Eric Ravenscraft

Google is replacing Assistant with Gemini across many phones, tablets, watches, cars and potentially smart-home devices. To preserve Assistant-like behavior, users can enable Gemini across compatible devices, disable unnecessary connected apps, create custom commands through Instructions for Gemini, use Scheduled Actions as a substitute for routines, and select a faster lightweight model while disabling Extended thinking. Some Google Home automations may remain preferable for simple, precise commands.

Sony plans to end production of its own physical game discs by 2028, raising concerns about game preservation. In the United States, making personal backup copies may be permitted in principle, but bypassing disc DRM is generally prohibited, creating a legal gray area. Ripping games becomes more difficult with newer PlayStation generations because of stronger encryption and increasingly specialized disc drives. Burned discs typically require a modded console to run, while emulators offer a more accessible alternative for older systems; however, no PS5 emulator currently exists. The piece concludes that although homemade discs may not be a durable solution—especially if future consoles omit disc drives—preserving legally owned games remains important for offline access and long-term availability.

Apple announced Siri AI at WWDC, combining a dedicated conversational Siri app with the existing assistant and Google’s Gemini models. Coming with iOS 27 later this year, it will support tasks such as visual searches, document summaries, writing assistance, event planning and natural-language Shortcuts automation, with deeper integration into Apple devices and Spotlight on Mac. Availability will initially be blocked in the European Union and China because of regulatory issues, while server-dependent features such as image generation will face daily limits, with iCloud+ subscribers receiving increased access. The approach emphasizes practical, context-aware assistance over content generation, but its effectiveness awaits beta testing.

Apple announced that iOS 27 will add custom equalizer controls for AirPods. Users will be able to adjust low, mid, and high frequencies using a simple graph-based interface, alongside Apple’s recommended EQ profile. The feature appears less advanced than some competing audio interfaces and may support only one custom profile, but it is positioned as an accessible upgrade for most users.

The article offers ten practical ways to use Google Gemini, including custom instructions, specialized Gems, scheduled actions, reminders, source citation requirements, Temporary Chats, image transcription, Canvas, and Connected Apps. It emphasizes that Gemini and other chatbots can hallucinate, should not be treated as authoritative or as mental-health support, and require users to verify important information. Connected services can make results more personalized but introduce additional privacy risks because conversations and account data may be collected and used for AI training.

Retro photography is returning because film grain, harsh flash, digital noise, limited exposures, and physical prints offer distinctive aesthetics and a more deliberate, tangible alternative to smartphone photography and automated AI processing. Beginners can explore the trend through instant cameras from brands such as Polaroid and Fujifilm, inexpensive used digital point-and-shoots, or early smartphones. The article recommends shopping at local camera and thrift stores, specialty used-gear sites, and photography groups, while studying older photos and films to understand how visual details shape meaning.

The guide outlines ways Nvidia GPU users can improve gaming performance, image quality, motion clarity, latency, streaming video, and online broadcasting. Recommendations include adjusting DLSS and DLAA, disabling ray tracing when frame rates suffer, using Nvidia Automatic Tuning or under-clocking, enabling G-Sync, G-Sync Pulsar, and Reflex, and updating graphics drivers. It also covers RTX Video Super Resolution and Nvidia Broadcast, while cautioning that machine-learning features can introduce visual artifacts, consume computing resources, or produce unnatural effects.

The article offers ten practical ways to improve a gaming laptop’s performance, cooling, battery life, usability, and customization. It recommends using the included high-power charger, keeping vents clear, installing games on an SSD, limiting refresh rates and frame rates on battery, using a suitable docking station, removing bloatware, upgrading RAM or storage where possible, enabling Windows Game Mode, and configuring RGB lighting for game-specific functions.

App notifications are increasingly used to compete for users’ attention, often through irrelevant reminders, disguised advertising, and repeated prompts designed to increase engagement. The trend is supported by data showing that many users disable news alerts, while notification systems and AI-generated summaries can add to the annoyance. Users can reduce the problem by adjusting Android or iOS notification controls, changing categories within individual apps, and, on Android, using the BuzzKill app to filter alerts by app, wording, images, or group chats. Providing feedback and disabling unnecessary notifications may also signal to companies that their engagement strategies have gone too far.

The article presents ten ways to use YouTube more effectively, including searching video transcripts, setting sleep timers, linking to specific timestamps, navigating with keyboard shortcuts and gestures, moving frame by frame, temporarily increasing playback speed, setting video-quality defaults, browsing in incognito mode, removing videos from watch history, and using additional shortcuts for volume, playback speed, playlists, chapters, and viewing modes.

Crunchyroll will raise prices on all subscription tiers beginning with users’ first billing date after March 4, 2026. The Fan tier will increase from $7.99 to $9.99 per month, Mega Fan from $11.99 to $13.99, and Ultimate Fan from $15.99 to $17.99. Existing Fan-tier subscribers can temporarily switch to an annual plan costing $66.99, equivalent to $5.58 per month, providing the main way to reduce costs after the increase. The service also discontinued its free ad-supported tier at the end of 2025.

iPhone users are encouraged to check that RCS Messaging is enabled under Settings > Apps > Messages so conversations with Android users can support features such as read receipts and higher-quality photos and videos. The setting may become disabled after an update or unexpectedly. Android users should also verify that RCS Chats is enabled in their messaging app, although the issue is described as less common on Android.

Google is ending Gmail’s support for fetching email from third-party accounts via POP3 starting in January 2026. Users can continue accessing those accounts by setting up forwarding through their other email providers or by connecting them to the Gmail mobile apps with IMAP, which synchronizes changes such as deletions with the original account. The exact shutdown date has not been specified, and POP3 may still be working for some users, so updating account settings early is advisable.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health lets users upload medical records and connect health-tracking apps in a separate privacy-focused space. The feature is not end-to-end encrypted, its data policies could change, and security breaches could expose sensitive information. Because ChatGPT and other large language models can produce inaccurate health guidance, the author advises against uploading medical records and recommends consulting a doctor instead.

Lifehacker rounds up television deals available before Amazon’s fall Big Deal Days sale ends on October 8, 2025. Recommended options include LG’s 65-inch OLED C5 and Samsung’s 75-inch Neo QLED among higher-end models; Sony’s X90L, TCL’s QD-Mini LED, Hisense’s Cinema Series, and Roku’s 4K TV for budgets below $1,000; and Sony’s Bravia XR A95L and LG’s OLED G5 for gaming. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are also highlighted for competing sales. Prices and availability may change.

Lifehacker’s Prime Day gaming roundup highlights the Meta Quest 3S at $250, or $330 with games, as the strongest console-related deal. Because PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X prices have risen, the article recommends considering refurbished hardware and focuses heavily on discounted accessories, including the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 controller, WD Black 2TB SSD, Xbox controller, PS5 dock, and SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds. Game discounts include titles for PS5 and Xbox, while three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is available for $57 ahead of a planned subscription price increase. Switch 2 games largely lack discounts, but some original Switch titles are reduced; Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are also identified as competing sales destinations.

Lifehacker highlights discounted headphones, gaming headsets, and earbuds available during Amazon’s October 7–8 Big Deal Days event. The guide favors the Sony WH-1000XM4 for noise cancellation and value, recommends Beats and Apple models for ecosystem users, and emphasizes HyperX’s exceptional battery life for gaming. Budget choices include Anker products, while SteelSeries, Razer, Sennheiser, and Bose offer higher-end alternatives. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are also identified as alternatives for shoppers without Amazon Prime.

Smart home technology can improve entertainment by automating tedious tasks without taking control away from users. Recommended options include Google TV and Roku streaming devices for organizing content, Philips Hue or Govee lighting for screen-synchronized ambiance and reduced eye strain, Sonos Era 300 or Bose systems for music and home theater, and the Victrola Onyx for combining vinyl playback with Sonos streaming. Letterboxd is also recommended for discovering and organizing films.

Smart lights have become an accessible and useful form of home automation, offering phone, voice, display, schedule, geofencing, motion-sensing, mood-lighting, and away-mode controls. Philips Hue is portrayed as the most capable but traditionally expensive ecosystem, while WiZ offers a cheaper entry point, LIFX emphasizes stylish designs, and Nanoleaf focuses on modular wall installations. Most systems work without a dedicated hub, although Philips Hue benefits from the Hue Bridge Pro, and the Matter standard is gradually improving cross-brand compatibility. Smart speakers, displays, phone widgets, and physical smart switches can make the system easier for households and guests to use, while switches or remote controls help prevent the common problem of manually cutting power to smart bulbs.

The Google Pixel Watch 3 is discounted to about $250 for Labor Day, down from its usual $350 price and described as its lowest price to date. The author praises its all-day battery life, heart-rate tracking, and improved Gemini voice-assistant features, while noting that the upcoming Pixel Watch 4 may launch on October 9. The older model is presented as a worthwhile alternative for shoppers who do not need the newer watch's design changes.