Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick, offers hundreds of games that you can play on your Xbox Series X or Series S, Xbox One and PC for $17 a month. A subscription gets you new games every month (like Diablo 4) plus other benefits, like online multiplayer and deals on non-Game Pass titles.
Xbox recently added Shadow of the Tomb Raider to Game Pass on April 11, and the company is adding these titles to the service soon, including three Day 1 releases.
Orcs Must Die 3
Available now.
Crank the orc-slaying mayhem up to 11 in the latest installment of this tower-defense series by slicing, burning, carbonizing and tossing orc hordes. You can also use a trove of new traps and weapons, like magical staffs or sawblade launchers. No matter how you dispatch them, the one thing for certain in this title is that every last orc must die.
EA Sports NHL 24
Available: April 18
As the NHL gears up for the Stanley Cup playoffs, you can too, with the latest installment in this EA Sports franchise. This entry in the series has new gameplay mechanics, including vision passing and an exhaust engine, intended to give you more control over your players and to present new challenges. So if you want to see the Las Vegas Golden Knights win the cup back-to-back, or you want to ensure that doesn’t happen, this game is for you.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
Available: April 23
Gather your friends and allies for this Day 1 release. In this action JRPG, you create a party of six heroes out of over a hundred — it’s in the name after all — as you set off on an adventure across the war-torn continent of Allraan. You can also manage a small town and play mini-games along the way. And if you can’t wait for this title to release, you can play Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising on Game Pass Ultimate now.
Another Crab’s Treasure
Available: April 25
You know what they say: One man’s trash is another crab’s treasure, or something like that. This Day 1 release is like a cross between Elden Ring and the classic game Ecco the Dolphin. In this title, you play as a hermit crab who sets off on a quest to buy back your repossessed shell. You’ll have to use the trash of the ocean to protect yourself against huge enemies, and you’ll also learn why the ocean is so polluted with garbage to begin with. And who knows, maybe you’ll see Ariel with her collection of thingamabobs down there.
Manor Lords (PC)
Available: April 26
If you watched Game of Thrones and thought, “Being a medieval lord doesn’t seem that hard. I could do it,” now’s your chance to prove it. This medieval strategy game brings city-building, tactical battles, economic simulations and social interactions into one complex title. Now you can find out if you have what it takes to keep your people safe and fed when the seasons change and the harsh winters approach.
Have a Nice Death
Available: April 30
Even Death needs a break every now and then, and that’s the goal of this roguelike game. You play as Death, the CEO of Death Incorporated, who finds himself needing a restful vacation. The only thing standing in your way from a relaxing stay at the beach — or wherever Death would vacation — is a mountain of paperwork and reminding your demonic subordinates who’s in charge. Just another day at the office.
Games coming to Game Pass Core
Game Pass Core ($10 a month) is the cheapest Game Pass subscription, and it’s a good option if you only want to play certain games online. It also gives you access to a handful of games, and on April 23, Game Pass Core subscribers can access these titles, too:
While Xbox is adding the above titles to Game Pass Ultimate, it’s also removing six titles on April 30. So, you have some time to finish any side quests before you have to buy these titles separately:
For more on Xbox, here’s what Diablo 4 on Game Pass likely means for the service, other titles available on Game Pass Ultimate now and everything to know about the gaming service.
Apple made a pretty significant change to how you access your apps from within your text messages when it released iOS 17 last year. In previous iterations, the apps in Messages lived right at the top of your keyboard. If you wanted to quickly send money via Apple Cash or share a GIF from inside your texts, you could swipe left and right through your apps.
Then Apple changed it up with iOS 17.
Instead of all the Messages apps living right above your keyboard on your iPhone, Apple designed a single button, to the left of the text message field, that you can tap to access a full-screen interface with with all your apps.
The new menu is big and brash and organized differently than before, and you may not be a fan of it. While we can’t do anything about the size, there is a hidden trick to organizing the menu so that your most important Messages apps are at the top of the list.
Here’s how you can swap these items around.
If you want more about hidden features on your iPhone, check out 17 hidden iOS 17 features you should definitely know about and the easy way to send photos and videos on your iPhone.
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features You Should Definitely Know About
How to rearrange all your apps in Messages on iOS 17
If you don’t know how to access the apps in your text messages, open the Messages app, go into any text message thread and tap the plus (+) button on the bottom-left. The menu with your Messages apps will appear, with the default (Apple) apps appearing on the first page, and your downloaded (third-party) apps on the second page, which you can access by swiping up.
If you don’t use any of the default apps on the first page, or only use some of them, you can easily rearrange them so that you’re most important apps are at the top. To move an application, simply tap and hold down on it and drag your finger up or down the menu. This way, you can move any of the default apps from the first page to the second page, and any of your downloaded apps from the second page up to the main page.
You can fill the first page with as many apps as you want. I tested it out and was able to put every single download and default app in the first page, with none on the second page. However, I prefer to keep only a handful of my most used apps on the first page, and everything else in the second.
Now I don’t have to scroll through all the apps to quickly find what I need.
For more, here’s how you can fix the most annoying iOS 17 features and settings.
Whether you take a lot of flights or you want to reduce the noise on your commute or in the office, blocking out the outside world is easier when you have a great pair of noise-canceling headphones. Historically, picking a pair up would cost a decent chunk of change, but those days are long gone. And right now the excellent Anker Soundcore Life Q30 headphones can be had for just $64. To get this special price, you have to clip the on-screen coupon, and we don’t know how long it will remain an option — bear that in mind when planning your purchase.
That coupon is available across all three colors, but the blue and pink models start a few dollars higher than the standard black. Alternatively, Soundcore is also offering the same 20% discount on its own website, too.
Regardless of the color you choose, the headphones can filter out up to 95% of low-frequency ambient sound while promising up to 40 hours of music listening. Turn the active noise cancellation off and you’ll extend that to 60 hours, while a 5-minute top-up will get you an extra four hours of listening time.
As CNET’s resident headphone expert David Carnoy found in his testing, “as far as sound, comfort level and build quality go, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 for the money.” The clarity or bass definition isn’t quite on par with premium Bose or Sony models, but these headphones offer balanced sound overall and only really fall short on microphone quality for voice calls.
With the kinds of features you’d expect from headphones costing much, much more, the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 headphones are a great option for those searching for noise-canceling headphones under $100 — especially when you can get them for even less. Looking for something a little different? No problem, our list of the best headphone deals should have something right up your street.
The choice of Android tablets available to potential buyers has never been better and there are a number of different ways to choose the one that suits you best. The size of the display, how much storage is available, and most importantly, how much it will cost are among the most important factors. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus is a great option, especially when you get the chance to pick one up at a heavily discounted price. Today, Amazon is offering the tablet for just $160, a new all-time low and a $60 saving over the normal $220 asking price.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus comes with 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM and a large 10.9-inch display, which is a solid offering when you consider the price that it’s currently available for.
In terms of key specifications, that midsize display and decent amount of storage size are two of the main ones to take notice of, plus the whole thing is powered by Android and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor. If the 64GB storage limit is a concern, note that it can be expanded up to 1TB via an optional microSD card if required, and that’s something that can be resolved pretty inexpensively. Four speakers with Dolby Atmos support round out the main specs of note, making this a solid movie-watching device.
Don’t worry if this isn’t the tablet for you; we have rounded up plenty more tablet deals if you’d prefer something at a different size or price point, or with a different power profile.
Chinese brand Tecno wants you to know its new flagship smartphone is all about the camera. The Camon 30 Premier 5G, unveiled Wednesday, features the company’s own imaging system for the first time ever. This system in turn underpins what Tecno says is an industry-first feature: 4K 30fps full-scene AI-noise reduction HDR video. This basically means people can shoot very high-quality, clear, detailed, and color-accurate videos even whether in very bright environments or darker ones.
The Camon 30 Premier 5G imaging system, called the PolarAce, incorporates a Sony imaging chip (CXD5622GG), which facilitates that aforementioned feature. Tecno says people can even “record magical auroras in the poles and dusks in the deserts.”
Read more: Tecno’s AI-Powered Robot Dog Is Inspired by the German Shepherd
Moving beyond still videography to photography now. The Camon 30 Premier 5G has a total of four cameras. The rear camera module consists of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel periscope-style telephoto lens (capable of 3x optical zoom and 60 x digital zoom), and a 50-megapixel macro lens, which the company says can keep subjects in focus as close as 2.5cm. On the front, the Tecno phone is equipped with a 50-megapixel selfie camera, which boasts eye tracking and a focus speed within 100 milliseconds.
Read More: Oppo Brings AI Photo Editing Tool to Affordable Phones
Tecno is also touting AI-based features, just as competing phonemakers have during this AI hype cycle. The company says a features called AI Erase can remove unwanted objects from photos, but it’s unclear whether the phone can generate content to refill the space where the object was removed. Tecno also says a feature called Universal Tone harnesses an AI-powered multi-skin tone imaging tech — to ensure people’s skin tones are captured accurately in pictures.
Tecno however chose a midrange processor to power the phone. The Camon 30 Premier 5G runs on Mediatek’s Dimensity 8200, a midrange processor announced in late 2022. It’s backed up by a large 5,000 mAH battery and 70W fast-charging, which Tecno says can replenish the device to 50 percent in just 16 minutes. Tecno promises more than 7 hours of gaming, 30 hours of calling, or nearly 8 hours of video viewing on just one charge. Despite this fast-charging support, Tecno says the battery should maintain over 80% of its effective capacity after four years.
The Camon 30 Premier 5G debuted at the Mobile World Congress conference in February this year. It’ll receive a global release starting in May, and pricing will vary based on the country. It’s unclear whether this phone will receive a US release. Previous Tecno phones have not rolled out stateside.
For more information on the Camon 30 Premier 5G, take a look at some of the key specs below.
Rear Camera: 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel periscope-style telephoto lens (capable of 3x optical zoom and 60 x digital zoom), 50-megapixel macro lens
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are still some of the best wireless earbuds out there, even a year and a half after they first came out. That’s because Apple added plenty of new features in iOS 17 like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and Personalized Volume. We may see even more AirPods Pro 2 features announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
In the meantime, there are a bunch of lesser-known AirPods Pro 2 features you can try right now. I’ve been using the AirPods Pro 2 since launch, both the original model and the “new” version with USB-C charging that arrived alongside the iPhone 15.
The best part? Some of these tips will work with earlier versions of AirPods and even AirPods Max headphones. Just make sure you’ve updated to the latest version of iOS 17.
Hidden Control Center options
The Control Center is a quick way to access many AirPods settings. With your AirPods connected to your iPhone, press and hold the volume slider, and a list of options will appear underneath, such as noise control mode, conversational awareness and spatial audio toggles.
But there’s even more you can add to the Control Center with just two easy steps. First, add the Hearing option by going to Settings > Control Center. Then, go back to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Control Center and tap the green plus icon next to any or all of the options, like Background Sounds and Live Listen. Background Sounds plays rain, ocean and other sounds like white noise in your earbuds to help you focus. You can learn more about the Live Listen feature below.
Now, swipe down to open the Control Center again, and you should see the Hearing icon that looks like an ear. You’ll be able to see the battery charge on your AirPods and control all the options you turned on in the previous step, like Live Listen.
Live Listen
Live Listen lets you amplify what your iPhone mic picks up and beam it right into your ears with any AirPods model. It’s primarily an accessibility feature, but you could potentially use it to listen in on what’s happening in a nearby room, say for example as an audio-only baby monitor.
This feature also lives within the Hearing option within the Control Center. Once you’ve turned it on, swipe down and tap the Hearing (ear) icon in Control Center, then Live Listen.
Customize audio with Headphone Accommodations
Want to change the default sound profile on your AirPods? If you use Apple Music, you can start by adjusting the equalizer by going to Settings > Music > EQ. Other streaming apps like Spotify have their own equalizer tool you can customize to your liking.
Apple’s Headphone Accommodations options also let you tune your audio even more. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone Accommodations. Now, you can choose between balanced tone, vocals or brightness, or boost soft sounds using the slider tool.
You can also add a custom audio setup within the Headphone Accommodations menu. Tap the custom audio option, then your AirPods will switch into noise-canceling mode, and you’ll be asked if you can hear the soft-spoken words. It will play two audio samples and you’ll choose which one you prefer.
Personalized spatial audio
Your iPhone’s TrueDepth camera is good for more than just FaceID. You can actually use it to get personalized spatial audio tuned to the shape of your ears.
Go to Settings > AirPods > Personalized Spatial Audio and then follow the instructions to set this up. You’ll be prompted to hold the phone in front of your face then turn your head left and right to map your ears. Now, make sure spatial audio is turned on from the Control Center, and try it out with supported movies and music.
Share audio with a friend
Remember the good old days of sharing music with a friend with wired earbuds? Here’s the 2024 version. Swipe down to open the Control Center, then tap the AirPods icon in the top right corner within the music playback box. Tap Share Audio.
Bring another pair of AirPods or Beats close by, open the lid, then press and hold the pairing button on the case. Follow the prompts on screen to connect this other pair to your phone, and you can jam out to the same songs.
Siri can describe pictures received in Messages
I’ve recently discovered Siri can describe photos received in the Messages app when I’m wearing AirPods Pro 2 and my phone is locked. For example, I was waiting for a bus one day, and Siri announced that my best friend sent a photo of a brown dog lying on a black and white checkered floor. I pulled out my phone to check, and Siri was spot on.
I haven’t found the magic trick that makes Siri do this with every single photo, but so far it’s worked on images of people and pets that are centered in the frame with a clear background. I’ve reached out to Apple for more information on this feature and will update this story with more detail.
To try to replicate this yourself, make sure “announce notifications” is turned on by going to Settings > Notifications > Announce Notifications, and that the Headphones option is also turned on. Scroll down further on this page to make sure the Messages app is turned on. Now, just get a friend to send you a photo — SMS and iMessages have both worked for me — to see if it works!
Unlock more AirPods settings with the Shortcuts app
The Shortcuts app on iPhone is a powerful tool for getting even more out of your AirPods. One of my favorite Shortcuts is having the AirPods automatically switch to my favorite settings every time they connect to my iPhone: noise canceling mode at 40% volume.
First, make sure your AirPods are in your ears and connected to your iPhone. Open the Shortcuts app > Plus icon > Add action. Here you’ll want to search for “set noise control mode” then tap the gray box that says “route.” Select the name of your AirPods from this menu, then choose your mode (in this example, that’s noise canceling.)
Next, you’ll want to add another action. In the “Search for apps and actions” bar, type “Set volume” and select it. Now, change the volume to 40% (or whatever volume you want). Give your Shortcut a snappy name, and tap Done.
Now let’s make this shortcut run automatically when you put the AirPods in your ears. Go to the Automations tab, tap New Automation and find Bluetooth. Where it says device, find the name of your AirPods, make sure “is connected” is on, then “run immediately.” Hit next, and then choose the Shortcut you just created. The next time you put your AirPods in your ears and they connect to your phone, this shortcut should run and you can test it out.
You can find out more about Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and how they differ from AirPods 3 and find out about all the rumored iOS 18 updates we might get at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Today’s Wordle answer shouldn’t be too hard. It has some fairly common letters. But if it’s tripping you up, continue reading.
Every day, we’ll post hints and then the answer for the current day’s Wordle, just in case you need it.
Today’s Wordle hints
Warning: If you keep reading, you’ll see the Wordle answer for Wednesday, April 17, puzzle No. 1033. That could be a devastating spoiler for some players. But if you just need the answer — maybe you’re on your last guess and just don’t want to see an 800-game streak go poof — keep reading.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer includes a very common letter that shows up twice.
Wordle hint No. 2: Placement
But the repeated letter doesn’t show up next to itself. There’s another letter in between.
Wordle hint No. 3: Vowels
There are two vowels in today’s answer.
Wordle hint No. 4: Starting letter
The word begins with a T.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Many people associate this word with church donations.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Here comes the spoiler: Today’s Wordle answer is TITHE, as in one-tenth of one’s earnings, usually given to the church or as a tax.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, No. 1032, was SHANK.
Past Wordle answers
April 12, No. 1028, WHINY
April 13, No. 1029, STEEL
April 14, No. 1030, BLIMP
April 15, No. 1031, EQUIP
Everyday Wordle tips
I’ve written a lot about Wordle — from covering its 1,000th word to my list of the best starter words to a helpful two-step strategy to news about controversial word changes. I’ve even rounded up what I learned playing the hit online word puzzle for a full year. So if you’re rethinking your need for the actual answer, you might try tips from one of those stories.
Still need a starter word? One person told me they just look around and choose a five-letter object that they’ve spotted to use as their starter word — such as COUCH or CHAIR. I tend to stick to starter words that have the most popular letters used in English words. I like TRAIN as a starter, though I have a friend who uses TRAIL. I’ve read that people use the financial term ROATE, but I like to use words I actually know.
What is Wordle?
If you read this far, you know how to play. You have six chances to guess a five-letter word, and the game gives you feedback as to whether the letters you’ve guessed are in the puzzle or not, and if they’re in the same spot where you guessed they are. The New York Times bought the game from creator Josh Wardle for seven figures in 2022. Wardle famously created the game for his partner, and let her narrow down the 12,000 five-letter words in the English language to just 2,500, creating the database of answers. It was convenient, too, that he has a name that plays off “word.”
A Times spokesperson told me it lists the very first Wordle as appearing on June 19, 2021, and the paper celebrated the game’s 1000th word on March 15. Spoiler: That 1000th word was ERUPT. As in, “Dad will erupt if the Wordle is so tough he loses his streak.”
There are other fun games in the Times Games stable. My latest addiction is Connections, which I think is trickier than Wordle. This is the game where you look at a grid of 16 words and try to put them into four groups of related words. Sometimes the relationships between the words are pretty out there — like the time when it was four words that all began with rock bands, such as “Rushmore” and “journeyman.” (Connections got a little sassy on April Fools’ Day with an all-emoji puzzle. Some gamers did NOT find that funny.)
Spelling Bee is a popular Times game too. And there’s a new game that’s still in beta, Strands, which I’m trying to master.
Boston Dynamics had a real hit on its hands when it introduced the Atlas robot in 2013. The humanoid Atlas could run, jump and dance, and the meme-worthy videos it produced have gobbled up tens of millions of views on YouTube over the years. Now, the Hyundai-owned robotics company is saying goodbye to Atlas with a send-off video showing off the humanoid robot one last time.
The blooper reel-slash-highlight-video shows Atlas in all of its glory as it performs backflips, runs obstacle courses and busts some dance moves. Boston Dynamics has never been one to shy away from showing its robots taking a few bumps as well. Around the 18-second mark, Atlas runs across a balance beam, stumbles, falls and grasps its robotic groin in simulated pain. Around the 1-minute mark, Atlas performs a front flip, lands low and hydraulic fluid shoots out of both kneecaps. As someone on the cusp of middle age, I’ve never identified with a robot more in my life.
It ends with Atlas giving a few waves and a bow. The retirement of Atlas marks a turning point for Boston Dynamics as the robot captured the imagination of millions throughout its life. Whether it was a big dance number with Spot, Boston Dynamics’ robot dog or watching it work a parkour course, every time Atlas did something, the Internet paid attention to it, even if it was terrible at karate.
Atlas and Spot
Atlas started life as a contest project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA. The robot was based on the Boston Dynamics’ Petman project, which was originally made to test the performance of protective clothing in hazardous environments. The Petman hydraulic robot had sensors all over its body that could detect if chemicals were leaking through the biohazard suits it wore during testing.
In 2013, DARPA issued a robotics challenge, and Boston Dynamics helped. The company built several Atlas robots that were issued to the competitors so they didn’t have to build robots from scratch. At one point, DARPA requested that Boston Dynamics improve Atlas’ design and capabilities, which the company did in 2015.
After the contest, Atlas continued to star in Internet videos as Boston Dynamics tested and improved its capabilities. Over the years, the robot was improved to do more advanced parkour and gymnastics. Hyundai, which has its own robotics division, bought Boston Dynamics in 2021.
Boston Dynamics was also well-known for its robotic dog, Spot, which could herd sheep like a real dog and it could be walked remotely. It even helped protect medical workers from COVID-19. It eventually went on sale and remains a part of Boston Dynamics’ lineup. Spot has danced with BTS, a South Korean boy band, and it also helps Hyundai with safety operations in one of its plants in South Korea.
In its later years, it seemed like Atlas was becoming primed for work use. Boston Dynamics had videos of the robot helping out on simulated construction sites and performing basic factory work. The factory work video was released only two months ago, so it’s a curiosity that Atlas is being retired despite being actively worked on as recently as February.
Boston Dynamics didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
There’s no word on why Atlas was retired, but TechCrunch pontificates that it’s likely moving out of the way for the next generation of robots from Boston Dynamics, especially since the industry is very interested in humanoid robotics right now.
If you have a business, you need a website. Needing a website used to mean needing a professional coder to create one for you, but now the process has been simplified. Professional websites can be built on your own with the help of services like Squarespace, Wix and Weebly. These sites help you build a sleek site that can either just have the basic features or even add some more features like email marketing and e-commerce.
Choosing the best website builder depends on your specific needs. There are many options, so it can be a lot of work to comb through all the free providers for a simple website and all of the e-commerce website builders if you want a more sophisticated business website. The complexity and growth of the website building industry means you have more choices than ever before and you can easily find the best website builder tailored to your wants and needs.
A few favorites have indeed emerged, and those are usually a good place to start, but even the front-runners aren’t ideally suited for every scenario. To simplify it, we’ve laid out all the information you need to make a good decision on the best website builder so that you can get to the fun part of designing your own professional website for yourself or your small business. We considered whether the builder offers a solid customization option, e-commerce tools, marketing tools and an SEO tool. We also looked at the company’s customer support quality and e-commerce functionality.
*The starting price doesn’t include cheaper plans if they are ad-supported. Some vendors offer free domain hosting for the first year on some plans as well.
To compile this list, we researched the plans, prices and features of over 12 different website builders and scoured reviews from several sites (including PCMag, Wirecutter, SiteBuilderReport, WebsiteToolTester, WPBeginner and more) to see where there might be any consensus. We also surveyed the CNET staff and ultimately spent time building some test sites using the tools below (if we weren’t already members). We paid particular attention to the categories that not only differentiate one site from another, but that actually matter to business owners, artists and creators such as SEO features, creative cloud, mobile-friendly website builders, available plugins, live chat options, e-commerce features, pricing plan and customer support.
If you’re still not sure which direction to go with your web builder by the end of this list, we’ve included a guide at the bottom, including key questions you should be asking yourself as you start your online venture. Finally, if you already have a basic website and just need a host or you’re interested in building a self-hosted WordPress site, check out our list of best web hosting services and our list of the best WordPress hosting services.
Jump to: How to choose the best website builder
Best website builders of 2024
How to choose the best website builder
Given the wealth of options and the fact that many website builders don’t allow you to pick up and move later on, it’s important to enter the fray with a clear idea of what you need. By first establishing your priorities and direction, it will be easier to find a match for the best website builder and avoid buyer’s remorse down the road.
In terms of pricing, most builders offer two to four different price tiers, each with a different set of features. This can make comparing services difficult since they don’t make it easy to evaluate side-by-side, but that’s a big reason why we’ve created this handy guide.
Generally speaking, you can get a good individual website built for around $10 to $20 a month with an annual subscription. Most e-commerce plans range between $25 to $35 per month and if you need an enterprise-style plan with multiple editors and VIP-level support, prices can go up to $400 per month for a premium plan.
Storage and bandwidth are usually unlimited, but there are exceptions like Wix, which scales its storage capacity according to the plan tier. Even its lowest tier plan has a decent amount (2GB of storage and unlimited bandwidth).
After the big questions like price and storage, finding the best website builder all comes down to what you’re looking for. Below are some guiding questions to help ensure you’re ready to shop like an expert and find the best website builder for your needs.
What is the purpose of your site?
Your first step should be to determine the primary goal of your web presence. Do you want to sell a product? Attract potential customers for your services?Build a portfolio page?
By first establishing your raison d’etre, you’ll be able to prioritize the tools, plugins and capabilities you want in your builder and not get pulled off track by a fancy add-on that isn’t actually helping you achieve your goal. If you’re primarily interested in racking up sales, start by looking at e-commerce specialists, like Shopify and BigCommerce.If you’re a photographer or web designer who wants a beautiful website or portfolio website, Wix and Squarespace are good places to start. Wix might edge Squarespace if you want more control over the design, while Squarespace might be better if you just want a stylish frame for your work.
If you just want something easy to use, Weebly and GoDaddy both offer intuitive builders, with Weebly offering more features and design finesse, while GoDaddy is much simpler and more limited. If you’re setting up a site or store and you want to present a customized experience to users, or if you have something specific in mind for the mobile version of your site, Duda offers the most customization capabilities. If you need both website building and hosting from one provider, then Webflow is the best and no coding knowledge is required for web design. If you’re a wordsmith who can’t be bothered by design decisions and fancy editors, WordPress can help you get your blog up and offers good ways to reach your readers.
How much time do you want to invest in building your website?
This obviously will vary depending on a number of factors, not the least of which is how clear of a design vision you have and whether you have experience building a website. That being said, each site builder has pros and cons when it comes to the level of usability or ease of use based on the features, flexibility and intuitive design of the editing interface.On one end of the spectrum, you have a builder like Wix, which is very easy to use but also comprehensive — the sheer number of options and tools makes it hard to whip up a site quickly. On the other end, you have a builder like WordPress or GoDaddy, each of which doesn’t provide you with a ton of options when building your pages.
Most people will want to devote enough time to their site that it serves its purpose of representing you online in a good light, so we generally recommend you take the time to learn your editor and take advantage of the many options available.
How much design control do you want?
This goes hand-in-hand with time investment, since the more control you have, the more choices you have to make. There are builders like Squarespace that have a fairly rigid design structure, but still let you customize fonts, colors and content. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a site like Wix, which lets you place objects anywhere on your site (at your own risk!), or Duda, which allows you to create custom user experiences based on browsing history.
How big is your site?
Certain editors are more geared toward large site structures (40-plus pages) than others, so it’s important to know whether you will have a ton of pages and sections, or whether it’s more in the realm of a glamorized digital business card or fancy work portfolio.
The number of navigation levels, for example (which you can think of like file folders (or Inception): a page within a directory within another directory would represent three levels of navigation), can be an important consideration. Most pages probably use two levels — sections and the pages within each section, but online stores and other types of sites might need more. Weebly and BigCommerce are probably the best examples of builders that support large site structures, while Squarespace and Wix limit you to two levels of navigation.
How important is e-commerce?
Every builder we researched has an e-commerce option available, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all up to the task. A site like WordPress isn’t really what you want if your plan is to sell products online, while a site like Shopify or BigCommerce is expressly focused on online sales and has lots of e-commerce features. If you really just want to have a clean and easy-to-use online storefront, one of the dedicated e-commerce builders makes the most sense, but if it’s more of an ancillary service or simply nice to have, you can go with the builder that feels the best and sign up for its e-commerce option. There are even builders like Duda, which allow you to sell up to 10 products for free using another plan.
How big is your sales operation?
Transaction fees: While we’re not small business owners, we do like math and this variable struck us as particularly important. If you sell $10,000 of products in a month with a 3% vendor processing fee, you’re spending an extra $300 every month. If you’re paying your website host an extra 1% to 3%, that’s another $100 to $300.Those numbers greatly eclipse the monthly rate you’re paying and add up even more if you’re selling significantly more. Before you choose a builder, make sure you read the fine print about transaction fees.
Many builders don’t charge on top of the Square or PayPal rate (usually 3%), but some do. Shopify charges extra if you don’t use Shopify Payments, but if you do use its services, you can get a rate below 3%. Then there are sites like BigCommerce, which doesn’t charge extra but has sales limits for each plan.
We know you’re a smart and savvy business owner who pays close attention to the books, but we thought it would still help to remind you to do the math before signing up.
How flexible do you want to be with the host?
As we mentioned at the top, many builders lock you into their hosting service, but not all. If you’re afraid of commitment or think you might want to switch as your business or services evolve, go with a service like Weebly or Duda that allows you to download your website files for easy use on another host.
The other big factor here is the free trial period. The industry standard is around 14 days, but some go up to a month. Others don’t have a trial period but will give you your money back within 30 days if you’re not happy.
If you have an Apple AirTag, or you’re thinking about getting one while they’re on sale, you probably already know you can use it to track your wallet and keys. But there are many other uses for the tracking device that you may not have thought of before.
Generally, you need to be within Bluetooth range to find your AirTag, but you can use Apple’s Find My service to locate it if it’s farther away, as long as it’s still in range of another Apple device. (Here’s how the Find My network works.) To do so, just put your AirTag into Lost Mode and you’ll get a notification once it’s within range of the Find My network.
We’ve created a list of some unexpected places to put an AirTag to help prevent you from constantly retracing your steps. For more details, here’s how to tell if an AirTag is tracking your location on Android.
In your tent when you go hiking
If you’re setting up camp in a location you’ve never visited, it could be useful to place an AirTag inside your tent so you can easily find your campsite. For instance, if you decide to hike several miles one day, you can use Find My to look up the AirTag’s last location (your tent) and get directions back to the campsite. Remember, it’ll need to be within range of someone else’s device, so don’t rely on this out in the wilderness. (This is also why Apple advises you not to use AirTags on pets.)
In your jacket pocket
How often have you left your coat behind in a restaurant, bar or friend’s house? Forgetting to grab your jacket when you head out is easy to do, especially if the weather is warmer than you expected or your hands are full of leftovers and to-go cups.
If you know you’ll be hanging your jacket on a coat rack — or the back of a chair — when you arrive, place an AirTag inside the pocket so you know where you left it. This can help prevent yet another favorite jacket from getting lost, and less money out of your wallet to replace it.
Inside your luggage
Airports can be tricky to navigate, and can become especially difficult when you’re trying to find the correct luggage pickup. Sometimes you wait 30 minutes until your bags finally roll out on the conveyor belt — and sometimes they get lost. To relieve the stress of trying to locate your suitcase, you can put an AirTag tracker inside so you can track its whereabouts.
This can help you find out if your bags were left on the airplane, if they’re on the conveyor belt but you haven’t spotted them yet or if someone mistakenly grabbed your luggage. Once you find out where your bags are, you can remedy the situation and continue on to where you’re going.
Inside your laptop bag
Laptop bags can be easily left behind at a cafe when you’re picking up coffee for everyone at the office. When your hands are full and you’re distracted wondering how you’re going to open your car door, it’s hard to remember to grab your bag from the booth you were sitting in.
That’s why it’s a good idea to place an AirTag inside one of the pockets. You will be able to not only locate your expensive laptop but also save any confidential company or personal information you had in your bag.
In a hidden place on your bicycle
If it hasn’t happened to you, you probably know someone who has had this experience. You get home from a bike ride, go inside to grab water and something to eat and completely forget about the bike you left outside. Or maybe you went to the store, didn’t lock your bike up and when you came back it was gone.
If you place an AirTag in a hidden place on the bike, you can easily locate it. We don’t recommend tracking the bicycle down on your own though. It’s best to notify the police and let them retrieve your bike for you to avoid any dangerous situations.
This method also works on your car if it’s been stolen or towed away — or if you can’t remember where you parked it. Although if you have an iPhone and it’s connected to your car via Bluetooth, your phone can locate where you last left it.
More common areas to put your AirTag
AirTag is commonly used to locate these items.
Your purse or wallet.
Your keychain.
Your phone or tablet.
The remote to your TV.
Anything valuable that you leave outside your home.
For more Apple information, here’s how to send secret messages on your iPhone. Also, this new iOS 16 feature can save you from cringeworthy iPhone texts.
