a long way towards cementing the Focus state in your mind. For example, when I’m in my Writing Focus mode, my home screen is devoid of everything, including my tasks widget and communication apps.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Then, you’ll see a Set a Schedule section. Here, you can turn on a Smart Activation feature that will automatically enable a Focus mode depending on your location, app usage and so on. This has been hit or miss for me, so I would advise you to avoid it for the most reliable results. But you can definitely create a manual schedule using the Add Schedule button. Here, You can trigger a Focus mode to automatically start or stop at a certain time of day.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

You can even use Focus Filters to further customize exactly what apps can show you when you’re in a Focus mode. For example, you can choose to only see your work calendar when you’re in your work Focus, but not your other calendars. These filters work for Apple’s apps and even third-party apps.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Lastly, you can choose to enable the Intelligent Breakthrough & Silencing feature that's found at the top of the Focus page. If you have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled, you'll see this setting. It uses on-device intelligence to allow priority notifications to interrupt you even when you're in silent mode. This goes over all other customizations that you might've done. But, being an Apple Intelligence feature, its reliability can be a bit iffy. Based on personal experience, I would recommend you take the time to fully customize the Focus mode to your liking instead of handing some of that work over to Apple Intelligence, as it gets things wrong for me fairly often.