Technology

• Wear OS 6 will be released for Android watches later this year
• It's said to get two new unannounced features: firstly, a dedicated Water Lock for Pixel Watch
• Secondly, Adaptive Charging will improve your watch's long-term battery health

Wear OS 6 has been revealed, and it's making a lot of changes that users of the best Android smartwatches are quite excited about. Changes to the user experience, a visual redesign, adding Google Gemini's AI assistant to your wrist... there's going to be plenty for wearers of the best smartwatches (that aren't for iPhone) to get their teeth into. You can read our Wear OS 6 feature breakdown here.

However, there are two more features rumored to arrive with Wear OS 6, either on launch or as a future update.

Firstly, according to Android Authority, you can expect a new adaptive charging feature. Adaptive charging is often used for devices to extend the battery's lifespan, preventing the battery from being over-charged too often, which can cause the battery to degrade.

Android Authority found the strings of code, unveiling a feature similar to that on the best Pixel phones: pausing the charge at 80% completion and resuming an hour before you unplug your device. Samsung watches will reportedly get a similar feature with Samsung's Wear OS-adjacent system, One UI Watch 8.

Water Lock on Pixel Watches

Pixel Watches have a touch screen locking feature, which enables itself automatically during swimming workouts, but it can't eject water from crevices in the same way Samsung and Apple watches can. Nor does it have a dedicated labelled Water Lock, which disables the touch screen during rainfall, showers, or baths.

Current Pixel Watches are expected to get a Water Lock feature at least, again via Android Authority's recent examination of code in the Wear OS 6 developer preview.

The code doesn't actually detail what this new feature will do, so while there's always an outside chance that it will indeed eject water, it's more likely this is an update for existing Pixel Watches, restricted to a touchscreen-locking hot key under a more logical name for dealing with wet screens.

Touchscreens are notoriously jumpy and flawed when wet, and trying to operate a watch in heavy rain or the shower could prove challenging if a water lock feature isn't available. While this is unlikely to change the way swimming and similar workouts operate on Pixel Watches, they will at least become more usable in the rain.

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• 17 NPM packages with more than a million weekly downloads were compromised to deliver a RAT
• The attack could turn into a major supply chain attack, experts warned
• The packages were since deprecated, but users should be on their guard

More than a dozen packages on NPM were poisoned with a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), possibly infecting millions of projects.

Cybersecurity researchers Aikido Security recently discovered malicious code buried very deep in 17 popular Gluestack packages.

The packages cumulatively have more than a million downloads weekly, meaning huge amounts of users could possibly be affected, the experts warned.

Revoking access tokens

Here is the full list of compromised packages:

• @react-native-aria/button
• @react-native-aria/checkbox
• @react-native-aria/combobox
• @react-native-aria/disclosure
• @react-native-aria/focus
• @react-native-aria/interactions
• @react-native-aria/listbox
• @react-native-aria/menu
• @react-native-aria/overlays
• @react-native-aria/radio
• @react-native-aria/switch
• @react-native-aria/toggle
• @react-native-aria/utils
• @gluestack-ui/utils
• @react-native-aria/separator
• @react-native-aria/slider
• @react-native-aria/tabs

The packages deployed malicious code that connected to the attackers’ command-and-control (C2) and received additional commands including, among other things, the ability to upload a single, or multiple files.

Furthermore, the trojan can execute Windows PATH hijacking and silently override legitimate python and pip commands.

In response, Gluestack revoked an access token used to publish the compromised packages. All of the poisoned tools are marked on NPM as deprecated.

"Unfortunately, unpublishing the compromised version wasn’t possible due to dependent packages," a GlueStack developer said on GitHub. "As a mitigation, I have deprecated the affected versions and updated the latest tag to point to a safe, older version."

The Node Package Manager (NPM) is the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment Node.js. It is used to install libraries, share packages with the community, manage dependencies, run scripts, and more.

As such, it is vastly popular, having millions of monthly visitors, and hundreds of thousands of registered accounts that frequently publish their packages.

Unfortunately, popular platforms attract threat actors in droves, and situations such as this one are not uncommon on NPM, or similar platforms such as GitHub or PyPi.

Via BleepingComputer

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These common houseplants boost natural cooling and could help you save on AC bills.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #463).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Mind your manners

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• PALE
• STOP
• TRACE
• THAN
• POET
• LIPS

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 8 letters

NYT Strands today (game #464) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: bottom, 3rd column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #464) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #464, are…

• APOLOGIZE
• RESPECT
• SHARE
• THANK
• LISTEN
• CONSIDER
• SPANGRAM: BE POLITE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I have always told my children that “manners cost nothing” and “it’s nice to be nice” so it’s good to see this message repeated in today’s word search, which comes with the demand to BE POLITE.

My thoughts on this topic extend to our interactions with technology, particularly AI tools such as Alexa and Siri. My approach is twofold – we should be polite because manners should be indiscriminate and also because how we speak to AI becomes part of the algorithm (the one tailored to us and to wider society).

We do not know how AI will behave in the future and I’d prefer it if, once it becomes sentient, it thinks it has been treated well by humanity rather than rudely.

If it's the latter I hope the AI murderbots remember that I said "please" when I asked them what the weather was going to be like tomorrow.

Anyway, I digress and I APOLOGIZE for that. Quite a straightforward game today with little to challenge regular players or our future AI overlords. 

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, June 9, game #463)

• MASK
• CAMOUFLAGE
• DISGUISE
• CLOAK
• COVER
• FACADE
• SPANGRAM: FALSE FRONT

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #1232).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appears among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1233) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• C

• F

• E

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1233) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1233, are…

• DECRY
• CHEEK
• FILET
• EASEL

A slice of luck made things much easier for me today, when my loose guess of CHEEK came off. I knew that the first two letters had to be C-H and this was the first word that came to mind.

DECRY was conjured from Quordle memory, while FILET and EASEL were just a case of working out the anagrams from the letters I had in place.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1233) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1233, are…

• SLICE
• STRAY
• RESIN
• SEIZE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1232, Monday, 9 June: DERBY, LEMON, WRITE, HOVEL
• Quordle #1231, Sunday, 8 June: REBAR, ALERT, PAYEE, FLUME
• Quordle #1230, Saturday, 7 June: FLUNK, ESTER, SPITE, CHEAP
• Quordle #1229, Friday, 6 June: ELUDE, KHAKI, VISTA, SMOKY
• Quordle #1228, Thursday, 5 June: CHIDE, RABBI, GUSTY, LANCE
• Quordle #1227, Wednesday, 4 June: BANAL, STOUT, SEDAN, HIPPO
• Quordle #1226, Tuesday, 3 June: FUGUE, SYRUP, FLACK, WORST
• Quordle #1225, Monday, 2 June: THINK, BELLE, CRONE, BOULE
• Quordle #1224, Sunday, 1 June: POINT, MERIT, WHOOP, APHID
• Quordle #1223, Saturday, 31 May: CRUMB, ELFIN, DRIER, QUITE
• Quordle #1222, Friday, 30 May: RAJAH, CAUSE, BLACK, ETUDE
• Quordle #1221, Thursday, 29 May: CRIER, DRAPE, STRUT, NEIGH
• Quordle #1220, Wednesday, 28 May: HELLO, BEADY, VIGIL, PURER
• Quordle #1219, Tuesday, 27 May: TWEET, RANGE, POPPY, RADAR
• Quordle #1218, Monday, 26 May: BLEAT, HOWDY, ASIDE, SCOOP
• Quordle #1217, Sunday, 25 May: OCEAN, AMBER, PIPER, GLEAN
• Quordle #1216, Saturday, 24 May: HUSKY, HEIST, FOGGY, POLAR
• Quordle #1215, Friday, 23 May: SHIRE, GIANT, AWAIT, CAPER
• Quordle #1214, Thursday, 22 May: LOSE, GLOVE, STINT, EXCEL
• Quordle #1213, Wednesday, 21 May: NOVEL, CHOSE, DIRTY, DONUT

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, June 9 (game #729).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #730) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• CHILL
• IMAGE
• MODERATE
• RADICAL
• TABLE
• JUDGE
• CIVIC
• CHAIR
• JURY
• WORD
• TEXT BOX
• CUSTOMS
• PSYCH
• CHART
• HEAVY
• MEDIATE

NYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Come to an agreement
• BLUE: Ancient teen speak
• GREEN: Paste
• PURPLE: Add a word that comes after “Tour of…”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #730) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: ARBITRATE
• BLUE: '80S SLANG 
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT 
• PURPLE: __ DUTY 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #730) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #730, are…

• YELLOW: ARBITRATE CHAIR, JUDGE, MEDIATE, MODERATE
• BLUE: '80S SLANG CHILL, PSYCH, RADICAL, WORD
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT CHART, IMAGE, TABLE, TEXT BOX
• PURPLE: __ DUTY CIVIC, CUSTOMS, HEAVY, JURY

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 3 mistakes

THINGS YOU CAN INSERT IN A DOCUMENT felt a very familiar group. In fact it felt like work, which is maybe why I saw it immediately.

I made three mistakes today by convincing myself that HEAVY should be included in the group that became ‘80S SLANG, trying every combination before taking it out completely.

The reason for including it, is because it was something I remember being said about something that was serious, complicated and exhausting and therefore by association a bit boring in the 1980s. But it’s a word that’s travelled through the generations. Today, in the UK at least, it’s used to describe a bad situation. In all cases, you want to avoid things getting heavy.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, June 9, game #729)

• YELLOW: KEYBOARD SHORTCUT COMMANDS PASTE, PRINT, QUIT, SAVE
• GREEN: SECURE IN ADVANCE BOOK, ORDER, REQUEST, RESERVE
• BLUE: CRIME ORGANIZATION CREW, FAMILY, RING, SYNDICATE
• PURPLE: SPELLING BEE RANKS MINUS A LETTER GENUS, GOO, MAZING, SLID

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

• The number of malware samples targeting Android is rising, experts warn
• The majority are banking trojans and infostealers
• Kaspersky urges users to be careful when downloading apps

Mobile malware and other attacks targeting Android users are on the rise, new research has claimed.

Security researchers from Kaspersky have argued people should be paying a lot more attention to the security of their smartphones than they do at the moment.

In its “IT threat evolution in Q1 2025: mobile statistics” report, Kaspersky claims the number of detected malware samples increased by more than a quarter (27%) between Q1 2025 and Q4 2024, when the researchers detected 180,000 malware samples.

Triada and Turkey

These samples were blocked on more than 12 million smartphone users (up 36% compared to Q4 2024), Kaspersky added, stressing that the upward trend in attacked users “continued since Q3 2024”.

While there are several factors contributing to the growth in Android-based malware, Kaspersky hints that the biggest one is the activity in certain malware families, which operated in certain geographies. The researchers singled out the Mamont banking trojan as rather active “over the last months”, stealing banking credentials, text messages, and personal data.

They also mentioned the Triada backdoor, which was installed on rip-offs of popular smartphone brands. They were part of a supply chain attack, as they were installed on brand new phones, some time between the devices leaving the factory and reaching the marketplace.

“Triada can modify cryptocurrency wallet addresses during transfer attempts, replace links in browsers, send arbitrary text messages and intercept replies, and steal login credentials for messaging and social media apps,” Kaspersky explained.

Finally, the researcher said a number of banking trojans targeted people in Turkey, including Coper (equipped with RAT capabilities), BrowBot, Hqwar, and Agent.sm.

“Users may mistakenly believe their smartphones are inherently more secure than PCs, but the reality is that mobile malware, like the sophisticated Trojans we explored over the last months, are increasingly active,” commented Anton Kivva, Malware Analyst Team Lead at Kaspersky.

“The misconception of default protection stems from allegedly curated app stores and operating system restrictions, but social engineering tactics and modern mobile malware, including preinstalled mobile Trojans, exploit these false securities.”

To stay safe, Kaspersky recommends users only download apps from official app stores, but only after checking app reviews and download counts. Even when the apps are downloaded, users should check the permissions they’re asking for, and make sure to update the OS and important apps as soon as the updates are available.

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• Paid ChatGPT subscribers get an improved voice mode that’s more human-like than before
• It can also handle live translations into other languages
• Some minor problems remain

All users of ChatGPT on paid plans (so that’s Plus, Pro, Teams and Enterprise users) just got a nice little upgrade to its Advanced Voice Mode capabilities that makes it sound a lot more natural and human-like when it’s talking to you.

Described by OpenAI as “significant”, the enhancements improve the intonation and naturalness of the voices in ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode. These are small tweaks, but it’s often the tiny details that make all the difference in making a computer voice sound realistic.

If you listen closely now, there is subtler intonation and realistic cadence in ChatGPT's voice, and it has started to include pauses for emphasis. It also feels more natural when it’s expressing emotion, whether that’s empathy or sarcasm.

In addition to the voice quality improvements, OpenAI has added better translation between languages. Now you can say something like, “Can you translate this into Spanish?”, and ChatGPT will translate everything you say into Spanish until you tell it to stop.

Apps that can do this, like Google Translate, already exist of course, but being able to do this all within the ChatGPT app on your phone is handy and convenient.

Better than before

I’ve tried Advanced Voice Mode after the update, and it certainly does sound different than before. You can get an immediate taste of how it sounds by asking it to say something sarcastic. When you do, you'll hear the new tonal range ChatGPT uses and the way it uses pauses to great effect.

I compared this to asking Gemini Live exactly the same thing, and the new ChatGPT Voice Mode definitely had a much richer expression of emotions.

It’s also interesting to compare the voice quality on a ChatGPT free account with ChatGPT on a paid accounts now – the difference really is like night and day.

Man or machine?

The new ChatGPT is certainly more human-like, but I wouldn’t say it’s got to the level yet where it could fool anybody that it was an actual human.

There are still a few computer-like oddities that stray in now and again when you're in ChatGPT using Voice Mode. In fact, OpenAI is aware of this, and has issued a note on its limitations, saying:

“In testing, we've observed that this update may occasionally cause minor decreases in audio quality, including unexpected variations in tone and pitch. These issues are more noticeable with certain voice options. We expect to improve audio consistency over time."

It also issued a warning about hallucinations:

"Additionally, rare hallucinations in Voice Mode persist with this update, resulting in unintended sounds resembling ads, gibberish, or background music. We are actively investigating these issues and working toward a solution.”

The upgrade is already live, just tap on the voice composer icon to the right in your message composer window inside the ChatGPT app on your phone to make use of it.

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• Google Messages is finally rolling out its long-awaited snooze feature for chats, Android Police has spotted
• The feature will allow you to snooze chats for one hour, eight hours, or 24 hours, and there's also an 'Always' option
• You'll also be able to set it so that you receive alerts when someone mentions you in a chat, though its Mentions feature has yet to be rolled out

It seems as though Google Messages’ long-awaited snooze feature is finally being rolled out, catching up to the likes of other messaging platforms Telegram and WhatsApp. The feature has been spotted in the latest Google Messages beta for both SMS and RCS messages, two months after the company started working on it.

According to Android Police, one of the first outlets to spot the feature, the new ‘Snooze chat’ feature appears when you open a contact’s page in the Google Messages app, which allows you to silence chats for one hour, eight hours, 24 hours, or ‘Always’. Android Police also added that it will be rolling out to selected users, so not everyone will be able to access it right away.

In addition to the four snoozing options, Android Police also spotted a setting that allows you to receive notifications if you’re mentioned (@) even if a chat has been snoozed. Recently Google has been toying with the idea of introducing a mentions feature for chats, and while this isn’t available yet, Android Authority believes it could be rolled out simultaneously with the snooze feature.

(Image credit: Android Police)

There are two ways to enable the ‘Snooze chat’ function. The first is by going to a contact’s page and enabling the feature there as mentioned above. Alternatively, you can long-press on a chat in your Google Messages inbox and a snooze icon will appear in the toolbar as Android Police has tested.

Since it was released in 2014, Google Messages has never had a function that allows you to snooze chats until now. Instead, the only way to silence messages and group chats was to silence notifications manually, but that meant you’d need to manually enable them again and keep tabs on your conversations.

Google Messages’ snooze feature is just one of its new features. Over the past few months the messaging service has been testing a handful of new upgrades, many of which are long overdue, including a ‘Delete for everyone’ un-send option. The company has also been paying a lot of attention to upgrading its group chat ecosystem, testing out new group chat links and custom group chat icons to match similar features found in WhatsApp.

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Certain Xbox games will soon see a price hike, but titles from Microsoft's first-party developers will still be coming to Game Pass.

WWDC 2025 is almost here, and you can follow all of the last-minute rumors on our WWDC liveblog. But I’ve also got a last-minute prediction to slide under the wire – or, more accurately, an anti-prediction, because there’s one thing I’m practically convinced we’re not getting at Apple’s big event.

Where’s the gaming content, Apple? It feels like every few years, you take a big swing at the gaming arena – with stuff like Apple Arcade, the new Metal 3 developer kit, or, uh… Death Stranding coming to macOS four years late? – but frankly, it’s starting to feel like an afterthought.

Let me be clear about this: the games industry is worth more than the music and film industries combined. You like money, right, Apple? There’s a deep well of untapped potential here, but I’m afraid it’s going to take more than simply bringing a handful of triple-A titles to Mac. Oh, and you probably shouldn’t have tried to stop one of the world’s most popular games from being played on your hardware.

Apple and gaming: oil and water?

It’s a strange thing; Apple products are everywhere, from the seemingly omnipresent iPhone to the best MacBooks and Macs. Hell, Apple makes a pretty big deal about the MacBook Air being the ‘world’s best-selling laptop’ (this claim requires a little fudging of the data to ring true, but I’ll give it to Apple just this once).

But despite the no-doubt massive Venn diagram overlap between Apple users and gamers, the company seems largely disinterested in pushing gaming as a major feature of its products.

And those products are perfectly capable of gaming. The new M4 chips – which can be found in the latest 2025 MacBook Air, amongst other products – are actually pretty beastly. Even the older M2 chip offered some admirable performance in our own Roland Moore-Colyer’s recent gaming tests. The hardware is not the problem here.

At WWDC 2022, Apple made a pretty big deal about gaming on Mac. But has it gone anywhere? Nope. (Image credit: Apple)

So, perhaps the software is the issue? It’s a fair claim: macOS is not the operating system of choice for most non-console gamers, with Windows holding a mammoth 95.45% of the user share in the most recent Steam Hardware Survey, split mostly between Windows 10 and 11. For comparison, all the combined macOS versions totaled up to a measly 1.85%.

It’s hard to deny that gamers simply don’t see macOS as a viable platform for gaming, and by extension, developers don’t see macOS as a viable platform for developing games. But here’s the thing: that’s Apple’s fault.

Making a commitment

See, for all its faults, Microsoft has never shied away from the gaming space. The Xbox 360 was arguably one of the most iconic consoles of recent decades, the increasingly popular Game Pass is now available across console and PC, and Microsoft has long included gaming-related features in Windows. Hell, the company even has its fingers in the game development pie, with Xbox Game Studios hoovering up multiple smaller dev teams over the years.

This is what Apple needs to do, if it has any designs whatsoever on making itself relevant within the gaming market. My lovely colleague Isaiah Williams posited that Apple should make a gaming handheld earlier this year – and while I agree, I don’t think that’ll solve the problem here. No amount of new hardware will make people want to game on Apple products; the excellent gaming performance of the M4 chip proves that, frankly.

Yes, Cyberpunk is going to be on Mac. At some point. Don't ask when. (Image credit: CD PROJEKT RED / Apple)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: what Apple needs to do is actually make games. You’re running one of the world’s richest companies here, Tim Cook; time to put some of those iPhone billions behind an established dev studio, create a macOS game publishing division, and deliver the killer app that makes gamers want to buy a Mac. If Apple wants people to believe that it’s serious about gaming, we need to see big titles coming to Mac on day one – or better yet, completely exclusive.

We’re not going to get this commitment at WWDC 2025, of that I have zero doubt. Perhaps Cyberpunk 2077 will finally get its long-awaited Mac release (after it came to the Nintendo Switch 2), but that’s just about all I’m expecting here. I’m not losing hope, though. It’s never too late to put your money where your mouth is, Tim. I’m sure we can afford to lose a few Apple TV originals.

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Great news if you're looking for a pair of AirPods! The AirPods Pro 2 are currently just $169 at Amazon, a saving of $80. If that's too much, the AirPods 4 are down from $129 to just $99, saving you $30. Or in the middle, the AirPods 4 with ANC are down from $179 to $148.99, also a saving of $30.

One of the side benefits of today's Apple WWDC 2025 event is that we know that buying AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2 is a smart and safe thing to do: Apple is expected to announce new features coming to both models in iOS 26 later this year.

The AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 are both excellent audio options for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV owners, and right now they're also excellent buys thanks to some decent discounts.

Today's best AirPods deals

Apple's best earbuds are superb, and this deal cuts the price considerably. It's not a record-low price – they've fallen to $154 briefly in the past – but this price is still excellent value. You're getting all of Apple's best audio features including active noise cancellation, transparency mode, personalized spatial audio, hearing health features, and really great sound. There's also a Find My Case feature that literally points you towards your lost earbuds.View Deal

Both versions of the AirPods 4 are discounted by $30, and that means the biggest saving is on the non-ANC model: that's down from $129 to just $99. They're sweat and water resistant, deliver Apple's excellent personalized spatial audio, offer good battery life, automatic switching between your Apple devices, and have Find My support so they're hard to lose.View Deal

Why these buds are wise buys

These are very, very good earbuds that work brilliantly across all of Apple's devices – not just iPhone and iPad but Mac, Watch and Apple TV too.

The AirPods 4 are ideal if you don't like in-ear tips, and the spatial audio in movies is particularly great. Just remember that there are two versions, one with ANC and one without. If you're going to be listening to music or podcasts on a commute or in busy places you might want to get the AirPods 4 with ANC, so you can hear what's going on a little better here.

As for the AirPods Pro 2, here's the ultimate recommendation: while I get sent lots of headphones and earbuds to review, these are the buds I bought with my own money. They sound spectacular, which is important, and their noise cancellation is really effective.

Apple has kept updating them since their 2022 arrival, adding new features, so they're even better value now than when they launched – and for $169, they're a ridiculous bargain, matching or beating earbuds that cost more.

• Dropbox CEO says RTO mandates are outdated in today's modern world
• Drew Houston compares the rules to shopping malls and cinemas
• Dropbox has promoted hybrid working for some time

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston has hit out at companies forcing their employees to return to the office (RTO) instead of continuing to embrace hybrid working.

Speaking on an episode of Fortune's "Leadership Next" podcast, Houston compared RTO orders to the likes of shopping malls and cinemas, where similar bids to force people back have proved less than successful.

"We can be a lot less dumb than forcing people back into a car three days a week or whatever, to literally be back on the same Zoom meeting they would have been at home," Houston said. "There's a better way to do this."

"Trust over surveillance"

Dropbox has long been at the forefront of encouraging hybrid working, as back in 2021 it introduced a "90/10" rule where employees were permitted to work remotely for most of the year, and asked to attend some off-site events to make up the remaining 10%.

"Forcing people back to the office is probably gonna be like trying to force people back into malls and movie theaters," Houston said. "Nothing wrong with the movie theater, but it's just a different world now."

This is not the first time Houston has promoted the virtues of remote working - back in 2023, he noted remote work has given companies "the keys that unlock this whole future of work."

"You need a different social contract and to let go of control," he added, "But if you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance."

Houston's words come after several major technology firms revealed RTO mandates.

This includes Google, which is reportedly enforcing a new hybrid work model whereby employees are being asked to come to the office at least three days per week, and those who fail to comply could face consequences.

Dell also recently announced it would be ending its hybrid work policy, with any employees living within an hour's commute from an office now told to go in five days a week.

Via Business Insider

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Hold on to your butts for a Jurassic Park and Jurassic World binge-watch.

The answer, as with many things in life, is: It depends.

The JBL Bar 1000 MK2 is a flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar with detachable rear speakers and a wireless sub for $1,199.

• There’s a new rumor about which Macs are compatible with macOS 26
• In theory, the lower-end models of the MacBook Pro 13-inch from 2020 are ruled out
• Logically, this also means that MacBook Pro models from 2019 won’t be compatible, either – though there could be an exception in that regard

The latest from the rumor mill on compatibility with the next version of macOS is tentatively ruling out a surprisingly new Mac with an Intel chip, a MacBook Pro from 2020 to be precise.

A fresh list of compatible Macs for what’s supposedly macOS Tahoe (or macOS 26) comes from a private source on X that 9to5Mac flagged up. The tech site notes that it’s keeping the account anonymous, which is fair enough, but that it’s a trustworthy source that “regularly shares accurate information” on Apple’s software plans.

The list of Macs that are 'good to go' with macOS Tahoe echoes the previously leaked one, lending more weight to that, but it adds another laptop: Apple’s MacBook Pro 13-inch from 2020, the entry-level model with just two Thunderbolt ports rather than four. (And there are potentially more MacBook Pro models left out in the cold here, by logical extension, and I’ll come back to that point shortly).

However, the source doesn’t sound fully convinced about what they’ve heard, adding that they “don’t quite believe it” as 9 to 5 Mac notes.

So, assuming this is true, we have a slightly revised list of Macs that are going to be compatible with macOS 26 (apply some seasoning now):

• MacBook Air M1 or later
• MacBook Pro (2020, 4 port model) or later
• iMac 2020 or later
• Mac mini M1 or later
• Mac Pro 2019 or later
• Mac Studio all models

If this pans out, it isn’t difficult to imagine that the following incarnation of macOS that lands in 2026 might only support Apple silicon.

Analysis: Some tricky compatibility wrinkles?

(Image credit: Future)

Previously the thinking was that only those with a MacBook Pro 2018 wouldn’t be dealt into the hand for macOS Tahoe, but it seems much newer models could be out of luck for support here.

Okay, so that does feel rather unlikely, which is why the source indicates their own skepticism about what they’ve been told. But still, there is some sound logic at play here, as 9 to 5 Mac points out. This lower-end two-port model of the MacBook Pro 2020 was equipped with an older CPU than the four-port version, an Intel 8th-gen (Coffee Lake) chip, compared to a 10th-gen (Ice Lake) processor.

So, that might potentially be a key difference in the compatibility stakes. With the MacBook Pro 2019 using 8th-gen CPUs, too, that’ll theoretically be ruled out too, although there’s an exception in the 16-inch spin of the 2019 laptop crop which packed a 9th-gen chip.

However, if Apple is going to cut off access to a MacBook Pro 2020 model (with 8th-gen CPU), then it’d maybe seem a little odd to cater to one of the 2019 flavors before it. Granted, we could end up in a situation where Apple caveats that the MacBook Pro 2019 16-inch model is okay. However, it just seems cleaner in the scenario where Apple rules out the potentially problematic MacBook Pro 2020 model, that it’d also simply cut out everything before it.

This rumor might be barking up the wrong compatibility tree completely, mind you, and the previous speculation could be correct. We’ll find out soon enough, later today in fact, when Apple will take the wraps off what should be macOS Tahoe at WWDC 25.

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• A new leak suggests Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature hundreds of malls and over 700 functional and enterable stores
• It also indicates an upgrade from GTA 5's character switching system
• This could reshape the open-world genre in gaming, with new levels of immersion never seen before

Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 6 is now a year away from launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and it's expected to reinvent the wheel within the franchise and the open-world genre. Fortunately, a new leak has backed up the theory that it will do just that.

According to GameRoll (via Discord message screenshots), who is a content creator and credible 'leaker', GTA 6 will feature hundreds of malls and over 700 enterable stores, which are all fully functional. This further suggests that the long-awaited entry will be the biggest in scale in the franchise's history, expanding the number of accessible interiors and taking realism to a new level.

It's also worth noting that the classic character switch from GTA 5 will reportedly make a return, but with a slight twist; GameRoll hints at an additional character switching mode, with Jason and Lucia together.

Essentially, this means players should be able to switch between the two characters even while they're with each other – supposedly during free roam and store robberies. This potentially opens the gateway for immersive and extensive interactions with other characters and NPCs, building upon Rockstar's most recent title, Red Dead Redemption 2.

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

GameRoll also mentioned that the source suggested that elevators will be present in certain skyscrapers, which implies interiors may have more depth and interactability than ever before.

Other elements that were previously spotted in Rockstar's massive data breach, like the ability to go prone and a dynamic cover system that was akin to The Last of Us Part 2's system, have reportedly been cut entirely.

It's best to take this supposed leak with a grain of salt, as there is no hard evidence on this occasion – at least not at the same level as the famous Slack leak, showcasing gameplay in a dev build.

However, there's a very good chance that this leak is accurate, since GameRoll (in what was labelled a "prediction") previously leaked info from an insider, which revealed both Lucia and Jason's full character names, long before the recent second trailer and website info dump.

The rumored new character switching mode is another point of credibility; the gameplay leak revealed Lucia and Jason during a restaurant robbery, with options to check in with the other. It's not clear whether this was a scripted sequence in a mission or free roam (and we don't know if it'll make it into the full game), but it's made these claims much more believable.

Analysis: GTA 6 is shaping up to be a trendsetter

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

The terms trendsetter and GTA 6 may not come as a surprise, as it will have been almost exactly a 13-year wait by the time it launches on May 26, 2026. If this leak is legitimate, which I honestly think it is, GTA 6 will have set an incredibly high standard for other open-world games.

Rockstar Games is known for its attention to detail in every facet and aspect of open-world games, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prime example of that – so much so, that gamers are still finding secrets in the game today after its 2018 release.

If we now carry that over into a modern-day setting based on Miami, in a Grand Theft Auto title, then I can only imagine just how much content and surprises we have in store. Developers have already made it clear that the second trailer's reveals were only just the tip of the iceberg, and I think the leak of over 700 stores is an example of that.

I'm still upset about a potential 2027 or even 2028 PC launch, but if Rockstar can deliver what these leaks suggest and more, my frustrations may be quickly forgotten...

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• tvOS 26 said to come to the 2015 Apple TV HD and later models
• "Dramatic" visual changes may not be so dramatic on Apple TV
• More gaming features are coming, and most likely AI too

Apple's WWDC 2025 event begins today, and that means Apple execs will speak using so many superlatives that you'll develop a twitch whenever you hear the word "incredible". But it's going to be an interesting event because Apple is expected to show off significant upgrades to all of its operating systems.

iOS 26 is going to be the star, because of course the iPhone is Apple's most important product. But we'll also be getting upgrades to the other OSes, including tvOS, and there's good news on that front: a new report says Apple expects to bring tvOS 26 to Apple TV models going back a decade.

What Apple TV models will get tvOS 26?

The news of supported devices comes via MacRumors and a super-secret X account with "a proven track record for upcoming software updates". MacRumors says it has "high confidence" that the source is correct, and if that's the case, then tvOS is coming to all of these Apple TV models:

• Apple TV HD (2015)
• Apple TV 4K (1st generation, 2017)
• Apple TV 4K (2nd generation, 2021)
• Apple TV 4K (3rd generation, 2022)

If you're wondering where tvOS 20 to 25 went, they don't and won't exist: Apple is changing its numbering system so all of its operating system versions are in sync, so that means iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26 and tvOS 26 are all coming this year (and no, you haven't missed a year, it's still 2025).

We're expecting to see a visual refresh across all of those systems, with what's been described as a "liquid glass" interface; the difference may be less dramatic on tvOS than on iPhone, as Apple has been quietly tweaking the tvOS interface in recent months.

We don't yet know what else could be coming to tvOS 26, but more AI-powered features are likely, and Apple has already announced a new cross-platform Games app. We'll hopefully find out more later today, June 9.

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