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Your iPhone is an amazing little pocket computer. It gives you access to the entire worldwide web on the go, letting you browse through page after page of information online at high speeds. But even the latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models might start to feel sluggish over time. A good habit to build up is regularly clearing the cache on your iPhone’s browsers.

Whether you use Chrome, Safari or other browsers on your iPhone, your cache builds up digital clutter over time. Clearing your cache gives the browser a new start, which can speed up your web surfing whether you’re using iOS 15 or iOS 16. (And if you’re trying to get your phone to run faster, try managing your iPhone’s storage.)

Your browser cache acts like a digital shortcut — it stores website data so your browser has a head start the next time you load up that page. In the short term, that helps speed up the process. But over time, the data stored in your cache can become outdated and no longer match what the site actually needs. If that happens, pages will load slower, and the formatting might be wrong.

That’s why clearing your cache can help: It gives sites a fresh start in your browser and frees up some space in your storage.

Website cookies are similar, except they store information about user data, rather than data on the website itself. Clearing your cookies gives you a chance to reset those preferences, which could improve your browsing experience. Note that clearing your cache and cookies will log you out of sites, which means you’ll have to log into them again and reset any preferences. But the upfront investment of that time can lead to a smoother experience down the road, and it can be a useful fix if you’ve recently changed settings that aren’t being applied properly.

Here are step-by-step guides on how to clear your cache on your iPhone based on the browser you use.

How to clear your iPhone cache in Safari

Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and you can clear your Safari cache in a few short steps. Starting with iOS 11, following this process will affect all devices signed in to your iCloud account. As a result, all your devices’ caches will be cleared, and you’ll need to sign in to everything the next time you use them. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Select Safari from the list of apps.

3. Go to Clear History and Website Data.

4. Choose Clear History and Data in the pop-up box.

Then you’re set!

Read more: Best iPhone for 2022

How to clear your iPhone cache in Chrome

Chrome is another popular browser for iPhone users. The overall process for clearing your Chrome cache requires a few more steps, and you’ll need to do things through the Chrome browser itself. Here’s how.

1. Open the Chrome app.

2. Select the three dots in the bottom right to open more options.

3. Scroll across the top and select Settings.

4. Select Privacy and Security in the next menu.

5. Then select Clear Browsing Data to open up one last menu.

6. Select the intended time range at the top of the menu (anywhere from Last Hour to All Time).

7. Make sure that Cookies, Site Data is selected, along with Cached Images and Files. Finally, hit Clear Browsing Data at the bottom of the screen.

Read more: This iPhone Setting Stops Ads From Following You Across the Web

How to clear your iPhone cache in Firefox

If you’re a Firefox devotee, don’t worry. Clearing the cache on your iPhone is pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps.

1. Click the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner to open up options.

2. Choose Settings at the bottom of the menu.

3. Select Data Management in the Privacy section.

4. You can select Website Data to clear data for individual sites, or select Clear Private Data at the bottom of the screen to clear data from all selected fields.

Read more: Experiencing Slow Wi-Fi? It Could Be Caused by Internet Throttling. Here’s How to Tell

What happens when you clear the cache?

Clearing your cache removes the website data your phone stored locally to prevent having to download that data upon each new visit. The data in your cache builds over time and can end up slowing things down if it becomes too bulky or out of date. (My phone had about 150MB of data stored in Chrome when I checked.) Clearing that data gives sites a fresh start, which may fix some loading errors and speed up your browser. However, clearing your cache also signs you out of pages, so be prepared to sign in to everything again.

How often do I need to clear my cache?

Most people only need to clear their caches once every month or two. That’s generally the point when your browser will build up a cache large enough to start slowing things down. If you frequent a large number of sites, you should err on the side of clearing your cache more often.

For more, check out how to download iOS 16 today, the best new iOS 16.3 features and some hidden iOS 16 features. You can also take a look at how each new iPhone 14 model compares to the others.

If Netflix’s looming account-sharing fees are on your mind, you may be thinking about cramming in a few binge sessions ahead of the big change. But before you kick off your next streaming marathon, remember that scrolling through the same list of Netflix’s TV show and movie recommendations aren’t the best ways to find something new to watch. They’re also not great to find other niche genres you might be interested in.

But there’s a secret trick for filtering Netflix’s library by genre to find exactly what you’re browsing for: Netflix codes. Instead of passively accepting the algorithm’s picks, learn how to use Netflix codes to find your own next binge-watch.

Read more: How to Turn Off Netflix’s Pesky Autoplay Trailers

What are Netflix codes?

Netflix codes are based on a number system that corresponds to a different genre or subgenre, which the algorithm uses to categorize and serve up recommendations. For example, instead of scrolling through Horror, you can search Small Town Scares (81496215) for more specific results.

So far, Netflix has about 36,000 codes. Note that codes can only be used on Netflix’s website and not in its apps.

Where do I find Netflix’s secret menu?

Check out netflix-codes.com for a full list. There are about 20 categories like anime, foreign movies and classic movies. Those categories are broken down into more specific subgenres. For example, horror movies — coded 8711 — houses 12 more codes like deep-sea horror movies, zombie horror movies, teen screams and more.

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How do I use Netflix codes?

The easiest way is by installing the Better Browse for Netflix extension for Chrome. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Chrome Web Store and search “Better Browse for Netflix.”
2. Click Add to Chrome.
3. Click Add Extension.
4. Log into your Netflix account in a new tab.

At the top of the Netflix home screen, you should see a new option — Browse All — next to My List. Click that to search manually or scroll through the subgenres available.

Another way is through the Netflix codes website. Here’s how:

1. Visit netflix-codes.com in your PC or mobile browser.
2. Find the genre or subgenre you want to explore.
3. Tap the code next to the genre or subgenre you want.
4. If you’re on a device that has the Netflix app installed, the app should open and take you directly to the genre or subgenre you chose. If you don’t have the app installed, it’ll open Netflix through the browser and you can view the specific movies and shows available.
5. Tap the title you want to watch.

You can also use the Netflix codes manually in your browser. Here’s how:

1. Visit netflix-codes.com in your PC or mobile browser.
2. Find the genre or subgenre you want to explore.
3. In another tab, type in <http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/INSERTNUMBER>, but replace INSERTNUMBER with the specific genre or subgenre code.
4. You’ll be taken to Netflix to peruse the titles available in that section.

From there, you can either make a mental note of the movie you want to watch and go back to the app on your preferred device, or log in to watch in your browser.

Adobe and Samsung have banded together to ease the difficulties of advanced smartphone photography on Samsung’s new Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra phones. The smartphones will exclusively use Adobe’s Lightroom software to handle the raw-format photos that pros and enthusiasts prefer.

Most of us are fine with plain old JPEG and HEIC, the formats that phones use to store photos. But raw photos, stored in the Digital Negative format, DNG, that Adobe invented, offer higher image quality and more editing flexibility when you want to fiddle with exposure, color balance, sharpening and other factors.

The problem is that raw files also are a pain to handle, which is why the Samsung-Adobe partnership — revealed exclusively to CNET — is notable. Once you take a photo using Samsung’s Expert Raw camera app, you can open them directly in Lightroom with one tap, the companies said.

Although Lightroom won’t be preinstalled on the phones, a prompt will encourage people to install it, after which Lightroom will be the default raw photo editor, Adobe photography marketing chief Stephen Baloglu said. The phone version of Lightroom can be used for free, but a $10 per month subscription opens up some premium features and synchronizes photos with laptops. The Samsung phones will come with a two-month free Lightroom trial.

The partnership shows the growing maturity of advanced smartphone photography. The first smartphones had cameras that were useful but not impressive, but now they’re good enough to replace traditional cameras for most people, and camera technology is a top selling point for smartphones. That’s why the Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 200-megapixel sensor, and why shooting raw photos has become important for making the most of pocketable hardware.

Smoothing the bumps is important to unlocking that power. When shooting raw, there are plenty of difficulties. For example, even though Google helped pioneer the technology by adding DNG format support to Android years ago, the Google Photos app warns you of “limited raw support” if you try to edit.

Lightroom can correct optical problems like distortion with specific lenses, and Adobe worked with Samsung to offer lens corrections for all the front and back Galaxy S23 lenses, Baloglu said. Adobe has done that in the past with earlier Samsung phones, too, as well as iPhones and other smartphones.

Adobe’s Lightroom is geared in particular for raw photos. On traditional high-end cameras like DSLRs and mirrorless models, that means capturing the data straight from the image sensor without all the processing that’s required to “bake” it into a compact, easily shared JPEG.

On phones, though, image sensors are smaller and image quality isn’t as good. Smartphones compensate with computational photography techniques that merge multiple frames into one photo. That can dramatically improve a photo’s dynamic range — the span of bright and dark elements in a scene — to boost image quality.

Newer phones from Google, Apple, Samsung and others come with computational raw technology that performs some of this processing but that produces a DNG. That balances the flexibility of raw photos with the power of computational photography.

One of the new tricks on Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is using AI technology to reconstruct fine details in photos taken at the full 200 megapixel resolution. That’s necessary because the phone’s Isocell HP2 sensor uses pixel binning technology that groups pixels into 4×4 groupings that only capture only a single color each. The 16-pixel groups are good for low-light photos but complicate matters at high resolution.

“We’re excited to see the continuous innovation from Samsung to deliver impressive photography experiences,” Baloglu said.

Because Lightroom synchronizes photos, Samsung S23 phone owners can get their raw shots on Samsung’s new Galaxy Book 3 Ultra and Pro laptops — or for that matter, on any Mac or Windows PC. On the new Samsung PCs, though, Lightroom will come with a two-month free Lightroom subscription offer.

Google has begun testing an AI chatbot called Apprentice Bard that’s similar to ChatGPT, an online service that in many ways is more useful than Google search, CNBC reported this week.

And we might see it soon. While reporting gloomy fourth-quarter financial results, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Google plans to make its own AI language model tools available to the public “in coming weeks and months.”

ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence technology called a large language model, trained on vast swaths of data on the internet. That type of AI model uses a mechanism called a transformer, which Google pioneered. ChatGPT’s success in everything from writing software, passing exams and offering advice, in the style of the King James Bible, on removing a sandwich from a VCR has propelled it into the tech spotlight, even though its results can be misleading or wrong.

Google’s Apprentice Bard tool is similar to ChatGPT, but the company also is testing a question-and-answer format for Google search results, CNBC said. Google Research leader Jeff Dean told employees in a 2022 meeting that Google is being more conservative with its approach to avoid “reputational risk” of AI that offers bad responses.

Google didn’t comment on the specifics of the report, but spokesperson Lily Lin said in a statement, “We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives … We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”

AI technology already is all around us, helping in everything from flagging credit card fraud to translating our speech into text messages. The ChatGPT technology has elevated expectations, though, so it’s clear the technology will become more important in our lives one way or another as we rely on digital assistants and online tools.

Google AI subsidiary DeepMind also is involved. Chief Executive Demis Hassabis told Time that his company is considering a 2023 private beta test of an AI chatbot called Sparrow.

Google, which endured bad publicity over the departure of AI researcher Timnit Gebru in 2020, has a program focusing on responsible AI and machine learning, or ML, technology. “Building ML models and products in a responsible and ethical manner is both our core focus and core commitment,” Google Research Vice President Marian Croak said in a January post.

Google is keen to tout its deep AI expertise. ChatGPT triggered a “code red” emergency within Google, according to The New York Times, and drew Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin back into active work.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

Overwatch 2 season 3 is expected to start on Tuesday, Feb. 7, and it’s bringing several changes to matchmaking, battle passes and in-game currency, among other features. The changes sound great, and I don’t want to downplay them. But I also don’t want to bury arguably bigger news: The game is also adding a new map called Antarctic Peninsula, and that new map has penguins in the environment.

Antarctic Peninsula will be the game’s first new control (sometimes called king-of-the-hill, or KOTH) map since Busan was released in September 2018. In fact, it’s only the second control map the game has added since launch. As with all maps of this type, it’ll include three submaps: an icebreaker ship, a mining sublevel, and the laboratory where Overwatch hero Mei and her colleagues worked. In some ways, it’s an expansion of the Ecopoint: Antarctica arcade map.

Season 3 is shaping up to be a pivotal season for Overwatch 2, which is closing out its third month post-release. We won’t get a new hero this season, but the developers are making changes to the game’s matchmaking to address player complaints that games are neither balanced nor particularly fun. The changes, detailed in a developer blog, aim to balance teams more evenly by role. The requirements for competitive updates — when you get your updated rank — will also be lowered from seven wins/20 losses to five wins/15 losses. These updates should be significant improvements in regard to some of the community’s biggest pain points.

But I want to go back to the penguins. I can’t truly say they’re a better or more exciting addition than the other changes. Matchmaking really needed some adjustments. But it’s a fun little detail that’s in line with the bright future Overwatch attempts to inhabit. (We asked if you can interact with the penguins. You can. We asked if you can shoot at the penguins. You can. One person asked if you can kill the penguins. Thankfully, you can’t.)

And the penguins aren’t the only fun detail players will find in the map. In media interviews, the developers talked about updating their shaders so you could leave footprints behind and draw in the snow. And Lead Narrative Designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie hinted that the new map may also answer long-standing questions like, “Why didn’t Overwatch rescue Mei and her team?” and also hint at other pieces of lore.

Blizzard is expected to release more information about season 3 ahead of its start next week.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai Thursday, calling for the removal of TikTok from both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store.

“TikTok collects vast and sophisticated data from its users, including faceprints and voiceprints,” Bennet wrote. “Unlike most social media platforms, TikTok poses a unique concern because Chinese law obligates ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, to ‘support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.’”

The social media app has faced growing concerns from US lawmakers over security concerns. The FBI has called the app a national security threat, and the Biden administration reportedly pushed for the app’s owners to sell its US operations.

“Given these grave and growing concerns, I ask that you remove TikTok from your respective app stores immediately,” Bennet wrote.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has agreed to testify before a House of Representatives committee in March. A TikTok spokesperson previously told CNET the company welcomes the chance to “set the record straight about TikTok, ByteDance, and the commitments we are making to address concerns about U.S. national security.”

Governors across the US have banned TikTok from state-run devices and wireless networks over privacy and data security issues. Ohio, New Jersey and Georgia are among the states to ban the app from state-owned devices.

For more, check out why US states are banning TikTok and what to know about TikTok’s national security concerns.

If you’re into classic smartphones, you might be able to buy a sealed first-generation iPhone — if you have the cash. LCG Auctions has a sealed 8GB iPhone on the auction block now.

“One of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime,” the item description reads. “A truly remarkable piece with great appeal to both collectors and investors alike.”

iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max Review: Welcome to Apple’s Dynamic Island

See at CNET

The starting bid for this iPhone was $2,500, and bidding ends Feb. 19. Another sealed first-generation iPhone was sold in October, 2022, for $39,339.60.

The original iPhone launched almost 16 years ago, on June 27, 2007, at a price of $599.

For more Apple news, check out the new features in iOS 16.3, CNET’s review of the second-generation HomePod and when a foldable iPad might be available.

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Google has begun testing an AI chatbot called Apprentice Bard that’s similar to ChatGPT, an online service that in many ways is more useful than Google search, CNBC reported this week.

ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence technology called a large language model, trained on vast swaths of data on the internet. That type of AI model uses a mechanism called a transformer, which Google pioneered. ChatGPT’s success in everything from writing software, passing exams and offering advice, in the style of the King James Bible, on removing a sandwich from a VCR has propelled it into the tech spotlight, even though its results can be misleading or wrong.

Google’s Apprentice Bard tool is similar to ChatGPT, but the company also is testing a question-and-answer format for Google search results, CNBC said. Google Research leader Jeff Dean told employees in a 2022 meeting that Google is being more conservative with its approach to avoid “reputational risk” of AI that offers bad responses.

Google didn’t comment on the specifics of the report, but spokesperson Lily Lin said in a statement, “We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives … We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”

AI technology already is all around us, helping in everything from flagging credit card fraud to translating our speech into text messages. The ChatGPT technology has elevated expectations, though, so it’s clear the technology will become more important in our lives one way or another as we rely on digital assistants and online tools.

Google AI subsidiary DeepMind also is involved. Chief Executive Demis Hassabis told Time that his company is considering a 2023 private beta test of an AI chatbot called Sparrow.

Google, which endured bad publicity over the departure of AI researcher Timnit Gebru in 2020, has a program focusing on responsible AI and machine learning, or ML, technology. “Building ML models and products in a responsible and ethical manner is both our core focus and core commitment,” Google Research Vice President Marian Croak said in a January post.

Google is keen to tout its deep AI expertise. ChatGPT triggered a “code red” emergency within Google, according to The New York Times, and drew Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin back into active work.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

The latest beta version of the PS5 system software will allow gamers to join Discord voice chats directly from the Sony console. The changes, announced in a blog post on the PlayStation website, will be offered to select customers in select countries starting today.

Beta-testers will be able to access the feature by linking their PlayStation Network and Discord accounts on their PS5.

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The software comes with other new social features including new icons making it easier to find and join online friends and the option to manually select and upload screen captures, a process that “complements the auto-upload functionality that currently exists,” according to the post. PlayStation is testing voice commands for screen captures in beta in the US and UK.

PlayStation is also testing some changes to how games are displayed, introducing variable refresh rate support at 1440p for supported games and compatible devices. Further updates make it easier to transfer saved data between consoles.

These changes and more will be available to beta-testers in US, Canada, Japan, UK, Germany and France. Not all the changes being tested are guaranteed to make it to the software’s final version, PlayStation said.

Samsung’s semiannual Unpacked event was held in San Francisco on Wednesday, and a collection of new phones and laptops made their debut. Samsung launched the refresh of its flagship Galaxy S line of phones — the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra. The company also unveiled its upgraded Galaxy Book Pro laptops, the Book 3 Pro and Book 3 Pro 360, along with a new high-end sibling for the family, the Book 3 Ultra.

Along with the new products, Samsung, Google and Qualcomm announced a partnership to develop a mixed-reality platform. It was heavy on words but light on details, however.

You can also check out our archived live blog from the event if you feel more like reading a play-by-play.

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Galaxy phones

All the new phones have been upgraded to the latest generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip “for Galaxy” — a custom version of the processor that the companies have theoretically optimized for faster performance, better graphics with ray tracing and faster AI processing.

The chip enables more enhancements to the phones’ computational photography capabilities, such as improved low-light performance and more intelligent processing for selfies. That front camera has been normalized across the product line as well, a resolution increase from the S22 and S22 Plus’ 10 megapixels but a drop from the S22 Ultra’s 40 megapixels. Improved speed also allows for 120 frames-per-second recording of 1080p for slow motion, up from 60fps, which should produce better results.

Samsung has also introduced syncing between Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Samsung PCs with this generation.

Galaxy S23 Ultra

Since the design remains relatively unchanged, the biggest (literally) update to the top-of-the-line S23 Ultra is the new 200-megapixel camera using the Isocell HP2 sensor — roughly double the resolution of its predecessor, the Galaxy S22 Ultra. It can also pixel-bin in four- or 16-pixel blocks for smaller images with better tonal quality or other, lower resolutions for easier-to-handle file sizes.

The new sensor is also responsible for improvements. Most notably, it has larger wells in the pixels to be able to absorb more light, which can make photos and video better across the board.

Other camera improvements include better optical image stabilization, and video gains wider-angle shooting and 8K at 30fps (up from 24fps). Samsung’s own camera software integrates better with the native camera app as well.

See Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Lineup

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New colors abound: Now it’s available in black, cream, green and lavender. Samsung also says it has increased the use of ocean-bound plastics and preconsumer waste, too.

Pricing for the phone begins at $1,200 ( 1,249, AU$1,949). It’s shipping Feb. 17; preorders have already begun.

Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus

The outsides of the base model and larger step-up model are largely unchanged.

Both phones get a 200-mAh boost for the battery, upping to 3,900 mAh for the S23 and 4,700 mAh for the S23 Plus. The Plus has a higher entry storage capacity, now 256GB.

The Galaxy S23 starts at $800 ( 849, AU$1,349), while the S23 Plus begins at $1,000 ( 1,049, AU$1,649). You can preorder them now, and they’re slated to ship on Feb. 17.

Galaxy Book 3 Ultra

Without discrete graphics or a high-end processor, Samsung’s Pro models of its laptops didn’t really feel “pro.” So now there’s the new Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, with either an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or 4070 GPU and up to a 13th-gen Core i9 CPU to at least add the option to Samsung’s offerings.

Other features include a 16:10, 2,880×1,800-pixel OLED display that supports 120Hz refresh rate; a 1080p webcam; a quad-speaker audio system; and more ports than the Galaxy Book 2 Pro, with a USB-A port and HDMI 2.0 output joining its two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, microSD card slot and headphone jack. It’s a bit on the heftier side for its family at 16.5 mm thick and 4 pounds (1.8kg).

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The Core i7 and RTX 4050 configuration starts at $2,400; the Core i9/RTX 4070 model is going for $3,000. UK and Australian prices weren’t immediately available.

Galaxy Book 3 Pro and Pro 360

The 16-inch, 16:10 screens and upgraded camera, audio and port configurations also come to the clamshell and two-in-one down-line models. The Galaxy Book 3 Pro is 4mm thinner and about 8 ounces lighter than the Ultra. It also comes in a 14-inch model that weighs 2.6 pounds (1.2 kilograms).

The 16-inch Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 two-in-one comes with one of Samsung’s excellent S Pens, and it’s also the only model to come with optional 5G wireless.

The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra and Pro and Pro 360 laptops are available to preorder now through Samsung’s site and the Pro models are expected to start shipping on Feb. 17.