Image: Apple Apple Podcasts will auto-generate transcripts for podcasts beginning today, thanks to the 17.4 update for iPhones and iPads. Transcripts will automatically appear for new podcast episodes shortly after their publication, while Apple will transcribe podcast back catalogs over time. The podcast transcripts are searchable, allowing users to type in a specific word or phrase and skip to that part of an episode. Users can find transcripts for individual podcast episodes on the bottom-left corner of the “Now Playing” screen. Image: Apple Transcripts are now on Apple Podcasts. After Spotify rolled out auto-generated transcripts last fall, it’s no surprise that Apple wants its native podcast player to keep up... Continue reading…

The Mill is a smart kitchen trash can that grinds up food scraps and uses sensors and AI built into its bin to manage your food waste efficiently. | Image: Mill Industries Last year when I reviewed Nest co-founder Matt Rogers’ new project, the Mill smart trash can, I was impressed with its food-grinding prowess. But I disliked its monthly subscription and that it wasn’t actually making chicken feed out of my food waste as promised. A year later, the company is out with the second generation of the Mill, and it’s addressed both those issues. They’ve also made the bin smaller, faster, and quieter. However, it’s still silly expensive.The second-generation Mill looks similar from the outside, but its internals have had a complete redesign. According to a press release, the Mill can now grind your leftovers up into a substance resembling coffee grounds in two and a half hours, much faster than the 10 hours it... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge I usually have at least half a dozen or more projects going at once: I can be writing or updating several short pieces, editing one or two others, getting ready for Apple or Google or some other company to announce their latest and greatest tech, or dealing with some other project. Each of these projects usually involves several tabs on my Chrome browser: one for the article itself; several for online sources that I need to read or link to; and perhaps also a document or spreadsheet that I’m sharing with my team. And that’s not even counting the tabs for my email accounts (work and personal), calendars (ditto), and social networking.Once upon a time, I would have had to create bookmarks for all of those tabs if I wanted to keep them in... Continue reading…

Mechanical keyboards have gained a lot of momentum over the past couple of years, offering an improved typing experience over traditional keyboards. While this might not seem like such a big deal, it can be, if you're someone that relies on a keyboard for hours at a time for work or even intense gaming sessions.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Spotify isn’t going to launch the in-app purchases it previously planned for the European Union, at least right now. Instead, if Apple approves a newly submitted update, it’s going to try to do the next best thing: provide pricing information within the app and link users to its subscription options.Spotify tells The Verge that it’s planning to make this change in response to the European Commission’s ruling on Monday, which fined Apple €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for “abusing its dominant position” in the music streaming app distribution business. The European Commission found that Apple’s anti-steering rules prevent developers from telling users about “alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the... Continue reading…

When you're in the market for a gaming laptop, you may think that process is as easy as looking at the best gaming laptops and calling it a day. However, there are so many great laptops that can play games, so things can get confusing. Alienware and Lenovo are big names in the gaming laptop space, though, and the m16 R2 and the Legion Pro 7i are some of these brands' latest machines.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge A year ago, TikTok introduced a new way for creators on the platform to make money: make longer videos. The invite-only Creativity Program, then in beta, required TikTokers to post clips longer than a minute to qualify for monetization, demonstrating a shift in how the company wanted people to use its platform. It was a move away from the so-called short-form video style that made TikTok a household name in the first place. TikTok announced today that the program will be called Creator Rewards going forward, and content creators will need to make videos longer than a minute to monetize through the program. The previous creator fund, which didn’t have a requirement for video length, shut down in November.Creator Rewards will calculate... Continue reading…

Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Owners of Meta’s Quest 2 or Pro headsets can turn on a setting that allows their headset to work while lying down, thanks to the v63 software update that’s starting to roll out. Meta tested lying down mode in a public preview early last year but removed the feature before the v53 update shipped for everyone. In January, Meta exec Mark Rabkin told a user, “It shall make a comeback,” and here it is, at least as an experimental option, which Meta could change or remove in the future. Image: Meta Many users were upset when it was removed after the test, especially those with health conditions that make it painful or impossible to wear a headset while upright for long periods of time. For other users, it might have less... Continue reading…

Whether you primarily use your CPU setup for gaming or AI work, you know that the components can quickly generate an ample amount of heat. For this reason, it helps to have an external CPU cooler to keep everything operating smoothly. There are several options to choose from, ranging from fan-based to water-based cooling solutions. If you already know you want a fan-based CPU cooler, you may want to consider the new Freezer 36 series that has been launched by Arctic.

Despite the rise of excellent cloud storage services, you can't beat the reliability of a physical drive. These compact devices, especially those with USB-C interfaces, are preferred by many thanks to seamless, fast data transfer (a feature heightened by the best USB cables) and the safety tangible storage can provide. The top USB-C flash drives on this list cater to diverse needs and budgets, reflecting the desire for portable storage solutions.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After making it available as a beta feature for a few weeks, Signal has rolled out support for usernames on its encrypted messaging service so anyone can add an optional username that will connect them to others without sharing their phone number.You can create a username by heading to your settings and selecting “Profile.” After you create a unique username, you can generate a QR code or link that points people to your username in the app. Other users can also connect with you by typing your username into the new chat bar and sending a message. As noted in Signal’s FAQ page for usernames, you can change your username whenever you want, but other users will be able to claim your previous name. Signal first started testing usernames last... Continue reading…

Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge One day after the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu utterly folded in the face of Nintendo’s lawsuit, it’s not yet clear what other parts of the emulation community might have to fear. But the Yuzu settlement already took the Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra down with it, and it’s not the only change the community’s making seemingly out of an abundance of caution.The developer of popular Nintendo DS emulator Drastic just made its app completely free on Android (previously $4.99), and it intends to pull it down for good. Exophase wrote on its official Discord that “I want to make it clear that I don’t have any kind of financial incentive” and that Nintendo’s move simply “made the whole process more urgent”: Screenshot by Sean... Continue reading…