Latest news with #BarbaraKrasnoff
The Verge
5 days ago
- The Verge
How to make your iPhone homescreen icons clear using iOS 26
Back in 2024, we described how the then-new iOS 18 enabled you to tint your homescreen icons, allowing you to tweak the look of your iPhone's display. Now, with Apple's introduction of its Liquid Glass design for iOS 26, you can make your icons completely clear (assuming you're a fan of the new invisible look). The process of customizing your icons works exactly the same as it did for the tint: And that's it! Your homescreen icons will immediately assume the Liquid Glass design, letting you see through them to your wallpaper (which is kind of nice, especially if you're really proud of your wallpaper). If you want to try something else, such as the tinted look, or go back to the way things were, just follow the same steps. Have fun! Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Barbara Krasnoff Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Apple Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All How to Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All iOS Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
The Verge
6 days ago
- The Verge
How to install the iOS 26 public beta
People with Apple developer accounts have had all the fun with the iOS 26 beta so far (and yes, if you missed it, there's a new naming system now), but now that the public betas are out, anyone can try the new features. Setting up the public beta is slightly less involved than setting up the developer beta but just as free. And if you're looking for help with the iPadOS 26 beta, you're in the right place: the setup process is the same. You should understand what you're getting when you try a beta, though. For one, you won't get all the new features at once; many of them will come later. Also, the fun of trying early features comes with the thrill of potential stability issues and excessive battery drain. And it's rare these days, but Apple's betas can break things, so be sure to back up your data before installing the beta. There's a new design language called Liquid Glass, which means that you won't be looking at a lot of items on your screen, but rather looking through them. There's already some negative feedback on it, so Apple has made some changes from the developer version. Other improvements include updates to group chats, a call screening feature, and live translation, among 26 and iPadOS 26 will work with these devices: Getting set up to run the beta is a straightforward process. (And, as mentioned at the top, all of these steps work for iPadOS 26, too.) And you're done!Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Barbara Krasnoff Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Wes Davis Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Apple Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All How to Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All iOS Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All iPad Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All iPhone Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech
The Verge
22-07-2025
- The Verge
Why I love my little round Dell USB-C mobile adapter
Barbara Krasnoff is officially the reviews editor for The Verge , but although she has done a great deal of reviewing in her time, she doesn't tend to do a lot of it in her current position. 'I was originally hired here to write and edit to-do articles,' she explains. 'Now, I spend most of my time editing, overseeing various projects, and coaxing staffers to write about their favorite stuff.' Where did you first hear about the Dell mobile adapter? I didn't actually hear about it — I saw it at a trade event here in New York City a few years ago. Dell was showing off some of its new products, and one of the accessories was this little puck-looking item with several ports around its periphery. But the neatest thing was that it had its own USB-C connector on a short cable that revealed itself when you spun the base in a clockwise direction. Then, when you spun it counterclockwise, the cable pulled neatly back into the base. It looked both ingenious and useful, and as soon as it was available, I bought one for myself. My first laptops had lots of ports, but as the computers got thinner, the ports began to disappear. Eventually, most of the laptops I used only had one or two USB-C ports for anything I wanted to physically connect to my device. This little adapter lets me use a variety of different connectors, including some that belong to my older devices. What do you like about it? As I mentioned before, it includes a number of different ports, some of which are no longer in use but I prefer to have on hand. The model I have, the DA300, comes with an ethernet port, a USB-C and USB-A port, an HDMI port, a VGA port, and a DisplayPort. There are other, newer models with a different selection of ports. I also think the whole spin-the-disk-and-the-cable-disappears thing is a lot of fun. Is there anything about it that you dislike, or that you think could be improved? A slot for a microSD card would have been handy. And a color other than black might have been nice. Just FYI: Dell has replaced my model with the DA305, which trades the VGA port for a second USB-A port and switches up the USB from 3.1 to 3.2. Amazon still seems to be carrying the DA300, but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. Who would you recommend it to? There are a lot of good desk-based adapters out there, but this one is great for popping into your backpack just in case you need it. Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Barbara Krasnoff Brandon Widder Senior Editor, E-Commerce Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All by Brandon Widder Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Dell Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. See All Verge Favorites
The Verge
02-06-2025
- General
- The Verge
The Verge's favorite tools to help with a move
Almost all of The Verge 's staff have had the experience of moving to a new house or apartment. While the experience was different for everyone, one thing we all had in common is that, during this highly stressful process, we had each discovered at least one tool, app, or other gadget that turned out to be really (and sometimes unexpectedly) helpful in making things just a little bit easier. Here are some of the items — tech and otherwise — that could be useful if you're moving from one home to another. Sharpie markers Sharpies $3 My partner and I have many years' worth of books in our basement, and we've finally gotten around to sorting them into what we want to keep, what we think we can sell, and what we've decided to donate (many, many of them). In order to make sure the right boxes of books go to the right places, I use thick-tipped Sharpies to write on the sides and tops of the boxes, using labels like: Shelve, Store, Autographed, or Book Fairies (yes, that's the name of the charity). The words are very visible and won't smear off — and I can be sure I won't give away my beloved childhood copy of Little Women by accident. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor Colored dot stickers They're cheap, easy to get, and already color-coded for you. Here's my advice: color-code your boxes by room, one on every side, making it quick and easy to figure out where every single box and container should go. Then grab one of those Sharpies, write numbers on them, and keep a Google Sheet or other spreadsheet telling you where all your stuff is and where it's supposed to go. — Kate Cox, senior producer, Decoder A roll of shrink-wrap with handles It's been nearly six years since I last moved, but the one tool that still stands out in my mind as the absolute hero of the ordeal was a simple 15-inch wide roll of plastic stretch wrap. It was not only an easy way to secure random piles of disassembled furniture and keep all the parts organized, it also came in handy for sealing up overpacked boxes that were on the verge of tearing, protecting couch cushions inside a dirty moving truck, and preventing dresser drawers from opening in transit. It was also useful for creating impromptu bags for holding miscellaneous furniture hardware. You'll want to ensure you buy a roll with handles, which make it much easier to wrap around things. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter, news Paper packing tape 3M Scotch Performance Paper Box Sealing Tape 570 $11 $11 at Amazon 'You've gotta use this tape, it's amazing,' said the girl at the U-Haul store, so I bought exactly two rolls, because I had already bought a six-pack of the regular plastic packing tape and I am an old soul who is suspicious of new-fangled things, especially when someone appears to be trying to upsell me on something at the counter. Over the week, as our paper tape supply steadily diminished, we fought over who got custody of the paper tape and who was consigned to the hell of packing with subpar plastic tape. Paper tape is better by every possible metric. It's quite sturdy but you can tear it with your hands. There's no need for a tape cutter or a tape gun. It doesn't get tangled. It's easy to find the end and lift it off the roll without it splitting. You can write right on it if you need to. I was concerned that paper tape would be flimsier or less sticky; there was no noticeable difference between the boxes that were taped up with plastic versus paper tape, except that a few times when I had used plastic tape, I injured myself on the serrated tape gun and spurted blood everywhere. — Sarah Jeong, features editor Protective gloves Wonder Grip Nicely Nimble Gloves $16 $16 at Amazon Funnily enough, I had already had the premonition that I was, at some point during this move, going to cut myself. This has somehow happened with every move I've done. I don't know what this says about me, other than I have pathetic, soft little hands that are only fit for typing at a computer. For that reason, I bought these Bellingham Wonder Grip gardening gloves in size XS. I picked them because they were the smallest gloves at the Ace Hardware I was in. As it turns out, these are the only work gloves that have ever properly fit my tiny, tiny adult hands, which makes a huge difference when you're trying to get an actual grip on heavy objects. The gloves are protective, but aren't so thick that you lose manual dexterity. This is nice, because the last thing you want while packing or unpacking is to have to take your gloves off and on and off and on. If you, like me, are prone to paper cuts while packing, moving, or opening boxes, you should consider buying a pair of these gloves, which come in a nicely inclusive range of sizes that will accommodate even people with weak little hands who have trouble holding onto their iPhones, let alone anything actually heavy. — Sarah Jeong, features editor Cross-line laser level If you're mounting something to a wall, whether it's a simple framed photo, a gallery wall of artwork, or a massive shelf, a cross-line laser is incredibly handy. Just flip it on, and perfectly level lasers shine across your room in both vertical and horizontal directions. It's helpful for a variety of home DIY projects as well as simple redecorating. It's still good to use a trusty old bubble level in tandem with it, but the laser gives you a convenient shortcut that makes mounting and measuring easier and faster. And it's friggin' laser beams! — Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer Stud finder Franklin Sensors ProSensor M210 $60 $60 at The Home Depot You can use a strong magnet to find metal screws and pinpoint the location of wooden studs behind drywall for securely hanging pictures or a TV mount. But Franklin Sensors' ProSensor M210 Stud Finder makes that task so much easier. Using 13 sensors and 21 LEDs that light up to indicate areas behind the drywall that have a greater density, you can quickly determine the location, size, and center of hidden studs. It also works with wood and plaster finishes, and, for an extra level of safety, it includes a live wire meter that warns you where it may not be safe to drill. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter, news Electric screwdriver If you own a drill that comes with screwdriver and hex key attachments, then you might think that adding an electric screwdriver to your toolbox is kinda pointless. After finding myself fighting with my partner over who gets to use said drill during my last move, however, I don't ever want to be without a backup option again. We had mountains of Ikea furniture to assemble, shelves to put up, and an assortment of random hole-drilling or screw-related tasks that needed to be done to turn our apartment into a home. Nobody wants to get stuck using a manual screwdriver when time is of the essence and your friend, partner, or parent needs the drill more than you do. Electric screwdrivers are also far lighter than hefty drills, so your wrists will thank you after several hours of assembling flatpack furniture. – Jess Weatherbed, news writer Night-lights
