Gadget Hacks

A notification pings the moment someone tags you in a group chat, then disappears the second you open WhatsApp, leaving that one message that actually needs you buried under dozens of other unread texts. WhatsApp is testing a fix: a WhatsApp mentions and replies filter spotted in the Android beta, according to The News, which cited WABetaInfo's discovery of the feature in version 2.26.42.12 on the Google Play Store two days ago.

The Audiophile.fm free lossless radio app, a FLAC radio aggregator that requires no account and runs with no in-app ads, is now available as a native app on iPhone and Android, after launching first as a web player (Audiophile.fm; Audiophile.fm). The Android app went live on Google Play on Oct. 7, 2026, and the iPhone version followed on the App Store on Oct. 18, 2026, requiring iOS 26 or later (Audiophile.fm; Audiophile.fm).

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

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

Google revised its privacy policy on October 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 replaces language that previously ruled out using those apps for ad personalization at all, according to The Verge and Ars Technica.

Google now confirms that blood-pressure and insulin-resistance trend tracking are free on Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, while the same two tools require a Google Health Premium subscription on Fitbit Air and the newly announced Fitbit Edge. This Google Health features Pixel Watch Fitbit comparison lays out exactly what Google has confirmed, what its own announcements leave unexplained, and what Fitbit Edge buyers should check before preordering.

Microsoft says Windows 11 is now "up to 20% more responsive," with measured improvements across Search, Start, right-click, Settings, Snipping Tool, and File Explorer. The company also says its broader performance work extends from boot and logon through Microsoft 365 and Edge, according to an Oct. 15 Windows Experience Blog post. Microsoft singles out PCs with 8GB of RAM as seeing an "especially meaningful difference" from new memory-management work.

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

Google quietly confirmed Google Wallet receipt scanning is on the way, buried in the changelog for Google Play Services v26.40. The entry doesn't mince words: "you can now scan to add receipts," a change aimed at skipping manual entry when logging a purchase (Android Authority, 9 days ago).

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

A failed WinRE servicing update, a reagentc /enable error, or an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE message after entering recovery can trace back to different root causes, including recovery-partition problems, encryption-related registration issues, or a storage driver unavailable to the recovery image. WinRE Manager v49 is a third-party, developer-maintained PowerShell tool designed to diagnose and repair several of those failure modes.

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

Nvidia RTX Spark Windows laptops became available from OEM partners on Oct. 16, 2026, after preorders opened ahead of launch. Nvidia and Microsoft are marketing this hardware heavily around local AI agents and large language models that run without a cloud connection. That pitch is only part of the story.

Leaked footage and a string of regulatory filings have given the clearest look yet at Samsung's next budget fitness tracker, and the picture is almost identical to the device it replaces. The Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 leaks published this week show a band that looks nearly indistinguishable from the Galaxy Fit 3, with Bluetooth 5.4 standing out as the only confirmed specification change reported so far (SammyGuru, three weeks ago).

Before installing anything billed as the latest AMD chipset drivers for Windows 11, check two things first: the exact chipset on the board, and the version already installed. The AMD X870 and WRX80 support pages captured for this report list chipset driver revision 8.02.18.557, released March 9, 2026, as the Windows 11 64-bit package for those two platforms (AMD WRX80, two months ago; AMD X870, two months ago). AMD's pages may have changed since that capture, so check the matching page for the...

Samsung has started rolling out the stable, Android 17-based One UI 9 update to the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5. The rollout began in South Korea and has since expanded to parts of Europe, although availability still varies by country, carrier, and device variant.

A one-time passcode arrives on your Android phone as a text, but it never shows up in Phone Link on your PC, and no desktop notification appears either. That's the specific symptom this guide fixes: an MFA code not showing in Phone Link on Windows 11, specifically SMS-based codes that already reached the phone.

OnePlus has reportedly set October 29, 2026, as the start of its Android 17 rollout, with the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus Pad 4 first in line, according to an official roadmap described by Android Authority nine days ago. That's the most detailed OnePlus Android 17 update schedule published so far, but it only covers part of the picture.

Picking between the Pixel 11 Pro XL vs iPhone 18 Pro Max usually comes down to three different kinds of buyers, and a reader poll crowning the Galaxy S26 Ultra the top Android alternative doesn't settle much on its own.

A Plex stream that stutters doesn't always mean the server needs more muscle. These Plex tips and tricks are built around one diagnostic habit: checking whether buffering comes from your network, a forced transcode, or an undersized server before you spend a dollar fixing a problem that isn't there.

Apple's first foldable iPhone goes on sale this Friday, Oct. 23, after preorders opened Oct. 16. The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, and Apple says the device has an IP68 dust-and-water rating and a stiffer polymer cover layer to protect the folding display.

Xbox has pushed back on a report claiming it secured exclusive GTA 6 Xbox streaming rights, with the company's chief strategy officer saying the game "will not be streaming exclusively or to PC."

Microsoft says Windows 11 is now "up to 20% more responsive," with gains the company describes as noticeable from the moment a PC boots and extending through Start, File Explorer, Search, Snipping Tool, Microsoft 365, and Edge, according to the Windows Experience Blog.

Ask Play, Google Play's AI-powered search feature, can now generate a side-by-side comparison between apps alongside its existing conversational recommendations. Google says the new Google Play Ask Play app comparison tool went live in search results starting Oct. 13, 2026, weighing details like subscription models or offline support against each other (Android Developers' Blog, last week).

Google started rolling out the Pixel VIPs widget redesign last month, and if you already use the Contacts app widget daily, it's worth checking for the update now.

Apple posted iOS 27.2 release candidate build 24B115 to its Developer releases page on Monday. An RC follows several rounds of beta testing, and 9to5Mac reports Apple is now putting the final touches on the update. If testing doesn't turn up anything that requires another build, this exact build could become the version everyone gets once iOS 27.2 goes public, though the available Apple release listing doesn't give an exact public-release date.

Google began rolling out Gemini Personal Intelligence on Android Auto on October 20, letting the assistant use information from connected Google services, including Gmail and Photos, to personalize responses and assist with tasks such as navigation. The feature is rolling out to eligible personal Google accounts, though Google has built in enough restrictions on region and account type that not everyone with Android Auto will see it right away.

More than 2,700 Android Authority readers answered a blunt question this week: handed $2,000 of their own money, would they spend it on Apple's iPhone Duo or Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8?

Amazon introduced two new Bee AI devices on October 15, 2026: the $74.99 Bee Frontier wearable, available now, and the $99.99 Bee Eclipse magnetic phone attachment, which Amazon says will arrive soon with no confirmed release date.

Apple added the 2017 Retina 12-inch MacBook to its obsolete products list this week, a designation that now covers every 12-inch MacBook the company ever sold.

OPPO is reportedly developing a 16:9 wide-format flagship smartphone with a body wider than most conventional Android phones currently sold, according to a Weibo post from tipster Digital Chat Station, cited by Android Authority on October 9.

Google AI Plus is losing Pro model selection. Google has begun emailing subscribers to say the option will disappear from the $4.99-a-month plan starting November 13, 2026, according to 9to5Google.

Microsoft 365 Current Channel Version 2609 Build 20430.20182 started reaching devices on October 13, 2026, and Microsoft's update-size page lists it as the most current Current Channel release.

Pre-orders for Apple's HomeView are available now at $299 in the US, with the device launching November 13. Before handing over money, there's a detail worth understanding: Apple's updated CarPlay developer documentation says CarPlay audio and video apps also work on HomeView without developers modifying the app specifically for the new device.

Google has confirmed that it encrypts and stores a user's enrolled selfie video on its own servers, rather than only on the device used to record it. That server-side storage is intentional. Google says the purpose of selfie video sign-in is to help people recover accounts after losing access to a device that holds their passkeys, so the reference video needs to work across devices.

Spotify podcast memberships began rolling out in 34 markets on October 20, giving eligible shows a way to sell exclusive content through Spotify, with purchases handled on the web. Creators can offer paid Memberships with multiple tiers and pricing options, charging listeners in addition to any Spotify plan they already have.

For apps that show an active Uninstall command, Settings is the supported path to remove them in Windows 11: open the three-dot menu, click Uninstall, done. Try that on certain preinstalled apps, though, and Uninstall is grayed out or missing, with the app sometimes listed under System Components instead. Learning how to remove system apps in Windows 11 starts with understanding that label, because it often means removal isn't offered through the normal path for that particular app.

Italy's Piracy Shield sports piracy crackdown has scaled into a website-blocking system that reaches tens of thousands of destinations, and the most detailed technical measurement of it, published in September 2025 by RIPE Labs, found the platform blocking 10,918 IPv4 addresses and 18,849 domains as of June 2025. The RIPE Labs research counted more than 500 confirmed websites unrelated to streaming caught in those blocks, a number that grew into the thousands over time. For anyone running an...

GarageBand is free for Mac users and comes stocked with a large library of bundled sounds and effects, plus support for up to 255 audio tracks, according to Apple and a PCMag UK review. For this workflow, there's no need to buy additional plug-ins or sound packs. This GarageBand for Mac beginner tutorial walks through how to make music in GarageBand for Mac starting from a blank project, built from Apple Loops, Drummer Loops, and optional recorded audio.

Samsung's foldable phones could look considerably different in 2027. A new leak suggests the company is preparing six Galaxy Z devices, including three versions of the Galaxy Z Fold 9, a second-generation TriFold, and a phone with a screen that slides outward instead of unfolding.