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Thinking of spring cleaning? Whether you’re finally cleaning up the junk drawer or upgrading your tech, don’t condemn your old device to your in-home gadget graveyard — or worse, the garbage. We all hang onto outdated tech for our own reasons, but there are also multiple ways to repurpose old devices for your smart home, using them as security cameras and more.

Whatever the tech, when it’s finally time to say goodbye, there’s a right way to dispose of your old gadgets — and there are a lot of wrong ways. We’ll show you which is which.

What to do before you get rid of a device

When you’re finished with a gadget, make sure it’s also finished with you. Make sure to back up anything you want off the device — photos, videos, songs — and then perform a factory reset. Here are a few CNET articles to help clarify the finer points of wiping a device:

• How to Wipe Your Phone or Tablet Before You Sell It
• The Best Way to Completely Wipe Your Android Device
• What to Do With Your iPhone or Android Phone Before Donating It
• How to Reset and Clean My Laptop to Give to Someone Else?

Here are the best places here in the US to recycle, repurpose or give new life to your old technology.

How to recycle smartphones

Smartphone Recycling lets you print a free FedEx shipping label or request a recycling kit. Ship your old smartphone and you might even get paid, depending on the device’s condition and age. Smartphone Recycling accepts devices in bulk, so you have to ship a minimum of 10. Depending on how long you’ve been hoarding phones, you might meet this quota on your own. If not, check with friends and family and make it a group effort.

What you can recycle: Smartphone Recycling accepts smartphones, cell phones, MacBooks, tablets, iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple Watches, as well as batteries attached or installed in devices.

Best Buy

Best Buy accepts a wide range of tech products and generally takes three items per house per day. Specifics may vary depending on where you live, but you can check with the state-specific recycling information dropdown menu on the site.

Best Buy also offers a haul-away option for larger appliances like TVs, dishwashers, freezers, microwaves, treadmills and exercise bikes. If you’ve ordered a new product, Best Buy will take away your old one for recycling. There’s also a stand-alone haul-away option that costs $200. You can have two large items hauled away as well as an unlimited number of smaller items, with some exceptions.

What you can recycle: Best Buy can take TVs, cables and chargers, media players, projectors, laptops, hard drives, webcams, cellphones, calculators, radios, landlines, headsets, vacuums, fans, ink and toner cartridges, alarm clocks, speaker systems, e-readers, video game consoles, memory cards, camcorders, digital cameras, GPS devices and more.

Staples

Office supply store Staples also offers free recycling options for old technology. Staples accepts up to seven items per customer per day. The company also has various haul-away options, driver pickup and pallet pickup, as well as prepaid address labels available.

What you can recycle: Staples can recycle accessories, adapters, cables, computers, cordless and mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, routers, tablets, webcams, ink and toner and other office tech items.

Home Depot

Home Depot has an explainer on its website about how to safely dispose of dead batteries, old paint, electronics and other items, as well as tips for upcycling and repurposing. According to RecycleStuff.org, the services are drop-off only for residential customers.

What you can recycle: According to RecycleStuff.org, Home Depot accepts household alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V), lithium-ion batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, rechargeable household batteries, cell phones and LED light bulbs.

US Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA doesn’t handle recycling and drop-offs the same way other businesses do, but it does have a handy guide that makes it easier to get the information you need. The EPA’s directory breaks down donation and recycling by electronic device, company name, logo and any additional details.

What you can recycle: Again, the EPA’s directory links you out to specific companies and their policies, but according to the list, you can recycle and donate mobile devices, PCs and TVs as well as imaging equipment and supplies.

Electronics Take-Back Coalition

Like the EPA, Electronics Take-Back Coalition makes it easy to find manufacturer take-back programs in the US. You can browse over 25 companies’ take-back program summaries, including Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sony and more.

The Electronics Take-back Coalition doesn’t handle the recycling, but it can direct you to the proper resource for your needs.

What you can recycle: Depending on the company, you can find places to turn in iPhones, iPads, smartphones, monitors, computers, printers, keyboards, mice, DVD and VHS players, cameras, TVs and more.

EcoATM

EcoATM gives you a price estimate for your old phone that you can lock in on the mobile app using your old device’s IMEI number. EcoATM will ask a few questions about your device like brand, model, memory, carrier and condition before generating a quote. From there, you can visit one of the organization’s kiosks, located at stores like Kroger, Walmart and Dollar General.

What you can recycle: EcoATM can help with iPhones, Samsung smartphones, tablets and MP3 players, Google Pixel phones, LG phones and tablets, Motorola phones and ZTE phones. You can also recycle chargers and cellular accessories like cases, but you won’t be paid for them.

Earth911

Earth911 lets you search by device and ZIP code to find appropriate nearby locations to turn in old phones. When you visit the organization’s website, click Where to Recycle at the top of the page to get started. Earth911 works with well-known businesses like Lowe’s and Target, as well as local waste and recycling centers.

What you can recycle: Earth911 helps you find locations to recycle, but it will also note the materials the location accepts, whether it allows drop-off or pickup for residential or businesses, as well as any additional information.

Recycling for Charities

Recycling for Charities accepts technology donations, but gives a percentage of the device’s value to the charity of your choosing. Scroll through a directory of charities, select one, enter the required information and click donate. Charities receive anywhere between 25 cents and $100 from your items.

What you can recycle: Wireless cell phones and corresponding batteries, iPhones, wireless pagers, digital cameras, iPods, PDAs and Palm Pilots.

Call2Recycle

Call2Recycle is a battery-focused recycling program. The organization offers drop-off options at locations like Home Depot, Lowe’s and Staples, as well as shipment boxes for batteries and cell phones. Drop-offs are free, but recycling kits and shipment boxes cost between $45 and $115, depending on the size.

What you can recycle: Rechargeable batteries like Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lithium Ion, Nickel Zinc and Small Sealed Lead Acid weighing up to 11 pounds. Call2Recycle also accepts single-use batteries like AA, AAA, 9V, C, D and button cell batteries weighing up to 11 pounds. The organization also accepts cell phones and their corresponding batteries regardless of size, make, model or age.

For more information, check out five things you can recycle (and five things you can’t) and the right way to recycle plastic and the dos and don’ts of recycling metal cans.

With the weather getting warmer, are you planning a vacation overseas? Or are you temporarily outside your home country for any other reason? If you’re hoping to watch your favorite Netflix content while away from home, you may find it isn’t available where you’re traveling.

This can be frustrating, especially when you’re a paying Netflix subscriber. But, due to licensing agreements with copyright holders, Netflix can only show certain content in certain countries. This means that when you’re outside your home country, you may be blocked from watching the shows and movies you want to see.

Read more: Best VPN Service of 2023

With the help of a virtual private network, you can watch all the Netflix content you want, from wherever you are in the world. Using Netflix with a VPN can make it look like you’re at home even when you’re traveling overseas. Here’s how to do it, with one caveat.

While Netflix does make certain efforts to block VPN use on its platform, the streaming provider doesn’t appear to be aggressively blocking limited VPN use. Regardless, you should always consider Netflix’s terms of use, because terms can change at any time and the company can terminate your account if it detects abuse. We don’t encourage people to violate their user agreements.

Can I watch Netflix internationally with a VPN?

Yes, you can — in four simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a VPN service. Not all VPNs will be up to the task of unblocking Netflix, but a top VPN service like ExpressVPN or Surfshark should be able to consistently unblock it while you’re traveling abroad. Before you subscribe, however, make sure that VPN use is legal in the country you’re traveling to.
2. Download the VPN software to your computer or device. The download and installation process will be just like downloading any other app.
3. Connect to a VPN server in your home country. If you’re from the US and want to access your home Netflix catalog from overseas, you’ll need to connect to a server located in the US. If you’re from the UK, then connect to a server in the UK to access that catalog — and so on down the line, for any country from which Netflix offers service. Simply click on the corresponding country in your VPN app to connect to a server located in that country and you’re good to go
4. Launch Netflix. Head over to Netflix on your computer or device as you normally would and you should be able to watch all the titles you’re used to watching at home. If you’re having issues or are getting an error message, try connecting to a different server from your country or contact your VPN provider’s customer support.

How does this work?

This works because, when you connect to a VPN server, your IP address changes to the address of the VPN server you’re connecting through. Your real IP address and physical location are hidden from Netflix in the process. Netflix, for all intents and purposes, will therefore register your location as the location of the VPN server you’re connecting through and will deliver the content it makes available in that country.

We can’t guarantee that it will work for you 100% of the time, though, because Netflix does its best to block known VPN IP addresses and uses other methods to preclude its customers from using VPNs to unblock geographically restricted content on its site. But most mainstream VPNs — especially our top picks — are usually reliably capable of providing access to Netflix.

Read more: 5 Best VPNs for Your Smart TV

In any case, remember to only try this in geographic regions where Netflix offers its service and, as per the company’s Terms of Use, “have licensed such content.”

Also, keep in mind that while it isn’t necessarily illegal to use a VPN to thwart geo-blocking (unless using a VPN is illegal in your country), Netflix could still potentially suspend or terminate your account if it determines you’ve violated its terms of service. So proceed at your own risk. That said, we haven’t heard of any reports of people’s accounts being terminated for using a VPN to unblock Netflix content.

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Garmin is a trusted brand in tech for workout and sports enthusiasts, but that level of quality often comes with a premium price to match. If you’re looking for deals on Garmin products like smartwatches, dash cams, GPS navigators and other gear, Woot has a number of factory-refurbished options available for less than you’d pay for brand-new items. That means these products have been returned, inspected and restored to fully working condition, making them as close to new as you can get without actually being new. These offers are only available today, April 7, while supplies last.

Exercise enthusiasts looking for more than just a tracker can grab the updated version of one of our favorite smartwatches for 2023, Garmin’s Venu 2 Plus. The original Venu 2 won a CNET Editors’ Choice Award in 2021 and the Venu 2 Plus won an Editors’ Choice Award in 2022. This smartwatch works with both Android and iOS devices, making it a great choice for just about anyone. Plus, it has an AMOLED display, offers activity tracking and gives you insight into other health data. It also has speaker and microphone support (unlike other models) and gets up to eight days of battery life per charge. Originally $450, Woot has gray, black and ivory variations on sale for just $300.

Another solid option is the Fenix 6 smartwatch, which is also available for just $300 right now. While it’s not the newest model in the Fenix line, it’s a decent smartwatch with GPS, fitness and sleep tracking. It has a 1.3-inch display and includes convenient features like Garmin pay for contactless payments and also sports solar-charging capabilities, which can extend the battery life as you’re enjoying the outdoors. You can also grab the 6X Pro edition for $30 more.

Dash cams are also a good investment, because they can record your adventures or collect evidence if you ever encounter road hazards or get into an accident while traveling. There are a couple of dash cams available in this sale, starting as low as $110.

Cyclists can score Garmin’s Edge 130 Plus GPS bike computer for just $100, or splurge on the Edge 830 for $280. These devices can track your distance, offer training guidance and record other data that can offer you insights on your performance. And golf enthusiasts can snag savings on a couple of items, too. The Approach Z82 GPS laser range finder, which is down to $400 — a $200 savings on the regular list price of a brand-new version. And the Approach S12 golf watch — which comes preloaded with over 42,000 golf courses worldwide — is just $110 at Woot. That’s a $90 savings over the current price at Garmin.

There are a ton of other options available, and each product comes with a warranty, just in case — so be sure to shop the entire sale selection at Woot and cash in on these deals before they’re gone.

T-Mobile said Thursday that it’ll continue to offer its customers free MLB.TV subscriptions through 2028 as part of the company’s latest deal with Major League Baseball. T-Mobile wrote that this deal has been its most popular offer for the past eight years.

Plans for MLB.TV start at around $150 a year. The service gives customers access to livestreams for out-of-market home games and away games. Customers get access to pre- and postgame shows, and they can pause and rewind games.

MLB TV Subscriptions

See at MLB

CNET’s Matt Elliott found MLB.TV’s blackout restrictions frustrating, but out-of-market baseball fans can still find plenty to enjoy about the streaming service.

Though MLB.TV is a nice perk for T-Mobile customers, the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier disclosed earlier this year that data from 37 million of its customers was stolen in a breach. The hack was the fifth data breach in five years, raising concern over the carrier’s security.

T-Mobile on Thursday also said that it’ll test an automated ball system at some Minor League games using the carrier’s 5G network. The carrier will continue its T-Mobile Little League Call Up Grant Program, too.

For more, check out CNET’s best sports streaming services of 2023, what to know about Apple’s Friday Night baseball games and how to watch the Yankees if you’re a cord cutter.

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Apple Watches monitor activity and biorhythms using sensors on the smartwatch’s underside that press against a user’s wrist. But future versions of Apple’s wearable could use sensors in the watch band to track hand gestures too, a new patent suggests.

When an Apple Watch wearer makes a hand gesture, muscles and tendons in the wrist shift, sending electrical signals that could be tracked by electrodes threaded through the watch band, the patent proposes. Figures show the range of movement such a band could track, including palm up and down, rotating the wrist clockwise or counterclockwise, and lateral motions (like when waving).

Apple Watches already have accessibility features that allow users to control their watches by pinching a thumb and finger or clenching their fist, as pointed out by AppleInsider, which reported earlier on the new patent. Increasing gesture recognition capability could expand accessibility in general.

Having more ways to track body movement could lead to improvements in fitness and health monitoring, too, by using your flexed arm position for more precise workout measurements. If the gesture detection is sensitive enough, it could lead Apple to find ways for its wearables to control other devices, whether to play games or navigate around Apple TV menus.

That’s far in the future, when — or if — such a sensor-laden wristband ever makes it to production. While Apple has been able to include more sensors and harness existing ones in its smartwatches to track more metrics like blood oxygen level and skin temperature, it remains to be seen whether they can make a flexible band that can add more bio-tracking to the Apple Watch’s body-monitoring arsenal. We’re still years away from getting smart wearables that function well enough to replace our existing wardrobes.

Roku on Wednesday said its customers can now access Disney Plus Basic. The announcement comes four months after Disney launched the plan in December.

Disney Plus Basic costs $8 a month, and people can access Disney’s full content catalog of shows and movies with the subscription. However, ads play during shows and movies, and customers can’t download content.

After testing the plan, CNET’s Kourtnee Jackson found that sometimes Disney Plus Basic’s ads don’t play while watching some shows and movies. She did find that the ads that do play are about one-minute long.

Disney Plus Basic with Ads

See at Disney+

Other streaming services, like Netflix and HBO Max, have ad-tier plans similar to Disney Plus Basic. Those plans cost $7 a month and $10 a month, respectively. Roku has over 70 million active accounts worldwide, and is the No. 1 TV streaming platform in North America.

For more, check out whether Disney Plus Basic is worth it and CNET’s best streaming services of 2023.

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Thinking of spring cleaning? Whether you’re finally cleaning up the junk drawer or upgrading your tech, don’t condemn your old device to your in-home gadget graveyard — or worse, the garbage. We all hang onto outdated tech for our own reasons, but there are also multiple ways to repurpose old devices for your smart home, using them as security cameras and more.

Whatever the tech, when it’s finally time to say goodbye, there’s a right way to dispose of your old gadgets — and there are a lot of wrong ways. We’ll show you which is which.

What to do before you get rid of a device

When you’re finished with a gadget, make sure it’s also finished with you. Make sure to back up anything you want off the device — photos, videos, songs — and then perform a factory reset. Here are a few CNET articles to help clarify the finer points of wiping a device:

• How to Wipe Your Phone or Tablet Before You Sell It
• The Best Way to Completely Wipe Your Android Device
• What to Do With Your iPhone or Android Phone Before Donating It
• How to Reset and Clean My Laptop to Give to Someone Else?

Here are the best places here in the US to recycle, repurpose or give new life to your old technology.

How to recycle smartphones

Smartphone Recycling lets you print a free FedEx shipping label or request a recycling kit. Ship your old smartphone and you might even get paid, depending on the device’s condition and age. Smartphone Recycling accepts devices in bulk, so you have to ship a minimum of 10. Depending on how long you’ve been hoarding phones, you might meet this quota on your own. If not, check with friends and family and make it a group effort.

What you can recycle: Smartphone Recycling accepts smartphones, cell phones, MacBooks, tablets, iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple Watches, as well as batteries attached or installed in devices.

Best Buy

Best Buy accepts a wide range of tech products and generally takes three items per house per day. Specifics may vary depending on where you live, but you can check with the state-specific recycling information dropdown menu on the site.

Best Buy also offers a haul-away option for larger appliances like TVs, dishwashers, freezers, microwaves, treadmills and exercise bikes. If you’ve ordered a new product, Best Buy will take away your old one for recycling. There’s also a stand-alone haul-away option that costs $200. You can have two large items hauled away as well as an unlimited number of smaller items, with some exceptions.

What you can recycle: Best Buy can take TVs, cables and chargers, media players, projectors, laptops, hard drives, webcams, cellphones, calculators, radios, landlines, headsets, vacuums, fans, ink and toner cartridges, alarm clocks, speaker systems, e-readers, video game consoles, memory cards, camcorders, digital cameras, GPS devices and more.

Staples

Office supply store Staples also offers free recycling options for old technology. Staples accepts up to seven items per customer per day. The company also has various haul-away options, driver pickup and pallet pickup, as well as prepaid address labels available.

What you can recycle: Staples can recycle accessories, adapters, cables, computers, cordless and mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, routers, tablets, webcams, ink and toner and other office tech items.

Home Depot

Home Depot has an explainer on its website about how to safely dispose of dead batteries, old paint, electronics and other items, as well as tips for upcycling and repurposing. According to RecycleStuff.org, the services are drop-off only for residential customers.

What you can recycle: According to RecycleStuff.org, Home Depot accepts household alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V), lithium-ion batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, rechargeable household batteries, cell phones and LED light bulbs.

US Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA doesn’t handle recycling and drop-offs the same way other businesses do, but it does have a handy guide that makes it easier to get the information you need. The EPA’s directory breaks down donation and recycling by electronic device, company name, logo and any additional details.

What you can recycle: Again, the EPA’s directory links you out to specific companies and their policies, but according to the list, you can recycle and donate mobile devices, PCs and TVs as well as imaging equipment and supplies.

Electronics Take-Back Coalition

Like the EPA, Electronics Take-Back Coalition makes it easy to find manufacturer take-back programs in the US. You can browse over 25 companies’ take-back program summaries, including Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sony and more.

The Electronics Take-back Coalition doesn’t handle the recycling, but it can direct you to the proper resource for your needs.

What you can recycle: Depending on the company, you can find places to turn in iPhones, iPads, smartphones, monitors, computers, printers, keyboards, mice, DVD and VHS players, cameras, TVs and more.

EcoATM

EcoATM gives you a price estimate for your old phone that you can lock in on the mobile app using your old device’s IMEI number. EcoATM will ask a few questions about your device like brand, model, memory, carrier and condition before generating a quote. From there, you can visit one of the organization’s kiosks, located at stores like Kroger, Walmart and Dollar General.

What you can recycle: EcoATM can help with iPhones, Samsung smartphones, tablets and MP3 players, Google Pixel phones, LG phones and tablets, Motorola phones and ZTE phones. You can also recycle chargers and cellular accessories like cases, but you won’t be paid for them.

Earth911

Earth911 lets you search by device and ZIP code to find appropriate nearby locations to turn in old phones. When you visit the organization’s website, click Where to Recycle at the top of the page to get started. Earth911 works with well-known businesses like Lowe’s and Target, as well as local waste and recycling centers.

What you can recycle: Earth911 helps you find locations to recycle, but it will also note the materials the location accepts, whether it allows drop-off or pickup for residential or businesses, as well as any additional information.

Recycling for Charities

Recycling for Charities accepts technology donations, but gives a percentage of the device’s value to the charity of your choosing. Scroll through a directory of charities, select one, enter the required information and click donate. Charities receive anywhere between 25 cents and $100 from your items.

What you can recycle: Wireless cell phones and corresponding batteries, iPhones, wireless pagers, digital cameras, iPods, PDAs and Palm Pilots.

Call2Recycle

Call2Recycle is a battery-focused recycling program. The organization offers drop-off options at locations like Home Depot, Lowe’s and Staples, as well as shipment boxes for batteries and cell phones. Drop-offs are free, but recycling kits and shipment boxes cost between $45 and $115, depending on the size.

What you can recycle: Rechargeable batteries like Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lithium Ion, Nickel Zinc and Small Sealed Lead Acid weighing up to 11 pounds. Call2Recycle also accepts single-use batteries like AA, AAA, 9V, C, D and button cell batteries weighing up to 11 pounds. The organization also accepts cell phones and their corresponding batteries regardless of size, make, model or age.

For more information, check out five things you can recycle (and five things you can’t) and the right way to recycle plastic and the dos and don’ts of recycling metal cans.

Apple’s latest software update, iOS 16.4, brings more than a batch of new emoji to your iPhone. The iOS update also brings Voice Isolation, a handy FaceTime feature, to phone calls. Apple introduced Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum to FaceTime calls with the release of iOS 15 in 2021, but only Voice Isolation is available for phone calls too.

When enabled, Voice Isolation muffles distracting background noises that interrupt your phone call. That way, if you’re on a business call or catching up with friends, you won’t be interrupted by your dog’s barking or construction outside your home.

To enable Voice Isolation, you have to be on a phone call, and you won’t find the feature in Settings. But once you turn Voice Isolation on, it will stay on for all subsequent phone calls until it’s turned off.

Here’s how to activate and disable Voice Isolation for phone calls.

How to enable Voice Isolation

1. Start or answer a phone call.

2. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to access your Control Center.

3. Tap Mic Mode near the top-right corner of your screen.

4. Tap Voice Isolation.

Pro tip: Instead of turning this feature on during a call with someone else, you can call yourself and enable Voice Isolation by following the steps above.

To disable Voice Isolation, follow the same steps above and tap Standard in Mic Mode. This will return your microphone back to its default setting.

What is Wide Spectrum?

Alongside Voice Isolation in Mic Mode is Wide Spectrum. Unlike Voice Isolation — which muffles background sounds — Wide Spectrum amplifies background sounds without affecting your voice.

Wide Spectrum is useful for calls with multiple people on one phone line. That way, everyone can be heard, not just the person holding the phone.

Currently, Wide Spectrum is only available for FaceTime calls, not phone calls. But, since the feature is still present in Mic Mode when accessed during a phone call, this feature might become available for phone calls in the future.

For more, check out other new features in iOS 16.4, how to turn Voice Isolation on in FaceTime calls and what might be coming to iOS 16.5.

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