The latest iPhones are rapidly becoming more customizable and feature-rich. With every major iOS update, Apple copies some Android features, perfects them, and deploys them to the masses. And while iOS 17 is basically a mature mobile operating system at the time of this writing, it still has its fair share of shortcomings. Some of the major annoyances I experience when using my iPhone 15 Pro Max are in the notification department, and I can think of at least five improvements Apple could apply to address them.

Illustration: The Verge Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads that the platform is beginning to test making Threads posts available on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-supporting services. Zuckerberg wrote that making Threads work with the interoperable standard “will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people.”Joining the fediverse — the decentralized world of social media that includes Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services that all interoperate through ActivityPub — has been on the Threads team’s to-do list since the very beginning. Instagram head Adam Mosseri told The Verge in July that he believed decentralizing the platform was key to making it relevant to a new generation of creators. “I think we might... Continue reading…

Sleep is vital for health, but how can you tell you're getting high-quality rest? That's where sleep-tracking fitness trackers and smartwatches come in. Lots of devices claim they can do this, so to help you decide which one to buy, here are eight of our picks for the best fitness trackers for sleep.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 11: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber (C), President of the COP28 UNFCCC Climate Conference, emerges from negotiations over the wording of the Presidential draft on day eleven of the UNFCCC COP28 Climate Conference. | Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images What would have been a historic deal to tackle a planetary crisis slipped out of reach at the eleventh hour. Even so, climate-vulnerable countries and environmental advocates scored some key wins with clean energy after heated climate negotiations wrapped up in the United Arab Emirates, a top oil- and gas-producing country.This was the closest yet that countries have gotten to striking a global deal to phase out the use of coal, oil, and gas. But the summit was arguably still a home game for fossil fuel interests who threw their weight around the United Nations climate conference, called the 28th Conference of the Parties or COP28, where tens of thousands of delegates and activists from nearly every nation on Earth have gathered over... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Snapchat is getting even more generative AI features. The messaging app now lets Snapchat Plus subscribers create images based on a text prompt and send them to friends.Those who subscribe to Snapchat’s $3.99 plan can use the feature by tapping the “AI” button from the toolbar on the right side of the camera interface. This opens up a window where users can type a text prompt or choose from one of the premade options, like “a futuristic disco” or “a rocket preparing for liftoff.” Image: Snap From there, Snapchat’s AI will spit out an image based on the prompt, allowing users to edit it and add a message before sending it off to friends and family on the app. Snapchat is rolling out some other AI-powered perks for... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Apple has begun selling the USB-C charging case for its second-generation AirPods Pro as a standalone purchase. But it doesn’t come cheap. The MagSafe-compatible case, available immediately, is priced at $99. Still, if you’re dead set on switching all of your gadgets to USB-C and already own a pair of second-gen AirPods Pro with a Lightning case, this upgrade is cheaper than buying a whole new set. Delivery estimates are already showing an arrival date of after Christmas, so the case might not be a viable holiday stocking stuffer unless your local Apple store gets stock in the coming days.The USB-C AirPods Pro, which released earlier this year, still have some advantages over the original Lightning model. Namely, they’re... Continue reading…

The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro sound good, are compact, and — most importantly — purple. (Yes, they also come in white and black.) | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are once again selling for their best price of $159.99 ($70 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. The noise-canceling earbuds with 24-bit audio support are among the smaller and lighter options from the current top-flight class of wireless earbuds, making them a very comfy choice. They’re also a pretty easy choice if you use Samsung devices, since, in addition to putting out some great quality sound, the Buds 2 Pro feature head tracking and spatial audio with Galaxy phones. Plus, that bora purple color option is just so fun looking.Read our review of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.If you live near a Target retail store, you can take advantage of a major one-day deal on Microsoft’s flagship Xbox console. Target is... Continue reading…

Gaming doesn't just have to happen through gaming consoles. You can play games on your phone, tablet, or even on the TV. Of course, you can also play games on a computer, including a Mac desktop or even a laptop like the powerful MacBook Pro (M3, 2023). To make that gaming experience on a Mac even better, you can connect an Xbox wireless game controller for more precise navigation.

Details about Marvel’s forthcoming Black Panther spinoff series have been sparse since the studio first announced it a couple years back. But ahead of What If …?’s season 2 premiere on Disney Plus, the streamer’s just shared a few promising details about what to expect from The Eyes of Wakanda.Along with reminders about the impending arrivals of X-Men ‘97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (formerly titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year), and new details about What If … season 2, Disney Plus announced today that its upcoming Black Panther spinoff series is titled The Eyes of Wakanda. Rather than focusing on a singular Black Panther, The Eyes of Wakanda will tell the stories of multiple warriors who “have been tasked to travel the... Continue reading…

This isn't an article about abandoning your mouse. (We use mice daily as writers, and they’re indispensable.) But there might be times when you discover that your mouse has died, or maybe you forgot your mouse at home. This issue also applies to laptops, as well, because what do you do if your touchpad suddenly stops working?

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The FCC announced today that it won’t award Elon Musk’s Starlink an $886 million subsidy from the Universal Service Fund for expanding broadband service in rural areas. The money would have come from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program (RDOF), but the FCC writes that Starlink wasn’t able to “demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service” and that giving the subsidy to it wouldn’t be “the best use of limited Universal Service Fund dollars.”That was the same reason the FCC gave when it rejected Starlink’s bid last year, which led to this appeal. SpaceX had previously won the bidding to roll out 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload “low-latency internet to 642,925 locations in 35 states,” funded by the RDOF.“The FCC is... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla will have to skip trash day in Sweden as the country’s labor groups continue to protest the company’s anti-union policies. Reuters reports the country’s Transport Workers’ Union will refuse to pick up waste at the automaker’s workshops in solidarity with Tesla autoworkers who’ve been on strike since October 27th.Tesla has resisted collective bargaining agreements worldwide, but Sweden’s strong labor culture is continuing to test the automaker’s policy.After 130 workers at Tesla repair shops walked out, the first show of solidarity came from union dockworkers who refused to unload Tesla vehicles from cargo ships in early November. Then, on November 20th, postal workers joined the effort by refusing to deliver mail to Tesla,... Continue reading…