With summer in full swing, you may be looking to get away for a little rest and relaxation. But whether you’re booking an overseas vacation, or a quick weekend getaway, one of the most expensive parts of any trip is the airfare. Which is why it’s important to hunt down any savings you can. And fortunately, you don’t have to spend hours scouring the web to find great deals.
A Dollar Flight Club membership will grant you access to special travel deals and low-cost fares for business, premium economy and economy airline tickets, and right now you can score a lifetime Premium Plus membership for just $100, which saves you hundreds compared to the usual $14/month cost. You can also get a lifetime membership of the lower Premium tier for just $50, but you’ll be relegated to economy seating.
We’re all busy these days, so instead of having to hunt down the best fares yourself, Dollar Flight Club will do it for you, making it much easier to book your dream vacation, prepare for a visit to see loved ones or find an excuse to take off for a last-minute weekend getaway.
As mentioned above, the Dollar Flight Club Premium Plus plan gives you access to savings on flights in business, premium economy and economy seating, and includes both domestic and international deals. (Premium only offers deals for economy seating.) Once you sign up and add your home airports, you’ll get instant alerts via email and can book whenever and wherever using the web or the app, which is available on both iOS and Android devices.
Plus, you can get perks and discounts of up to 50% off from various partners, including Babbel, Acanela Expeditions and Huckberry, as well as access to a variety of travel tips from DFC experts to help you plan your next adventure.
If high flight prices have been stopping you from booking the vacation of your dreams, now’s a great time to invest in a service that can help you find the best discounts, curated and delivered directly to you. There’s no set expiration for this offer, so we’d recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.
While Apple, Google and Samsung may make some of the most popular phones on the market right now, they’re not the only brands with something to offer. Earning a spot on our list of the best phones under $500, Motorola has some excellent budget-friendly alternatives, and right now, you can get your hands on one of these affordable devices for even less. Amazon, Best Buy and Motorola are offering discounts on a variety of current and previous-gen models, with some discounted by as much as 50%. There’s no set expiration for these deals, so we’d recommend getting your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.
There are quite a few different discounted Motorola phones to choose from right now. One of the most affordable options is the new 2023 Moto G Stylus, which you can pick up for just $180, $20 off the list price. It has 64GB of storage, a 50MP camera and a built-in stylus, but no 5G support. If you want 5G support on a budget, then you can upgrade to the 2022 Moto G Power, which features 6GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 6.5-inch HD display. It’s on sale for $200 at Amazon, which is half off the usual price. There’s also the 2023 Moto G Power, which features a more powerful processor and slightly upgraded display, and is currently $20 off, dropping the price down to $280.
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Or if you’re looking for a more advanced model, you can pick up to 2022 Motorola Edge for $350, which saves you $250 compared with the list price. It features 5G support, as well as a 6.6-inch full HD display with a smooth 144Hz refresh rate, a 50MP rear camera system, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage. Or you can upgrade to the 2022 Motorola Edge Plus, which is currently 50% off at Best Buy, dropping the price to $500. It has double the storage, as well as a larger 6.7-inch OLED display and a more advanced first-gen Snapdragon 8 processor.
And Motorola is offering $250 off the Edge Fusion 30, which drops the starting price to $450. It’s a 2022 model that’s equipped with a powerful Snapdragon 888 processor, as well as 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E support for lightning fas performance. It features a 6.5-inch edge-to-edge display and comes with 256GB of built-in storage. You can also bundle it with a pair of noise-canceling Motorola earbuds for an extra $100.
And be sure to check out our full roundup of all the best phone deals for even more bargains.
Generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard generates certain text in response to a query using natural language processing and machine learning. Meta’s new generative AI, Voicebox, does things a little differently — by producing audio clips.
Voicebox, announced Friday by Facebook’s parent company Meta, can synthesize speech using a 2-second audio sample. With that clip, it can match the audio style as well as do text-to-speech generation or re-create a portion of the speech that may have been interrupted by some external noise. Voicebox can also take that sample and have it read English text in other languages such as French, German, Spanish, Polish or Portuguese.
Meta says Voicebox can be used to give a natural-sounding voice to virtual assistants or nonplayer characters in the metaverse, which are digital worlds in which people will gather to work, play and hang out. It could also be used by visually impaired people to hear messages read by the voices of their friends.
Voicebox is still a work in progress and not available to the public yet. Meta says it recognizes the potential harm this AI could be used for and is working on an effective way to distinguish between authentic speech and audio generated by Voicebox.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
While 2023 feels futuristic in many ways, filled with apps and digital files, we still sometimes need hard copies. Pictures need scanning, tickets need printing and lost cat posters must go on telephone poles.
While we have a tested-to-destruction list for the best printers, we’ve also put together a list of printers the CNET staff use at home and the office, and the reasons why they chose that particular model.
A printer is one of those things that I don’t use often, and when I do need to use it, I hope that it works. I’ve gone through several printers in recent years, because every time I want to use it the ink is dried out or something else needs to be fixed. I was looking for a low-maintenance option that had affordable ink replacements, and that’s where I came across this Epson model.
It’s an all-in-one unit, so I can still scan documents to my PC when needed, but the best part is that I’ve yet to find the ink dried up when I wanted to use it. It also prints reliably for small and medium jobs. The ink isn’t expensive, and you can buy an XL version of the cartridge which offers 2.5x the capacity for a little extra money. Overall, it’s a great printer if you don’t need to print tons of pages in a short period of time (because it’s a little slow) but still want something that won’t make you go broke when you need new color or black ink.
The big selling point of the EcoTank line is that it does away with cartridges. Even if you only print a couple of times a week, it’s worth the extra cost. My family prints more than that and we’re still on the original ink refills that came with the printer after years of use. The 3750 model was replaced by the 3850 in September 2021 but they’re essentially the same printer.
Because it’s a lower-end model in the line, the printer isn’t a speed demon with color prints and its tray holds only 250 sheets. It doesn’t have a touchscreen, just a small display and navigation buttons that aren’t backlit. But it has all the other features I’d expect from a compact all-in-one for a small office or home office: You get wired and wireless connections with mobile printing, an auto-document feeder and automatic two-sided printing. Print quality is respectable, too. It excels on black-and-white documents but it’s OK for photos as well.
You’re receiving price alerts for Sawgrass SG500 Sublimation printer
Sublimation is the process of transferring ink from paper to another material like t-shirts, mugs and canvases. There are plenty of options if you are looking to convert a standard printer to use sublimation ink but if possible you should buy a dedicated printer for the job.
The Sawgrass SG500 is purpose-built to print using sublimation ink and paper. It works great too: You can print up a storm of artwork to put on t-shirts for the whole family. If you’re interested in starting your own business using your own art, then this printer is well worth the price.
You’re receiving price alerts for Brother HL-L2305DW
I’ve had the nearly identical older, now-discontinued version of this printer (the HL-L2340DW) for at least five years and it’s been solid. Unlike some other printers I’ve had, it rarely gets disconnected from the Wi-Fi network so my whole family can easily print stuff from their various computers and phones without me having to troubleshoot the connection. Printing is fast and since its laser ink isn’t expensive per sheet. I’m fine with black and white and the few times I need color I’ll print at the local drugstore.
The one downside is that double-sided printing always jams the feed so I have to take it apart, pull out the paper and restart the job. Sometimes the software seems to select double-sided on its own and I discover the hard way, but once I change back to single-sided (which is what we use most of the time) it’s all good. (Editors’ note: Avoid the HL-L2300DW version, which lacks Wi-Fi.)
My wife loves to make stickers using our HP Envy and the Cricut Explore 3. The Envy has excellent color saturation, especially on the glossy sticker paper she uses. It also has the added bonus of being a scanner, which is especially helpful to scan all our mortgage documents while we move house.
The biggest selling point though is the two-year supply of new inks. Running out of ink is the worst part of using a printer at home, but HP’s replacement service takes away that hassle. It’s worth the money just for that.
I have to make an absurd amount of labels for our son’s Tupperware, school items, folders, cooking products and so on. This makes it so easy. There are different fonts, sizes and styles to choose from.
The keyboard is dreamy and a far cry from the old-school turnstile. I also love the built-in cutting function. Gone are the days of needing scissors when you’re done.
You’re receiving price alerts for HP LaserJet M110w
Full disclosure: I was the guy who proudly kept his home printer-free while using the office printer for those once- or twice-a-month necessities. Then came the pandemic, and I found myself in need of shipping labels and other documents at home. This tiny HP LaserJet fit perfectly on the bookshelf in my equally tiny Brooklyn apartment, and it reliably prints from PCs, Macs, Chromebooks and smartphones, all over Wi-Fi.
The 2022 model (M110w) is nearly identical to my 2020-era unit (M15w), but take note: The “cheaper” M110we seems to require a subscription to HP’s cloud-ink solution, so go with the pricier model if you want to avoid an always-on connection. Also, this laser printer is black-and-white only, but that’s a feature for me, not a bug.
Of all the weird things to come out of COVID-19, I never expected to become a runner. Forget Couch to 5K: In about a year, I went from my couch to my first half marathon and then I ran a couple more.
Too much pandemic sourdough had me feeling a little sluggish. Years living in New York had turned me into a champion walker, but it didn’t do much for my fitness. So I did Couch to 5K, then eventually sucked it up and joined a neighborhood running group.
Not to be cliche, but that was a game-changer for me. I’ve grown to love my running family. They’ve been there for me from the start with oodles of practical advice and encouragement, and they’ve pushed me to do more than I ever thought I could.
I also signed up for the popular fitness app Strava. As I got more into running — and racing — I increasingly used Strava to track everything from the location, mileage and elevation of my routes to the data generated by my body, including my heart rate, running pace and a Strava-generated score for overall fitness.
Then there’s the social aspect of the app. At first glance, it looks a lot like Facebook. Strava users have profile pages and their run maps and other workouts are posted to a feed. Fellow athletes can see this information and then cheer each other on with “kudos,” the same way they’d “like” something on Facebook.
But experts say those similarities to Facebook should give runners pause before handing over their personal information. In addition to subscription fees, users of Strava and other fitness-tracking apps are paying with some of their most personal data.
And that could have some potentially scary effects on both their digital and physical security, especially if they don’t take important steps to protect their data. Keep reading for CNET’s guide to running safely, online and on the streets.
Who’s following you?
As a woman who regularly runs alone on the streets of New York, this is something I think about a lot. Runners, and not just women in big cities, continue to be attacked, assaulted and worse. The thought of my favorite apps and other tech making things easier for the bad guys is alarming.
What’s worse is a lot of athletes probably don’t even know that their data is out there for others to see and that it’s potentially putting them in danger, says Jeff Sizemore, chief governance office for the data security company Egnyte.
“I hate to say this in the grimmest of ways, but how many pretty girls have been killed running in the mornings?” he asked.
While Sizemore emphasized that he’s not blaming those deaths on the use of tracking apps, he says that when you consider the amount of data, especially location data, that the apps collect and share, “the fact remains this is really dangerous stuff we’re dealing with.”
Sadly, it’s up to consumers to look critically at an app’s data protection and sharing practices before they start using it, he says. That means being critical of what those apps have done in the past, rather than taking their current promises as guarantees.
Much like the kudos and social focus of Strava, Sizemore says Strava’s handling of data security and privacy issues reminds him of Facebook, which he notes has long preferred to pay fines for data privacy violations instead of protecting its users from the start.
“The transparency isn’t there and I just don’t feel that it’s a company that I can trust,” he says. “(Like Facebook) they don’t proactively protect, they react when people are mad enough.”
In a statement to CNET, Strava asserted that it’s transparent about its data collecting and sharing practices through its privacy policy, adding that its privacy controls give users several options when it comes to their data.
“We are consistently strengthening privacy tools and offering more feature education to give users control over their experience on Strava,” the company said in its statement, adding that those efforts have included the simplification of its privacy policy.
Strava’s security and privacy problems have been well documented for years. It came under fire in 2018 after it released a global heatmap showing the activities tracked by its users and researchers were able to use it to locate secret US military bases.
On a more consumer level, a Strava feature known as “Flybys” has drawn criticism from privacy experts for potentially endangering runners. The feature, which was originally turned on by default, allows Strava users to replay their runs and identify people they passed along the way, as well as where they encountered them. They could even use this feature to identify complete strangers. Strava changed the feature to be off by default in 2020, but you can still opt into it.
On top of that, Strava makes it clear in its privacy policy that, like a lot of other apps do, it sells user information to third parties in an aggregated form, meaning a specific user’s data is combined with other people’s in an attempt to anonymize it. This is on top of the fact that while the Strava app is technically free, many of the stat-tracking features that draw athletes to it require a subscription that costs $12 a month or $80 a year.
In its statement, Strava noted that users have the ability to turn off that data sharing by flipping a simple toggle switch, though the sharing is turned on by default. Other privacy boosting options include settings that let you mask the starts and ends of your runs, or hide your maps completely.
Sizemore, a veteran of the Air Force and still a fitness enthusiast, doesn’t use Strava but does use other fitness apps that also collect and share personal information. The trick, he says, is signing up for those apps knowing that your data is going to be collected, sold and probably stolen in a breach, too.
He protects his privacy by not using his real name, or other personal details that could tie the collected data to his identity, as well as opting out of any social parts of the apps that he can. Apple users can also use an iOS feature that lets them hide their email address.
You don’t always need tech to be a great runner
Other runners with backgrounds in security go for a more offline approach. Gene Fay, CEO of the cybersecurity company ThreatX has managed to run 59 marathons, and plans to run more, largely without the help of apps or fitness tech hardware.
He always carries a phone with him for safety reasons, but his Garmin smartwatch, used for help with his golf game instead of runs, is relegated to just letting him know what time it is.
Like many experienced runners, Fay choses to “run by feel,” listening to how his body is handling a given run, whether it be around his neighborhood or part of a competitive race. He does acknowledge that smartwatches can be helpful for beginners looking to make sure they don’t overdo it.
An early riser, Fay says he wakes up with a “noisy mind.” Running helps him plan his day and figure out exactly what he needs to get done. There’s no music or audio books, he says. It’s almost like a form of meditation.
“That’s why I don’t have any technology,” Fay says. “I’m not an elitist or a purist. My personal enjoyment of running is about going out running.”
Eight teams have made it to Omaha. The NCAA Division I men’s baseball tournament began with 64 teams, and the eight super-regional winners have made it to the College World Series that begins today in Omaha, Nebraska. Florida, LSU, Oral Roberts, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Virginia and Wake Forest will compete in a double-elimination tournament that runs from Friday to either June 25 or 26.
Wake Forest is the favorite coming into the tournament, ahead of LSU, Florida and Virginia. Meanwhile, Oral Roberts is the Cinderella of the college baseball ball, becoming the first No. 4 seed to make it to Omaha in a decade.
You can watch every game of the College World Series on ESPN with a live TV streaming services. And you can stream every game live on ESPN Plus. Below we outline the best options, whether you live in the US or elsewhere in the world.
Wake Forest is the favorite to win the College World Series.
Eakin Howard/Getty Images
What is the schedule for the College World Series?
You can use a live TV streaming service to watch the College World Series. All five of the major live TV streaming services carry ESPN. You can also watch every game live with ESPN Plus.
How to watch the College World Series from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view the College World Series locally, you may need a different way to watch the games — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the tournament. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 per month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 49% plus get three months of access for free — the equivalent of $6.67 per month — if you get an annual subscription.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.
Apple announced a number of new software updates at its Worldwide Developers Conference, including the iPhone’s next software version, iOS 17. While the next iOS won’t be available to the general public until the fall, the software brings a lot of new and exciting features to your iPhone.
I switched to iOS from Android about a decade ago, and I’ve been testing iOS 16 betas since last year. While iOS 17 doesn’t fulfill all my iOS wishes, it has some new features that I’m really looking forward to.
Here are the cool and useful new iPhone features I’m most excited about in iOS 17.
StandBy mode
StandBy mode can show you what you’re listening to, the time and more.
Patrick Holland/CNET
With iOS 17, you get a new mode called StandBy. If you enable this mode on your iPhone while it’s charging and in landscape mode, your phone can act as a smart display. It will be able to display the time, widgets, Live Activities and more in this mode.
This feature is helpful, especially if you charge your phone in your kitchen while you cook or on your bedside table at night, but it won’t work for all iPhones. Right now, only the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max can use this feature effectively because of these models’ always-on display
. Earlier iOS 17-compatible iPhones can use StandBy mode, but your screen will turn off at a certain point.
72-hour passcode grace period
Have you ever changed your passcode, and forgotten what it is later when trying to log into your device? In iOS 17, your old passcode can be used for 72 hours to reset your new passcode in case you forget what you set it as. This new feature will surely save people — myself included — a big headache.
Autocorrect gets an improvement
Your iPhone’s keyboard in iOS 17 will get an upgrade. The keyboard will use a transformer model, similar to what OpenAI uses in its language models, so it’ll better predict what you’ll type next, whether that’s a name or a curse word. Autocorrect will also be able to help with grammar, similar to word processing software like Microsoft Word.
While this is all very cool and helpful, my big takeaway is I won’t have to retype swear words multiple times in order to get them to stay in a message. I’ve probably wasted entire days of my life correcting words like “duck” and “shot” back to my intended curse, so I’m excited to save myself that time.
New Journal app
Journaling can help you manage stress, achieve your goals and more, and your iPhone will get a new journaling app, called Journal, later this year with iOS 17. Other journaling apps are out there already, but Apple’s will use on-device machine learning to create personalized prompts to help you out. You’ll also be able to schedule notifications to remind yourself to write. The app keeps all entries private with on-device processing, end-to-end encryption and the ability to lock the app.
The icon for the new Journal app in iOS 17.
Apple
If you’re more comfortable typing than using a pencil or pen and notebooks, this app could help you get into, and stay consistent with, journaling. Even if you already journal regularly, you could get some benefits from the app. I’ve been journaling for years, and while I won’t give up my notebooks or pencils, I’ll probably use this app to help me reflect on my day when I can’t think of what to write — it happens more often than you might think.
New Messages improvements and features
Messages gets some upgrades with iOS 17, too. The new Check In feature, for example, lets you quickly and easily tell a family member or friend that you made it to your destination. And if you’re a parent you can use this new feature to make sure your child made it safely to their friend’s house.
You will also be able to jump to the first message you haven’t seen in a conversation in Messages with iOS 17. This can be especially helpful if you’re in a lively group chat. Imagine you go into an hour-long meeting and come out to find the group chat you’re in with your friends has 50 notifications. With iOS 17 you can go back to the first unread message and read all the context of the latest drama. After all, no one likes spoiled tea.
And if you want to reply to a specific message in Messages, you can also swipe on that message to reply to it directly. Before you had to long hold on the message and select Reply.
You can also create stickers for messages from your photos. Apple calls these Live Stickers, and you’ll be able to add effects to these stickers and save them in your iPhone for quick access later. Now you can make your pet’s side-eye into a fun sticker — your pet will probably still be annoyed.
New Contact Posters
Contact Posters aim to make your contact cards more compelling.
Apple
A fun new feature that iOS 17 brings to your iPhone is Contact Posters. Think of these posters as highly customizable contact cards. On previous iOS versions, you could differentiate contacts with their own ringtones and thumbnail photos on your phone. Contact Posters takes this further, letting you customize contacts with emoji pictures, editing the color and font of contacts and more.
Apple also said Contact Posters will be available for third-party calling apps, not just your iPhone’s contacts.
This feature feels like the integration of Apple’s customizable lock screens with Contacts, and it makes me think Apple will one day let you customize other apps and features on your iPhone. Hopefully Apple will continue to give people more customization options in the future, like letting you edit the display, color and font for different chats in Messages.
In iOS 17, if you go to Settings > Passwords > Password Options, there is a new option called Clean Up Automatically under Verification Codes. If enabled, this option will automatically delete messages in Messages and Mail that contain verification codes after you’ve inserted the code using AutoFill.
I like to keep my messages and email tidy, and this feature will surely help me in that pursuit. When I open Messages or Mail I want to see messages from my friends and family, not random messages filled with code.
Make a grocery list in Reminders
To access this feature you have to upgrade your Reminders app after upgrading to iOS 17. The app will prompt you to upgrade when you open it the first time after downloading iOS 17. Afterward, there are a few steps to make a grocery list.
In iOS 17, the Reminders app can sort your grocery list for you.
Getty Images
1. Open a new reminder. 2. Tap the three dots (…) in the top-right corner of your screen. 3. Tap List Info. 4. Tap Standard next to List Type to select Groceries.
Once enabled, Reminders will automatically separate different grocery items into sections like Produce and Breads & Cereals.
I usually use Notes to make a grocery list, and it works fine. But my list is typically a jumbled mess that doesn’t adhere to rhyme or reason, which means I backtrack through the store to grab something I forgot about. This feature should make it easier to keep track of what I need from certain sections of the store, saving me the time and frustration of walking through the store two or three times.
Conversation Awareness on AirPods
The second-generation AirPods Pro are getting a few new upgrades with iOS 17, like Adaptive Audio and Personalized Volume, to give you a better listening experience, but Conversation Awareness is the new feature I’m most excited about.
With Conversation Awareness, second-generation AirPods Pro will recognize when you start talking, lower the volume of your music, reduce background noise and amplify the voices in front of you. No more fumbling with your AirPods or iPhone to turn down the volume to say “Hi” to someone.
This is another feature Apple will hopefully build and expand upon. A future version of this software might allow your AirPods to recognize when someone within a certain range is talking to you and lowers the volume automatically.
No more ‘Hey, Siri’
You don’t need to say, “Hey, Siri” in iOS 17 if you don’t want to.
James Martin/CNET
On iOS 17, you no longer have to greet Siri to activate it. With the update, you can just say “Siri” and the digital assistant will activate and listen for any questions or commands you might have, similar to how you can address Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa.
You can also still greet and be respectful to your digital assistant; that way if there’s a robotic uprising in the future, the robots might leave you alone because you were nice to their great-grandparent, Siri. I know what I’m picking.
Back-to-back Siri requests
You’ll also be able to ask Siri back-to-back requests with iOS 17. So once you activate Siri, you can ask your digital assistant to send a text to your partner, then ask Siri to set an alarm for later without having to say “Hey Siri” or “Siri” again.
This will make talking with Siri feel more conversational, and for me, it’ll help me keep my train of thought when I’m asking for Siri’s help.
AirTags can be shared with more people
AirTags are a good way to keep track of personal items, like your wallet or luggage. With iOS 17, AirTags can be registered with more than one person, making it easier for friends and family to keep track of items. The update also allows multiple people to use the same item, like a piece of luggage, without changing trackers.
AirTags can be registered to more people in iOS 17.
Apple/CNET
The new feature can also cut back on some minor AirTag annoyances. If you’re with someone who carries an AirTag with them, you’ll receive a notification that an unknown AirTag is traveling with you. While these notifications can help people guard against unwanted tracking, receiving these warnings can be tedious if the AirTag belongs to your partner or a friend.
The Maps app gets a boost
Apple’s Maps app is getting an upgrade with iOS 17. With the update, you’ll be able to download a map for a specific area, access turn-by-turn navigation, see estimated times of arrival and more while offline. Apple also said park trails in the US will be easier to find and EV drivers will be able to see charging station availability within the app.
Being able to use Maps offline can be very helpful if you’re a hiker and hiking an unknown trail, or if you’re visiting or driving through a remote area. This new feature, as well as the iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite and the Apple Watch Ultra, makes it feel like Apple is making a push to make products for all your home, office and outdoor digital needs.
In Maps on iOS 17, you can select how large of an area you want to download.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Sharing is easier with AirDrop and NameDrop
With iOS 17, you’ll be able to share content more easily with others using Airdrop and a new functionality called NameDrop.
With the next iOS version, you won’t need to stay in range of another person to finish sharing content with them via AirDrop. If you’re AirDropping a lot of files and it’s taking a while, as long as you started the process within range, you don’t have to stay in range for the transfer to finish. You’ll also be able to start listening to music or watch a video with others via SharePlay by bringing your iPhones together.
NameDrop is a new functionality that lets you share contact information with another person by bringing your iPhone or Apple Watch close to their device.
Sensitive content warnings
This new iOS 17 feature is meant to help protect you from any unwanted nude images or videos you might run across. You can blur those images or videos before you view them, and this feature will be available in Messages, AirDrop, Contact Posters in the Phone app, FaceTime messages and third‑party apps, according to Apple.
Looks like some guys on dating apps will have to figure out how words work and not just send unsolicited nudes to people.
Apple released iOS 17 to developers Monday, and beta testers will be able to download a beta version of the software in July — here’s how you can sign up to be an iOS beta tester. Apple plans on releasing iOS 17 to the general public in the fall.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions will be looking to continue their perfect start to Group C as England take on European minnows Malta in this Euro 2024 Qualifier in Ta’ Qali.
England come into this game top of the group having clinched victories over their main rivals Italy and Ukraine during March’s international break.
Malta are currently bottom of the group, with the Mediterranean island nation having lost all five of its previous encounters against England in all competitions by an aggregate score of 14-1.
With record goal scorer Harry Kane starting up front, extending their goal difference will be on England’s mind this evening.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game live wherever you are in the world.
Having surpassed Wayne Rooney as England’s record scorer, Spurs star Harry Kane will be looking to extend his record of 53 goals for his country this evening.
Matthew Ashton/AMA/Getty Images
Malta vs. England: When and where?
Malta host England at the Ta’ Qali National Stadium on Friday, June 16. Kickoff is set for 8:45 p.m. CET local time in Malta (7:45 p.m. BST in the UK, 2:45 p.m. ET, 11.45 a.m. PT in the US, and 4:45 a.m. AEST on Saturday, June 17 in Australia).
How to watch the Malta vs. England game online from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch the game — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 49% plus get three months of access for free — the equivalent of $6.67 a month — if you get an annual subscription.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Livestream the Malta vs. England game in the US
Friday’s game is on Fox Sports 1. If you don’t have the channel as part of your cable line up, it can be streamed via Sling TV, as well as other more expensive streaming TV services.
Sling TV’s Blue plan includes Fox Sports 1 making it a great option for those wanting to watch international soccer action. It’s $45 a month and includes over 40 channels, including other sports channels like ESPN.
Livestream the Malta vs. England match in the UK for free
Terrestrial free-to-air station Channel 4 has the rights to show all of England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers live in the UK. Coverage of this match starts at 7 p.m. BST.
That also means you can stream the game for free via the Channel 4 website and the network’s All 4 app.
As well as being able to watch via a browser on your laptop, there are dedicated All 4 apps for the likes of Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, plus a wide range of smart TVs.
Livestream the Malta vs. England game in Canada
If you want to stream this game live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to every Euro 2024 qualifier this season.
A DAZN subscription currently costs CA$25 a month or CA$200 a year and will also give you access to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, plus EFL Championship soccer, Six Nations rugby and WTA tennis.
As well as dedicated apps for iOS and Android, there’s a wide range of support for set-top boxes and smart TVs.
Livestream the Malta vs. England game in Australia
Football fans Down Under can watch this match on streaming service Optus Sport, which has the rights to show select Euro 2024 qualifiers live in Australia this season.
With exclusive rights to screen Euro 2024 qualifiers live this season, as well as English Premier League, German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans.
If you’re already an Optus network customer you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 a month. If you’re not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25.
Quick tips for streaming Euro 2024 qualifiers using a VPN
With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming Euro 2024 qualifiers may vary.
If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
Apple released iOS 16.6 beta 3 to public beta testers Friday, less than two weeks after the company announced the forthcoming iOS 17 at its Worldwide Developers Conference. While iOS 16.6 has a few new features, we don’t expect many because of iOS 17’s fall release.
New iOS features can be fun, but we recommend only downloading a beta on something other than your primary phone just in case the new software causes issues. Apple also provides beta testers with an app called Feedback. Testers can notify Apple of any issues in the new software with the app, that way the problem can be addressed before general release.
Here’s what could be coming to your iPhone with iOS 16.6.
“With iMessage Contact Key Verification, users who face extraordinary digital threats … can choose to further verify that they are messaging only with the people they intend,” Apple wrote in a news release at the time.
The first iOS 16.6 beta appeared to include some of the framework for Contact Key Verification, but with iOS 16.6 beta 2, that seems to have disappeared. If you went to Settings and searched for “Contact Key Verification” in the first iOS 16.6 beta, you could see an option for the feature. But that option vanished in the second iOS 16.6 beta.
More Beats Studio Buds icons
The second iOS 16.6 beta adds two new color icons for Beats Studio Buds, according to the website Gadget Hacks. The new color icons are for the ivory and transparent Beats Studio Buds, so if you have either of those earbuds you should see those icons on your iPhone with the latest beta.
New iCloud for Windows prompt
Gadget Hacks also reports iOS 16.6 beta 2 adds a new prompt when you try to log into iCloud for Windows when your iPhone and Windows computer aren’t on the same Wi-Fi network. The new prompt reportedly advises you to use a different network and that your iPhone and Windows computer need to be on the same network.
Apple hasn’t announced a release date for iOS 16.6. Apple might include more features in iOS 16.6, and there’s no guarantee that these features will be included in the update.
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For a decade, I defended my choice to own an Android to countless haters. But at long last, I’ve traded in my beloved Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus for an iPhone 14 Pro. And so far, I have no regrets. (Especially now that I’m no longer teased for having green texts — more on that later.)
It may sound like I’m being overly dramatic, but that trip to the Verizon store signaled a big shift for me. I’ve always prided myself on not buying into the Apple hype. Despite years of pestering from friends to switch to an iPhone, I pushed back, maintaining that I liked being different from the masses. Everyone around me has an iPhone. It felt good to defy the norm. And so for years, I stuck with my Samsung Galaxy devices, which I still believe are incredible phones.
But after conversations with friends and family about what I could get from the iPhone that I could never get with my Android, I started to reconsider my stance. Yes, I loved my Galaxy S10 Plus and everything it offered: a top-notch camera, a customizable interface and Object Eraser, which removes any unwanted people or objects from your pictures (Pixel phones have a similar feature). But at the end of the day, there was one big thing my Android could never offer: a seamless way to communicate with all my friends on the iPhone.
I’ve been told countless times that I ruin group chats by turning all the texts “green.” This is because Apple refuses to make iMessage compatible with Android phones, so when you message someone who isn’t on iOS, you’ll see green text bubbles instead of the standard blue ones. Because this felt like a superficial complaint — and is 100% Apple’s fault — I brushed it aside.
Until I realized I was missing out on other, more significant benefits of owning an iPhone.
Unless you use a third-party app like WhatsApp, there’s no easy way to send high-resolution photos and videos directly between an Android phone and an iPhone. I was OK with just using WhatsApp… until I began to envy my friends who were instantaneously AirDropping pictures and videos after our hangouts. WhatsApp also diminishes the quality of videos, and Google Drive takes a lot longer to upload videos to.
It also was frustrating that apps like TikTok diminished my camera quality on Android. Comparing TikTok videos taken on an iPhone — even an older version like the iPhone X — with those taken on my Galaxy S10 Plus is like night and day. On my Galaxy, TikTok distorted the colors and blurred everything in the most unflattering and unrealistic way. On the iPhone, videos are crisp and clear and appear just as they should. For someone who uses TikTok as much as I do, this was important.
These reasons, along with the fact that I already use a MacBook and would therefore benefit from the Apple ecosystem, led me to start changing my mind about owning an iPhone. Throw in features like the new always-on display on the iPhone 14 Pro models — something I absolutely loved on my Galaxy devices — and fun new elements like Dynamic Island, and suddenly I was sold on the idea of switching over.
A growing number of people are feeling the draw to switch to an iPhone, according to a report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Fifteen percent of people who bought an iPhone from March 2022 to 2023 switched from an Android phone. That’s up from 11% the previous year. So, I have company. (On the flip side, 4% of Android users switched from an iPhone.)
Given the slew of updates coming with iOS 17, which Apple announced during its Worldwide Developers Conference, it’s clear the iPhone maker knows how to keep its products and software enticing for users both new and old. I doubt I’ll be jumping ship anytime soon.
Yes, I had to fight off feelings of being a sellout. But I realized that ultimately, it’s just a phone. And no matter what you do, people will have unsolicited opinions about what device you’re using. My Galaxy worked well for me for many years. Now I was ready for something new. And so far, I have no regrets.
